From energy levels to general mood, everything is better after a good night’s sleep – including the skin.

When your head hits the pillow at night and you fall asleep, the skin (along with the rest of the body) goes to work and shifts into repair and rejuvenation mode with your brain transferring short-term memories into long-term storage and hormone levels rebalancing themselves.  In the daytime skin takes an absolute beating with exposure to multiple environmental elements including pollution, sunlight, and daily dirt to name just a few but it’s at night-time when skin goes into reset and cells go into recovery mode, eliminating toxins, resetting the skins natural rhythm, restoring barrier functions, and reducing the high levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) that can wreak havoc on your body during the day. So that must be the reason it’s called ‘beauty sleep’!

We get it, after a long and arduous day the last thing you want to do before getting into your cosy bed and switching on Netflix is to spend time on your evening skincare routine BUT if you are looking for healthier, happier skin come morning its really vital to use ‘dedicated’ night-time formulas that undo the day’s free radical damage and enhance the regeneration process to help skin cells on their way.  

Packed full of high-potency actives, serums are one of the most vital steps in your skincare regime especially when it comes to age-defying. Such a simple step – nestling neatly between your toner and moisturiser - these potent formulas with their strength and density of the crucial ingredients in their make-up, can perform skin-saving miracles and do so much more than a regular moisturiser with long-lasting results.

Nothing excites me more than a NEW skincare launch, and whilst of course I understand skincare is incredibly personal, if there is one thing I’ve learned as a beauty expert it’s that any and every skin type and concern can benefit from a supreme serum to keep skin looking as good as possible. With our ever-growing obsession for that ‘youth-prolonging’ remedy, Gatineau scientists have developed a superlative night-time formula Age Benefit Renewal Night Elixir that will re-boot ‘worn out’ cells and kick-start the production of collagen and elastin and, in a nutshell, reverses all the signs of ageing. WOW!

Supporting reparative processes this silky Elixir is brimming with a tribe of strengthening actives to help skin recover from daily exposure to stress and pollution.  Capitalising on cells inclination to work overtime while you are resting, this super-charged formula boasts an incredible cocktail of ‘cell-communicating’ actives including Artichoke, Hibiscus and innovative marine based Cellynkage™, which together kickstart the transfer of messages and signals between cells (a process hampered as we get older), prompting cascades of precious collagen and elastin to be manufactured fuelling a firmer, plumper visage.

Infused with radiance inducing Japanese Sophora flower you can think of this as a ‘stint in skin-rehab’ as it works hard to reverse the days damage scavenging free radicals, so you wake up with a truly beautiful and luminous complexion. With a rich history in Chinese medicine this delicate flower has a rich content of antioxidants and flavonoids making this this decadent elixir a godsend and your new secret to glowing skin as it deflects the aggressors – or so called ‘biome bullies’ – from damaging the skin surface (think: hyperpigmentation, age spots and uneven tone) leading to much brighter and perkier mornings!

As we age the skin cells of the epidermis grow thinner, and with your body simply producing less of all the good stuff like collagen, elastin, and oil it leads to loss of volume and skin thinning.  The addition of ocean-inspired Plankton extract is invaluable as it works to strengthen the skin barrier and support the skin's natural restorative processes.  Created using renewable glacial water this marine jewel gently stimulates collagen and elastin production, boosts resilience and brings back the bounce to your fragile skin. Interestingly this unique Plankton thrives in the harshest of environments of Iceland and has the remarkable ability to absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce the energy they need for growth and metabolism making it a powerhouse active as it fuels even the laziest of skin cells ‘revving’ their engines to stimulate skin’s manufacture of all of the precious components that keep your complexion plump, supple and glowing with health. That’s certainly welcome news for mature complexions.

While the mineral calcium is well-known for its key role in bone and teeth health, it is also the little-known secret to keeping skin looking vibrant at any age. Calcium in the epidermis has been shown to help your body regulate cell turnover by replacing old skin cells with new ones and ultimately the depletion of skin’s calcium over time is a key driver to barrier disruption and a fragile and thin complexion. Injecting the complexion with Encapsulated Calcium is a seriously superior way of delivering this important mineral deep into the skin potently drip-feeding each layer of it and getting to work on strengthening, fortifying, and protecting the skin barrier. Expect to embrace a much firmer visage that both looks and feels good!

Skin looks at its best when it’s hydrated and that can be largely down to the high levels of Hyaluronic Acid produced naturally in the skin which is a brilliant youth-boosting hero that keeps cells ‘plump’ and diminishes wrinkles. When we’re young and sprightly, we make bucket loads of Hyaluronic Acid however, as with most fun things, Hyaluronic Acid levels naturally deplete with age (although the side-effects don’t usually expose themselves until we’ve made it to our mid-to-late 30’s) so it’s SO important to top-up the tank at every opportunity. This innovative serum, packed with youth-preserving Plant Sugar Extracts is ‘built to rebuild’ as it encourages truck loads of Hyaluronic Acid to be manufactured drenching layers upon layers of skin to deeply hydrate and plump with maximum effect as soon as that alarm clock goes off!

With science backed skincare at its core this intelligent elixir has the ability to turn back the hands on maturing skin with rapid impact. Turning beauty sleep into a dewtopia, Age Benefit Renewal Night Elixir works wonders on deep wrinkles, thinning skin and tone and texture, unveiling smooth, firm and gorgeously dewy results.  Bedtime has never looked so good!

Lucy x