Some skincare lovers prefer a more minimalist approach, while others max out their bathroom storage with numerous bottles of goodness and an extensive skincare layering routine. No matter your fancy – both approaches can benefit from skincare cocktailing. The minimalists will get more bang for their buck, and the layering lovers can cut time... all the while achieving great results!
What is skincare cocktailing?
Pretty much as it sounds, skincare cocktailing is merely the process of mixing together multiple ingredients/products for a concentrated, maximised result. It allows you the opportunity to get creative, customise your routine and get your best glow on.
It’s the art of knowing which skincare ingredients pair well together, to supercharge your skincare results. It may sound complicated, but it’s super simple and we’re here to guide you!
Try these ingredient cocktails
Covering a range of skin goals, there’s a cocktail to help. We’ve paired together our top four ingredient duos that just make sense (and in fact, we’ve done some of the cocktailing within our products for you already!).
- Green Tea and Caffeine
Struggle with puffy and dull eyes? Not anymore! Your new best friends are green tea and caffeine. Green tea will give your eyes that soothing and calming effect you so long for, while caffeine will pep them to look more awake.
Green Tea has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects from the naturally present polyphenols. Caffeine has also demonstrated antioxidant and photoprotective effects. As caffeine is present in green tea, both ingredients naturally complement each other and provide the perfect results for our under-eye area. We recommend:
- Retinol and Niacinamide
The application of niacinamide before or after retinol can assist to prevent possible sensitivity effects experienced when first using a retinol. Niacinamide can stabilise the skins barrier function with its fantastic water retention abilities, plus it improves hydration. While retinol (vitamin A) can increase the rate of skin cell turnover to assist with reducing sun damage, boosting collagen production, improving the appearance of wrinkles, reducing pigmentation and increasing skin hydration too. We recommend:
- Luminosity: Brightening Probiotic Lotion (mask once a week with Luminosity before applying a retinol, or look for a concentrated niacinamide product)
- The Foundation: Flawless Retinol & Vitamin C Lotion
- Retinol and Hyaluronic Acid
Retinol is the go-to anti-ageing holy grail, while hyaluronic acid is heaven for hydrating skin. So it’s no wonder that these two link-up so well together.
By pairing retinol with a powerful hyaluronic acid-based moisturiser, you’ll be able to balance the potential drying effects of a retinol while allowing your skin to soak up the moisture-retaining benefits. We recommend:
- The Foundation: Flawless Retinol & Vitamin C Lotion
- Sol: Hydrating Gel Moisturiser
- The Limelight: Brightening Probiotic Lotion
- Luna Vitality: Restoring Moisture Cream
- Vitamin C and Retinol
When vitamin C, hailed for its skin brightening effects, and retinol, celebrated for its skin renewing benefits, are paired together – what's not to love?! Vitamin C and retinol are the perfect combination to dramatically renew your skin and restore the hallmarks of youthfulness. Retinol stimulates the protein which gives our skin its firmness (collagen), while vitamin C essentially provides the glue that holds cells together once collagen is produced.
This pairing is so good, we’ve dedicated an entire article to it here.
We recommend:
Combinations to avoid
As good as skincare cocktailing is, there are some ingredient pairings that are not recommended for your skin. Pairing high dosage actives together (AHAs, BHAs, retinol, vitamin C) can lead to irritation, sensitised skin and a compromised skin barrier. For example, using a retinol after AHAs or BHAs is not recommended. It’s always a good idea to follow up your active ingredients with more soothing ones, such as thick moisturisers and facial oils.
Note: While both retinol and vitamin C are listed here as actives, the pairing listed above (#4) is perfectly fine when the ingredient percentages are balanced, as The Foundation: Flawless Retinol & Vitamin C Lotion is.
So now you know a little more about skincare cocktailing! What will your go-to pairing be?!
