Retinol is a well-known skincare ingredient and is often referred to as a miracle due to its many benefits. However, as it is a powerful ingredient, there are certain aspects to consider before using it. Here is everything you need to know about retinol. 

What is retinol?

Retinol is a potent skincare ingredient found in vitamin A. Retinol is available in a range of strengths, with higher percentages of retinol needing to be prescribed by the doctor. Retinol speeds up the cell turnover process, which naturally takes around 30 days; however, retinol takes 14-21 days.

The benefits of using retinol

Retinol has transformative powers that work wonders on the skin. This multipurpose ingredient drastically brightens up the skin as well as improving texture and fine lines. Retinol increases collagen production, which is necessary for the skin’s elasticity and hydration. Increased collagen production helps with ageing, reducing the appearance of the signs of ageing. It will also encourage a smooth and even complexion that appears much plumper. The benefits will be noticeable from anywhere between four weeks and a few months. However, this is dependable on the strength of retinol you are using. 

How to use retinol

Retinol must be eased gradually into your skincare routine to build up a tolerance. To begin your retinol journey, introduce a small amount for one night. Then, over the next few days, monitor how your skin reacts. If the skin is not irritated, use the retinol again. Repeat this process until your skin tolerates this ingredient. Although, if the skin becomes flaky or red, reduce the concentration of retinol. To do this, mix in the retinol with a moisturiser. Use retinol at night as it makes the skin considerably more sensitive to UV rays. Therefore, it is essential to apply SPF in the morning. Ingredients to look out for in skincare products that pair well with retinol include ceramides and glycerine. Mixing these hydrating ingredients with retinol will assist in supporting the skin. It’s a good idea to avoid another vitamin A skincare products when applying retinol at night so that there is a controlled amount of this ingredient on the skin.

The side effects of retinol

Using retinol for the first time can sometimes cause redness, peeling and irritation. Therefore, it is crucial to start with a small amount and build it up over time. Those with more sensitive skin that is easily irritated should only use a tiny amount or avoid retinol altogether. There are rare side effects to using retinol, such as acne breakouts and eczema flare-ups. The side effects are why it’s crucial to build a tolerance to retinol.

When is the best time to start using retinol?

Most dermatologists will advise that your mid to late 20s is the ideal time to introduce retinol into your skincare routine. Collagen in the skin starts to decrease in your late twenties, which contributes to the appearance of ageing, such as wrinkles and less elasticity. As retinol increases collagen production, it’s best to start using it at this age to prevent early ageing. 

Our favourite retinol products

Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Booster is the best choice for beginners looking to start with retinol. The 1% retinol actively fights dark spots, pores, and fine lines. The formula works well added to a moisturiser or serum to reduce the strength of the retinol. It is a water-based fluid that is absorbed quickly, feeling light on the skin. The oat extract helps to soothe and calm the skin to ensure the skin does not react to the retinol after use. Using this product consistently will mean the skin becomes more luminous and more youthful. 

£ 48

Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Booster

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Another great product if you’re looking to start with retinol is the Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream. This magical cream brightens the skin while improving texture. This cream will deliver all the benefits of retinol without creating any redness and irritation to the skin. Drunk Elephant recommends that this product is mixed in with your favourite moisturiser so that your skin can acclimatise to the strength of the retinol. With a blend of apricot, passionfruit and jojoba oils, this cream will ensure your skin is at its strongest and healthiest.  

£ 62

Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream

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Try the Kate Somerville +Retinol Vita C Power Serum for something more potent. The powerful combination of retinol and vitamin C means the skin will be radiant and smooth while replenished with moisture. This serum contains antioxidants to protect the skin against external aggressors. External aggressors often lead to early signs of ageing. After use, the skin will appear visibly brighter and youthful looking as well as much firmer. Apply a thin layer of this serum at night and start to see results after a few weeks of use. 

£ 86

Kate Somerville +Retinol Vita C Power Serum

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Words By Eleanor Coleman

The post Our Guide To Using Retinol appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Recently, as I was walking by Sephora there was a SALE sign and it might as well have been offering to take my coat because before I knew it, I was in there sampling perfumes and swatching everything else. Having never left Sephora without buying anything (even if it’s the counter stuff). Immediately I got home the guilt of how much cosmetics I have accumulated and how much of that I actually used, descended.

Kon Mari developed by Marie Kondo is the art of tidying up by keeping products that spark joy in your life. Unlike minimalism, which is living on only what you require, Kon Mari focuses on living with things you truly cherish. So, it might be completely useless but if you love it, it gets to stay. Remembering my previous guilt, I decided to Marie Kondo my life.

My closet used and abused after years of new year, new me was full to the brim with trend specific outfits and occasion dresses that were only worn once for Instagram, and twice or thrice in public. Pulling down all my clothes I took a hard look at them and tossed out most of them. Focusing on personal style and also most importantly the joy that each garment sparked. Some felt nostalgic and great steals, but others just held memories of that one time (yeah let’s not talk about it) in summary they had to go. Some garments I did not want to completely get rid of I upcycled and reused them.

After the success of my closet, I moved on to other rooms in the house. Furniture, unlike clothes, have longer life spans in the house and satisfaction periods. so, we tend to pay more attention to what we like when it comes to buying a sofa or a coffee table. Hence, I didn’t have to get rid of so much furniture, but it was the little things that had to go that artwork that was supposed to bring the whole room together or the million lamps dedicated to brightening up the place had to go.

After the success of my surrounding, the change was instant, I suddenly loved my stuff a little bit more and enjoyed sitting on the couch a little bit longer knowing that they were all significant.Now as I walk by the Sephora store and I see the SALE sign, I still go in ready to purchase my products on discount, but I may leave with fewer items, but I leave happy with my purchases.

To learn about Kon Mari catch up with Marie Kondo on her website read her published books or you can also watch her on Tidying up with Marie kondo on Netflix

Words by Precious NjokiGraphics by Séverine Denis-Lessard

The post Marie Kondo Your Life appeared first on Voir Fashion.

If you thought you’d got the perfect aeroplane travel routine – you’re probably wrong.

The Naomi Campbell put us all to shame as she went through her plethora of steps to ensure she stays germ-free, and ever- beautiful while flying high.

As she went on to explain:

No. 1. You must “clean down everything you touch” with a pair of rubber gloves and Dettol wipes you should carry handy.No. 2. Make sure to take a seat cover in “colours that make you happy”, (but you must have a clean one every time and wash them once a week).No 3. Followed with your skincare routine – a handy travel bag of pure hydration – masks, serums and sprays.And finally, finish off with a surgical mask to ensure she keeps her vitality aboard when people are coughing and spluttering.

We agree Naomi we “just can’t” either.

Watch her infamous routine here:

But, let’s face it, maintaining healthy skin on the go isn’t easy. Your body is overtired, suffering from jet lag, and after all, not all of us are supermodels.

Although summer provides us with endless opportunities when it comes to travel, we can tend to feel that little bit less glamorous coming off that plane.

So here are our must-haves for flying high Naomi style:

Of course, we recommend taking a seat cover like Naomi – so take something comfortable and warm. Barefoot Dreams’ CozyChic line of throws and blankets are undeniably soft, light, and adored by private jet regular Kourtney Kardashian. Layer this over your seat to relax in comfort in style next plane journey (obviously, after you’ve cleaned down your seat first).

For a hit of hydration, Glo Skin Beauty offers several masks to soothe skin and replenish your natural moisture. The Soothing Gel Mask will help you to look significantly less puffy in baggage claim, and their Restorative Mask works to deeply moisturise and strengthen the skin (ideal pre/post-holiday drinking). Use one or the other, or both if you’re feeling extra.

Sprays and mists also make for great company aboard, as the air is filtered and conditioned it means, more often than not, it can feel parched; hence that dry-throat we all know too well when flying. To tackle this, delicately mist either the Conditioning Mist or Phyto-Active Mists to add some humidity back into your skin, in first a T-motion, then an X.

Follow with Glo Skin Beauty’s Daily Hydration, a moisturising serum which will help to lock in that added moisture from the mists, plus brighten dull complexions with 15% Vitamin C. Plus it also will shield skin against environmental aggressors, perfect for plane travel.

Funnily enough, even though you may not have landed in your sunny destination yet, even sitting by the plane windows, you’re still within risk of sun damage from UV rays. The rule still stands that you should always be wearing SPF.

Apply Glo Skin Beauty’s Solar Shade SPF 50 for maximum protection after your finished skincare regime aboard, as not only will it protect you from sun damage, but its delicate moisturising texture formulated for sensitive skin will help you preserve that youthful glow you worked so hard to keep.

Better yet, you use their Moisturising Tint Sun Cream SPF 30 which provides a sheer hint of colour to tone and enhance skin’s radiance without suffocating the skin – great to apply just before hopping off the plane.

Facial pads which are already soaked in key nourishing ingredients are perfect for inflight care.Their ease of portability makes for an ideal in-flight treatment for those of use with more troubled skin to reduce any oily skin breakouts without carrying any extra products. The Clear Complexion Pads are infused with antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to treat congested skin, leaving it calmer, shine-free and more balanced.

For internal beauty, and calm (we know flying can be a tad stressful), Moon Juice’s Dream Dust is a powdered supplement to apply to add to any smoothies or hot drinks (we particularly recommend it with a hot

fruit tea). It’s smooth blend of Ashwagandha, Jujube, Polygala, Chamomile & Schisandra targets stress for relief of tension and to promote deep, tranquil rest.

Follow with a Slip Sleep Mask,“The beauty secret of celebrity hairstylists, dermatologists, beauty experts and even a supermodel or two.”

Since it’s made from pure silk, not only does it block out the world for a night of restless sleep, but it won’t absorb any skincare, and prevents bed head and facial creases.

Finally, jump off the plane smelling as fresh as you feel, by applying Byredo’s Blanche Roll-On

Perfume. Its light, clean scent was built around founder Ben Gorham’s perception of the colour white. This simple formula is composed of subtle hints of White Rose, Violet and Sandalwood, peppered with Peony and Blonde Woods for a delicate, feminine effect.

Go on, have your in-flight spa treatment and impress Naomi herself.

Graphics by Sasha Green

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By now like the rest of us you’ve probably already binged watched the latest season of Stranger Things (if not what are you doing?!)

While the mind-flayer is a still a presence in many of our nightmares, another moment within the series grabbed our attentions.

Mrs Wheeler’s pool-side ‘lewk’… cyan smudged eyes, a fuchsia lip, paired with a matching one piece. To say the least, we were mesmerised.

The quintessential 1980’s colours that vibrated throughout the mise en scene of the series, and on Mrs Wheeler’s lids, was a clever reflection on motifs of the narrative itself.

Stranger Things has based its look and pathos on an accumulation of stories, films and books central to the 1980’s. And in series 3, which centres around the first stereotypical American style mall in the small town of Hawkins, and the invasion of Russian intelligence, particularly plays with an archetypal 80’s sci-fi sub-genre – cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk, focuses around an ominous force having control over those in the narrative, usually centring around technology, and it often crosses over into elements of neo-noir, as the main character is part of some type of police force (for example the Blade Runner films)

Stills from Blade Runner 2049

Most commonly you can recognise the look of a Cyberpunk work by colour; usually playing with reds, pinks, purples and blues, the colours replicate a world of technology by the unnatural spectrum, which also symbolises the neon signs and bright lights of the modern landscape its set in.

And this series of Stranger Things is no stranger to this colour palette, reflected in ‘The Battle of Starcourt’, scenes in the secret Russian Lab, the ‘80s style print shirts worn by Elle, and on Mrs Wheelers eyes.

Not only is this look so on trend for the summer, but it acts a foreshadowing for the rest of the series – an ominous force in control, hidden behind the eyes. Now that’s pretty cool makeup.

Here’s how to get the pool-side look yourself:

Start with a M.A.C. Long Wear Paint Pot in Painterly, although it’s technically not an eyeshadow primer, this cream eyeshadow works better than most. It sets completely to the point where you could dunk your head in water about 50 times and not see a budge. The delicate cream colour will smooth out the colour of lids, which more often than not can be slightly veiny, so you get out-of-this-world colour payoff.

Follow with a SS19 trend of juicy vibrant coloured liner – Glossier’s Colourslide pencils are waterproof, and come in wide variety of colours never seen in a pencil liner before. Or for even brighter liner use Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, which can be smudged out as an all over lid-look.

Finish off the look with a Fenty Poutsicle in Topic Tantrum, for a bright fuchsia lip, and a light dabbing of Chantecaille’s Aqua Blush in Red Ginger.

You’ll be sending all the lifeguards wild with this look.

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Images by Sasha Green

The post Stranger Summer: Your Pool-Side Look Inspired by Stranger Things 3 appeared first on Voir Fashion.