In a skincare rut? Try Skin Design London’s potent Superstar Serums

Everyone’s all about bespoke treatments these days, and there’s no exception when it comes to choosing the right products to put on your face. Tailored approaches are so favoured that the term ‘multi-tasker’ in skincare almost seems like a dirty word. Each person has their own specific mix of skin concerns, after all. How is it possible for one single suite of skincare products to target every skin ailment once and for all? That’s where UK cult-favourite Skin Design London comes in: whether you suffer from spots or stressed skin, wrinkles or rosacea, oily or dry complexions, the brand’s high quality ‘Superstar’ serums can treat it all.

Skin Design London is an award-winning London brand founded by sisters Fatma Shaheen and Gulcan Arikan, who have been running their own aesthetic clinic for over a decade. Their serums are what fans claim to be ‘skin clinics in a bottle.’ The brand’s range has recently launched exclusively at Joyce Beauty in Hong Kong, following an extensive repackaging and rebranding phase in late 2017.

Treating countless clients and seeing the same skin concerns over and over, the founders sought to create a dedicated line of high-performance products for clients to use at home. The aim was to streamline the average skincare regime, boiling it down to just one or two bottles that could offer clinical results. This also led to the launch of The Peel and Lift Bar by Skin Design London, offering efficient skin-saving treatments for time-strapped Londoners, with treatments starting from just 15-minute sessions.

While most of us are fiddling with dozens of toners, serums and creams each day, it turns out, what most people don’t realise is that the foundation of every healthy skincare regime should be Vitamin C — but it should be the good stuff. First to fight any visible signs of ageing, Vitamin C in a potent antioxidant blend is what truly prevents and corrects symptoms of environmental and internal stressors on the skin, helping your skin to protect itself. This is why Shaheen recommends her bestselling C Antioxidant Glow Serum (HK$1,200) as a must-have in every bathroom cabinet: a cornerstone of every beauty regime, it’s the secret to radiant, plump and youthful skin.

It couldn’t be more simple. Within this petite bottle is high potency 30% Vitamin C from the Kakadu plum — containing 50 times more Vitamin C than oranges — which also has natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It glides on and absorbs almost as if your skin is a sponge, doesn’t leave any sticky residue, and gives off a slight citrusy, plummy aroma.

Similarly, the Hydrating Serum (HK$1,200) also boasts top quality hyaluronic acid. While every face serum out there claims to pack your skin with hyaluronic, the Hydrating Serum features a double whammy of the stuff in high and low molecular weight, treating the top and deeper layers of skin. As if that’s not enough already to quench thirsty cells, it’s also richly packed with antioxidant polyphenols to destress the skin, prickly pear cactus to calm irritation and bind water to the skin, and other plant-based ingredients that protect the skin from free radicals and protect the skin’s natural barrier. It’s slightly more viscous, but absorbs like a dream with a light floral scent.

“You’ll need six weeks or so of regular use for the serums to really start taking effect,” Shaheen told me at a media meet-and-greet for the launch at Joyce, but I noticed improvements almost immediately. Aside from being a joy to put on with such soothing textures, I realised I wasn’t waking up with greasy skin anymore when using just these two serums before bed. After about a week’s use, on most days, I felt confident and comfortable enough about my balanced skin and softened pores to step outside without concealer or foundation.

This was especially apparent after I used Skin Design London’s Designer Balm (HK$990) one evening. This unusual retinol mask was an interesting balm texture. Gliding on like vaseline but instantly melting into an oil-based skin peel, it’s also packed with hyaluronic acid, rosehip oil and soy protein to help slough off all the skin’s toxic waste, while keeping it supple and hydrated once you rinse the mask off after 15 minutes.

Other masks and creams round out Skin Design London’s range of superstar serums, such as the Retinol ‘Fresh Skin Treatment’ — another cult cream which is made to boost cell turnover, improve skin hydration and elasticity (and therefore help reduce wrinkles). The Sleeping Beauty ‘Midnight Collagen Feast’ (HK$1,050) is packed with healing jojoba, rosehip and avocado oils, plant-based collagen, omega 3, 6 and 9’s, and a blend of superfoods and antioxidants to indulge and nourish the skin.

Other serums are made for more specific goals, such as to lift and plump (Volume, HK$1,200), spot-treat acne (Acne, HK$1,200), and defy signs of ageing with the sophisticated retinol complex (Retexturising, HK$1,200). Having each product named and labeled intuitively (in gorgeous, modern and minimalistic packaging I might add) is a fantastic touch, and the best thing of all is that each serum is made to work tremendously well together when mixed and matched, or even with your favourite products by other brands. You can also mix the serums together with your favourite moisturisers, sunscreens and foundations.

Containing few but high-quality essentials for skin health, being almost deceptively easy to use with potent results, and fantastic design are no doubt what’s led to Skin Design London’s massive following. It all goes to show that you don’t need a hundred products to treat tricky skin: It all comes down to proper nourishment, hydration and absorption of the good stuff — and who doesn’t want to make room in their life for more of that?

Skin Design London is available in Hong Kong at Joyce Beauty.