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We’re super excited to announce the newest range to essano, Concentrated Serums! These are five new products designed to boost your skincare routine and target specific skin concerns.
All natural yet effective, here is the line-up of our newest Concentrated Serum range:
- Intense Hydration - Hyaluronic Acid to plump, soothe and restore moisture.
- Wrinkle Rescue - Natural Retinol to help minimise fine lines and wrinkles.
- Eye Perfect - Peptides to reduce the appearance of puffy eye bags and dark circles.
- Advanced Brightening - Vitamin C to restore radiance and brighten.
Behind the range: Q&A with Vanessa, the brand manager behind the development of essano Concentrated Serums
Vanessa sits on our marketing team and is one of the essano superstars behind our Concentrated Serums range. We were able to grab her insights into the development of these products.
1. Thanks for your time, Vanessa. Firstly, can you tell us the initial thoughts behind the concept of these extraordinary skincare serums?
I’m a skincare/beauty addict myself and I always have friends and family asking me for advice. They’re always wanting to know what to use for a particular skin problem, as they couldn’t decipher all the different products on the market. When you’re not constantly involved in skincare or have a wide knowledge of products, it can be really intimidating and confusing.
We saw a gap in the market – no one else was making it easy. We wanted to create a simplified range of products to add into a simple (and realistic) skincare routine that wouldn’t cost too much or be confusing.
2. Hyaluronic Acid sounds quite harsh! Is it safe to put acid on your face? What is special about this type of acid?
Although Hyaluronic Acid sounds scary, it’s naturally produced by the body and is present in the skin where it binds to water to help retain moisture. Hyaluronic Acid in your body can diminish due to the natural ageing process or from things like exposure to the sun, smoke or pollution.
Hyaluronic Acid helps to attract more moisture to help soothe dry and dehydrated skin.
3. We noticed that the Wrinkle Rescue is a natural alternative to retinol. Why did you choose Bakuchiol instead of retinol?
Retinol (Vitamin A) has long been touted as the ultimate anti-ageing miracle worker. Despite the amazing benefits, the side effects can include flaky skin, dryness and increased sensitivity to the sun (not good especially for NZ & Australia!). This is often described as “retinol burn”.
Retinol is quite a complex ingredient too – you have to slowly build up tolerance or avoid it altogether if you have sensitive or easily irritated skin.
We wanted to offer a product that was worry-free with the benefit of anti-ageing but without the added risks, and also could be used on all skin types.
Bakuchiol is a 100% plant-based natural alternative to retinol that is vegan-friendly and gentle on skin. It functions similar to retinol by increasing skin cell turnover thereby stimulating collagen production and helping to diminish the signs of ageing such as fine lines and wrinkles.
We suggest using our Wrinkle Rescue serum at night time as it may not sit well under makeup… but this is definitely safe to wear all times of the day!
4. Peptides is a huge buzzword in skincare, but what are they exactly? And why are they good for your eyes?
Peptides are amino acids and can be found in all living organisms, for example, naturally in your food. They are used for anti-ageing purposes in skincare as they rebuild and repair damaged cells.
We have used two different types of peptides in our Eye Perfect concentrated serum. Our chosen peptides work to reduce puffy eye bags and dark circles while helping to slow down the visible signs of ageing.
Eye Perfect helps to plump the sensitive skin around the eyes and prompt collagen production – they basically tell your skin that you’re younger than you are!
5. We love Vitamin C! Will the Advanced Brightening Serum make our skin sun-sensitive though?
Our Vitamin C is really stable - we made sure that the Vitamin C in our formula wouldn’t oxidize before coming into contact with your skin (which is where skin sensitivity can then happen).
We have used a specific type of Vitamin C that absorbs better into the skin without reactions you’d typically get, and our formula is not too acidic and has been designed to penetrate the deep levels of skin to help brighten dark spots and pigmentation.
7. What order would you recommend we use these concentrated serums? Can you use all of them at the same time?
Many ingredient-focused serums will have limitations with layering – for example, Vitamin C and Niacinamide with other brands are likely not compatible. We worked hard to ensure you didn’t need to worry about that with our Concentrated Serums.
I suggest starting with just one serum in the morning and one at night, and slowly introduce them. When layering, start with lighter serums as they have smaller molecules (such as the Skin Tone Perfector Niacinamide or Intense Hydration Hyaluronic Acid). Follow with Advanced Brightening Vitamin C, a slightly heavier serum. Finish with the Wrinkle Rescue Natural Retinol as this is the heaviest of the serums.
Eye Perfect Peptides works on its own – we created this eye serum to be used instead of an eye crème.
Personally, this is my routine after cleansing and toning:
- Morning – Peptides around eyes then Hyaluronic Acid followed by Vitamin C.
- Night – Peptides around eyes then Hyaluronic Acid, followed by Natural Retinol.
Then I lock it all in with a moisturiser. When summer comes, I may change up my routine again. These serums give me the ability to define what I need at any time!
8. Lastly, we know you’ve put a lot of passion into developing all of these five serums… But, if you were stuck on a deserted island, what is the one serum you’d definitely bring with you and why? 😉
This is a hard one because I love each and every serum but I would say the Vitamin C serum, only as I know that sun is going to cause havoc with my skin. I would want to firstly help prevent any damage from the sun and secondly, be able to reduce any spots or pigmentation from that UV overdose! I know I would be glowing by the time I was finally rescued 😊
