#21 TCF: My favorite luxury face serum dupe
One of my favorite little hobbies is to re-formulating expensive skin care products. It satisfies two big thrills for me, saving money and solving puzzles. Ultimate pitta pleasures, iykyk. 😊
Like most high-end goods, you're mainly paying for marketing, packaging and convenience. But when you actually look at the ingredient list of clean or natural skin care products, there are just a few core active ingredients and then a handful of more obscure oils that help to differentiate vs making it more effective.
With temperatures rising, I like to switch to lighter serums vs balms that I use on the winter. So, I was excited to try and crack the code on a very hyped luxury product. My process is to buy the product, analyze the ingredient list, break it down to its core functional elements and reformulate.
I do respect the hustle. It's really hard out there so I don't like to share the actual product I'm duping. But honestly, so many are similar with just one little angle to stand out.
This serum's hero ingredient is argan oil. You'll find it in most anti-aging formulations for good reason. Argan oil is very high in oleic acid and linoleic acid.
Studies have shown that argan oil is:
- Ideal for mature, aging, or damaged skin.
- Improves skin elasticity and skin hydration in post-menopausal women.
- Reduce water loss and restores damaged skin barrier.
- Prevent wrinkles.
Sign me up!
The easiest way to benefit from argan oil is to just buy a high quality argan oil and use it as a single ingredient. I like to use pure argan oil as the skincare prep before gua sha. It helps the stone to glide smoothly across the skin while also nourishing it.
If you want to try your hand at formulation (and I really hope you do!), here's a great anti-aging serum dupe I'm loving.
You'll need a small scale to weight products, ingredients, glass dropper and 5 minutes. That's all!
To make it super easy, I've gathered the all the items here.
Luxurious Rejuvenating Facial Serum:
- Argan Oil - 17.5 grams
- Rosehip Seed Oil - 4 grams
- Pomegranate Seed Oil - 8.75 grams
- Blue Tansy EO - 0.1 grams
- Helichrysum EO - 0.14 grams
- Carrot Seed EO - 0.12 grams
Directions:
- Using the scale, measure each ingredient into the small beaker.
- Remember to tare the scale after each addition!
- Pour into glass dropper.
- Cap it and roll gently between palms of your hand to blend. That's it!
- Make a fun label for your very own facial serum or use a paint pen
- Store in a cool, dry place.
Please let me know if you try this or if you have a favorite product you would like for me to recreate!
xo-Anna