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If this skincare brand is good enough for Gwyneth Paltrow, it’s good enough for me, right?
With pockets hardly as deep – basically a small puddle – as the wellness queen with a proclivity for naming candles after her You Know Where, copying the actress’ efforts of ageing backwards is a dream most of us will never realise.
But while doing whatever I can to try and pump the breaks on the wild mistress of ageing as much as I can before we get to the point of no return, an aesthetically pleasing box of skincare from celebrity favourite Lyma landed on my desk.
Yes, the brand, known for its supplements and an at-home laser worth £2,000, beloved by Gwyneth, Victoria Beckham, Kate Hudson and even Kim Kardashian’s facialist, is now in the skincare cream game.
Lyma Skin is here and it claims to provide big things for our faces.
But that supposed Big Thing comes at a price, dear reader.
Nearly £500, to be precise.
Of its benefits, Lyma Skin aims to *inhales* deliver a ‘profound’ restorative effect, eradicate dead skin cells, deliver ‘significantly more youthful’ looking skin, reduce wrinkle formation, smooth the appearance of wrinkles, increase elasticity for smoother skin, accelerate skin renewal and stimulate sustained hydration.
I can see why it costs so much.
What appears to be a simple serum and cream in a box is anything but, and speaking with Lyma founder Lucy Goff on the launch it soon becomes evident years of work has gone into Lyma Skin to formulate the skincare routine – or ‘protocol’ as it’s described – that aims to eradicate the need for any other skincare product.
Goff claims this ‘protocol’ will ‘change the base layer’ of my skin, and by addressing ‘eight mechanisms of skin ageing’ turn me into a 22-year-old. Well, sort of.
According to the brand, this cream is ‘informed by the science of epigenetics’ (the study of how our environment can affect how our genes work) and that ‘22-year-old skin has the optimum environment for good bacteria to grow and thrive’.
Ingredients in Lyma Skin aim to ‘recreate the optimum microbiome environment of younger skin to reduce redness and restore firmness’.
Good to know.
In a quest to bring whatever youthful exuberance my skin may still have, deep in that dermis, I cracked open the box and got to work immediately.
The consistency of both the serum and the cream is nice, with the cream feeling rich but not too thick, even in this heat. This is a bonus, seeing as it’s a non-negotiable for me to continue wearing SPF over the top.
It’s a slow process, this twice-a-day protocol, with a minute set aside to let the serum sink in and another minute after smoothing on the cream before you further massage it into the skin (apparently the actives need time to, er, activate), so if you have a slap-and-dash approach to your skincare routine, you’ll need to slow things down a notch.
But whenever I feel impatient and just want to get to bed I simply remind myself A) how much this all costs – like £5 per routine? – and b) that it took two years for Goff to just stabilise the formula, with collaborator Dr Graeme E. Glass PhD a plastic surgeon and Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at Weill Cronell Medical College, saying it’s ‘formulated to be the most effective topical product on the market’.
It’s a bold claim.
It may explain why the cream itself sports such a ‘medicinal’ scent. It doesn’t smell unpleasant, per se, but is very much unfragranced, with the scent lingering after application. I figure it’s all the ‘science’, right?
While Lyma claims the routine ‘boosts skin hydration barrier function by 150% and increases skin hydration by 72%’, the first week I must admit I felt like my skin went through a purging process. It felt drier and perhaps a little more dehydrated than usual, with a new, fun bumpy texture which lasted a few days.
However, perseverance is the aim of the game, and nearly two weeks in my skin has evidently become used to the formula; it now seems to retain moisture, feels firmer, and my skin texture has smoothed.
Dare I say I have a glow about me?
I’m yet to see any wild eradication of fine lines, with my 11s still holding strong, but I’m happily going foundation-free and don’t feel the need to constantly spritz my face to keep up hydration levels.
If you’re after instant results – whatever that may be – this might not be the routine for you. However, if, like me, you’re willing to stick with this for the long haul to reap long-term benefits, it might be worth a shot.
As they say, good things come to those who wait! And who can afford it.
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