What ingredients will be in my treatment?

There are seven active ingredients (Tretinoin, Clindamycin, Niacinamide, Metronidazole, Hydroquinone, Hydrocortisone and Azelaic Acid) that could be in your treatment, along with our base cream.

Once you’ve entered your payment details and submitted your selfies, this will be sent to your Prescriber who will review your consultation and, if eligible, they will create a personalised prescription for you. Unfortunately, we’re unable to let you know what you’ll be prescribed before your Prescriber has reviewed your consultation.
Below, you’ll find more information on the active ingredients that could be used within your Skin + Me treatment:

Tretinoin
Tretinoin belongs to a family of drugs called retinoids, which are ingredients derived from Vitamin A. Tretinoin is a whole lot more powerful and effective than other members of the retinoid family, like retinol, which is why it’s only available on prescription.

How it works
Tretinoin gets to work by accelerating new skin cell growth which speeds up the removal of dead skin cells and debris that can block your pores. It also works to repair sun-damaged cells, and boosts the production of collagen (a protein that acts like scaffolding for the skin). Oh, and it also helps to even out skin tone, discolouration and any inflammation. What a hero.

Tretinoin is used to fight acne, make pores less visible, and reduces fine lines and wrinkles. It’s also used to improve skin texture, and reduce the amount of abnormal pigmentation in the skin. It’s often used to treat pigmentation disorders such as melasma and sunlight-induced pigmentation (including freckles).

Clindamycin
Clindamycin is an antibiotic that’s used to help fight acne by targeting Cutibacterium Acnes, the acne-causing bacteria that’s the culprit behind the inflammation, pus formation and big red spots.

How it works
Clindamycin helps to soothe inflammation in the skin, reducing the visible redness and swelling from acne. It’s the topical antibiotic of choice by dermatologists in the UK and across the US. To reduce the possibility of antibacterial resistance, Clindamycin is best combined with other ingredients like Azelaic Acid.

Azelaic acid
Azelaic Acid is a naturally-occurring acid, produced by yeast, that gets to work on your skin goals in a few different, brilliant ways.

How it works
It acts as a chemical exfoliator which unblocks pores, as well as targeting and eliminating the acne-causing bacteria, Cutibacterium Acnes. Azelaic Acid is an antioxidant, fighting inflammation, reducing redness and treating the spots caused by acne and rosacea.

Azelaic Acid also slows down the production of melanin, helping to fight pigmentation caused by sun damage, melasma and acne. Its exfoliating properties have also been shown to improve skin texture too.

Niacinamide
Niacinamide is a form of Vitamin B, and has been shown to have many different beneficial effects on the skin.

How it works
Niacinamide improves the visible appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, reduces hyperpigmentation, moisturises the skin and helps to regulate the skin’s oil production – which helps to battle acne.
Niacinamide also works as an antioxidant and helps to fight harmful compounds caused by sun damage. It also increases the production of ceramides, which moisturise the skin. This is especially useful in minimising some of the possible side effects of our other active ingredients.

Metronidazole
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that’s considered to be a gold standard treatment for the spots and redness caused by rosacea.

How it works
For decades, Metronidazole has been highly regarded as the go-to treatment for the spots and redness caused by rosacea. In numerous controlled trials, it’s proved to be effective in both treating and preventing the return of the effects of rosacea. The precise mechanism of its action is actually unknown, but it’s thought to improve rosacea through its powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Hydroquinone
Hydroquinone is the most effective, widely-used and well-studied depigmenting agent used for over 50 years to treat hyperpigmentation disorders such as melasma and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It works by reducing the formation (and increasing the destruction) of the pigment melanin by the skin through its inhibitory actions on the enzyme tyrosinase. Numerous clinical studies have shown it to be the most effective topical treatment for melasma when used in combination with Tretinoin and a steroid, in what’s commonly referred to as “triple therapy”.

Hydrocortisone
A mild potency topical steroid that’s used to minimise possible irritation from the powerful combination of hydroquinone and tretinoin.

Our base creams
Our base creams are light, non-greasy, hydrophilic gel creams and are non-comedogenic. They are fragrance free, and contain vitamin E and oil from the safflower seeds which give them antioxidant and skin-moisturising properties. They are perfectly suited to the needs of oily, balanced and affected skin, and free of harmful, obsolete and controversial ingredients.

We have two base creams and the ingredients for each are listed below.

Base cream 1: Aqua, Carthamus Tinctorius Oleosomes, Polyacrylate-13, Polyisobutene, Sodium Carbomer, Gluconolactone, Polysorbate 20, Sorbitan Isostearate, Benzoic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Benzoate.

Base cream 2: Aqua, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyacrylate-13, Polyisobutene, Sodium Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, Sorbitan Isostearate, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin,All treatments containing Tretinoin will also contain the antioxidant BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene).All treatments containing Hydroquinone will also contain the antioxidants ascorbic acid and sodium metabisulfite.

Both base creams are free from: animal testing, GMO products, animal products or derivatives. They are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free and contain no dairy, eggs, nuts, gluten, soy, corn, celery or mustard products.

You can see the ingredients in your Personalised Solution by heading over to the My Treatment Plan section in your account. You can find it here.