Ubeauty RESURFACING COMPOUND worth $148?

Ubeauty will launch its first product on November 1rst so quite soon. This brand was founded by Tina Craig aka @bagsnob on Instagram. This serum retails for $148. For this price, the formula has to be outstanding or/and uses patent technology.

This serum has a lot of claims « Resurface, refine, hydrate, brighten and tighten » which are mainly coming from AHA. Nothing of a breakthrough here.

Let’s break down this formula.

Lipids or emollients

Linoleic acid, sunflower seed oil, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, linolenic acid.
It is an interesting blend of lipids that are skin supportive.

Humectants


Aloe vera, glycerin, hyaluronic acid (2 forms) and acids.
The humectants are classic but excellent. I like that some of the ingredients double up as humectants and exfoliants.

Anti-acne

Dimethyl sulfone liberates sulfur an excellent anti-acne ingredient, Witch Hazel, AHA, PHA.
That’s a great idea to add anti-acne ingredients in an exfoliant serum to counteract potential purging. I’m less sure about Witch Hazel has it is a tricky ingredient. Depending on the extraction it can have ethanol and tannins.

Acids AHA+PHA

Citric acid, glycolic acid, lactobionic acid (a polyhydroxy acid), and mandelic acid. Read my post on acid to know more than (here).
Here are the actives that will impact the look of the skin. Probably if all the other ingredients were omitted this serum will perform similarly. I would like to know the concentration of the acids. This serum is recommended to be used twice per day so I would expect a low concentration. Citric acid is a medium-size AHA while glycolic acid is the most potent AHA.

There is a handful of studies about lactobionic acid. It is a PHA like gluconolactone. I would expect it to act as an AHA without the downside. It is also a humectant. There is Mandelic acid that is likely in a tiny concentration so not that useful.

The acids will resurface, smooth, refine and brighten the skin.

Antioxidants

Sodium ascorbyl phosphate, superoxide dismutase, retinyl palmitate, vitamin E, Glutathione (could be brightening).

This form of vitamin C here is not known to be antioxidant but it is the third ingredient, it could be skin brightening.
Superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant enzyme that our cells use. It is a big protein likely it only acts on the very surface of the skin. Retinyl palmitate is an ester of retinol that has anti-aging properties similar to retinol but it lacks proper studies and seems to be less potent. Vitamin E is a classic antioxidant and glutathione is part of our antioxidant system and may have skin brightening properties. But there are almost no data on the skin.

Soothing ingredients

Aloe vera, Hydroxyphenyl propamidobenzoic acid (copies of an active from oat). It is nice to have anti-inflammatory ingredients in an exfoliant serum.

Anti-aging

Retinyl palmitate, N-prolyl palmitoyl tripeptide 56 acetate (Matrixyl Morphomics) and acids.
The main actives in this serum that will help your skin to look better are the acids. I would prefer to know the concentration of retinyl palmitate to know if it will do anything. It is advertised that this serum has retinol but it is not the case.

Notorious allergen

Methyldihydrojasmonate has a jasmine scent to it. I like the fact that there is only one fragrant ingredient and not an unknown blend name « perfume ». But it is always better to be fragrance-free.

My conclusions

That’s an interesting serum where the choice of ingredients was carefully made. It is primarily a daily peeling hence the expected results. I like the fact that there are nice emollients and skin-soothing ingredients to counteract the inflammation from the AHA. This serum seems to be not drying but this needs to be tested to know. It is pricey but the formula makes sense and is different from the typical peeling solution. Now is it better than using a 7% glycolic toner, likely not.

You can watch my video to know more as always.

Thank you for your time.
Cyrille


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