You know those memes about how being a grown-up means having a favorite dish towel or a strong opinion on top sheets? For me, the beauty version of adulting is when you stop looking at pastel-packaged products that smell like fruity flowers and instead get excited about the percentage of actives in the boring, science-backed stuff. (It’s when you go from shopping at Ulta to shopping at Dermstore, basically.)
I know that my “top shelf” wouldn’t make for a very aesthetically pleasing Into the Gloss feature—it’s a sea of silver and white bottles by brands that have clinical, Rx, or MD in the name—but lately, it has given me very aesthetically pleasing skin, which is nearly impossible for a dry type to achieve in an East Coast winter situation. It’s the first December I can remember when my skin isn’t flaking around my nose, cracking under foundation, and feeling tight after cleansing—and I credit that to Sobel Skin Rx, the newly launched line by New York City dermatologist Dr. Howard Sobel.
The eight-product collection includes a glycolic cleanser and peel, day cream with SPF, eye cream, niacinamide serum, vitamin C serum, retinol treatment, and hyaluronic acid moisturizer. I’ve been using all of them for more than a month now, but if forced to pick favorites, the latter three have made the biggest difference in my tone, texture, and moisture levels.
Sobel Skin Rx Products
Sobel Skin Rx’s Vitamin C and retinol, crucial for anti-aging, are notoriously tricky to formulate—for their instability and irritability potential, respectively—yet these two iterations manage to get it right at unusually high concentrations. (And don’t you just want to jump for joy when the key ingredient being advertised actually shows up at the very top of the ingredients list, right after water? That’s the case with the entire line.)
Related: How to Prevent & Heal Skin Burns from Retinol
Sobel Skin Rx Face Serum
The 35% Vitamin C Face Serum, which comes with an airless pump, to prevent oxidation, contains a complex of three forms of vitamin C at a percentage that’s more than double the typical amount (most on the market fall between 10 and 20%). It feels slightly tingly when it first goes on, but it doesn’t lead to any redness; according to clinical trials with 30 test subjects, none reported irritation. I use it daily in the morning, before moisturizer and sunscreen, and notice that it’s starting to fade two brown spots on my temples while making my overall complexion look brighter and more resurfaced than it usually does in this weather.
Sobel Skin RX Retinol Treatment
The same can be said for the 4.5% Retinol Night Treatment. Yes, you read that right: over-the-counter retinol tops out at 2%, but the Sobel Skin Rx retinol claims it can sell a prescription-strength formula, due to a patent-pending encapsulated delivery system. (Proprietary info: great for brands, less so for beauty editors trying to provide clarity!) That time-release system, combined with calming chamomile and aloe vera, is the reason you don’t need to be scared, like I was, that 4.5% will rip your face off… so long as you start off using it just twice per week while your skin adjusts. It’s the first retinol I haven’t given up on by now, because it’s the first that didn’t utterly dry out my skin throughout the adjustment period; but sensitive types should start with a 0.5–1% retinol rather than going straight for something so potent.
Sobel Skin Rx Moisturizer
The line’s hero though, the product that lets the more aggressive formulas do their job while keeping my skin soft, hydrated, and flake-free, is the Bio Hyaluronic Moisturizing Cream. It also employs the under-wraps, patent-pending delivery system to help hyaluronic acid penetrate deeper into the dermal layers, which is the only way long-lasting moisture is sustained. Antioxidants in the formula like Leontopodium acid (from edelweiss) protect against free radicals, and a cocktail of seed oils (avocado, macadamia, and sunflower) restores the skin’s barrier function. My complexion has never felt or looked better—at least, since becoming an adult.
