How to beat winter skin

Any season is better than summer. But the fact remains, wintertime can exceptionally harsh on the skin. How should you treat winter skin? What are some of the common mistakes we make, and how to fix them? Skincare routine Cold air, wind, central heating that dries the beje..

How to Treat Post-Holiday Skin

Holidays can be a mixed bag. For some people, it can be a stressful period with the travel and fraught family reunions that would test the patience of a saint. For others, it is a magical time of the year what with Christmas decorations everywhere, parties, and never-ending ..

How to switch your skincare routine for autumn

The days are getting shorter and colder (thank heavens!), it is time to get cosy. It is also time to switch up your skincare routine to adjust to the change of season. What are some of the most common skin concerns during this transitional period? The change in temperature a..

How to use retinol in the summer?

The skincare community will hotly debate any number of topics. Do you need a moisturiser? Are eye creams effective? How many times per week should you exfoliate? But one ingredient we can all agree on is retinol. It is a powerful ingredient with numerous studies that prove i..

How to prevent skincare pilling

For many of us, doing our skincare routine is a happy place. A Zen moment to ourselves. A chance to take a breath and pamper our skin. Or it should be until you experience something called skincare pilling. Plenty of us have experienced it at least once. We do our skincare r..

How to know if you are overwashing your face

Cleansers give us joy! Simple as. Oils, balms, gels, the difference in textures, the scent, the ritual of washing off daily dirt and grime - cleansing your face can be awesome. Cleansing is the first and crucial step in keeping our skin healthy, bouncy, and plump. But someti..

How to Treat Your Skin in Menopause

Hormonal changes affect our skin. It is blatantly apparent when we are teenagers. But menopause is no picnic either. It can bring about increased dryness, sensitivity, and, in some cases, even acne. Give your skin some comfort and tackle the changes head-on with some simple ..

Ingredient Highlight - Emollients

Come wintertime, one category of ingredients that gets talked about a lot in the skincare community is emollients. It is easy to understand why. Due to cold weather and change in temperature, the majority of us deal with dry or dehydrated skin. It is not a life-threatening c..

Ingredient Highligh - Humectants

Healthy skin needs to be hydrated properly. Yes, regardless of the skin type. Humectants are ingredients that work well for all skin types. Oily skin gets the hydration it needs, without any of the oiliness. Dry and dehydrated benefits too, for obvious reasons. What are hume..

Ingredient Highlight - Bisabolol

Bisabolol is an ingredient you might have heard of, or even come across on the inci list, but never really paid much attention to. The fact of the matter is, we might not talk about it to the same extent as we do about retinol or Alpha-Hydroxy acids. But it does have plenty ..

Ingredient Highlight - Lipo-hydroxy acid

What is Lipo-hydroxy acid? Lipo-hydroxy acid is an ester of Salicylic acid. Where it differentiates from Salicylic acid is it has a higher molecular weight. Because of this, it slower to penetrate the skin and better tolerated. It is a lipophilic acid meaning it dissolves i..

Ingredient Highlight - Squalane

Want smooth, soft, well-hydrated skin? Give Squalane a try! Chances are a few of the products in your skincare stash contain Squalane. It is a popular ingredient, and for a good reason. It is super hydrating, but what is even more important, it is well tolerated by ALL skin ..

C60 Fullerene - The new super star ingredient for your skincare routine

The beauty industry is constantly evolving, and new skincare products are hitting the market every day. One of the latest buzzwords in the world of skincare is C60 fullerene. This molecule has been dubbed as the "superstar of your skincare routine," with many people swearing..

Cosmetic Ingredients A-Z and Their Properties

We're passionate about the ingredients that make up your favorite skincare products. From A-Z, each ingredient has been carefully chosen for its unique benefits to the skin, ranging from hydrating and soothing properties to anti-aging and brightening effects. Whether it?s th..

Ingredient highlight - amino acids

Amino acids might not be on your skincare radar. However, due to their nature, they are critical for our skin health. What are amino acids, and how do they benefit the skin? Should you include them in your routine? What are amino acids? Considered the building blocks in ou..

Ingredient Highlight - Azelaic Acid

Ask any skincare nerd about their favourite ingredient and be prepared to listen about the virtues of retinol/vitamin C/AHAs and what a difference it made to their skin (we are guilty of that, too). But if you have blemish-prone sensitive skin or suffer from rosacea, it can ..

7 Cardinal Sins of Skincare

Look, there is no point in beating round the bush. We can absolutely agree we were young and foolish once, right? We'll go with being young and foolish to explain some of the cardinal skincare sins below. No sunscreen By now we know that sun causes skin cancer. However, ..

How to Choose the Right Moisturizer for Your Skin

Some days you have the time and the patience for a multi-step skincare routine. On other days the best you can do is to splash your face with water and slap on some moisturizer. Been there, done that. That's okay, your face will not fall off. But on days when you don't have ..

How to Treat Congested Skin

In the skincare community, you'll often hear the term congested skin. But what exactly does it mean? Pores are openings to hair follicles, and their purpose is to let the natural oil (sebum) to the surface of the skin. It keeps our skin healthy and looking plump and smooth...

What Are Milia and How to Treat Them?

At a glance, they might look like whiteheads. But they are definitely not. Milia can affect just about anyone, and it can be difficult to get rid of. What are milia? A milium is a small, white, hard bump that happens when keratin and dead skin cells get trapped underneat..

Ishtar EFA Oils are Here!

After the cold snap we've been having, a facial oil can be a great boost to your skincare routine. Yes, even if you have oily and combination skin! Learn more about the two newest products in our line-up - EFA ProRepair and EFA AntiStress facial oils. Best of all - both fac..

Mandelic Acid Comparison

Key difference between Mandelic Acid and other popular acne treatments: Benzoyl peroxide has attracted particular controversy due to the fact that it produces skin damaging free radicals.See below for further discussion of this particular active. [caption id="attac..

Skin Irritation & Anti-Irritants

By Vispi Kanga Cosmetics and skin care products are part of most people's daily grooming habits. Intact or uninjured skin is an excellent barrier to most substances found in cosmetics and skin care products. If skin is over dry or injured, disruptions in the stratum corne..

8 Bliss Inducing Love Chemicals Found in Chocolate

You may have heard people say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Research on the neuroscience of love and chocolate has some interesting findings that might surprise you. The first step to understanding how love and chocolate are linked is to look at ..

The Evolution of Vitamin C in Skincare: A Fascinating Fusion of Science and History

Skincare regimens have always been an integral part of human personal care, dating back centuries. Among the numerous compounds discovered and employed for skincare, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has emerged as an extraordinary ingredient due to its multifaceted benefits. Its jo..

Why You Should Say No To SLS

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) is an anionic surfactant (detergent) which is included as a foaming agent (to clean and make bubbles) in a huge variety of commonly used products. These include shampoos, soaps, face and body washes, toothpaste, washing up ..

Mandelic Acid - Who Is It For?

Adult acne, blemishes, congestion, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, dull skin, uneven skin tone - Mandelic acid is an ingredient that can tackle all of these problems. What is Mandelic acid? Mandelic acid is an Alpha-Hydroxy Acid derived from bitter almonds. It has ..

What is Rosacea - Symptoms and Treatments

Do you suffer from rosacea? Skin conditions like rosacea might not be life-threatening, but that does not mean they do not affect your quality of life. It is a common condition and the exact causes are still largely unknown. The bad news is that there is no known cure and if..

Autumn is Here - Time to Undo Summer Skin Damage

Autumn is finally here, HURRAY! Pardon our enthusiasm, but we just cannot with summer. The heat, the sweat, the bug bites, all of it does our head in. Apart from taking a walk in the cool, crisp weather, autumn is the ideal time to undo any damage that might have occurred du..

The Skin Benefits of Algae Extract

In our pursuit of healthy skin, every so often, we have to decide what we are willing (and not willing) to put on our faces. Some ingredients might sound odd at first, but that doesn't mean they don't work. Case in point? Algae. Not our favourite thing to encounter when goin..

The Truth About Collagen And Your Skin

Stories about collagen usage in cosmetic products and cosmetic procedures are all over the news today. Whether you hear about someone getting collagen injections, or you read a list of product ingredients in a skin cream that includes it, collagen is pretty much everywhere. ..

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