THE LUXURY OF LESS

Serums that soothe rather than stimulate. Moisturisers that (quietly) compete to use fewer ingredients than the next. Do-everything creams that make layering a thing of the past. Less is skincare’s new more, says Alexandra Friend

Is it time to adopt a minimalist skincare routine?

SENSITIVE MATTERS

There are certain phrases that set the skincare world alight. Double cleansing? Hot. Acid toning and retinol journey? Super hot. Repairing the barrier function? Not so catchy, as beauty buzzwords go. But rebuilding the skin’s outermost protective layer is becoming an urgent trend in complexion care, with a growing category of restorative (and covetable) new products to prove it. There’s the Delikate range from La-based aesthetician Kate Somerville, fortifying serums from Kiehl’s and bareminerals and, after years of being overshadowed by sexier-sounding ingredients, dependable old ceramides (the natural lipids that hold your skin cells together) are front and centre of skincare science. Soothing. Calming. Pressing pause. How did we get here? Quite simply, our faces need a break. ‘I work with doctors and facialists globally and the one thing I have heard from virtually everywhere over the past year is the increase in skin issues caused by excessive and over-enthusiastic use of products,’ says Newby Hands, global beauty director for Net-a-porter.

Just ask Somerville. ‘Women often think the more products the better, but that’s not always the case. Skincare is having a surge right now, and we’re seeing a lot of it formulated with high percentages of actives. I see women over-toning, and using their retinoids every day alongside all sorts of different acids without giving their skin a break. Overstimulating your skin will lead to a compromised skin barrier, and that can take form in redness, irritation, dry and flaky skin or acne.’

Hands notes that a move towards simple, soothing creams is becoming a ‘strong talking point’ in the skincare business, with existing brands launching delicate lines and natural brands looking at alternatives to essential oils (which some find are becoming too punchy for their beleaguered barriers). And, as Somerville observes, a sturdy barrier prevents the moisture loss (and hence the dullness, dryness and fine lines) that we so often complain about. ‘I believe in incorporating active ingredients into your skincare, but it’s just as important to calm and soothe,’ she says. In other words, if you think gentle skincare isn’t for you, think again.

A STREAMLINED ROUTINE

Of course, some problems may be avoided by taking a gentler approach in the first instance. For Dija Ayodele, CEO of West Room Aesthetics, good skin starts with just a handful of basics. ‘A decent cleanser, a needs-specific serum to tackle issues such as pigmentation, a vitamin A treatment (retinoid) as skin begins to mature and SPF for day wear. If you get these right, there’s no need for additional products, including masks or oils.’ It’s a far cry from ‘layering’, whereby multiple products are applied in a particular order (water-based to oil-based, thin before thick) to allow for maximum absorption of ingredients, such as chemical exfoliants, vitamin C, retinoids and hyaluronic acid. Interestingly, of all the skin

doctors Red spoke to, none mentioned layering... or facial scrubs, mists, essences or even toner. ‘We’ve been conditioned for too long to have a skincare routine with many steps,’ says clinical aesthetician Pamela Marshall, co-founder of London’s Mortar & Milk treatment rooms. ‘If you’re cleansing properly and your formulations work, there’s just no need. The payoff is that you keep your routine easy, your skin is happy because it’s not having to deal with huge amounts of product, and your bank balance is happy, too.’

LESS CAN BE LUXE

Minimalist skincare also looks like this: the new moisturiser-meets-primer-meets-make-up from Victoria Beckham Beauty, perfectly weighted in the palm of the hand, brimming with stem cell technology and golden pearl. ‘It’s no revelation that time is precious,’ says Sarah Creal, the smart New Yorker enlisted by VB as co-founder and CEO. ‘This line is driven by what Victoria and I want in our own routines. Efficacious, superior skincare that multitasks.’ To do that, Creal called on biochemical scientist Professor Augustinus Bader, already renowned for his own simple-not-simple creams, which prove so effective at reducing fine lines, bringing polish to the skin and (as one Red fashion editor attests) keeping breakouts at bay, that they make multiple products redundant – just moisturise and go. Bader’s patented Trigger Factor Complex, which encourages communication between cells for deep and regenerative healing, is in Beckham’s primer and one other skincare product, a potent serum. So far, Creal hasn’t rushed to add anything else to the range. ‘My mother always told me it’s better to have one beautiful cashmere sweater than 10 not-so-nice ones,’ she observes. Elsewhere, clever delivery systems are deleting the need for onerous routines. ‘If you look at markets outside of skincare, most innovation has focused on making our lives simpler,’ says Brian Oh of VENN Skincare. ‘The iphone is a good example. One device to do everything, from making phone calls to web searching, playing games and watching videos. We offer the same in skincare, using technology to cut down the steps.’ Oh worked with a nuclearphysicist-turned-skincarechemist on getting high concentrations of multiple actives into the skin at the same time, each without blocking absorption of the other (exactly the point of layering). Beautifully silky and almost medicinally scented, his products offer an upscale kind of utilitarianism and leave skin looking lifted and fresh. Or try U Beauty’s smart serum, which promises the otherworldly glow associated with South Korean multi-step routines but in one easy step. Targeting its slew of actives only where they’re needed and nowhere they’re not, to avoid irritating the skin, it sold out almost instantly at launch on Net-a-porter, says Newby Hands.

‘THERE’S NO

NEED FOR ONEROUS ROUTINES’

‘IT’S A CHALLENGE TO THE INDUSTRY TO USE FEWER RESOURCES ’

LEANER IS GREENER

Waste plays a part in this story, too. In virtual beauty circles, crowded shelfies were once the thing – a different routine a day. Now, it’s one-in-one-out, squeezing the last viscous drop from each bottle before breaking into the next. Amrita Jaurre, beauty PR manager for Harvey Nichols, holds herself accountable on Instagram. ‘I can only crack open a new product once I’ve finished an equivalent one. Prior to this, I’d have at least three to four cleansers on the go alongside various moisturisers and treatments, but I only have one face, so there’s been a lot of wastage as my products expire. I’m now working my way through an excess of product as well as rediscovering some old favourites.’ For Lauren Bravo, cheerleader for mindful shopping and author of How To Break Up With Fast Fashion (Headline Home), a bathroom cull led to better skin, as well as a clearer conscience. ‘I’d struggled with spots since I was a teenager and, until a year ago, had been on a perpetual quest for the holy grail of skincare routines. Add to that a penchant for hype and impulse purchasing, and there were a lot of half-finished products cluttering up my life. If my skin broke out, I didn’t know why, and if it looked clear and healthy I could never be quite sure whether that was due to a new product, the absence of a product or a completely different factor, such as sleep or stress. I was also sickened by how much money I’d spent on products that never really delivered, let alone the environmental impact. Moving flat at the end of 2018 forced me to confront my skincare graveyard, and these days I keep things really simple: a cleansing oil with a muslin cloth, a glycolic acid toner, moisturiser and SPF50 – that’s it. My skin is the best it’s been in years.’

A move towards less can also be seen in the skincare ranges that cap their ingredients. ‘We only use five ingredients in any product we make – it’s a challenge to the beauty industry to use fewer resources and allows you to get comfortable with what you’re putting on your skin,’ says Zaffrin O’sullivan of Five Dot Botanics. French brand Typology follows similar principles in its TEN range, as does French pharmacy brand SVR with its new Sensifine line. Add in modern capsule brands such as Aime, Jordan Samuel and formulator Colette Haydon’s Lixirskin, and it’s easy to see how sprawling ranges of over-complicated product might be edged out of your bathroom in favour of something a little easier… yet just as desirable. ‘I’ve always wanted to make pretty things, but packaging inside packaging inside packaging? I don’t think women are going to want that any more. They want simplicity in aesthetics, too,’ says Haydon. All things considered, it’s entirely possible that a stripped-back bathroom could become the modern lifestyle goal. ‘I think those days are coming,’ says Alan Bradshaw, professor of marketing at Royal Holloway, University of London. ‘Today, there is great stigma attached to fur coats; something similar will happen with general excess. People will become aware of how inappropriate and wrong it is.’