I learnt the hard way that you should always protect your skin. At 17 I burnt my face and chest badly. At the time, it appeared to recover, it’s only now in my 30s that I’m seeing the long-lasting damage I caused. I have uneven skin tone across my face and chest which really bother me, there are also some dark spots on my face that look like freckles but I know aren’t. I’ve looked into ways of reversing the damage and although I’ve not found a quick fix (is there ever one?), I’ve read over and over again that vitamin C can really help to reduce dark marks, even-out skin tone and brighten the skin.
Back in June I wrote about a new beauty concept, NUORI fresh skincare, products that are free from parabens, synthetic colour, synthetic fragrances, mineral oil, petrolatum, PEGs, sulfates, MEA, DEA, TEA, polypropylene glycol, phthalates, and silicones; they come with a best before date. Basically, all of the good stuff without any of the bad stuff that is usually used to preserve products for an unnecessarily long period of time. Earlier this year they launched Supreme-C Serum*, a 20 day intensive treatment that helps repair prior skin damage. It comes in two small bottles each with a separate pipet. Once you’re ready to start using the product, you depress the button in the lid and 100% pure vitamin C is released into the serum below. You shake it and the use the first bottle for 10 days. When it’s finished you do the same with the second bottle.
Halfway through I began to notice that my skin definitely looked a little brighter and the skin tone more even across my cheeks. The darker spots seemed more noticeable to me but I think this is because the rest of my skin was already more even in tone. By the time I had finished the second bottle I could definitely see a difference. My skin isn’t totally even as I think the damage is quite significant. I think that by using this product regularly I will start to see a more pronounced change.
Even if you don’t have visible skin damage, vitamin C treatments could still benefit you, especially if you’re living in a polluted city like London. Vitamin C is an antioxidant which means it’s great for tackling damage from free radicals and and it helps in the production of collagen.
There are a couple more products from NUORI that I’ve also been using, their Perfecting Facial Oil* and Supreme Moisture Mask*. The facial oil is quite viscose and with my skin having been a bit more spotty recently I’ve just been using it when I’ve given my face a mini-facial at home. I start with a double cleanse, then a scrub, followed by a clay-based mask to draw out the impurities, then the Supreme Moisture Mask for 10-15 minutes which leaves my skin feeling dewy and fresh. It’s lightweight in texture for a mask but very effective. I’ll give my skin a little break and then apply a thin layer of the Perfecting Facial Oil. I’ve been trying to do this once a week in order to get my skin back in good shape.
I found out from my Instagram friend @minnabussey that ‘NUORI’ means ‘young’ in Finnish. So keep it fresh and stay young.