PRODUCT REVIEW: YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE SUPERFOOD SKIN DRIP SMOOTH + GLOW SERUM - What are superfoods? What are the benefits of superfoods in skincare?
YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE SUPERFOOD SKIN DRIP SMOOTH + GLOW SERUM
Optimizing your skin health is not as complicated as it seems. The complexity originates in the big beauty marketing that pushes mediocre products on uncertain consumers – and leads to mediocre results.
When I’m asked what I do to keep my skin looking so healthy and well, flaw free, I share the products that I love personally and rely on most.
But it’s really not about specific products as much as it’s about specific ingredients. Healthy skin needs a few potent actives to protect it from damage and support repair.
Sunscreen, of course, is first and foremost. After all, photoaging resulting from unprotected sun exposure is the primary cause of all signs of skin aging. In fact, according to The Skin Cancer Foundation, up to 90% of the signs of aging is due to photoaging caused by sun damage.
Beyond sunscreen, you need a handful of key actives – Retinol, Vitamin C, Niacinamide and peptides – to correct existing damage, strengthen your skin barrier and support healthy skin functions. What you don’t need is ingredient complexes made up in a marketing meeting.
I’m always on the hunt for skincare products formulated with proven, pro-skin health actives. And I’ve just come across a really interesting new multi-purpose anti-aging serum infused with Niacinamide, peptides, and antioxidant-rich superfood extracts. Good stuff, zero spin.
The new Youth to the People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum is one of the most interesting and unique face serums to boost skin health that I’ve seen in a while. My detailed review is just below…
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So what products do I recommend most when asked? Which do I consider to be the best anti-aging serums, best Vitamin C serums and even best peptide face creams? And what brands are in my own daily skincare routines?
(Psst…they’re all found in the navigation menu of my blog!)
I’ve talked a lot about my “Skincarma ABC philosophy” which puts a Retinol face serum, Niacinamide serum and Vitamin C serum at the core of my daily skincare routines.
Currently, among my favorite anti-aging treatments with Retinol are the Naturium Retinaldehyde Cream Serum 0.05%, the Paula’s Choice CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment and the new First Aid Beauty 0.3% Retinol Complex Serum – one of the best Retinol serums for sensitive skin. You can catch product reviews of my top picks of the best Retinol face serums and creams here.
My current fave Vitamin C serum? The Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum. Don’t let that 25% concentration scare you! It’s so good, I go through a bottle of it a month. Catch my review of it here.
Again, the trick is to find well-made, pro-skin health products devoid of marketing hype. Do your research, know what your skin needs, and don’t fall for big beauty marketing spin…
THE SKINCARMA CHALLENGE: HOW DO TWO POPULAR HA SERUMS COMPARE?
Before I get into my detailed Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum product review just below, I wanted to explore some of the most frequently asked questions about skin barrier health and the cool technology behind Youth To The People’s new multi-purpose superfood face serum…
1. What are superfoods?
The term “superfood” sounds really appealing. Like if you’re not eating superfoods, what are you even doing to promote your health? But what are superfoods, anyway? In a nutshell, superfoods are a specific classification of foods with a high nutritional density. This means they provide a significant amount of nutrients to the body – with few calories.
Importantly, these nutrients include high concentrations of minerals and vitamins rich in protective antioxidants – essential for healthy immune defense and healthy, youthful looking skin.
Superfoods may also be rich in fiber, healthy fats and flavonoids – compounds found in various fruits, vegetables, teas, and even red wine that offer a wide range of health benefits.
Among the best superfoods are avocados; chia seeds; dark, leafy greens; and numerous berries, including açai berries, blueberries, cranberries, and goji berries.
Sources: Medical News Today: What are superfoods and why should you eat them?; Cleveland Clinic: What Is a Superfood, Anyway?
2. What are the benefits of superfoods in skincare?
The most important benefit of superfoods and extracts of superfoods in skincare is antioxidant protection. Antioxidants like Vitamin C, Niacinamide, Resveratrol and other berry extracts are essential for attaining and maintaining healthy skin.
There’s a superb article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice research team titled Superfoods for Skin which delves into all the great benefits of superfoods used in skincare products.
From the article: “If there’s such a thing as beauty foods for skin, superfoods are it. Superfoods are nutritionally dense foods that supply skin with a broad mix of antioxidants. Some superfoods also supply essential fatty acids and vital replenishing ingredients to enrich and strengthen skin’s surface. Going further, some superfoods do all of that and deliver soothing benefits.”
To avail yourself of the benefits of superfoods, look for face serums and creams with high concentrations of the best superfoods used in skincare, including extracts of avocados; chia seeds; dark, leafy greens; and açai berries, blueberries, cranberries, and goji berries.
Sources: Paula’s Choice: Superfoods for Skin; The Los Angeles Times: Superfoods for skincare: What that really means
3. How do you fix a damaged skin barrier?
If you think your skin barrier may be damaged, it’s easy to make changes in your skincare routine that support barrier strength and repair.
A few ways to fix a damaged skin barrier:
Gentle cleansing: Switch to a gentle, hydrating cleanser that won’t strip your skin of natural oils. Avoid harsh cleansers with strong surfactants or exfoliating actives. And limit washing your face to 2x day to prevent your skin from drying out.
Reduce or pause exfoliation: Give your skin time to rest and pause the exfoliating step in your daily or weekly routine. Avoid strong chemical exfoliants like Glycolic Acid or Lactic Acid. If you feel you must exfoliate to maintain a bright, smooth complexion, consider a gentler AHA like Mandelic Acid or a PHA like Gluconolactone. Do not under any circumstances use a physical face scrub.
Boost your moisture: Use a daily facial moisturizer made with barrier-replenishing ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and fatty acids. These help replenish the skin barrier and, importantly, help your skin to retain moisture.
Protect against photodamage: It is imperative to use an effective broad-spectrum sunscreen every morning to maintain a healthy barrier. Photodamage (aka sun damage) is the leading cause of skin aging and is most responsible for thinning your skin barrier, leaving it vulnerable to irritants and moisture loss.
Sources: Paula’s Choice: Your skin’s barrier: why it’s such a big deal; Healthline: What to Know About Your Skin Barrier and How to Protect It
4. What are postbiotics?
A few years ago, skincare marketers hopped on the probiotic trend in skincare. Similarly, postbiotics are getting extra attention – and hype.
To establish the differences between the two, probiotics are living microorganisms found predominantly in certain foods like yogurt and cheese. They help to maintain optimal balance of the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome and are essential for healthy digestion.
Postbiotics, on the other hand, can be best described as active by-products of probiotics; they’re derived from the fermentation of probiotics. Studies suggest that postbiotics can help soothe inflammation, balance skin’s oil production, and promote overall resilience.
Increasingly, it’s understood that postbiotics are a more efficient way to deliver the benefits of bacteria in skincare – much better than probiotics can.
Sources: Harvard Health: What are postbiotics?; Synergie Skin: The Role of Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics In Skincare
5. Product Review
Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum Review
I began to incorporate the new Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum into my nightly skincare regimen about a month ago. At first, I wasn’t quite sure how it could fit into my routine. It’s like nothing I’d tried before. Like nothing I’m using.
And it’s weird.
It was clear to me from the start that Skin Drip is really well-formulated. After all, it’s got a veritable cocktail of beneficial antioxidant extracts and other nutrients proven to benefit skin and promote skin barrier health.
But where and when to apply it was the conundrum. Should I use it morning or night? Should it replace anything else in my routine? It took me a few days to realize how to make the most of Youth To The People’s Superfood Skin Drip Serum. I just knew I wanted to.
Where did I land? Well, I didn’t replace anything in my current routine with it. I just slotted it into the serum step of my routine – right before my moisturizer. Oh, and I realized it was best for me in the PM. And only in the PM.
PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA'S CHOICE SKIN PERFECTING 6% MANDELIC ACID + 2% LACTIC ACID LIQUID EXFOLIANT
Why the PM only? Well, among its many beneficial characteristics, Skin Drip is a peptide serum.
During much research over the last several months on peptides, I’ve concluded that there is ample support for the premise that Vitamin C – and particularly the purest form of Vitamin C, Ascorbic Acid – can interfere with and even deactivate peptides – especially true of copper peptides. The reverse may also be true: some peptides interfere with Vitamin C. Both Vitamin C and many forms of peptides are unstable and easily interfered with.
A Vitamin C serum like the Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical Serum is a central component of my morning skincare routine. I need all the antioxidant defense I can get while I’m out in the world! So I determined it’s best to apply peptides at night to optimize the skin health benefits of each.
But Skin Drip is not just a peptide serum. It’s also an antioxidant serum – a really good antioxidant serum. There are so many antioxidant vitamins, botanical and superfood extracts in it that it’s tough to count them. Add to that its blend of Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramides, and postbiotic ferment. I said it was weird!
But weird in a good way! To avoid any unworthy connotations, let’s call the Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum unusual.
And that’s why I had such a challenge figuring out where to use it in my skincare routine and whether it should replace anything else. As a Niacinamide serum, could it replace my beloved Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster serum? Alas, Skin Drip only has about a 2-3% concentration of Niacinamide. Nothing comes between me and my 10%.
So, I determined it to be a better peptide serum in my routine – I didn’t have one. And because it has a velvety, milky texture that’s thicker than my other serums, I apply it last – right before my nightly peptide face cream, usually the Skinfix Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream or Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream.
With its strengthening and soothing components – and that comforting texture – it’s also better suited for pairing it with a Retinol serum. They’re a perfect match.
There’s so much going on with Skin Drip and it’s all so good. Weird, but good. Oops!
6. Pros & Cons
What I like about it: The Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum has a lot going on and there’s a lot I really like about it. It’s soothing, replenishing and a really well-rounded anti-aging serum packed with antioxidants. The probiotics, peptides and other skin strengthening actives make it one of the better face serums for promoting a healthy skin barrier.
What I don’t like about it: I really like everything about it. But I do wish it had a higher Niacinamide content.
Who it’s for: All skin types.
SHOP THE BLOG: Want to try it for yourself? Purchase the Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum for $39 here.
FIND OUT WHICH SERUM PERFORMED BETTER – AND BY HOW MUCH!
The Ingredient List of the Youth To The People Superfood Skin Drip Smooth + Glow Serum:
Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Isopropyl Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Propanediol, Triethyl Citrate, Brassica Oleracea Acephala Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract/Matricaria Flower Extract, Medicago Sativa Extract/Alfalfa Extract, Spinacia Oleracea/Spinach Leaf Extract, Adenosine, Alteromonas Ferment Extract, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Bisabolol, Capryloyl Salicylic Acid, Carnosine, Hydroxypalmitoyl Sphinganine, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Taraxacum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract-Dandelion Rhizome/Root Extract, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Tocopherol, Brassica Oleracea Italica Seed Oil/Broccoli Seed Oil, Ceramide NP, Boron Nitride, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glucomannan, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Pentylene Glycol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, Trihydroxystearin, Xanthan Gum, CI 77288/Chromium Oxide Greens, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum/Fragrance.
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