DYLAN MUSTAPICH
Dylan Mustapich is a NYC-based lead esthetician who has been featured in New Beauty, Teen Vogue, Wired, and The Huffington Post. With a lifelong love of all things skin, he is incredibly knowledgeable about skincare ingredients, routine refinement, and personalized skincare, and follows emerging technology closely.
To get the most out of your skincare routine, it’s important to know which ingredients complement each other when properly formulated and layered. Certain ingredients work synergistically when combined to help benefit your skin in multiple ways.
When mixing ingredients, it’s important to consider that many are most effective at a certain pH level and need to be layered correctly. Products formulated with these ingredient combinations are ideal to ensure that you’re getting the most out of each of them. Here are a few of these skincare power couples and what they can do for your skin.
Vitamin C and Niacinamide
Vitamin C has been a staple in skincare for decades, and for good reason. It is clinically backed as one of the most effective ingredients for improving the appearance of discoloration and sun damage. Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) has arrived on the scene more recently, proving to be a versatile ingredient with a long list of benefits. These include improving skin barrier function, hydration and signs of discoloration.
Together, these heavy hitters help improve overall skin health in immeasurable ways. Vitamin C helps address pigmentation concerns by inhibiting a pigment producing enzyme (tyrosinase), while Niacinamide is believed to prevent pigment from transferring within cells. With different mechanisms of action, both can tackle skin concerns from multiple angles for a 1+1=3 effect!
Vitamin C and antioxidants
While Vitamin C is itself an antioxidant, it becomes even more potent when combined with other plant-based antioxidants like Ferulic Acid. When used together, the Ferulic Acid can dramatically increase the photoprotective abilities of Vitamin C, minimizing potential sun damage.
Ferulic Acid and other plant-based antioxidants also help stabilize the Vitamin C, preventing it from losing its potency.
Retinol and Peptides
These two powerhouse ingredients work beautifully together in treating the appearance of fine lines. Retinol helps speed up skin cell turnover and increases collagen production, while some Peptides can increase collagen,Hyaluronic Acid, and various other components of the skin.
Certain Peptides are even able to inhibit the breakdown of collagen in our skin! Both work through different mechanisms of action, which is what makes it such a mighty combination.
Salicylic Acid and Oat Kernel Extract
Salicylic Acid — the only BHA (Beta Hydroxy Acid) — is often recommended for its ability to treat breakouts and clogged pores. What makes it unique is that it’s oil soluble, meaning it is able to penetrate down into the pores to dissolve the skin debris responsible for congestion.
Salicylic Acid can also reduce oil production, leading to dry skin and irritation for some users. Layering a moisturizer containing skin soothing and lipid rich ingredients such as Oat Kernel Extract on top of a product containing Salicylic Acid can help mitigate these effects.
Oat is a classic soothing ingredient and is key in treating skin conditions such as eczema and dry/itchy skin rashes. High in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, it can help replenish oil to skin being treated with SA.
Strategically combining skincare ingredients can help you achieve better results in less time. The dose (or percentage) of each ingredient is also important for ensuring that your routine is effective, without overdoing it. At Atolla, our custom formulations include many of these beneficial ingredient combos and are specifically created to work better together for your skin.
To learn more about our ingredients, check out Atolla’s ingredient dictionary: https://atolla.com/ingredients
