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What is actually in it?
Three ways to look. Us against the usual shelf. Any label you paste, read against our dictionary. And all five of ours, side by side.
Us, and the usual.
Existential CosmeticsThe usual shelf
Receipts attachedEvery active links to the peer-reviewed study that earned it a place. Thirty of them, on this site, with the design and the outcome.
Claims attachedClinically proven, dermatologist tested, 97% agreed. The study, if there is one, is not on the page.
The studied concentration15% vitamin C, 5% niacinamide, 0.1% retinal: the levels the trials used, and we say which trial.
ContainsThe ingredient is on the label. How much of it is between the brand and its chemist.
Five products, one job eachCleanse, brighten, signal, resurface, seal. Nothing overlaps, nothing is padding.
Twelve steps and a mistEssences, boosters, ampoules, and a second serum that does what the first one did.
Unfragranced where it countsThe three serums carry no fragrance. Retinal had enough going on. The scents we do use are named, and light.
Fragrance in the serumsParfum in the actives, including the one sold for sensitive skin.
Good, or interesting, and labeledHuman data is called good. Laboratory data is called interesting. You can tell which is which on every page.
Everything is a breakthroughCultured-cell results presented as results on faces. Percentages with no denominator.
Skin-deep, on purposeWe fix what a cosmetic can fix and say so. Wrinkles look softer is a claim. Reverses aging is not, and you will not find it here.
Age-defying, age-reversing, age-erasingAdjectives doing the work the formula cannot.
Technology from our own labA patent-pending lipid complex, fermented actives and a two-peptide copper complex, with the lab's figures asterisked and the papers kept separate.
Off-the-shelf activesThe same catalog everyone formulates from. Nothing wrong with it; nothing theirs about it.
No brand is named. The shelf knows who it is.
What is in yours?
Pick a product people actually buy, or paste the list from whatever you use now. Every list is copied from the brand's own page, dated, and sorted by what we know, with a link to our receipt where we have one.
Which of ours.
One job each. This table is every question we get asked, answered for all five at once. Or take the quiz and let it decide.
Pick a problem
Or read across. Every row is a question people ask us.
| Five |  Clean SlateFace + Body Cleanser |  Bright Side15% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Serum |  Mixed SignalsCopper + Multi-Peptide Serum |  Coming of Age0.1% Retinal Serum |  Baby's BottomVernix-Inspired Barrier Cream |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The job | Washes face and body, rinses clean, leaves you alone. | Antioxidants for the morning, before the day starts taking notes. | Clearer instructions for skin that has stopped listening. | The visible consequences of birthdays, handled at night. | Restocks the barrier with the lipids it was born with. |
| For | SPF, sweat, general evidence of having left the house. | Dullness, uneven tone, free radicals behaving freely. | Fine lines, firmness, and skin sending mixed messages. | Wrinkles, texture, birthdays. | Dryness, barrier drama, doing too much. |
| Best for | Oil, Sweat, Sunscreen, Daily buildup | Dullness, Uneven tone, Oxidative stress, Visible photoaging | Fine lines, Firmness, Elasticity, Overall skin quality | Wrinkles, Fine lines, Texture, Uneven tone | Dryness, Roughness, Barrier support, Loss of softness |
| When | Morning and night. Step one, both times. | Morning. After cleansing, before everything else. | Morning. After Bright Side has soaked in. | Night. Two or three nights a week to start. Your skin will negotiate the rest. | Last step, morning and night. Seals in everything before it. |
| Key actives | Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Glycerin | Vitamin C + E + Ferulic | Niacinamide, Copper Tripeptide-1, Fermented Hyaluronic Acid | Retinal, Schizophyllan, Squalane | Vernix Lipid Complex, Ceramides + Cholesterol + Fatty Acids |
| Evidence | 2 with good evidence, 0 interesting. We kept the receipts.Receipts | 3 with good evidence, 0 interesting. We kept the receipts.Receipts | 2 with good evidence, 2 interesting. We kept the receipts.Receipts | 2 with good evidence, 1 interesting. We kept the receipts.Receipts | 3 with good evidence, 0 interesting. We kept the receipts.Receipts |
| Texture | Clear gel with sparse, colorful suspended jojoba beads. | Liquid glass. Gone in a minute, in a good way. | A serum that visibly owns its natural blue. | Retinal's own warm yellow, left alone. | Dense and cushiony. Soft-serve, for the face. |
| Scent | Clear Conscience. Airy. Mineral. Clean. | Unfragranced | Unfragranced | Unfragranced | First Skin. Warm. Soft. Close. |
| Pairs with | Bright Side. Next in the routine.Bright Side | Mixed Signals. Next in the routine.Mixed Signals | Baby's Bottom. Next in the routine.Baby's Bottom | Baby's Bottom. Next in the routine.Baby's Bottom | Coming of Age. Before it, at night.Coming of Age |
| Skip it if | You love your current cleanser and it does not leave you tight. Rare, but it happens. | Your skin reacts to L-ascorbic acid. Start at two mornings a week or lean on Mixed Signals for tone. | You want only proven ingredients. Niacinamide qualifies; the peptides are labeled interesting on purpose. | You are pregnant or breastfeeding, or your skin is currently irritated. Retinoids can wait. | Your skin is very oily and never feels tight. Even then, try it at night first. |
| Go | Start over | Look on it | Send a signal | Sleep on it | Start from the bottom |
Still deciding? The routine shows the order. The FAQ answers the rest.