Road testing the latest lotions and potions must be one of the best jobs in the world. Being a makeup artist, you’d think I’d favour makeup over skincare but the truth is, I’m obsessed with skin. Only skincare that really delivers ends up in my makeup kit and to get there it has to get through me (and my skin) first!
Problem is, it can take around a month to see results from most products and as a beauty expert who needs to report on everything out there, I’m usually trying so many products at once that I rarely stick to a single brand at a time.
Luckily I have the opportunity to visit cosmetic factorys and attend seminars to get to understand the ins and outs of ingredients – so I can now tell a lot about a product simply by knowing where its manufactured and what it’s made of.
There are times though, when I look at my bathroom, packed full of half used products and I feel like the floozy of the skincare world. I work my way though the best looking products first, giving some my attention for only one night; going back to the ones that impress for a few weeks in a row. Then there are those I shamelessly flirt with just by reading the ingredients list.
I’m commitment-phobic by occupation but now something’s happened…I think I may have met The One. We may not ever be exclusive (there are, after all, so many more serums in the sea) but I’ve no doubt that I’ll always have a soft spot for Double Zero One EquiHybrid Skincare.
When I first received my box of Double Zero One my first thought was what a bizarre name, quickly followed by this company care about their ingredients. Each formula is bottled in dark glass, which in skincare terms, means that the contents are pure and active enough to need protection from light. Pure botanical extracts are like vampires – sunlight quickly destroys them. So, only the good stuff requires this kind of attention to detail. And the good stuff has been made by great people.
A team of botanists and biochemists who combine traditional apothecary with modern science forms Double Zero One’s EquiHybrid Lab. Only the highest-grade botanical ingredients are used and some are individually blended by hand. Brainchild behind it all, Ada Ooi grew up in Hong Kong and earned her skincare stripes as a facialist and aromatherapist. Ada’s vision was to create a line that would fuse twenty first century science with dynastic Chinese methods to address environmental imbalance (which causes premature ageing at a cellular level).
The result is a cocktail of potions that feel as fabulous as they smell. Precious Finds Intensive Elixir £94, is a facial serum and oil all in one with the heady aroma of sandalwood, myrrh and frankincense (and no, it doesn’t smell like Christmas). If scent isn’t enticing enough, the instant youthful glow it imparts will be. Three precious oils, four refined biodynamic oils, four pure plant extracts and lots of Vitamin E have antiaging, cell protection and regeneration all wrapped up before you’ve even looked at moisturiser. Fickle as I am, if you were to ask me to take one product to a desert island tomorrow, this would be it.
Runner up would be the Exfoliating and Conditioning Cleanser £23, with ylang ylang, palmarosa and geranium essential oils along with melissa leaf, fennel and vanilla – all of which remove makeup, de puff, purify and sooth, leaving a film on the skin that’s ‘silky’ as opposed to ‘tight’.
The there’s the Active Marine Power Concentrate £49, which you could think of as your morning-time collagen protector. Brown algae is the hero ingredient here, helping to strengthen the skin’s natural hydro-lipid barrier and slow collagen breakdown. Green tea, stabilised vitamin C, aloe vera and citrus essence increase cell turnover and boost skin vitality.
The moisturiser that’s made it into my makeup kit to treat the complexion of even my fussiest clients is the GLA Antioxidant Rich Cream £53, because it can be used as a moisturiser or a mask. It reduces redness instantly with the help of gamma-linolenic acid (an essential fatty acid from the omega-6 family) and regulates natural oils with rice bran, vanilla, borage, rosehip and olive, making it ideal for the driest or most sensitive skins all the way through to oily or spot prone. Brown marine algae extract helps prevent depletion of skin’s elastin and collagen, strengthening and tightening skin texture and squalane does all the hydrating work on thirsty skin.
It was love at first use with Double Zero One and the results just keep getting better. You can always tell when someone’s in love because they ‘glow’… and my skin’s getting more luminous with each day.
Precious finds Intensive Elixir:
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product-category/precious-finds/
GLA Antioxidant Rich Cream: http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/gla-anti-oxidant-rich-cream/
Active Marine Power Concentrate £49
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/active-marine-power-concentrate/
Exfoliating and Conditioning Cleanser:
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/exfoliating-conditioning-cleanser/
Road testing the latest lotions and potions must be one of the best jobs in the world. Being a makeup artist, you’d think I’d favour makeup over skincare but the truth is, I’m obsessed with skin. Only skincare that really delivers ends up in my makeup kit and to get there it has to get through me (and my skin) first!
Problem is, it can take around a month to see results from most products and as a beauty expert who needs to report on everything out there, I’m usually trying so many products at once that I rarely stick to a single brand at a time.
Luckily I have the opportunity to visit cosmetic factorys and attend seminars to get to understand the ins and outs of ingredients – so I can now tell a lot about a product simply by knowing where its manufactured and what it’s made of.
There are times though, when I look at my bathroom, packed full of half used products and I feel like the floozy of the skincare world. I work my way though the best looking products first, giving some my attention for only one night; going back to the ones that impress for a few weeks in a row. Then there are those I shamelessly flirt with just by reading the ingredients list.
I’m commitment-phobic by occupation but now something’s happened…I think I may have met The One. We may not ever be exclusive (there are, after all, so many more serums in the sea) but I’ve no doubt that I’ll always have a soft spot for Double Zero One EquiHybrid Skincare.
When I first received my box of Double Zero One my first thought was what a bizarre name, quickly followed by this company care about their ingredients. Each formula is bottled in dark glass, which in skincare terms, means that the contents are pure and active enough to need protection from light. Pure botanical extracts are like vampires – sunlight quickly destroys them. So, only the good stuff requires this kind of attention to detail. And the good stuff has been made by great people.
A team of botanists and biochemists who combine traditional apothecary with modern science forms Double Zero One’s EquiHybrid Lab. Only the highest-grade botanical ingredients are used and some are individually blended by hand. Brainchild behind it all, Ada Ooi grew up in Hong Kong and earned her skincare stripes as a facialist and aromatherapist. Ada’s vision was to create a line that would fuse twenty first century science with dynastic Chinese methods to address environmental imbalance (which causes premature ageing at a cellular level).
The result is a cocktail of potions that feel as fabulous as they smell. Precious Finds Intensive Elixir £94, is a facial serum and oil all in one with the heady aroma of sandalwood, myrrh and frankincense (and no, it doesn’t smell like Christmas). If scent isn’t enticing enough, the instant youthful glow it imparts will be. Three precious oils, four refined biodynamic oils, four pure plant extracts and lots of Vitamin E have antiaging, cell protection and regeneration all wrapped up before you’ve even looked at moisturiser. Fickle as I am, if you were to ask me to take one product to a desert island tomorrow, this would be it.
Runner up would be the Exfoliating and Conditioning Cleanser £23, with ylang ylang, palmarosa and geranium essential oils along with melissa leaf, fennel and vanilla – all of which remove makeup, de puff, purify and sooth, leaving a film on the skin that’s ‘silky’ as opposed to ‘tight’.
The there’s the Active Marine Power Concentrate £49, which you could think of as your morning-time collagen protector. Brown algae is the hero ingredient here, helping to strengthen the skin’s natural hydro-lipid barrier and slow collagen breakdown. Green tea, stabilised vitamin C, aloe vera and citrus essence increase cell turnover and boost skin vitality.
The moisturiser that’s made it into my makeup kit to treat the complexion of even my fussiest clients is the GLA Antioxidant Rich Cream £53, because it can be used as a moisturiser or a mask. It reduces redness instantly with the help of gamma-linolenic acid (an essential fatty acid from the omega-6 family) and regulates natural oils with rice bran, vanilla, borage, rosehip and olive, making it ideal for the driest or most sensitive skins all the way through to oily or spot prone. Brown marine algae extract helps prevent depletion of skin’s elastin and collagen, strengthening and tightening skin texture and squalane does all the hydrating work on thirsty skin.
It was love at first use with Double Zero One and the results just keep getting better. You can always tell when someone’s in love because they ‘glow’… and my skin’s getting more luminous with each day.
Precious finds Intensive Elixir:
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product-category/precious-finds/
GLA Antioxidant Rich Cream: http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/gla-anti-oxidant-rich-cream/
Active Marine Power Concentrate £49
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/active-marine-power-concentrate/
Exfoliating and Conditioning Cleanser:
http://doublezeroone.com/001/product/exfoliating-conditioning-cleanser/
Article by
Sarah Jagger
Holistic Make-up Artist
Sarah Jagger is ITV This Morning’s beauty expert and celebrity makeup artist.
Discover more
Article by
Sarah Jagger
Holistic Make-up Artist
Sarah Jagger is ITV This Morning’s beauty expert and celebrity makeup artist.
Discover more