One of my first product discoveries from The Inkey List was the Glycolic Acid toner.

I first discovered The Inkey List last fall around the time Deciem’s former founder seemed to be shutting down The Ordinary. I was horrified. Like everyone else, I finally had access to simple, well-formulated, effective, bs-free skin care that I could afford. I felt free — free of the big beauty brand spin that has brainwashed us all for decades into believing the hype around skin care.

What hype?

That the more expensive a product is, the better it works. That established skincare brands only make products that improve your skin health. That fancy packaging and exotic ingredients mean better efficacy. That a scientific sounding complex name is an indication of innovative science.

None of that is real. The truth is…

More expensive products don’t work better than drugstore brands. (They're often the same formulas in different packaging.)

Established skincare brands often don’t formulate products that improve the health of your skin. (They don’t care about your skin’s health; they care about making money.)

Fancy packaging is nonsense and exotic ingredients are marketing spin — neither of which makes a better formula. (We’re all guilty of wanting to be wowed — the only thing we should be wowed by is skin care that makes our skin healthier!)

And, sciency complex names are all made up and usually have nothing to do with innovation. (Trust me, as a skincare copywriter, I’ve named dozens of cool sounding complexes, none of them informed by a scientist!)

Truth is, I haven’t believed any of it for years. Until very recently, great skin care was pretty hit or miss. You just had to trust and risk throwing away your money. Oh, and hope you weren’t being taken for a ride.

Brands spend millions on marketing campaigns to lure you and me with overpriced skincare products that may or may not be good for our skin. Both The Ordinary and The Inkey List have made well-formulated skin care accessible. In fact, I think of what they’ve done as pushing the democratization of skin care — where everyone can afford to have healthy skin.

The grand irony of it all has been that the rich and the posers have been spun by all the marketing nonsense, spending their not-so-hard-earned money on overpriced creams and serums from brands like La Mer, La Prairie and Chanel — believing the products were somehow superior. With their noses in the air, they didn’t (and still don’t) realize that the joke’s on them. And has been all along!

In fact, I proved it’s all a big joke with my comparison of La Mer’s popular $175 Creme de la Mer with a $2.79 jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly. If you missed that, you can still have fun reading it here.

Back to what I love about The Inkey List, though.

Quite coincidentally, I was invited to their Soho pop-up shop in New York City this weekend. This blog article had already been in the works for about two weeks — so the timing was perfect.

Me bathing in the Inkey glow at the brand’s Soho pop-up shop!

At the pop-up I got a chance to preview several new, exciting and affordable products. The place was packed with New Yorkers (and, come to think of it, maybe a few tourists!) — all excited by the brand’s brilliantly displayed and lit up products. The contrast between the simple, understated Inkey packaging and the glam show going on around them could not have been more glaring. It was the perfect reminder to me of what I love about the brand — and what I talked about the first time I reviewed it six months ago: there’s no b.s. here. It’s just really good skin care — and nothing else matters.

Inkey List co-founder Mark Curry and me at the brand’s SOHO pop-up shop!

While I was excited to see the products, to bathe in the glow of The Inkey List, and to catch a glimpse of what’s to come, I was most excited to meet Inkey’s two co-founders — the really smart minds behind the brand, Colette Newberry and Mark Curry. I felt like I was meeting rockstars!

I had great chats with both of them — deepening my understanding of what the brand is about and conversing about things only skincare wonks would care to talk about. Like the differences in the molecular weights of various forms of Hyaluronic Acid, the benefits of a natural form of Retinol (Bakuchiol!), how to pronounce weird ingredient names, and more.

I have my tried-and-true Inkey favorites like the Caffeine eye serum, the Glycolic toner and the perfectly lovable, though downright smelly Turmeric moisturizer — in my opinion, the best product that The Inkey List offers to this day.

Collette Newberry and I cheesin at The Inkey List pop-up last week.

But I’m excited by the brand’s newest innovations, too, particularly the Polyglutamic Acid moisturizing serum and the Multi-Biotic lotion.

I got to preview several new, exciting products from the brand that are launching over the next few weeks, among them a surprising hybrid cleanser that features a rich, nourishing blend of Sea Buckthorn Oil and Sweet Almond Oil that gives it an electric orange hue layer at the top!

It’s exciting to have been there at the brand’s birth and to tag along on the journey as it grows up. Brands are like people and you want to see them mature and win — especially the ones you really like and believe in. Take a peek at some of my faves from The Inkey List’s well-formulated accessible skin care.

The Inkey List | Turmeric Cream

In my opinion, The Inkey List’s Turmeric Cream is the best product of the two dozen or so they offer. It’s the perfect balance of a lightweight textured lotion and seriously pro-skin health ingredients like, of course, Turmeric Root Extract.

I use some form of turmeric every day to alleviate inflammation in my feet, knees and elbows after my workouts. After all, the ancient cure-all is purported to be an effective alternative to acetaminophen.

In addition to its proven anti-inflammatory benefits, turmeric is also a potent antioxidant on par with Vitamin C. But The Inkey List’s formula isn’t just an antioxidant-packed cream. It’s also loaded with moisturizing, skin-replenishing plant oils like Squalane, Coconut Oil, and Oat Kernel Oil — in addition to Vitamin E, emollient Lecithin and humectant Glycerin.

As with all of their formulas, The Inkey List kept out any potential irritants like denatured alcohol and fragrant plant oils used to scent a product to make it more appealing. That must have been particularly tempting with this one as turmeric has a really strong odor. In fact, the Turmeric Cream does smell slightly spicy, earthy and oddly savory — but it doesn’t linger long. Its soft, creamy texture melts right into skin.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List’s Turmeric Cream for $12.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST’S TURMERIC CREAM

Proude,.jpg — SHOP THE BLOG:

**The Inkey List Turmeric Cream**
**The Inkey List Multi-Biotic Moisturizer**
**The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid**
**The Inkey List Caffeine Serum**
**The Inkey List Glycolic Acid Liquid Toner**
**The Inkey List Vitamin C Cream**
**The Inkey List Oil & Water Double Cleanser**

The Inkey List | Vitamin C Serum

I must get a half dozen DMs a week asking me how to fade, erase, eliminate dark spots and acne marks. My answer is the same every time: a potent vitamin C serum! Though there are several other means of doing so, the benefits of Vitamin C cannot be overstated.

It’s likely the single most effective ingredient in skin care for promoting skin health — with all manner of rewards: It’s an excellent antioxidant. It’s an awesome complexion brightener. It evens out skin tone. It even helps to stimulate collagen production.

The Inkey List’s Vitamin C Serum is spot on, as my British friends like to say. As powerful as Vitamin C is, it’s very weak in the presence of water, air and a multitude of other ingredients used in skin care.

The remarkably unstable substance simply doesn’t play well with others. And that’s why it’s wise to use a separate Vitamin C serum, rather than relying on the efficacy, potency and questionable stability of the Vitamin C found in your daily moisturizer.

What does Vitamin C do for skin?

There’s an excellent article on the remarkable benefits of Vitamin C for the skin from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, What is Vitamin C and How Does it Benefit Skin?

Vitamin C is one of the most exciting, research-proven ingredients you can apply to skin (1). This water-soluble antioxidant is a natural component of healthy skin. When we’re young, vitamin C levels in skin’s outermost two layers (epidermis and dermis) are abundant, but as we age, these levels naturally deplete. Unprotected sun exposure (UV damage) and pollution can accelerate this decline, leading to skin looking and feeling dull, uneven, and less firm than it once was (2).
Luckily, there are topical skin care solutions that can help mitigate this damage, so skin looks and feels healthier and younger longer.
Vitamin C Benefits for Skin
Vitamin C’s benefits for skin are vast, including its ability to even out skin tone and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles (3). While this powerhouse ingredient is well-known for its skin-brightening benefits, research also shows it can shield skin from the visible impacts of environmental stressors, including free radical damage (4). This synergy of mitigating problems both before and after they occur makes vitamin C a force to be reckoned with.

The Inkey List clearly understands that by keeping the formula’s ingredients limited to just four — Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and 3 forms of silicone that give this powerful yet timid ingredient something to sit in.

Otherwise, you’d have a straight up Vitamin C powder like The Ordinary’s popular 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder — named the 2018 Skincarma Product of the Year.

Because Vitamin C doesn’t mix well with water, this waterless serum is actually going to stay potent and effective long enough for you to use it up — unlike most Vitamin C serums. Plus, at a high level of 30%, it can do wonders for your complexion.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List Vitamin C Cream for $9.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST VITAMIN C CREAM

**WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF THE INKEY LIST ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE.**

The Inkey List | Multi-Biotic Face Moisturizer

The probiotic trend in skin care is going full force! I think it’s one of the smartest of the many skincare trends (some of them crazes like, ahem, snail mucin!) — with real ability to alter the health of the skin.

Most importantly balancing probiotics have the rare ability to transform acne-prone and even sensitive skin. If you have a concern for acne and are still using alcohol to dry out your blemishes, probiotics are the answer. (Please, stop doing that!)

I recently blogged about treatment of acne with balancing probiotics (link to it here) and really believe probiotic products are the first legitimate solution to come about in years.

If you aren’t using a probiotic product, The Inkey List’s new Multi-Biotic Face Moisturizer is a great place to start. The formula contains a “multi-biotic” complex of pre-, pro- and post-biotics that combine to help strengthen and soothe the skin, enhance moisture retention and restore skin’s pH balance to boost the good bacteria on the surface of the skin and prevent the spread of bad bacteria. It’s that bad bacteria that often causes sensitivity and acne blemishes.

What is the microbiome?

I found an insightful article on the NIH website simply titled, The Skin Microbiome. This segment is helpful in understanding what the skin’s microbiome is and its role in the health of the skin:

An enhanced understanding of the skin microbiome is necessary to gain insight into microbial involvement in human skin disorders and to enable novel promicrobial and antimicrobial therapeutic approaches for their treatment.
The skin is an ecosystem composed of 1.8 m2 of diverse habitats with an abundance of folds, invaginations and specialized niches that support a wide range of microorganisms. The primary role of the skin is to serve as a physical barrier, protecting our bodies from potential assault by foreign organisms or toxic substances. The skin is also an interface with the outside environment and, as such, is colonized by a diverse collection of microorganisms — including bacteria, fungi and viruses.

The Inkey List’s new Multi-Biotic Face Moisturizer contains a “multi-biotic” complex of pre-, pro- and post-biotics.

The texture of the Multi-Biotic moisturizer is as light as a gel-cream and literally melts instantly into the skin, making it perfect for oily, acne-prone skin. It’s a well-balanced moisturizer with humectant Sodium Hyaluronate and Heptapeptide-7 — an active peptide derived from a naturally occurring wound-healing protein with EGF-like activity. How cool is that?!

For moisture, Inkey added a high level of both skin-compatible Squalane and Oat Kernel Oil — which has proven sensitivity soothing abilities. This is a pretty solid probiotic-powered moisturizer for all skin types, but a great option for oily and blemish prone skin.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List Multi-Biotic Moisturizer for $12.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST MULTI-BIOTIC MOISTURIZER

The Inkey List | Glycolic Acid Liquid Toner

I love this product. In fact, I’ve probably gone through a half dozen of The Inkey List’s Glycolic Acid Liquid Toner since it launched late last year. But, I don’t use it on my face.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I use Glycolic Acid toners in place of my daily deodorant. If that’s news to you, and I just sound all shades of crazy, you can read my previous blog on it here.

What is Glycolic Acid?

There is an insightful article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, Glycolic Acid: What It Is and Why You Should Use It. In it, the experts expound on the many superb benefits of Glycolic Acid for the skin.

Glycolic Acid Benefits
Using an exfoliant with glycolic acid for your face results in a brighter, more even toned complexion. Like all AHAs, glycolic acid works by helping turn over spent cells on skin’s surface.
This type of exfoliation addresses numerous skin concerns, including sun damage, uneven tone, rough, flaky patches of skin, fine lines, and wrinkles. In higher concentrations, glycolic acid can even improve the look of deeper wrinkles.
Studies also show that glycolic acid significantly increases skin’s hydration. It does this by helping skin make substances like mucopolysaccharides, which help skin stay hydrated by increasing its natural content of hyaluronic acid, which in turn enhances skin’s resilience.
One exciting new note about glycolic acid: emerging research shows it might even protect skin against UV damage (in addition to reducing its damaging after-effects), though more studies need to be done and of course it doesn’t replace the need for sunscreen. Still, it’s a promising development!
Glycolic acid occurs naturally in sugar cane, but is most effective when synthesized in a lab, where its potency and concentration are optimized for use in skin care. Using plant sugars, like sugar maple, for their glycolic acid content is an option, but the bulk of the research on glycolic acid’s benefits for skin is about the synthetic form, because this type can be optimized for effectiveness, purity, stability, and pH, all critical to getting effective glycolic acid products.

It takes some trial and error to get one that works perfectly — but when it comes to a glycolic-toner-deodorant-concoction, this one is the holy grail!

It’s devoid of drying alcohol and plant oils that only nourish and feed the odor-causing bacteria — the last thing you want to do when preventing odor. The precise formula is everything. And this is it!

One of the main issues surrounding the use of a glycolic toner in place of a deodorant is price. If they’re too expensive, it’s just not worth it. But with The Inkey List’s product, it makes sense at $10.99. One bottle lasts me about 2 months.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List Glycolic Acid Liquid Toner for $10.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST GLYCOLIC ACID LIQUID TONER

The Inkey List | Caffeine Eye Serum

I gotta admit, sometimes I don’t use a separate eye cream. That sounds scandalous, doesn’t it? I just don’t believe that my eye area needs anything different than the skin on the rest of my face. Or yours. What it needs is hydration, moisture, antioxidants, sunscreen, maybe even amino acid proteins. From time to time, I do want to treat puffiness and even pretend to treat dark circles, which are essentially untreatable in any real way. Get sleep, drink water. If those don’t help, use a concealer.

Inkey’s Caffeine eye serum has a nice, light, and silky consistency that my skin soaks right up in the morning, making it easy to layer. It’s not an overly complicated or very innovative formula — it’s just a straight up solid formula for the eye area.

Yes, it contains Caffeine to help alleviate puffiness. Caffeine is also a good antioxidant. Even better antioxidants in the formula include Soybean Extract and, interestingly, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract.

According to my skincare muse Paula Begoun, the plant’s bark “has one study showing it’s a more effective antioxidant than ascorbic acid (vitamin C).” In addition, Inkey added the Matrixyl 3000 Peptide molecule to help support collagen production. You can’t go wrong with this one. In fact, I wish every fool who’s ever purchased La Mer’s $215 The Eye Concentrate could be sent one of these with an accompanying dunce cap.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List Caffeine Eye Serum for $9.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST CAFFEINE EYE SERUM

The Inkey List | Polyglutamic Acid

One of the most intriguing products from The Inkey List is the brand’s new Polyglutamic Acid serum. I had never heard of the active ingredient prior to the introduction of this product — and was intrigued by what Mark shared with me at the pop-up. In fact, the Polyglutamic Acid serum is one of his favorite product creations, and I can understand why.

The ingredient has similar properties to Hyaluronic Acid with superior performance as a humectant, locking in hydration and holding it in the skin to prevent water loss.

As HA, it’s not a direct acid like glycolic, lactic and salicylic are — so there’s no need to go easy with it. I never skimp on Hyaluronic Acid — two or three drops are not nearly enough. I usually use an amount that fills the center of my palm.

That’s why it’s great to have options that are inexpensive. The more you use, the more it will keep your skin hydrated and healthy! Interestingly, Polyglutamic Acid is purported to be an even stronger humectant than the star HA molecule is — with 4x the humectant power.

What is the polyglutamic acid?

I found an insightful article about the benefits of polyglutamic acid on Refinery 29 titled, This New Skincare Ingredient Is 10 Times More Hydrating Than Hyaluronic Acid. The piece highlights an interview with Inkey List co-founder Mark Curry. In it, Mark explains the differences between humectant hyaluronic acid and skincare newcomer polyglutamic acid.

From serums to moisturisers, heaps of products contain the star component but there may well be a new contender to knock it off the top spot: polyglutamic acid. With the ability to hold ten times more moisture than hyaluronic acid according to experts, polyglutamic acid (or PGA) sounds like a major game changer.
Derived from fermented soybean mucilage, the ingredient – which is a peptide (aka protein) – does sound a little weird, but its effectiveness has skin experts all over the globe taking note. Hailed as one of the most powerful hydrating ingredients on the market right now, PGA diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, aids the skin's natural exfoliation process, minimises pigmentation, boosts elasticity (more so than topical collagen), and stimulates the skin's natural moisturising processes. Think of it as a jumbo glass of coconut water when you’re suffering from a next-level hangover.
“Polyglutamic acid is an exciting new ingredient that will leave skin smooth, plump and radiant,” reveals cofounder of Be For Beauty and CEO of the The Inkey List, Mark Curry. “What makes it different to hyaluronic acid is that it forms a film on the skin that stops water from evaporating, so not only is it a humectant that draws more water into the cells, it holds it there too.”
This doesn’t mean you've wasted your hard earned cash on hyaluronic acid serums, as Curry advocates using both HA and PGA, claiming they work in synergy with one another. “Hyaluronic acid can still be used as it will hydrate the lower levels of the skin. This has the added benefit of helping the skincare that follows to penetrate deeper. By adding PGA into the mix, you’re hydrating and plumping the top layer of skin and creating a seal that ensures maximum hydration.” In other words, they're a match made in heaven for tight, dehydrated skin, peppered with fine lines and wrinkles.

However, Polyglutamic Acid is not as effective an antioxidant and doesn’t have the skin-soothing abilities of Hyaluronic Acid. What it does bring to the table is a unique occlusive benefit that acts to prevent moisture loss — similar to many common plant oils. This serum’s texture also indicates that it may work well as a lightweight primer.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase The Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid for $14.99 here.

BUY THE INKEY LIST POLYGLUTAMIC ACID

Three innovative products coming soon from The Inkey List!

This is an exciting time in skin care — with great accessibility to products that actually improve the health of our skin. By cutting out the b.s., The Inkey List is playing an important role today and I’m excited to see what’s next. When they win, we all win!

🖤 SKINCARMA

**WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF THE INKEY LIST ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE.**

SUBSCRIBE TO SKINCARMA ON YOUTUBE