BEAUTY NEWS
Personalisation is a beauty buzz word that’s been emerging for years but it’s nice to see the idea truly becoming established.
Like a ‘trust the chef’ experience when you head to a renowned restaurant, it makes sense to put your skin or hair in the hands of an expert. Having them custom make or blend a product to suit you is the ultimate in tailoring and in theory you should achieve better results when the nuances of your lifestyle and skin or hair type are taken into account.
This month I’ve had a couple of experiences where the idea was realised to great results. The first, my first facial in many months, was a customised treatment at the divine La Prairie beauty suite at Smith & Caughey’s Queen Street, Auckland. Instead of a menu to choose from, my experienced therapist used a pick and mix of the luxury Swiss brand’s extensive advanced skincare line that she carefully selected to suit my skin. I am currently battling skin sensitivity and redness, something that often flares at this time of year with all the indoor heating and fluctuating outdoor temperatures. With this in mind my therapist layered a number of toning and deeply hydrating products from La Prairie Skin Caviar and Pure Gold collections, finishing off with the new Pure Gold Radiance Nocturnal Balm. I was floating on air and the glowing, plumped out results lasted several days.
If you’re like me, you’ll inwardly groan at having to fill out an extensive questionnaire on arrival at a spa or therapist. Just remember the more information you give, the better your personalisation – and hopefully, results – will be.
This month I have also been trialling the new skincare brand Mutual. The idea is that the brand gathers a series of information from you about the state of your skin via an online skin assessment and using a sophisticated AI algorithm with over 70,000 dermatological data points – curates a single all-in-one skin product made just for you. It’s made of a moisturiser base and then selected ‘boosters’ targeted to your skin concerns. When I filled out the form, I highlighted my current sensitivity and redness issues as well as other varying desires like addressing dehydration and signs of ageing. A collaboration between New Zealand wellness company Creative Wellness NZ and Canadian pharmaceutical giant Medisca, there is significant knowledge behind the personalised formulation, but even I have been surprised about how much my skin has loved my Mutual skincare formula. Mine has a cream base for sensitive skin and boosters (serum-like ingredients) mixed in including plant oils and extracts, an advanced baker’s yeast extract and peptides to address and improve my skin challenges.
Plus, even though I love an involved skincare routine I have to admit it’s been a nice change paring it back to only one product after cleansing.
Another brand that has been quietly but surely leading the way for skincare personalisation is dermaviduals. The opposite of a generic, one-product-fits-all approach, the idea behind the brand is that each facial treatment and take-home product is tailored to your skin’s needs.
When you visit a dermaviduals skin therapist they will help identify your individual concerns. So for someone like me, my primary skin issues are obvious, but if your skin is temperamental or pretty normal (lucky you!) their training will help them identify how your skin might benefit. Then they provide bespoke skincare formulations designed just for you.
They have 40 different actives to choose from, there’s an ingredient solution for every skin type and condition. The skin treatment therapist can create customised formulations for your cleanser, serum, cream or mask along with makeup and body products, which I think is pretty useful and clever. It also means no more flip-flopping and trial and error with a variety of off the shelf products if you’re trying to achieve specific results.
As always, I’ll keep you up to date if I come across any further new developments in the personalisation space.