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 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 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 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 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 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 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 - 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 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 - 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 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 ..

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 ..

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..

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..

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..

How to Prepare Your Skin for Warmer Weather

The warmer weather is here and you know what that means - it's time to switch up your routine! Skincare routine needs to be tweaked slightly - a lighter moisturizer and plenty of sunscreen. But today we would like to focus on the body. Warmer weather also means lighter lay..

When is Exfoliation Too Much?

It is the age of the skintellectual. We make informed purchasing decisions; we know our ingredients, we are less likely to fall for false marketing claims. And that's great! But that doesn't mean that in our pursuit of healthy skin, sometimes we don't go a bit overboard. Pr..

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..

5 skincare ingredients to stimulate collagen production

Skin aging is a complicated process. How our skin behaves as we get older is down to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are internal and include our genetics, metabolism, and hormone processes. Extrinsic factors are external and are primarily down to our life..

The most popular skin-soothing ingredients

Summer can leave our skin feeling and looking a bit of a mess. Skin-soothing ingredients to the rescue! They'll soothe any irritation and sensitivity, but the beauty of it is, your skin doesn't have to be an irritated mess to reap the benefits. All the skin-soothing ingredie..

Ishtar's Exfoliants

For many people, chemical exfoliation is a game-changer in their skincare routines. That said, not all skins require the same level of exfoliation to reap the benefits. Ishtar offers several chemical exfoliants suitable for different skin types in various types of products. ..

Why you need to double cleanse

Just when we think 2020 can't get any weirder and stressful, something new happens, and it's just... relentless. People keep mentioning "the new normal," and one thing is for sure, all of us had to adapt to new rules and routines. For me, one thing I can't do at the moment i..

Why You Need Mandelic Acid in Your Skincare Routine

What is the first association when someone mentions acids and chemical exfoliation? Things you would use to de-grease a machine engine? Instruments of torture in a horror movie? Not something you would want anywhere near your face, right? Wrong. It has been scientifically pr..

Alpha Hydroxy Acid and the Skin

Alpha Hydroxy Acids Alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA's) are naturally occurring acids, derived from the sugars in particular plants. Glycolic acid is derived from sugar cane, Lactic acid from milk and Malic acid from apples. Mandelic acid, a relatively new innovation in skincare, ..

What are skin-replenishing ingredients?

For healthy, bouncy, plump skin, your skincare routine needs skin-replenishing ingredients. The good news is chances are you probably already have a few products in your lineup that fit the bill. What are skin-replenishing ingredients? How do they benefit the skin? What do ..

Antioxidants Explained - 5 Powerful Antioxidants to Include in Your Skincare Routine

Ask any dermatologist, beauty editor or skincare nerd and they will all agree - antioxidants should be an essential part of any skincare routine. What do antioxidants do? The primary function of antioxidants is to protect against free radicals, pollution, and environmen..

Why you should consider Mandelic acid

If you are new to the skincare journey, by now, you have probably discovered the importance of chemical exfoliation. That said - it is easy to overdo it. One thing we preach is slow and steady, and it's a marathon rather than a sprint. Mandelic acid is one of those fly-under..

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 ..

Ishtar's Serums at a Glance

Any skincare expert will tell you - invest your money in a treatment serum. That said, an effective serum doesn't have to cost a ton. To make your search easier, down below you can find the list of Ishtar's treatment serums. While we love our botanical extracts (after all, o..

How to Prep Your Skin for Travel

Who doesn't like a nice holiday? To relax at the beach, explore the sights on a city break or lounge by the pool in a fancy hotel. But regardless how you get to your holiday destination, travel can take a toll on the skin (long haul travel especially). You emerge at your des..

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