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 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 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 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 - 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 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 - 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..

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 - 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 - 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..

How Stress Affects Our Skin

Family emergencies, health scares, kids stuff, work stuff - life happens and it can be a bastard sometimes. Consequently, you don't need to be a doctor to understand intuitively that stress affects us. Skin is our body's largest organ and yes, stress affects our skin too. S..

Korean Skincare 101 and 5 Game-Changing Products

Over the last couple of years beauty outlets have been obsessed with Korean skincare. 10-step routine, glass skin, cloudless skin, unusual ingredients, anti-polluaging - it is easy to get distracted. But (in our opinion) at its core the Korean approach to skincare is far si..

Splurge v Steal - When to Save and When to Splurge on Skincare

How does the old saying go? You get what you pay for. To that, we say, yes, sometimes. When should we save and when should we splurge on skincare products? It is all a matter of perspective. For some, ??5 for a moisturiser is a splurge. So, it all depends on your budget. Ou..

Ishtar's Facial Oils at a Glance

Facial oil is a product that can make a world of difference to our skin and turn it from dull and lacklustre to healthy and glowing. Yes, that applies even for people with oily, breakout-prone complexion. It is just a matter of finding the right oil for your skin type. With ..

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..

How to Use Mandelic Acid Products

Introducing Mandelic Acid to Your Routine Mandelic Acid's natural antibacterial qualities will help to eliminate acne causing bacteria. Its exfoliating properties will prevent acne causing congestion. When treating acne, the key to achieving optimum results with Alpha Hydr..

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..

Sebaceous Filaments Explained

How closely do you study your face in the mirror? Even if you chucked out your magnifying mirror ages ago*, sometimes we can get distracted with and obsessive about our perceived "flaws". You might be doing your morning routine, slapping on your moisturizer, when you spot a..

The Difference Between Derma Stamp and Derma Roller

How much are you willing to suffer for beauty? There is not much we wouldn't do to improve our collagen production. But we can all agree that some skincare treatments sound ghastly. One such treatment? Derma stamp and derma roller. It involves piercing your skin with needles..

Vintage Beauty Tips That Still Work - Part 2

This is part 2 of our series on vintage beauty tips that still work. If you missed part 1 see here. 5) Embrace heat free curls There are many modern gadgets for curling the hair, but the heat from curling tongs and blow dryers can cause damage to hair over time. Ho..

The Basics of Lip Care

If you are reading this blog, chances are you have a solid skincare routine. It likely includes retinol, an acid, a treatment serum, a decent cleanser, and a moisturiser. While eye creams are controversial (people are typically either firmly for or against eye creams), one a..

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..

Why You Need Ceramides in Your Skincare Routine

Ceramides are skin-identical ingredients. They are an essential part of our skin, and we all need them in our routines regardless of our skin type. What are ceramides? Ceramides comprise a vital component of the skin. Ceramides are natural lipids and they make up over 50..

How to Marie Kondo Your Skincare Stash

Have you caught the Marie Kondo bug? You might have read her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising.” Or you binge-watched her Netflix special. Most of us accumulate so much stuff. But (and this is just our opinion) it is..

Allergies To Cosmetic Ingredients

Every two years, the North American Contact Dermatitis Group collects and reports the data from patch testing among its members to a standardized series of allergens. Major Allergens There are 3 categories of cosmetic ingredients that induce allergies more often than other..

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