Everyone loves an affordable brand right now. It’s nice to have something you can use that’s actually really affordable and decent at the same time. A new affordable brand on the market is The Inkey List. I grabbed four items to start from Cult Beauty but don’t worry The Inkey List is coming to Sephora April 19th. The Hyaluronic Acid serum is your basic hydrating hyaluronic acid serum. It has low and high molecular weight hyaluronic acid combined with Matrixyl 3000 for plumping. It’s fairly thin in texture and not sticky. It’s got a flip top plastic bottle. I love the easy texture of it as some cheap hyaluronic acid serums can have thicker sticky textures. Details per The Inkey List:
Hyaluronic Acid is a hero ingredient for skin and something we would recommend for everyone. It’s gentle, hydrating and can actually aid the efficacy of your other products. For this reason, we would recommend using it as your first serum, straight after cleansing and toning.
One of the most important factors for healthy, plump skin, is hydration. There is a difference between dry skin, which is a skin type and dehydrated skin, which is a skin condition that affects most of us and is aggregated by lifestyle factors. Even oily skin can be dehydrated.
Naturally found in the skin, our Hyaluronic Acid levels gradually reduce over time. Using Hyaluronic Acid topically can help to draw moisture to the skin, which can make skin appear healthy, plumper and reduce the appearance of fine lines.
Ingredients
Water (Aqua / Eau), Propanediol, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hyaluronic Acid, Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Phenoxyethanol
Caffeine is an eye serum for depuffing the eye area. It comes packaged in a squeeze tube. This has a creamy light serum texture that’s easily absorbed. Caffeine is great at depuffing the eye area because it constricts the blood vessels. It’s also anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant. It’s one of my favorite eye cream/serum ingredients because it’s effective. The light texture is absorbed quickly and it delivers. Details per The Inkey List:
Dark circles and puffiness can be caused by a number of factors. If you are genetically predispositioned to dark circles, caused by pigmentation underneath the eye, or puffiness under the eye caused by fat deposits, unfortunately caffeine serum is unlikely to help.
Caffeine is however, a fantastic way to reduce puffiness and dark circles caused by a number of lifestyle factors such as lack of sleep, travelling, diet and high salt intake amongst others. Applying caffeine topically essentially helps to stimulate circulation in the under-eye area, which can help with the appearance of dark circles. It also has diuretic properties, so can aid with water retention which is a common cause of under eye puffiness.
As an antioxidant, it also has preventative properties, and can protect the eye area from free radicals and environmental stress. Ensuring you are always wearing sunscreen will also help.
For an extra soothing effect, a tip would be to keep your caffeine in the refrigerator and massage gently into the under-eye area to stimulate circulation.
Ingredients
Propanediol, Polyglyceryl-6 Distearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Jojoba Esters, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Squalane, Caffeine, Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax, Phospholipids, Tribehenin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Extract, Polysorbate 60, Disodium Edta, Glyceryl Behenate, Butylene Glycol, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterol, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hyaluronic Acid, Carbomer, Darutoside, Polysorbate 20, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Phenoxyethanol
I love an acid serum at night for exfoliating. I grabbed two from The Inkey List to test out. Lacic Acid serum uses 10% lactic acid for brightening & evening the skin tone as well as exfoliating and reducing the appearance of wrinkles. Lactic acid is derived from milk and sugars. It’s a more gentle alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) as the molecule is larger which means it’s less harsh than it’s smaller cousin glycolic acid. I found this acid serum gentle and is lightly hydrating with a water like fluid texture. It was very thin in texture so it sinks in super easily. I had no irritation from use. Details per The Inkey List:
Acids aren’t scary, they’re a gentle and effective way to exfoliate the skin, but as with everything you just need to ensure you’re choosing the one that’s right for you and not overdoing it. Here’s a few tips from THE INKEY LIST.
Lactic Acid is the gentlest of all of the AHAs. If you’re new to AHAs it is a good place to start. We advise starting with every other night to begin with. Lactic Acid is the most gentle of the AHAs, making it perfect for those with more sensitive skin.
Due to its exfoliating and skin renewing properties, it can aid deeper penetration of the serums you apply afterwards.
How quickly the skin renews itself is dependent on age and whilst you may see some instant effects from the product, you should see the full effect within 30 days of beginning use.
Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Lactic Acid, Propanediol, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Sodium Hyaluronate, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Agastache Mexicana Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
Alpha Hydroxy Acid serum is a multifaceted AHA serum. It uses 10% natural fruit acids (Bilberry, Sugar Cane, Sugar Maple, Citrus) in combination with 1% hyaluronic acid. The serum also has vitamin C and glycerin. It’s very gentle and doesn’t sting the skin at all. It has a thin gel serum texture that slippery and sinks in quickly. This one is thicker than the lactic acid serum. I find the naturally derived AHAs tend to be more gentle on the skin so this should be a great AHA serum for sensitive skin and beginners. In my experience the natural AHAs while more gentle are a bit less powerful so it just depends what you’re looking for in an AHA serum. Glycolic acid tends to also be a bit more effective than lactic acid for me. Details per The Inkey List:
Also known as AHA, this is a type of acid that is found naturally in different foods and plants, that gently exfoliates to leave skin soft and smooth. AHAs exfoliate the skin by working to unglue dead skin on the surface that can make the skin appear dull, pores larger and give the appearance of an uneven skin tone. Using AHAs increases cell turnover and skin sheds naturally, to reveal a brighter and more even skin tone.
Alpha Hydroxy Acid acts to:
- Target rough skin
- Increase cell renewal
- Reduce the appearance of brown spots
- Smooth skin texture
The Inkey List actually gives quite a bit of info on how to use AHAs which I find great. With the low price point the brand will appeal to acid beginners. This is what they list on their site:
Acids aren’t scary, they’re a gentle and effective way to exfoliate the skin, but as with everything you just need to ensure you’re choosing the one that’s right for you and not overdoing it. Here’s a few tips from THE INKEY LIST.
Using AHAs like Alpha Hydroxy Acid can help boost the effect of other products used after. Due to its exfoliating properties and ability to increase skin renewal, it can aid deeper penetration of the serums you apply afterward.
If you’re new to AHAs, we advise starting with every other night to begin with. For advice on picking the right AHA for you click here.
How quickly the skin renews itself is dependent on age, and whilst you may see some instant effects from the product, you should see the full effect within 30 days of beginning use.
How to use with other products AHAs can be combined with most other products, however there are a few to be careful with to ensure you don’t sensitize the skin.
When combining with a Vitamin C serum Both are amazing ingredients that can help with healthy looking skin, however it would be best to use Vitamin C in the AM and Alpha Hydroxy in the PM. The acidic PH of both could lead to increased sensitivity and irritation if used together. Vitamin C works best in the AM due to its antioxidant properties.
Always wear sunscreen when using Alpha Hydroxy Due to exfoliating properties of AHA, and the fact it increases skin renewal, this means that the top layer of skin is newer and therefore potentially more sensitive to sunlight, so we would always recommend using in PM and wearing sunscreen during the day whilst using this product and for 7 days after.
Using with a retinol If you are also using Retinol in your evening routine and want to add an acid we suggest using acids weekly or if you want to use your acid more regularly alternating with Retinol. If you do wish to use both on the same day, due to PH levels we would recommend waiting around 20 minutes before applying your Retinol and be careful of overuse as both increase skin renewal and may cause sensitivity.
Using with other AHAs We would recommend only using one AHA at a time (This includes Glycolic, Alpha Hydroxy and Lactic acids) Whilst they can have slightly different benefits you can have too much of a good thing and over exfoliation can lead to increased sensitivity.
Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Propanediol, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Fruit Extract, Glycerin, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Hyaluronate, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Xanthan Gum, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Sodium Benzoate, Allantoin, Sodium Levulinate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Anisate, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate.
Overall I was pretty impressed by these four from The Inkey List. I don’t normally expect much when it comes to bargain skincare. The textures normally kill bargain skincare for me because they’re usually not great. The textures on these products were really nice. They were all thin and not sticky plus they layered well with everything. The acid serums were particularly nice because none of them were harsh which I find happens in cheaper formulations. I look forward to trying more from the brand and seeing where they go in the future.
