Hyphen 0.05 Retinal Reset Serum Review
Review
Hyphen’s 0.05% retinal reset serum is a good product, but with a few conditions.
Retinoids are the scientific name of vitamin A derivatives. They are considered the gold standard for anti-aging ingredients in skin care.
Three forms of retinoids are used in skin care: retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid. Of these three, retinol offers the least benefits to the skin, while retinoic acid offers the most. Retinal is in the middle.
This product uses 0.05% retinal.
Retinal boosts the collagen in our skin, keeping it firm and toned, and it reduces fine lines.
At 0.05% retinal, it is a medium-strength Vitamin A product. If you have already been using retinoid products and your skin is comfortable with them, you should opt for the 0.1% retinal product.
At 0.05%, this product is good starting point if you have never used retinoid products.
It contains bakuchiol, which is plant-based and has vitamin A activity. However, this product uses less than 0.05% of bakuchiol, and it needs to be at a higher percentage to be effective.
It has a few different humectants that add hydration to the skin and a few emollients that help retain hydration. Hydrated skin is soft and plump.
It has a few antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. These calm and brighten the skin.
Centella Asiatica extract is relatively high on the ingredient list, meaning it uses a good quantity of this ingredient. This is a good antioxidant that can slow the skin’s ageing. But not all of Centella Asiatica is powerful. Two ingredients, madecassoside and asiaticoside, are the power ingredients. Some skincare manufacturers extract one or both of these ingredients from Centella Asiatica and use them in their products—and when they do that, they mention these ingredients in their list. This product uses Centella Asiatica as a whole. Though using Centella might sound very beneficial, it is not as effective if we think about it. The product would have got substantial bonus points had it extracted the power ingredients and used them instead of using them as a whole.
If this is your first retinoid product, this is a good starter serum.
With retinoids, we need to increase the strength of these ingredients gradually. So, if you are already using a retinoid product and your skin is responding well, this product can be too mild for you.
It brightens, softens, plumps up, and glows the skin. It can also reduce fine lines. I am using ‘can’ because reducing fine lines takes a long time and depends on what else your skin is exposed to.
The product’s marketing is quite exaggerated on many levels. Ignore the 60% improvement in collagen. We need more information about the study they are talking about. I don’t know who was tested and what else they were using. Just ignore that 60%.
The product will not even out the hyperpigmentation as much as its marketing says. It has a few antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients that will brighten skin, but to tackle pigmentation, it needs ingredients that specifically target pigmentation, and these need to be present at the right percentages.
It has chamomilla extract, which is a good ingredient. However, if you are allergic to flowers from the daisy family, stay away from this product.
How to use the product?
Cleanse your face.
Add this serum.
Then, top it off with this moisturiser.
Use this serum in the nigh time. You will get better results by using it in the night time.
Ingredient 1 – Aqua
Function: Solvent
It helps in dissolving other ingredients in the product.
Dissolved ingredients can spread better on the skin.
Ingredient 2 – Centella Asiatica (Cica) Extract
Function: Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant
Also called gotu kala. Has been used for centuries for its healing properties.
Reduces redness, calms and soothes skin. It also neutralises nasty substances called free radicals. Free radicals inflame the skin, lead to pigmentation & dull looking skin.
Ingredient 3 – Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Extract
Function: Humectant, Anti-inflammatory
It holds on to water molecules and prevents them from leaving, thus hydrating the skin.
It calms, soothes and reduces inflammation in the skin
Ingredient 4 – Ester of Ethly Olivate
Function: Emollient
Derived from olive. It forms a thin layer on the skin’s surface and reduces the loss of hydration from the skin into the atmosphere through evaporation, thus helping to keep the skin hydrated.
It makes skin soft.
Ingredient 5 – Glycerin
Function: Humectant
Glycerin is a powerful humectant.
Humectants are water magnets. They attract water, like sponges. When applied to the skin’s surface, they draw water molecules from the atmosphere into the skin.
Humectants hydrate and plump up the skin.
Ingredient 6 – Butylene Glycol
Function: Solvent, Penetration enhancer, Humectant
Dissolves ingredients that are not water-soluble. Dissolved ingredients can spread and penetrate better.
It helps other ingredients, such as salicylic acid, to be more effective by enhancing their penetration.
It attracts water molecules from the atmosphere and thus hydrates skin.
Ingredient 7 – Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Function: Emollient
It forms a thin layer on the skin’s surface and reduces the loss of hydration from the skin into the atmosphere through evaporation, thus helping to keep the skin hydrated.
Ingredient 8 – Olive Oil Methly Ester
Function: Emollient
Derived from olive. It forms a thin layer on the skin’s surface and reduces the loss of hydration from the skin into the atmosphere through evaporation, thus helping to keep the skin hydrated.
It makes skin soft.
Ingredient 9 – Chamomila Recutita Flower Extract
Function: Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant
It calms and soothes the skin. It also neutralises nasty substances called free radicals. Free radicals inflame the skin, lead to pigmentation & dull looking skin.
Ingredient 10 – Propanediol
Function: Humectant, Emollient, Solvent, Texture enhancer
When applied to the skin’s surface, it draws water molecules from the atmosphere to the skin and thus hydrates the skin. It also forms a thin surface on the skin’s surface and helps to retain the hydration (reduces the evaporation of hydration into the atmosphere).
It helps in dissolving other ingredients in the product.
It enhances the texture of the product.
