BIOGRAPHY | GOLDEN RAY GLOW DROPS

This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Facial Oils I Love that Make Me Excited for Cold Weather - Part One. You can catch the full piece here.

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This past week was the coldest it’s been since mid-March. I’m nervous that it’s going to be a brutally damp, cold winter.

Every October, at the onset of the cooler months here in New York City, I set out to craft a series of blog articles on cold weather skincare and winterizing the skin to defend against skin-aging dryness and dehydration. This year, I’ve themed the series around Seasonal Skincare Transitioning — an apt characterization of what our skin goes through when the climate changes so drastically.

The first article kicked off a two-part series on the best face creams for dry skin and all skin types in the cold. Titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Moisturizers I Love That Make Me Excited For Cold Weather, the series features my top picks for all skin types. Each of the articles highlights one cold weather option for each of the four major skin types — dry, oily/acne prone, sensitive, and normal or all skin types.

SEASONAL SKINCARE: MOISTURIZERS I LOVE THAT MAKE ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER

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The first article featured one of my favorite cold weather face creams ever, the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream. With a real focus on skin barrier health, Skinfix is, in my opinion, one of the best clinical skincare brands. And the brand’s Triple Lipid-Peptide Face Cream is simply among the best moisturizers for dry skin — and just about all skin types in winter except perhaps very oily and blemish prone.

If you haven’t yet tried TLPC, I encourage you to check out my full review of it here!

I also included the Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360° Eye Cream in my initial collection as the single eye cream recommendation. It’s a near-perfect eye cream that’s got everything the skin around the eyes needs, particularly during the harsh cold months of fall and winter.

PRODUCT REVIEW: YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE ADAPTOGEN DEEP MOISTURE CREAM – BEST MOISTURIZER FOR IRRITATED SKIN

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Last week I continued the series on cold weather skincare with my top picks from two of my favorite skincare brand’s — Deciem’s The Ordinary and NIOD brands. Titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: The Best Products From The Ordinary And Niod That Get Me Excited For Cold Weather! the article was a nod to Deciem’s annual Slowvember event in which the company offers a 23% discount off of all skincare from all of its brands for entire month of November — except, notably, on Black Friday.

This year, my Slowvember picks include two products from The Ordinary — the Squalane Cleanser and the 100% Plant-Derived Hemi-Squalane, a personal fave dry facial oil.

From NIOD, I featured three of my favorites. The brand’s Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic Complex (MMHC2) is one of the best Hyaluronic Acid serums I’ve ever come across. I’ve probably been through two dozen bottles of it over the years!

I invite you to explore what I consider some of the best products from The Ordinary and NIOD — and certainly among the best skincare for colder weather. You can catch the article here.

SEASONAL SKINCARE: THE BEST PRODUCTS FROM THE ORDINARY AND NIOD THAT GET ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER!

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Which brings me to this week’s feature on Seasonal Skincare Transitioning! Next up is my annual two-part series on facial oils. Each year, I cap off my winter blog series with a piece on the best facial oils for dry skin.

I love facial oils!

A great facial oil is the heaviest moisturizer in your defensive arsenal against the dry, low-humidity air characteristic of the colder months no matter the climate. Most people don’t think of facial oils as a “moisturizer.” What usually comes to mind is a cream. And I know facial oils aren’t popular with everyone — particularly those with oily and acne prone skin. Psst…even an oily skin type can benefit from a facial oil suited for oily skin — like the Blume Meltdown Acne Oil.

PRODUCT REVIEW: BLUME | MELTDOWN ACNE OIL - BEST FACIAL OIL FOR OILY SKIN, BEST FACIAL OIL FOR ACNE

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In winter, I prefer facial oils to conventional cream moisturizers, especially the ones that regrettably come in jars. I didn’t always understand facial oils and, like so many, believed they were somehow better for other people, perhaps best for very dry skin types.

One of my favorite facial oils of all time is the Codex Bia Facial Oil — one of the best organic face oils for dry skin. The Bia Facial Oil is rich, silky, and elegant. It doesn’t feel overly greasy on skin but it does feel like your skin is being treated to something really healthy and nourishing. That’s heaven in winter! If you’re unfamiliar with Codex, it’s a clean, luxurious brand and their products are truly exquisite. You can explore my review of the Codex brand on the Skincarma Blog here.

Oh the misunderstood facial oil. A lot of people dislike them because they tend to sit on the skin, or barely absorb into the skin’s surface. That’s kind of the point. They’re the most occlusive of all skincare products, meaning they’re intended to defend skin against moisture loss. They do that by occluding, or blocking water from escaping through the surface and dehydrating your skin.

PRODUCT REVIEW: CODEX BEAUTY BIA COLLECTION FACIAL OIL – ONE OF THE BEST NATURAL FACE OILS FOR DRY SKIN

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What Does a Facial Oil Do and What Are the Benefits of Face Oil?

There is a really wonderful article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, How Facial Oils Help Skin. Here is a glimpse of their insights:

You may have noticed more and more brands are launching pure oils like argan, jojoba, coconut, or blends of oils with all manner of tempting claims. But do these facial oils live up to their potential?
The research-supported facts about what plant oils can do for skin is rather fascinating. They're not miracles, but the right plant oil or a beautiful a blend of beneficial oils can make a remarkable difference for dry, flaky, or dehydrated skin; in fact, non-fragrant facial oils can be suitable even for eczema-prone skin. Facial oils are for anyone whose skin could use a boost of nourishing, smoothing renewal, especially when seasonal cold or drier climates disturb your skin.
What are Facial Oils?
Facial oils can include any fragrant plant oils (often called essential oils, but they are anything but essential—more on that in a moment), non-fragrant plant oils (your skin will love these) or synthetic oils (such as mineral oil—which gets a bad rap in the world of skincare but for the record, the research doesn't support the negative information you find on the Internet).
Despite the name, these oils can be used anywhere on the face or body—there's no research showing that certain oils are better for one part of your skin or another. Such a notion is without logic or science.

So what makes facial oils so uniquely beneficial for your skin health in the cold?

Well, one of the most important benefits of a well-formulated facial oil is to prevent dehydration through trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL. Dehydration hasn’t traditionally been recognized as one of the main causes of skin aging. In fact, I consider both sun damage and dehydration to be the two key culprits in all signs of aging — including the formation of fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness and even sagging.

My own neck is the perfect barometer!

During the colder months, the skin on my neck seems to hollow out as the layers dehydrate and deflate. As hard as I try, it’s often a losing battle. Fortunately, my skin bounces back around March. It’s a fascinating experiment as I struggle to keep my skin optimally hydrated in the cold. I’m much better at it now than I used to be; and that’s because I fully understand the effects of TEWL on skin health.

BRANDS I LOVE: CODEX BEAUTY - CLEAN, NATURAL SKINCARE FOR HEALTHY, YOUTHFUL SKIN

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What Is Trans-Epidermal Water Loss?

For a deep-dive into trans-epidermal water loss (or TEWL), there’s an excellent article on the health website Skin Better titled, What Is Transepidermal Water Loss and Why Is it Important? It’s available to read here. In the piece, the author explains TEWL as follows:

“The skin is comprised of three primary layers: the epidermis, the outermost layer; the dermis or middle layer; and the hypodermis, the undermost layer. When water passes from the dermis through the epidermis and evaporates from the skin’s surface, this is known as transepidermal water loss (International Journal of Pharmaceutics).
While TEWL is a process that your skin naturally regulates, certain factors that can damage the skin’s barrier function can also affect TEWL levels. Circumstances such as injury, low-humidity weather conditions and topically applied products that dry out the skin can impact TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients.
Transepidermal water loss can contribute to a variety of dry skin conditions, and although it is a natural process, there are ways that you can help your skin stay moisturized and hydrated. Hydration refers to the water content of the skin, whereas moisturization is the skin’s ability to retain those water molecules. Therefore, your skin needs both elements to maintain desirable levels of TEWL.
To achieve this, combine humectant and occlusive skincare ingredients. Humectants help to draw moisture to the epidermis, either from the air if it is humid enough, or from the underlying dermis in low-humidity conditions. Because water content that is drawn from the dermis can be lost through TEWL, it’s important to combine the use of humectants with occlusives. Together, these ingredients create a reservoir of moisture in the epidermis and act as a barrier on the skin to help prevent TEWL by sealing in that moisture. The occlusive agents simultaneously keep pollutants, toxins and harmful bacteria out (Skin Therapy Letter).”

MY FAVORITE HUMECTANT SERUMS FROM PAULA'S CHOICE, THE INKEY LIST AND MORE - BEST HYALURONIC ACID SERUMS

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The Skincarma “Lock and Block” Prevents Dehydration

To start, preventing dehydration in the first place requires drinking enough water. That differs for each of us based on our weight, the foods we eat, and the climate we live in. It’s even more important during colder periods.

A good rule is to drink one ounce of water each day for every pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., you’ll need to drink 150 ounces of water each and every day to keep your body and your skin optimally hydrated.

Then, employing skincare to treat and prevent dehydration requires what I refer to as a “lock and block” strategy.

It begins with a dedicated humectant serum applied to the skin in both your AM and PM routines that helps to lock water in. Follow with a moisturizer composed of a healthy balance of both humectants and oils to block and prevent the trans-epidermal water loss that can lead to dehydration.

WATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW OF

MY FAVORITE HUMECTANT SERUMS FROM PAULA'S CHOICE, THE INKEY LIST, GHOST DEMOCRACY AND MORE

ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

One of the great things about facial oils is they’re water-free, meaning they last a lot longer. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite the museum-worthy collection of facial oils. And I’m excited to share the first four in my two-part series on my FW21 facial oil picks.

Each stands out for one reason, or several reasons — among them, uniqueness, superior quality, versatility, innovation and, as is the case with so many facial oils, sheer damn pleasure. That really is the gist of it. Facial oils are simply a pleasure to use! If you're not using a facial oil yet — either daily or a couple of times a week — now’s your chance to find one you love.

In part one, the first four FW21 facial oils include Biography’s Golden Ray Glow Drops. While I’ve reviewed it on the blog previously, I’ve simply fallen in love with it all over again this year. It’s perhaps the most luxurious of the FW21 collection.

I’m a huge fan of the clean, democratically priced Naturium brand and have reviewed several of their face serums on the blog over the past several months. They have a number of Vitamin C serums and oils and the brand’s Vitamin C Face Oil is a wonderful formulation. More on it below.

Dr. Elsa Jungman’s Start Over Moisturizing Serum is formulated to fix the microbiome by rebalancing surface bacteria and strengthening the skin barrier. Dr. Elsa is one of the few true experts on the skin microbiome, what makes it tick, and what it needs to tick right.

Lastly, I’m excited to feature the Maelove Love 31 Precious Face Oil — my first product inclusion from the clean beauty brand.

Let’s have a look at one of my FW21 facial oils, which I consider ideal for cold weather in part one of the series…

Biography | Golden Ray Glow Drops

I was first introduced to the Biography brand over a Zoom call in the depths of the pandemic lockdown. I loathe Zoom calls, but this one was actually interesting.

Biography’s founder, Linda Thompson, has been crafting her new, smart brand and uniquely active facial oils for the better part of eight years. With intelligent and intriguing messaging (this writer appreciates that most!), the brand debuted with four facial oils in all, but the Golden Ray Glow Drops is my personal fave to this day.

What We Do.

It’s a short list: we make face oils. Namely, four active oil blends with the power to change your skin—and your story. We’re hawkish about our craft: what other companies may outsource, we handcraft from scratch, doing the meticulous designing, formulating, and clinical testing. The result is skincare that actually delivers what it promises: meaningful, visible change from naturally healing sources, bound to replace your creams and moisturizers in one fell swoop (or maybe four).

Did you catch that? “The result is skincare…bound to replace your creams and moisturizers in one fell swoop (or maybe four).” That speaks directly to me. I’ve long espoused ditching conventional face creams in jars to step up your skincare game.

The Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops is the perfect place to start your journey to optimizing your skin health. It’s a rich, luxurious blend of some of the best organic oils for nourishing skin and promoting skin heath.

Many of the oils Linda selected for the Golden Ray Glow Drops facial oil actually do double duty as potent antioxidants that help defend skin against aging environmental aggressors. Sure, skin does that relatively well on its own, but all skin types can benefit from more antioxidant protection.

Honestly, I don’t believe you can have enough antioxidants in your regimen. In fact, I look at antioxidants as the unsung heroes of anti-aging skincare. Antioxidants are anti-aging. Sunscreen is anti-aging. Marketing average skincare products as anti-aging is not anti-aging.

What Are Antioxidants and What Do Antioxidants Do for Skin?

Antioxidants possess numerous benefits for the skin, including preventing skin damage and multiple signs of aging. There’s an excellent article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, How Antioxidants Fight the Signs of Aging that you can catch here. This is what I found most insightful:

Antioxidants for Skin Benefits
Antioxidants play a unique role when it comes to diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Years of environmental damage (including unprotected sun exposure—one more reason to apply that broad-spectrum sunscreen!) slowly chip away at skin’s natural ability to look and feel healthy. As this damage builds up, skin gradually loses its ability to recover and bounce back as it once did. It’s not an exaggeration to say that after years of damage, skin becomes overwhelmed, and its “look young systems” begin to slow down.
Antioxidants in skin care step in to help shield skin’s surface from further deterioration by calming stressed skin and defending against the visible effects of pollution —something all of us encounter on a daily basis.
What happens as a result of applying antioxidants to your face is truly impressive: Skin’s appearance begins to turn around! It regains a firmer feel and more even skin tone—and those wrinkles you’re probably not fond of will visibly soften.

The Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops facial oil is infused with multiple non-fragrant plant oils, many of which are organic. Among the organic oils are Jojoba Seed Oil, Camellia Seed Oil, Pumpkin Seed Oil, Rosehip Fruit Oil and Raspberry Seed Oil — notably the first five ingredients in the entire INCI.

Most intriguing and unique about the formula is the inclusion of what the brand terms, French marine algae. I’m not aware that French seaweed is any more beneficial to the skin as seaweed anywhere else on Earth. But many forms of algae possess superb nourishing, hydrating and humectant benefits for the skin. Algae also has antioxidant properties for the skin. I love that Linda infused her already superbly pampering oil with it!

Golden Ray Glow Drops is a wet oil with a deep, neon orange hue that reminds me of the iconic Phoenix facial oil from clean luxe brand Herbivore. I suspect it owes its electric color to the Sea Buckthorn Oil — as is the case with Phoenix.

It’s not too heavy, not too light. Just lavishing enough to prevent dehydration and keep your skin feeling plump and healthy throughout the night. Hey, it also makes the perfect #selfcaresunday treat if you’re just chillin at home and don’t need to apply a sunscreen.

What I like about it: The Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops is an exquisite blend of organic, antioxidant non-fragrant plants oils. It has a wonderfully sensorial experience to it that makes it exceptional.

What I don’t like about it: Despite the fact that the vast majority of the formula is composed of non-fragrant plant oils, there are several fragrant oils at the very end of the INCI: Cedarwood Oil, Palmarosa Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil, Frankincense Oil, Geranium Oil. These give it a slightly fragrant scent. While it does dissipate in time, fragrance in skincare always gives me pause.

Who it’s for: Normal, dry and particularly very dry skin types. Since there is some fragrance in the Golden Ray Glow Drops, sensitive skin types may want to consider another option.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops for $112 here.

SHOP BIOGRAPHY FOR GOLDEN RAY GLOW DROPS

The Ingredient List of the Biography Golden Ray Glow Drops:

Organic Jojoba Seed Oil, Organic Camellia Seed Oil, Organic Pumpkin Seed Oil, Organic Rosehip Oil, Organic Raspberry Seed Oil, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Organic Cranberry Seed Oil, Carrot Seed Oil, Watermelon Seed Oil, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Sea Buckthorn Oil, Organic Amla Oil, Vitamin E, Marine Algae Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, Safflower Seed Oil, Rosemary Extract, Cedarwood Oil, Palmarosa Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil, Frankincense Oil, Geranium Oil.