The INKEY List product review

The Inkey List – ‘Your Beauty Translator’ aims to educate consumers by featuring full product names. The brand is part of the Be For Beauty umbrella of various beauty brands from body to lips, and impressively can get a new product to market in as little as 18 weeks. They achieve that by going straight to the producer, and cutting out the middle man. The founders Colette Newberry and Mark Curry travel the world, looking high and low for the best and most innovative ingredients.

The brand is now available at Selfridges too so I thought I’d talk about a few of their products!

They launched in 2018 with simple product names; the focus has been on active ingredients and formulas that work from day 1. By being informed about what each ingredient does, the consumer can then mix and match the different products according to their needs. The best part? Nothing is over £15 proving that great skincare doesn’t have to break the bank.

The Innovation Line

As part of their innovative technology, they have just added a new serum called Polyglutamic Acid, within their ‘Innovation Line’. The Innovation Line is sold exclusively at Cult Beauty, have a look here.

“Some of the products in our Innovation line have a slightly higher price point, this is simply because some of the ingredients we have used in our formulations are more expensive to source. The Inkey List strives to deliver premium ingredients at the most affordable price, and this will never change.”

Colette said

Polyglutamic Acid (not acidic despite its name) actually holds 4 times the weight of hyaluronic acid – which in case you didn’t know, holds 1,000 times its weight in water. The result? Very hydrated skin, but thanks to its lightweight consistency there’s no greasiness, which is great for the warmer months. I have been using this on the nights when I want to focus on hydration, as my final step. The consistency is very lightweight, a gel-serum texture that sinks into the skin in seconds, it almost feels like it creates a protective film of hydration.

I haven’t yet tried the other two, but a few words on them. Hepta-peptide is created to target anti-aging, as this peptide will help restore collagen. The patented formula also gives an instant blurring effect. It should be used as the serum step, so after serum and before moisturiser.

Multi-biotic is all about healthy bacteria; pre and pro-biotics. A moisturiser that includes 2% squalane, yogurt, as well as 2% Brightenyl, a new ingredient that will even out skin tone. These powerful ingredients will also protect against environmental aggressors, so best used in the morning.

From the rest of the line, I’ve tried and used up a bottle of Hyaluronic Acid, lightweight and does the job, as it should! I’ve also used the AHA, which works well but perhaps a bit too ‘light’ for my liking, as my skin is used to acids, but this would be great for someone that’s not used to acids that much.

I’ve heard good things for the Zinc moisturiser, to help with hyperpigmentation. As I have acne prone skin I am really really enjoying the BHA and the Salycilic Acid cleanser, both launched in February as part of the Core Range. See more about them below!

The cleanser is perfect for a couple of nights a week, as I’m using prescription strength retinol (0.05% tretinoin to be exact) and don’t want to dry my skin out. The Salicylic Acid (a BHA) in a cleanser form will be lighter on your skin than a toner, because it’s a wash-off product, but will still help with blemishes and flaky skin. If you want something stronger, and your skin is resilient to acids, try out the BHA toner, post-cleansing and before your moisturiser at nighttime. Always follow with an SPF in the daytime please!

All in all even though the names might be confusing, the Inkey list is well worth a try. They have great products, and even if they don’t work for you, you won’t feel like you’ve wasted a lot of money, thanks to their amazing prices. They are doing so well, recently stocked at Sephora in the US and all around the world, and I’m excited to see where they will go next!