Amazon Prime Day was this past week and if you’re like us you snagged a few good beauty deals worth boasting about to your friends or family. Some of the best-selling brands from the event in the U.S. included Laneige (think, their infamous Lip Sleeping Mask) and NuFace. It comes as no surprise though; articles about Prime Day this year were dime a dozen from what seemed like every beauty outlet on the internet (e.g., Allure, The Cut, Vogue, etc.) – each with their own curated list of products to buy. We don’t know about you but it made us think about how much the beauty buying experience has evolved and how we ultimately buy products today.

Savvy Skindies will recall that we shared a brief overview of Ayurveda-inspired skincare trends in our previous issue, South Asian Beauty Brands to Watch. Not only is growth in this space projected to reach almost $15B by 2026, established companies like Estee Lauder and Puig are investing heavily in Ayurvedic brands. While ingredients from South Asia and those commonly used in Ayurvedic practice have been in the market for decades, the trend has gone from niche to mainstream due to a strong synergy with the clean beauty movement and the demand for greater diversity and inclusion within the beauty industry. In today’s issue, we’re digging deeper into this ancient system of healing, exploring the brands and products currently in-market, and of course, sharing the science.

As a word, urea suffers from some unsexy associations (urine and Uranus come to mind). As an ingredient, it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as hyaluronic acid or peptides. We at Skindie noticed a pattern — some of our favorite products like Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ featured an unsung hero in skincare formulation, urea. But as both a humectant and a chemical exfoliator, urea is a powerhouse ingredient that has been used in traditional skincare as well as clinical dermatology for decades — read on to find out why.

If you’ve heard of the skincare hack called slugging (thanks TikTok and Reddit) or already partake in this healing ritual, you know that petrolatum can be a true savior for those of us with very dry/irritated skin or a compromised skin barrier.

But petrolatum a.k.a petroleum jelly doesn’t need an elaborate introduction. We’re all pretty familiar with this classic, tried-and-true ingredient that has been used and loved for over a hundred years to remedy any and all skin related ailments.

In the first article of our two part retinol series, we established some of the basics on the science of retinoids, its history, and its unique ability to alter the structure of our skin. Now that we’ve set the context for retinol, we’re diving into regulations and safety, how chemists approach retinol-based formulation, and most importantly, why all retinol products are not created equal. We will also go a step further and review some products on the market that are likely worth the investment. So stick around! It’s gonna be worth it. 

Retinol (another term for Vitamin A) is to beauty as a quantum leap is to modern physics – brilliant and game changing. Just as electrons can travel outside the confines of time, it’s almost as if Retinol operates in a similar fashion, accelerating cell turnover at lightning speed and endowing us with the skin of our dreams. But while results can sometimes be too good to be true, we can’t sidestep the “retinol uglies,” and the fact that there is so much confusion around this skincare hero.

In the first article of our two part fragrance series, we established some of the basics on the science of fragrance. Today, we’re digging even deeper. Now that you understand fragrance from a formulation perspective and the safety guidelines that govern it, we’ll explore the gray area that is FDA labeling requirements, its role in fragrance transparency, fragrance as an allergen, and the future of fragrance in skincare.

Fragrance in skincare...where to begin? It has unexpectedly become one of the hottest topics on social media, among everyone from dermatologists to “skinfluencers,” brand founders, and beauty retailers. In addition to the “free-from” (think, formulated without sulfates/parabens/etc. labels) trend propelled by the clean beauty movement, there has been unprecedented focus on fragrance as an allergen and fragrance transparency. In 2007, the American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) designated fragrance as “allergen of the year.” Since then, a debate has raged on fragrance in skincare, leading to tag lines such as “think before you stink.”