Scientific Skincare

I was recently approached to try out one Environ’s Hydraboost facials at Harvey Nichols, and the accompanying skin analysis, and as I’m pushing 30 now (sad times) I decided it couldn’t hurt to see how my skin is faring.

Environ is a scientific skincare brand, and has an extremely loyal following due to its fantastic results with various skin issues. I don’t actually have any major skin issues to report, so I was interested to find out what was going on beneath the surface of my skin. They initially photographed my face to look at various measures (imperfections, redness, hydration, bacteria, UV damage etc) and to see what my skin is like on different levels.

Actually I don’t have too much of concern going on – a bit of redness (caused by abrasive exfoliating creams – which are no longer being used!), a little bacteria, a normal amount of UV damage for the UK and some dehydration. Some room for improvement then. And after a couple of months of trialling their AVST (vitamin A-based) skincare products the results already showed my skin perfection increasing from 43% to 88% and hydration increasing from 92% to 95%.

And then I had the facial, which was like no other facial I’ve had. It was less about relaxation and the spa environment and much more about getting some serious results from your skin. The deep cleanse doesn’t involve any abrasive exfoliating – as this causes skin damage – instead a very smooth cleansing formula was applied on top of a pre-cleansing oil and worked in. And then the hydrating serum was applied, and a ceramic probe was massaged over the skin, emitting sound waves which help the hydrating serum penetrate deeper into the skin. (This didn’t hurt but there was a high pitched ringing from the probe).

And I’m not lying when I say that my skin felt incredible afterwards – it’s honestly never felt as soft and hydrated. Wow.

It’s pretty expensive treatment at £75, but the results speak for themselves. The only issue I have with Environ is that I cannot find a satisfactory cruelty free statement from them – their final products are not tested on animals (great!) but I’ve not seen a statement (or had a response to my email yet) about their ingredients. This is not great news for me, and would certainly prevent me investing in this skincare brand, which would be an absolute crying shame. I’m so impressed with everything else about the brand, but that is a deal breaker for me. And that’s why I really wanted to write this post – to say to Environ “please go cruelty free!”