How to Pick Your Poison
When it comes to choosing your skin care routine, there are a lot of options out there and therefore, a lot of room for error. Fads, false information, and “unclean” skin care options can all lead you astray. At Intoxicated, we believe that educating our consumers is vital in their approach on how to attack their skins needs and desired look. We all know someone who is born with naturally beautiful skin, who uses bar soap to clean their skin, who is overly filler and Botox happy, and of course the person who thinks that toothpaste is going to cure a pimple.
Some of the tricks to a healthy skin care routine span across diet to products, and since many of our clients have been asking us what the best way to “pick their poison” is, we thought that we would outline our suggestions and tips in this blog!
Since we are a Boston-based company, we know that many people who use our products face extremes in all four seasons of weather which requires four seasons of skin care needs. We think that it’s important to note that just as the trees in Boston shed their leaves, we all must shed our dead skin by regularly exfoliating it. This helps our products to work the best they can by penetrating new and healthy skin, but also helps avoid break outs caused by clogged pores as a result of dead skin piling up.
Although we do not carry them in our line (yet!!!!), we highly recommend regularly getting medical grade peels and/or using an enzyme exfoliant mask at least once a week, preferably twice, to keep your face fresh and your skin breathing. Another option is to introduce a glycolic formula into your skin care routine in conjunction with our serums, which also removes dead skin cells, smoothens and rejuvenates.
That being said, your regular routine with Intoxicated should involve thoroughly cleansing your skin, toning to clean out pores, followed by our serums, and then your favorite moisturizer (we’re coming out with one soon!). Based on prevention, treatment stage, and skin type each of the venom-based actives in our serums help to improve circulation and hydrate skin, as well as stimulate collagen and elastin reproduction.
Point being, all of our serums are great for anti-aging and preventative work; but just like Boston’s seasons, your moods, hormones, and your good and bad days, they are designed for your skins daily needs. The base of all 3 of our venom inspired serums are relatively similar; they all contain vitamin C & E, vitamin B3 as a restorative ingredient, and Hyadisine which is a synthetic variation of hyaluronic acid. We purposely made our base formulas similar, so that if our clients wanted to switch them up depending on their days, it wouldn’t make them break out, or have a bad reaction.
With that being said, we designed our Bee Serum for more acne prone skin, as Bee Venom contains countless anti-microbial properties that stop bacteria in its tracks. If you aren’t usually prone to breakouts (except around your period), it is a great idea to start to implement it when you are about to! In addition to being great for acne, we know that a lot of serums that are designed for acneic skin tend to completely dry you out. Obviously, this is not ideal for any skin type, so we added royal epigen, which is loaded with hydrating nutrients, as well as anti-aging benefits, collagen and elastin integrity.
[If you want to learn the full science behind Royal Epigen, Bee Venom, and how we came to include them in our products, click here:]
We come next to our Snake Serum, which we designed for normal to combination skin, especially with the thought of the ever-changing weather conditions in New England. In addition to the base described above for our Bee Serum (Vitamins C, E, B5, and Hyadisine), we also added green tea extract which contains a powerful antioxidant called EGCG which fights against DNA damage from UV rays to prevent skin cancer. That means it’s also a potent anti-aging ingredient that combats signs of aging when ingested or applied topically. Green tea also has anti-inflammatory properties, thanks to its high content of polyphenols called “catechins”. The catechins in green tea reduce irritation, redness, and swelling. Green tea is a powerful antibacterial agent for treating acne and unclogging pores, as the polyphenols damage bacterial membranes and fight against infection, making it a useful tool for treating the bacterial growth that causes acne. Simply, it helps kill systemic bacterial inflammation for smoother, toned skin.
We also integrated white tea extract in our Snake Serum, which keeps your skin looking younger by protecting it from damage with the antioxidants it contains. Researchers believe that the antioxidants reduce oxidative stress to the skin, which is thought to promote skin cancer, wrinkles and uneven pigmentation. As an anti-aging product, this extract protects your skin from more than just sun damage; Matrix metalloproteinases, (we’ll call it MMP), is a healthy enzyme that all skin contains. However, the amount increases with age and as it grows, gobbles up the collagen and elastin that keeps our skin looking young. White tea extract to the rescue! Applying this extract to your skin helps inhibit the activity of MMP, so that collagen and elastin can perform their assigned task of maintaining your skin’s freshness while they stop functioning as appetizers for wrinkle-inducing, firmness-reducing enzymes.
Finally, let’s not forget the main work horse in our snake serum, and where it got its name! Our Snake Serum is based on the venom found in Temple Vipers. The natural occurring peptide is too unstable, so we dissected it and came up with the synthetic variation, also known as Syn-Ake. Syn-Ake is known for its wrinkle relaxing, smoothing and skin firming effects. This biomimetic peptide derived from Temple Viper Snake venom delivers powerful action to smooth the appearance of expression lines around the forehead, eyes and mouth with significant results in as soon as 7 days. The viper’s venom contains proteins for different functions including digestion, paralyzation, and toxins.
[To learn the full science behind our snake venom serum, click here:]
Essentially, these ingredients make Snake great for protecting your skin from environmental factors, breakouts, and of course anti-aging. This formula is ideal for winter weather for someone who has combination skin.
Lastly (but not in last place!), is our Snail Serum. While it contains the same bases of vitamins and peptides as its sister serums, Snail Serum has a trick up its sleeve. The main difference is that it is not only the strongest anti-aging formula, but also the most hydrating.
This serum uses a synthetic variation of the Cone Snail’s venom is known as XEP™-018, a clinically proven biomimetic peptide shown to minimize muscle contractions, delivering both instant and visible results which include smoother and more even-toned skin, remarkable reduction in wrinkle depth, visible smoothing of expression lines, and maximum moisture retention. Biologically, it acts as a modulator of the neuromuscular transmission, as well as a potent and selective blocker of the voltage-gated sodium channel, slightly inhibiting the movement of facial muscle contraction, which leads to wrinkles. In studies, this biomimetic peptide, using a single application of 3% XEP™-018 resulted in a visible and significant reduction of wrinkle depth and rugosity in just 2 hours after application.
In addition to its base ingredients and venomous workhorse actives, our Snail Serum contains glycosaminoglycans derived from snail mucin for further firmness, support, and wrinkle reduction. The glycolic acid found in snail mucin is said to help your cells produce collagen and elastin, which even out skin tone and smooth its surface. We suggest this serum for people with very dry skin, and especially during climate change. Snails produce mucin essentially as a barrier to the their skin, creating a non-permeable membrane, allowing it to glide smoothly across rough surfaces and without harm. This is a great daily serum for someone who is looking for not only an anti-aging regimen, but also a hydrating day & night serum.
[To learn the full science behind our Snail Serum, click here:]
In conclusion, our serums are designed for acne prone or breakout ready skin (Bee Serum), hydrating, resurfacing, and protecting (Snake Serum), and extreme lifting and hydrating (Snail Serum). We hope that this helps you pick the best poison for your skin!
Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you have any additional questions!
