[unpaid/sample] As anyone who checks into BBB regularly will know, I’m not a fan of anti-ageing terms plastered all over packaging – we can never normalise older skin while it’s being treated as something undesirable. However, and as a full disclaimer, DoSe by Victoria Health is created by my friend Gill and we hammer this topic out regularly. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my stance (and in fact, sometimes get told off by readers for being too stringent about it) but I do hope one day skin will just be skin, age irrelevant.
For the past three or so weeks I’ve been using Ergothioneine Serum (£26) and Squalane Face oil – other than SPF, nothing else. I went to the launch back in March but had obligations to finish testing another brand but as soon as that was up, I swapped to those two products. Ergothioneine Serum is the catnip product – it’s the one everyone wants and then wants it again once they’ve used it up. Ergothioneine is a highly antioxidant natural amino acid with skin calming benefits and an impressive inhibitor of melanin, so those bothered by pigmentation would do well to give it a try. It’s also clever in that it prevents skin’s natural antioxidants from degrading. All in all, if you are looking to add an additional layer to your skin care routine, this would be the suit-all, ride or die.
All of the DoSe skin care is formulated by Shabir Daya MRPhamS, co-founder of Victoria Health and in-house pharmacist (and one of the most patient people I’ve ever met!). There are 13 products in the DoSe skin care range, which moves me on to the other product I’ve been using – the Squalane Oil (£15). I am a big fan of squalane as an ingredient – it’s so skin compatible because it’s a modified form of squalene which is found in our own sebum and Squalane now tends to be sourced from the olive, but it can also be derived from sunflower and soya. It’s very good at locking in moisture and repairing the skin barrier. If you wanted to pick a pair other than the one I chose, I’d recommend Hyaluronic Acid with Squalane Oil.
What I like about DoSe is the simplicity of it – really, very high quality skin care in manageable amounts without a long list of how to, where to, why to, that you can add or subtract from your skin care routine just as you please. The joy of Ergothioneine is that it’s light and unobtrusive on the skin so you can use day or night over or under whatever you like (under is better). It works well with my SPF although I’ve noticed that Squalane and my current micellar (Bioderma) don’t like each other and I end up with squirls. I’m only heading to bed so it doesn’t matter particularly so that’s just an observation – no oils and silicones will end up in a happy marriage.
My skin is happy – it’s unproblematic – where I’ve had stress spots, the marks are fading, it gleams when I wake up in the morning and I notice it when I brush my teeth. I love to see naturally glowy skin and I love to feel suppleness and smoothness on my face – all boxes are ticked for a happy face with healthy, radiant skin from a fairly priced, beautiful quality brand. My question for any new skin care range is always, ‘where is the lip balm?’ being such a balm addict myself and I can see Gill raising her brows in a ‘not that old chestnut again’ kind of a way so I’ll leave it just hanging… you never know ;-). Find DoSe HERE.
Leave a Reply