Do you want to have these without paying the big bucks?
How to start?
Buy some self-stick labels and write with a golden marker the following: Magic! Elixir! Golden! Crystal! You are halfway there. Next, I will tell you how to make your own, improved version.
Ignore ingredients labeled by me as “label value”, LV. They are there to “plump” the ingredient list and help hide synthetic ingredients and fragrances.
Charlotte’s Magic Cream | Charlotte Tilbury
Ingredients: Water (solvent), Homosalate (chemical UV filter)), Glyceryl Stearate SE (lubricant), Ethylhexyl Salicylate (exfoliant), Butylene Glycol (solvent), Glycerin (humectant), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (chemical UV filter), Octocrylene (chemical UV filter), Cetyl Alcohol (emulsifier), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (emollient), Cyclopentasiloxane (silicone, feel), Dimethicone (silicone, feel), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter (emollient), Steareth-21 (surfactant), Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract (soothing), Carbomer (thickener), Dimethiconol (silcone, feel) , Potassium Cetyl Phosphate (emulsifier), Chlorphenesin (preservative), Caprylyl Glycol (preservative), Xanthan Gum (thickener), Hydrolyzed Viola Tricolor Extract, Allantoin (exfoliant) , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Disodium Edta (preservative), Tocopheryl Acetate (preservative), Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Sodium Hydroxide (pH adjuster), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Michelia Alba Leaf Oil, Sodium Lactate, Coco-Glucoside, Peg-8, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate (molecular weight?) , Tocopherol (antioxidant, preservative), Palmitoyl Oligopeptide LV, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 LV, Ascorbyl Palmitate LV, Plumeria Rubra Flower Extract LV, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid (pH adjuster), Nicotiana Sylvestris Leaf Cell Culture LV, Linalool (fragrance), Citronellol (fragrance), Geraniol (fragrance).
What’s this cream? It is “planned” as a humectant, antioxidant, exfoliating cream. The ascorbic acid will be oxidized before it reaches your skin, and will end up promoting oxidation as the oxidized ascorbate steals electrons from your skin. In short, this is a failed product. So if you are planning to “hack” it, please improve on it.
How to make your own: get our Ultimate moisturizing cream. I suggest you leave the exfoliating function separate so that you can do exfoliation from time to time while using the humectant, antioxidant serum as often as you like. For exfoliation, you can use any of a number of Skin Actives products, just choose your favorite. I like the alpha/beta, but you may prefer the ascorbic acid serum (https://skinactives.com/vitamin-c-serum-15-/)
If you are sensitive to the “pretty jar & name syndrome”, make sure to use your gold labels with the magic words on the jar you filled with your “much better than Charlotte” cream.
You may think that this (or another) product “smells expensive”. The fragrances used here may amount to one or two cents of a dollar, fragrances are cheap. We leave them out because some of them are allergenic, but you can add to your cream a drop (or half) or your favorite perfume.
Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir – Firming & Hydrating Serum | Charlotte Tilbury
Water, Niacinamide, Glycereth-26 (thickener), Triheptanoin (occlusive), Glycerin (humectant), Methyl Gluceth-20 (humectant), Silica (reflectant, pigment), Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil (emolient), Quartz Powder (reflectant, pigment), Amethyst Powder LV, Ruby Powder LV, Gold LV, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Oil (emolient), Phenoxyethanol (preservative), Dimethyl Isosorbide (solvent), Polysorbate 20 (emulsifier), Glyceryl Stearate (emolient), Butylene Glycol (solvent), Octyldodecyl Oleate (emolient), Benzyl Alcohol (preservative), Myrothamnus Flabellifolia Leaf Extract (LV), Peg-100 Stearate (thickener), Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate (emollient), Schisandra Chinensis (Magnolia) Fruit Extract LV, Carbomer, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Hyaluronate (molecular weight?), Chondrus Crispus (Carrageenan) Extract (thickener), Sodium Hydroxide (pH adjuster), Saussurea Involucrata Callus Extract LV, Tocopheryl Acetate (antioxidant), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Polyglutamic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Sorbitol, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract LV, Polyhydroxystearic Acid (dispersing agent), Octyldodecanol (emulsifier), Sodium Benzoate (preservative), Propanediol (solvent), Biosaccharide Gum-4 (thickener), Xanthan Gum (thickener), Fragrance, Plumeria Alba Flower Extract LV, Plumeria Rubra Flower Extract LV, Lithothamnion Calcareum Extract LV, Lactic Acid (pH adjuster), Potassium Sorbate (preservative), Caprylyl Glycol (solvent), Copper Gluconate (pro-oxidant), Hydrated Silica, 1,2-Hexanediol (solvent), Citric Acid (pH adjuster), Solanum Tuberosum (Potato) Pulp Extract LV, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-11, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9, Dehydroacetic Acid, Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant), Glutathione (antioxidant), Limonene (fragrance), Geraniol (fragrance), Citronellol (fragrance), Linalool (fragrance), Citral (fragrance).
What’s this? A pure label-value serum, to make you feel “rich”. Gold is expensive so you can be sure that it is present at parts per million. In any case, gold has no biochemical activity on your skin, so it will do nothing for you. Rubi and amethyst will do nothing either. Go and buy yourself a ruby ring with the money you will be saving by “hacking” this silly serum.
Hack: add a hint of niacinamide to hyaluronic acid serum.
Use instead any of the following Skin Actives products:
https://skinactives.com/collagen-serum/
https://skinactives.com/firming-serum/
https://skinactives.com/collagen-serum-with-ros-bionet-and-apocynin/
You can add a hint (or follow the instructions) of niacinamide
About niacinamide (from my glossary)
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) benefits skin color and decreases melanin synthesis (important for hyperpigmentation); decreases inflammation, itching (pruritus) and UV-induced skin cancers, and prevents immunosuppression by UV irradiation. By increasing NADPH, the donor of reducing power in cell biosynthesis, niacinamide will increase synthesis of collagen, involucrin, filaggrin, and keratin.
Niacinamide is one of the components of NADPH (reduced niacinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) the coenzyme that provides the reducing power required to build new molecules in the human body. Niacinamide and niacin are not synthesized in the human body and therefore must be supplied externally (these is why we call niacin a vitamin), either through the diet or through topical application (or better, both).
Niacinamide is also part of NAD (like NADP but without the extra phosphate), the molecule that is wherever carbohydrates and other foodstuffs are oxidized (respired) to make energy. Even when following a normal healthy diet, topical application of niacinamide will result in increased synthesis of collagen, keratin, involucrin and flaggrin. Topical application of niacinamide will decrease pruritus and inflammation, help acne affected skin, decrease oiliness, alleviate atopic dermatitis, decrease UV-induced skin cancers and help decrease facial pigmentation. These are just a few of the beneficial effects of topical application of niacinamide to the skin, and it would be suspicious that there are so many were it not for the crucial role of this chemical in human metabolism.
DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.