I’m not being dramatic after I say that my pores and skin goes by way of lots proper now. Between the chilly-for-Southern-California temperatures; the dry, suffocating warmth indoors; and my over-40, perimenopausal pores and skin, my common routine is being thrown for a loop. Over the previous few months, I’ve discovered myself gravitating in direction of vegan collagen serums, as they’ve been nice at each packing in moisture and enhancing texture—two issues I desperately want.
With that in thoughts, after I heard about Pai Skincare’s new Vegan Collagen 0.9% Restoring Booster ($29), I used to be intrigued—it appeared completely different than any of the opposite vegan collagen merchandise I’ve tried. As a result of it’s a “booster” as a substitute of a standard serum (extra on what that really means, beneath), including it into my routine was mindlessly simple… so I did precisely that for 2 full weeks. Hold scrolling to learn how it went.
The way it works
Pai’s Vegan Collagen 0.9% Restoring Booster ($29) is the most recent addition to the model’s line of concentrates. These “boosters” goal particular issues (assume: hyperpigmentation, high-quality strains, and sensitivity), and are supposed to be added to your regular serums, moisturizers, or facial oils to supercharge your routine. This lets you get extra advantages in fewer steps, one thing the model likens to including a wheatgrass shot to your smoothie (cute!). This newest launch heroes vegan collagen, which is derived from corn, wheat, and soy protein and touted for its hydrating and skin-smoothing skills.
Although vegan collagen comes from a unique supply than pure collagen (micro organism and crops as a substitute of animals), it nonetheless has the identical main limitation: It’s too large to penetrate the pores and skin. “Regardless whether it is animal derived or engineered with micro organism, collagen in its pure kind is simply too large of a molecule to be absorbed into the dermis, the place our native collagen is situated, by way of software on the pores and skin,” says Carmen Castilla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based mostly in NYC. In different phrases, topical collagen gained’t really increase the collagen in your pores and skin (you want collagen-stimulating peptides for that)—however that hasn’t stopped different manufacturers from claiming their collagen merchandise (vegan or in any other case) have sufficiently small molecules to penetrate the pores and skin.
Fortunately, Pai doesn’t do this. As a substitute, the model focuses on the advantages that its vegan collagen presents to the floor of the pores and skin. It really works by conditioning the outermost layer of your complexion, ramping up safety for the layers beneath and forsaking a clean, hydrated end.
And so far as the remainder of the components within the system are involved? “Although I’m not a beauty chemist, I might anticipate that the mixture of glycerin and cellulose would assist create a silky and radiant ‘movie’ on the pores and skin,” says Geeta Yadav MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founding father of FACET Dermatology. As humectants, each of those actives work to attract moisture into the pores and skin to make it seem visibly extra hydrated. There’s additionally a low focus of lactic acid within the combine, which Dr. Yadav notes “will lead to delicate pores and skin resurfacing, additional selling radiance.”
My trustworthy ideas
This was the primary time I ever tried a booster kind of product, as a lot of the vegan collagen merchandise that I take advantage of are serums, and I dedicated to utilizing it for 2 weeks in numerous methods.
For the primary couple of days, I used the product simply as soon as a day (at night time, by itself, earlier than serum and moisturizer). Then, I upped it to twice a day. Within the morning, I blended it with Pai C-2 Consider Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer ($79), and at night time, I alternated between utilizing it solo or mixing it with my night time cream. Straight away, I might inform that my pores and skin felt much less dry, and the outcomes have been much more noticeable after I began utilizing the product twice a day. My brow, which had been feeling tight and tough from being so dry, turned smoother after a few days of diligent, twice-daily use.
This was my introduction to Pai’s merchandise, however contemplating these outcomes, I can’t wait to attempt the remainder of the road.