LÉ Blog

AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) such as glycolic and lactic acid have long enjoyed the spotlight - and for good reason! These are your proven chemical exfoliants essential to most anti-aging, hyperpigmentation skin routines. Beyond these two, there are plenty of “new age” AHAs that get touted for similar skin benefits, and one of the newer kids on the block we want to shine a spotlight on is mandelic acid. As chemists, we always have to look at the available clinical evidence on these newer ingred...

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In the past couple of years, “slugging” has become one of the biggest social media skincare trends that seemingly is here to stay. The term has been coined by the interwebs as the process of masking your entire face with an occlusive balm to seal in your moisturizer step for optimal hydration. While the method of slugging might not be for every skin type, the operative word here is occlusive. Occlusives are a fundamental category of moisturizing ingredients that are an essential component to ...

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Back in the day, St. Ives Apricot scrub was probably the poster child for exfoliation. Even today, most people probably associate exfoliation with those amber scrubby beads. But! Since then, the entire exfoliation category has gotten a glow-up. Now you can choose from a wide range of exfoliating cleansers, serums, masks, sticks, pads, etc all with different strengths and efficacy levels to boot. So let’s take a closer look at why you should exfoliate, how to shop for the right exfoliant, what...

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In our final podcast episode of 2021, we dedicated the meat of the episode on a chemical exfoliants update. That’s the alphabet clan of PHAs, AHAs, and BHA, and it resulted in a lot of curiosity about PHAs. Though PHA research is still relatively new and not as well-studied as classic glycolic acid, there’s still some really exciting data that validates it’s use as an exfoliator. In fact, we like gluconolactone so much we use 30% of it in our Baby Steps exfoliating treatment! So let’s do a de...

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If you’ve been following us for some time, you’ll often hear about Gloria’s dry dry skin. Being naturally on the dry side means that your skin is probably the subject of everyone’s envy during the hormonal, acne-prone teenage years. However, before you know it, BAM! Fine lines are sadly ahead of schedule. So let’s take a closer look at the biology of dry skin, how to choose the right products to tackle dry skin, and what are some holy grail ingredients. My skin is parched! Just what does it m...

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The Good, the Bad, the So Shiny! To be fair, the label of “dry” and “oily” tend to be pretty broad sweeping statements. There’s a lot of nuances within each that factor in such as the climate, acne or no acne, sensitivity, etc. But this is definitely one of the first angles to look at when you're just starting to shape your routine to your specific skin needs even before getting into tackling skin concerns like acne, hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, etc. So let’s take a closer look at the biology...

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There's an unbelievable amount of moisturizing products out on the market, each promising skin that is softer, plumper, and more dewy than the next. But sadly, more often then not, consumers are left wondering "why is my skin still so dry despite my decked out moisturizer routine?" The reality is that there isn’t just one “best” moisturizer for your face. Each of us has incredibly unique skin with its own quirks, and no one’s skin condition fits neatly into the dry/oily/combination skin type ...

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You can find AHAs in a wide range of products from cleansers to night creams. Just what are AHAs anyway? AHA stands for alpha hydroxy acid — a class of water-soluble weak acids that has a long history of use and proven skin benefits. Some commonly used in skincare are: glycolic, lactic, malic, citric, mandelic, and tartaric acid. It's one of our "big 4" actives that we swear by. We love AHAs so much, we developed a whole line of booster masks starring our favorite AHAs. So let's take a look a...

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