Back in the day when I did beauty therapy, it was drummed into my head that the most important skin routine was to Cleanse, tone and moisturise daily. Whilst I practised this every day for a nearly a year, I became aware that toning wasn't doing anything particularly good for my skin. So I stopped. A few years later, I kind of felt like it should be in my routine again, after all, the professionals wouldn't tell you do it if it wasn't good?
So I did, and again, it did nothing but completely strip my skin of the good and bad. I thought maybe the product I was using was too harsh, so I tried a couple, and unfortunately I had the same results. Maybe the ones I have used in the past have all been too high in alcohol or something, either way they have put me off for life.
I was recently introduced to another product from SUPER By Dr Nicholas Perricone, the Firming Activator, and was kindly sent it to try out for myself.
When it first arrived at my door, I read through the press release and these two statements immediately stood out to me
"Toss your toner and step up your skincare routine with one of four revolutionary, triple-action Activators. While regular toners simple strip the top layer of skin, leaving it feel dry, our weightless, liquid-based Activarots exfoliate, hydrate and penetrate simultaneously, prepping skin to receive further treatment"
and
"Unwrinkle those crinkles"
Really wanting to improve my skincare routine (and get rid of my wrinkles), I was terribly excited about using this. Being a little worried that this was just a toner with a more fancy name, I decided to introduce it into my regime slowly, as it's better to be safe than sorry!
This product is one of four in the range, whilst I got the Firming Activator with Red Algae available also is Clarifying with Apple, Moisturising with Chia and Brightening with Melon.
SUPER products are all about using the benefits of SUPER foods and super nutrients to do amazing things to your skin and so in order to create a firming activator, Dr Nicholas Perricone created this using Red Algae, which contains a very powerful antioxidant- Astaxanthin. This is meant to help retain moisture in your skin and give the appearance of filled, plumped lines and wrinkles. Refined lines- fantastic!
Other key nutrients are Glycolic Acid which has been used to gently exfoliate and remove the surface oils that block our pores and Oat Beta-Glucan to create a protective barrier which is said to help retain the skins moisture.
Like I said, all of the SUPER products are free of bad stuff and this is free of Parabens, Silicones, Mineral Oils, Sulfates, Synthetic fragrances, Propylene Glycol and is also Cruelty free! - What a mouthful!
"Cleanse, Activate, Tone"
This sits where a toner would normally sit in your routine, in-between the cleansing and moisturising stage.
I apply quite a lot of the product to a cotton pad, and run it over my clean face (particularly my forehead!).
Like I felt when I first used the SUPER 3 Minute Facial which I blogged about here, so used to feeling nothing, I was slightly concerned I was having a small reaction. It's weird when you jump to this conclusion when a product is probably just actually working. About 30 seconds after applying this, my face feels all tingly- nothing near uncomfortable but not the nicest feeling in the world either. This soon settles when the product has dried and I suppose, done its job.
"..advanced liquid Treatment Prep that exfoliates each and every pore, then saturates skin with antioxidants, active ingredients and hydration"
"..advanced liquid Treatment Prep that exfoliates each and every pore, then saturates skin with antioxidants, active ingredients and hydration"
I always apply this in front of a mirror, trying to watch out for miracle disappearance of my lines and though there is no huge miracles, I'm pretty sure that this definitely does help to plump them out and make them less visible- though unfortunately they are still very much there.
When it comes to the exfoliation, I'm a little confused as to how this liquid product actually works, but it does seem to as my skin is left feeling incredibly soft and around my nose area definitely feels a lot more decongested.
This product doesn't have the heaviest scent at all and though I've never smelt Red Algae, I imagine the scent is of that. The consistency of the product is exactly like water, and if it wasn't soaked into a cotton pad would just fall off of your face.
I've mentioned before that fortunately I don't have troubled skin, and so although I want a good routine I don't really want to overdo it with products. I'm still not using this all the time and just introduce it into my routine once every few days for a little boost.
I haven't noticed any huge changes in my skin, but my skin certainly feels a lot cleaner and tighter after using it. It definitely doesn't feel stripped and so with that, I am extremely pleased.
This product is on the more expensive side, costing £28.50 but I think its another case of you do get what you pay for.
Have you tried any of the SUPER range? Do you fancy ditching the toning to activate instead?
xx