Brittny Skylar Robins: The skin saviour

Sometimes it can feel like you need a chemistry degree to understand skincare ingredients. Brittny Skylar Robins, the 28-year-old founder of Flawless by Friday, understands. “I would go into my mom’s bathroom and she’d be using a retinol product in the day, which makes you sensitive to the sun,” says Robins. “Then she’d be using vitamin C at night, when it can’t really protect you from free-radical damage. I’d take a Sharpie and draw on her products to tell her when to use them.” It was a problem reiterated by the customers she encountered while working in the cosmetics industry. “People don’t really know how to use their skincare,” says Robins, whose line aims to take the guesswork out of when to use products and how to combine ingredients.

Take the Flawless by Friday Five-Day System: The clearly marked (Moisture Monday! Tone Tuesday!) sheet masks have a different active ingredient for each day, and the set is designed to work synergistically. The Toronto-based company worked with a Korean lab to develop the masks, which are made of hydro gel, a cooling material that Robins chose for its ability to hold a high concentration of product. “It contours better to your face, and it doesn’t tear as easily [as other types of masks],” she explains. This month, a new line with gold (“It’s really effective for anti-aging,” she says) and honey (which “soothes and de-puffs”), called Flawless in Fifteen, will launch exclusively at Hudson’s Bay. To really “dummyproof” the skincare system, the company will also launch an a.m./p.m. serum kit labelled with a sun and moon, respectively, so there’s no mistaking when to use them. “The brand isn’t about being flawless like Gigi Hadid,” says Robins. “It’s about your personal version of flawless when you feel your best.” Victoria Diplacido h