Medik8 Masterclass: Expert Guide To Your Best Skin

The Basics of Skincare

Our Medik8 skincare philosophy is CSA: Vitamin C and sunscreen by day, vitamin A at night:

Vitamin C: C-Tetra Serum | Sunscreen: Advanced Day Total Protect (SPF 30) or Advanced Day Ultimate Protect (SPF 50) | Vitamin A: Crystal Retinal (various strengths from 1 to 20)

For the simplest CSA regime, use Daily Radiance Vitamin C in the morning (a 2-in-1 moisturiser featuring vitamin C and SPF 30), and Night Ritual Vitamin A in the evening.

To complete your basic regime, add a cleanser in the morning, followed by a cleanser plus a moisturiser in the evening.

Regimes For Specific Skin Concerns:

For Dry and Dehydrated Skin

AM

Cleanser: Micellar Mousse | Vitamin C: C-Tetra or C-Tetra Luxe (C-Tetra Luxe has double the concentration of vitamin C and features a nourishing squalane base if your skin is more dehydrated/dry) | Sunscreen: Advanced Day Ultimate Protect (SPF 50)

PM

Cleanser: Micellar Mousse (for a double cleanse, start with Lipid-Balance Cleansing Oil) | Vitamin A: Crystal Retinal (choose your strength and work up the ladder; ensure you phase in usage if you are new to vitamin A) | Moisturiser: Advanced Night Restore

Additional active: 

Hydra B5 Intense for increased moisture levels. Can be used morning and/or evening before your moisturiser)

For Oily or Blemish-Prone Skin / Enlarged Pores

AM

Cleanser: Surface Radiance Cleanse, or Clarifying Foam for oily skin that’s more prone to blemishes | Vitamin C & Sunscreen: Daily Radiance Vitamin C

PM

Cleanser: Surface Radiance Cleanse, or Clarifying Foam | Vitamin A: Crystal Retinal (choose your strength) | Moisturiser: Advanced Night Restore

Additional actives:

Clarity Peptides - helps to minimise sebum production (can be used morning and/or evening before your moisturiser) | Press & Clear - features encapsulated 2% salicylic acid to clarify blemish-prone skin while remaining gentle (use twice a day, every day after cleansing) 

For Sensitive Skin

AM

Cleanser: Calmwise Soothing Cleanser | Vitamin C: C-Tetra | Sunscreen: Advanced Day Ultimate Protect

PM

Cleanser: Calmwise Soothing Cleanser | Vitamin A: Crystal Retinal 1 | Moisturiser: Advanced Night Restore

Additional actives:

Press & Glow - daily exfoliating PHA toner, specifically designed for sensitive skins (use twice a day, every day after cleansing) | Clarity Peptides - helps to soothe and calm stressed or sensitive skin with 10% niacinamide (can be used morning and/or evening before your moisturiser)

For Tackling Signs of Ageing (lines, wrinkles, lack of firmness or sun damage)

AM

Cleanser: Surface Radiance Cleanse (or any from our range) | Vitamin C: Super C Ferulic | Sunscreen: Advanced Day Ultimate Protect

PM

Cleanser: Surface Radiance Cleanse (or any from our range, including a double cleanse) | Vitamin A: Crystal Retinal (consider a higher strength once your skin is ready to move up the ladder) | Moisturiser: Advanced Night Restore

Additional actives:

Sleep Glycolic - bi-weekly AHA evening treatment designed to transform dull complexions and reveal visibly brighter, smoother skin | Liquid Peptides - minimises the appearance of premature ageing (can be used morning and/or evening before your vitamin C or vitamin A) | Oxy-R Peptides - improves the appearance of visible age spots, hyperpigmentation, uneven skin tone and post-inflammatory pigmentation caused by blemishes (can be used morning and/or evening before your vitamin C or vitamin A)

Spotlight on the r-Retinoate Range

Our ultimate youth-renewing range. It took our scientists 8 years to develop the revolutionary r-Retinoate range, which features a fusion of retinol and retinoic acid. Our exclusive ingredient retinyl retinoate is proven to be 8x more powerful than retinol* yet highly tolerated by even the most sensitive skin. It also needs no phase-in time, unlike Crystal Retinal. 

Additionally, it is photostable meaning it doesn’t break down in sunlight like traditional forms of vitamin A. This means you can use it confidently both morning and night.

Our original r-Retinoate Day & Night Serum is formulated with our C-Tetra technology and is perfect for use both morning and night. Simply swap in as your form of vitamin C in the morning, as well as your vitamin A in the evening. This means you get double the application of C & A in a day - for double the visible results.

r-Retinoate Intense is our most powerful anti-ageing product, ever. It combines the power of retinyl retinoate with the speed of retinaldehyde (used in Crystal Retinal) to deliver previously unattainable results, in an all-in-one night formula. To introduce this to your regime, use after cleansing and direct acids as part of your evening regime, in place of all your other additional products (this 5-in-1 product combines the technologies of r-Retinoate, Crystal Retinal, Liquid Peptides, Advanced Night Restore and Hydr8 B5). 

Note: use of r-Retinoate Intense needs to be phased in as it contains retinaldehyde.

Eyes

AM

Vitamin C: C-Tetra Eye and/or r-Retinoate Day & Night Eye Serum (our most powerful eye formula to date) | Sunscreen: Advanced Day Eye Protect

PM

Vitamin A: Intelligent Retinol Eye TR or r-Retinoate Day & Night Eye Serum (our most powerful eye formula to date) | Moisturiser: Advanced Night Eye

Menopause

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all regime for those going through the menopause, as everyone experiences changes to the skin slightly differently. 

However, all menopausal skins can benefit from a base regime of CSA: vitamin C and sunscreen in the morning, followed by vitamin A at night. And, you can choose the best product combinations based on your skin types and key concerns (as outlined above). You can then add one of the below to your regime, based on how the menopause is impacting your skin:

If you’re experiencing blemishes & oily skin, try Press & Clear

If you’re experiencing dryness, try Hydr8 B5 Intense

If you’re experiencing fine lines & wrinkles, try Liquid Peptides

If you’re experiencing sensitivity, try Clarity Peptides

Pregnant or Breastfeeding

We don’t recommend vitamin A to those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, but we have an amazing alternative in Bakuchiol Peptides which offers all the same great benefits. You can use Bakuchiol Peptides in place of vitamin A in the evening, but can also use it in the morning to maximise results.

Teenage Skin

Keep the regime simple with a routine of cleansing, a non-acid toner and a moisturiser. Avoid targeted serums.

All of our products are suitable for those aged 16+. For those younger than 16, again, we recommend having a relatively simple routine of cleansing, non-acid toning and moisturising as well as avoiding targeted serums. For the treatment of any specific skin concerns, we recommend speaking to a doctor or dermatologist.

Layering Products

Layer your products based on their base: water-based first, then oil-based, then emulsion-based. This gives your products the best chance of penetrating the skin effectively.

The easiest way to remember this is to simply layer products from the thinnest to thickest texture.

Thin (water-based): Liquid Peptides, Hydr8 B5, Hydr8 B5 Intense, Oxy-R Peptides

Medium (oil-based): C-Tetra, C-Tetra Luxe, Super C Ferulic, Bakuchiol Peptides, Intelligent Retinol

Thick (emulsion-based): Clarity Peptides, Crystal Retinal, r-Retinoate Day & Night

Moisturiser: Advance Night Restore, Advanced Day Total Protect, Advanced Day Ultimate Protect, Daily Radiance Vitamin C, r-Retinoate Intense

The layering principles for eye care are the same as the face. However, please note that we generally recommend applying your eye products before your face products. 

The exception to the layering rule is acids. Regardless of the texture or base of the product, acids should always be applied directly after cleansing.

Remember to only apply one direct acid in each skincare regime. For example, if you use Press & Clear but want to incorporate Sleep Glycolic, switch out Press & Clear with Sleep Glycolic twice a week to avoid overwhelming your skin. You can also swap acids between morning and evening. And, contrary to popular belief, acids can be followed by your regular skin regime, including vitamin A.

Perfect Pairs

For sensitive skin that’s looking for radiance: Press & Glow + Crystal Retinal

For oily/combination skin that’s prone to breakouts: Press & Clear + Crystal Retinal

For advanced resurfacing results or to target more prominent signs of ageing: Sleep Glycolic + Crystal Retinal

For a moisturiser with vitamin A: Advance Night Restore + Crystal Retinal

For double cleansing:  Lipid-Balance Cleansing Oil + Micellar Mousse

For bright, youthful-looking skin: r-Retinoate Day & Night + r-Retinoate Intense

Product Pairings To Avoid

Layering exfoliating acids in a single sitting (instead swap them daily or switch between the morning and evening)

Copper PCA Peptides and vitamin C (instead use Copper PCA peptides if your skin cannot tolerate vitamin C)

Skincare on a Budget

Invest in products backed by proven results

Pick one or two products to start and slowly migrate your existing regime into new products as you start to see results

Shop savvy - such as Black Friday deals

Find multi-functional products, such as our 2-in-1 vitamin C and sunscreen moisturiser, Daily Radiance Vitamin C

Buy travel-size products to trial them first 

Join our new Me&Medik8 rewards programme to earn redeemable points as you spend

*H. Kim et al., Synthesis and in vitro biological activity of retinyl retinoate, a novel hybrid retinoid derivative, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, 15;16(12), pp 6387-93