Actives Guide
Actives. What are they? Why are they active? Who can use them? So many questions! All valid, as actives are arguably the most difficult ingredients to navigate. Here's our introductory guide to the general active ingredients.
There are three main active ingredients that can be difficult to incorporate together: chemical exfoliants (AHAs, BHAs, PHAs, LHAs, etc.), Vitamin C, and Retinoids.
Things to keep in mind:
1. If a product does not have a percentage of active ingredients printed on it, the concentration is GENERALLY low (this does not mean, however, that the product won't cause sensitivity!)
2. A higher concentration of actives does not correspond to a more efficient or effective product. Active are optimal at differing concentrations.
3. Building tolerance is a very real (and very important) thing. It's not recommended to try high concentrations of any active ingredient at the get-go. If you are very new to actives, please follow product directions carefully to maintain your skin's lipid barrier.
If you're going to experiment with mixing actives, definitely do so at night to avoid further sun sensitivity.
It takes a few months to a few years to build proper tolerance. And once you've achieved tolerance, there's no guarantee you'll maintain it.
We are now very comfortably using actives on a daily basis, but there are occasional periods in which we take a break and layer up on skin barrier replenishing ingredients instead.
We recommend starting off with once daily use (usually at night) for about three nights a week. This is an especially important rule to keep in mind when starting actives that can potentially cause purging, such as retinols!
Random Rules to Note:
-Vitamin C is exceptional during the day. It even helps boost your SPF's strength against the sun!
-AHAs and BHAs are sensitizing to the sun and are recommended to wear at night especially in higher concentrations.
-PHA does not cause sensitivity to the sun, so it's the best daytime exfoliator.
-Retinols are best used at night.