Power Couples: 6 Skincare Ingredient Combos That Work — and 3 that need some care

It’s the month of love, so naturally we’re in the mood to talk about skincare duos that bring out the best in each other. And, unfortunately, some that will need a bit of time to get to know and love each other …

If you’re on a quest to make your skincare routine as effective as possible, keep scrolling to make sure you’re combining all of the best ingredients and avoiding any skincare perils.

Regardless of your relationship status, kick off the season of love by buying yourself skincare. You’ll feel great and that is worth celebrating ❤️

Perfect Match: Retinoids + Peptides

Retinol is a chemical derivative of vitamin A that boosts skin-cell turnover and collagen stimulation, while peptides are small-chain amino acids (or proteins) that help build collagen and elastin. While they work wonders on their own, when you combine the two together in your nightly routine, you get a recipe for skin that looks and feels smoother and firmer.

Perfect Match: Retinoids + Hyaluronic Acid

Retinol can be drying, so the golden rule of using a vitamin A product is that you should always follow it up with a big hit of moisture, and what better way to do that than with hyaluronic acid? Thanks to its miraculous capacity to hold water, the naturally occurring humectant works to draw in and lock in moisture. It really is the best thing for counteracting any dryness.

Perfect Match: Vitamin C + Vitamin E

Although they have their own claims to fame—namely, vitamin C is especially known for its brightening benefits, while vitamin E is loved for its soothing and skin conditioning properties—both of these vitamins are potent antioxidants that help prevent and repair environmental damage to the skin. It makes sense, then, that when combined they become even more powerful at protecting your skin from free radicals and reducing signs of ageing. But that’s not the only reason they work well together. Vitamin E becomes inert when they scavenge free radicals but when combined with vitamin C we get a synergistic activation of the vitamin E so that it can carry on acting as an antioxidant.

Perfect Match: Vitamin C + Ferulic Acid

Similarly, you can boost the effects of vitamin C even further by looking for a product that pairs it with ferulic acid. Like vitamins C and E, ferulic acid is also a powerful antioxidant, and its main benefits include decreasing fine lines and wrinkles, brown spots, and other signs of premature ageing, as well as increasing the effectiveness of other antioxidants.

Perfect Match: Glycolic Acid + Salicylic Acid

One of the best skincare combinations to look for is a mix of AHAs and BHAs, or more specifically, a mix of glycolic and salicylic acids. This is because, when combined, these two acids become an exfoliating powerhouse. Glycolic acid loosens the top layer of the skin, which allows salicylic acid to deeply penetrate and clean out pores. And while these acids are well-loved on their own, they work even better together, especially if you have oily or acne-prone skin.

Perfect Match: All of the Above + SPF

A broad-spectrum SPF 30+ should be applied religiously every day of the year, not only to prevent skin cancers, wrinkles and sun spots, but because exfoliation from many other ingredients we apply to our skin, including retinol, vitamin C and acids, can increase the likelihood of sun sensitivity.

Tricky Pairing: Retinoids + Vitamin C

Retinol and vitamin C are hot topics in the skincare industry, and for good reason; these two ingredients are both effective anti-agers, but they work in diverse ways in your skincare routine. Retinol speeds up cell turnover, helping to enhance collagen production, which encourages skin smoothing. Vitamin C, on the other hand, keeps skin strong and resilient with its antioxidant powers. Both sound good, right? While there are benefits of incorporating both into your routine, we caution against layering retinol and vitamin C if you have sensitive or extremely dry skin, as your skin could become irritated especially with acidic forms of vitamin c like ascorbic acid. This pairing does not hold true for all ingredient types of retinol and vitamin C. Retinol esters like hydroxypinacolone retinoate and lipid soluble vitamin C’s like ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate dramatically reduce the chance of skin sensitivity and can be perfect pairings even for sensitive skin types.

Best choice:

Tricky Pairing: Retinoids + AHAs/BHAs

We recommend that you don’t mix retinoids with acid products like AHAs and BHAs if you suffer from sensitive and/or extremely dry skin. Why? Well, using both a chemical exfoliant and retinol can increase irritation and dryness. If you do suffer from sensitive skin and want to use both, which we fully support, try exfoliating in the morning and using the retinoid at night. On the other hand if your skin is not sensitive or dry using this combo can provide added skin benefits as the AHA/BHA allows a deeper penetration of the retinol.

Tricky Pairing: Vitamin C + AHAs/BHAs

The same cautions as above apply to combining vitamin C with exfoliating acids like salicylic, lactic, and glycolic acids. Again for sensitive and dry skin sufferers, we recommend using one at a time or alternating the days you use them. And similarly if your skin is not sensitive or dry using this combo can provide added skin benefits as the AHA/BHA allows a deeper penetration of the vitamin C.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yours in skin,

Dr Alek and the SkinMiles Team