Jennifer Rock, aka the Skin Nerd, has become increasingly visible over the past few years. The Irish dermal facialist, skincare tutor and author is known for her radio and TV appearances, but also for her can-do attitude and work ethic. She would have needed them to formulate her new skincare range, Skingredients.
Prices for this capsule system, which is stocked by pharmacies, max out at €42 for a serum. Serum should be the product you spend as much on as you can afford to, as it contains higher-quality active ingredients than other skincare and is designed to penetrate the skin in a way that, say, moisturiser cannot. That makes €42 a very respectable price for a decent product.
Rock went about creating her range entirely the wrong way if her aim was primarily to make a profit. Many brands visit labs with a brief, choosing ingredients from a pharmaceutical catalogue to help them get their products – often copies of other companies’ hits – to market as quickly and as inexpensively as they can. Essentially, this sort of sourcing involves little input from the brand apart from whacking a sticker on the pot.
The Skin Nerd, a sort of Irish Caroline Hirons, took a more conscientious route, going stateside – not the most affordable source – in order to find her ideal ingredients and formulas. And she is a perfectionist above all. She scrapped formula after formula until she got it right. The result is a midprice skincare range that I think will take wing and launch off Irish shelves.
Although I prefer an oil or balm cleanser to remove make-up, and always favour a double cleanse, Skingredients PreProbiotic Cleanse (€25) does make a lovely light second cleanse. If you remove the heft of make-up or SPF with an oil or balm, this will neatly cut through the remainder to leave skin feeling comfortable and clean. Sally Cleanse (€25), which contains 2 per cent salicylic acid, the maximum permitted concentration, is designed for congestion-prone skin. A-HA Cleanse (€25) is a gently exfoliating lactic-acid cleanser and mask – you will need to leave it on the skin to maximise its effects.
The range also includes two serums. The first is Skin Veg (€42), a "pre-serum" – aka an essence – that should make your skin more absorbent. It is designed to be followed by Skin Protein (€42), a vitamin A and C serum suitable for all except pregnant women.
Rock has named her moisturiser Skin Good Fat Ceramide Barrier Balm (€42). This emphasises the role of moisturiser as a protector and barrier restorer, to facilitate serums in doing the real work of skincare.
Follow it with Skin Shield (€42), a broad-spectrum physical SPF50 that is non-comedogenic – meaning it won't clog your pores – and protects skin from infrared and HEV light (the blue glow from your devices' screens). Water resistant and oil free, it has a slightly peachy tint and dries to a dewy finish that is neither flat matte nor redolent of someone who has been working over a fryer.
