That’s right womenfolk, skincare designed with the menopause and older skin at its heart! Shall we all skip around an imaginary pile of millennial-targeted skincare ranges while whooping our pro-ageing mantra? Better still, you will not need to brace yourself over the price when you press the ‘complete purchase’ button as it’s not too expensive.
I got an inside lead on the new Utopia range from another grown up woman within the industry, who was inolved with early trials and loved what it was doing to her skin, so when there were samples available she kindly sent me down a set. I’ve been using the products solidly for the last six weeks, so I can properly comment on the results.
And it is fab.
The collection is pleasingly simple; one day cream, one night cream, a serum, an eye cream, a body cream and hand cream, and it aims to always stay this concise. It’s been designed with a nano technology delivery system (ie everything is super-tiny so can drop through anything) to properly penetrate the epidermis, protecting the skin from environmental pollutants as well as shooting the targeted active ingredients needed by mature skin right where it needs it before, during and after the menopause.
“The idea of Utopia” said Louisa Hunt, from Aspect Beauty, who are representing the brand, “is that it’s not saying it’s got a wonder ingredient in it that’s not anywhere else, but it’s the clever combination of ingredients used, taking the best of the best and using them into one range.”
It’s also called an ‘adaptive’ skincare range in the blurb, what does that mean? “Adaptive skincare means that the skin will take from the product what it needs.” Louisa continued.”All skincare is adaptive, however, other products may not have all the ingredients mature skin would need. The Derma Complex has all the ingredients the skin needs to fight these different concerns.”
There are eight active chemicals used in a collaborative way in the Derma Complex mix. The skin naturally prioritises what it needs to do with these extra actives, so if it uses all the vitamin C fighting age spots, there’s a back up in Vitamin E, which can be used as an anti-oxidant.
Older skin – and particularly menopausal skin – needs quite different levels of active ingredients to the younger, hot-flush-free variety. For example at 40, your skin needs lots of vitamin C to help hold on to collagen to keep elasticity within the skin, then at 60 your body uses it to inhibit the formation of age spots and fight oxidation damage. There’s enough active Vitamin C designed into the product to cope with both needs.
With regards to Derma Complex, the ingredient that is linked to menopausal skin is Unisteron (from wild yam & soy phytosterols) which helps to rebalance hormone levels in mature skin and alleviates skin side effects of the menopause such as redness, blotchiness, dullness and dryness, as well as boosting skin firmness and elasticity. They are not exclusive to this range, you just wont find them in many millennial-targeted collections.
I found it hugely refreshing to just read about menopausal skin – in all three stages! I mean that just doesn’t normally happen. Brands are usually terrified of the M word and usually come at ageing brandishing a cross in one hand and holding a string of garlic in the other, I’m exaggerating obvs, but you get my gist. How unbelievably brilliant to find someone tackling our needs with thoughtfully constructed, scientific product.
So what did I think? The Intense Face Serum is the hero product here for me, I used it day and night and it formed a firm anchor, softening the flaky edges of my face and pillowing up the skin with a cool bounce. It appeared to improve the structure of my skin, as if every cell stood to attention more. The Hydrating Day cream is good but the Nourishing Night Cream, with its waxy butteriness, really felt luscious spread the skin and I have rarely looked so good at breakfast time.
Another star is the Age Defying Hand Neck & Décolletage Serum, which is a super light, dewy-soft cream I’ve just been using it on my hands. It instantly improves the texture, softening and blurring the crepe-paper folds and plumping the thin dry skin on the backs of my hands. Although this hand cream does have an instant effect, the whole range seems to be a slow-burn performer, in that my skin improved gradually and significantly over a period, it’s not a one-hit wonder or out to seduce with a quick-but-temporary fix and I like that investment. Used long term this promises to protect from environmental damage better than most creams too.
Finally, the Derma Gel is a great all over body gel which has a cooling quality, perfect for calming down a hot flush if you’re quick and it’s generally nicely soothing on angsty skin. I challenged it to improve the flaky dryness I always get on my shins and over the last six weeks it has really improved the texture, since nothing usually touches this I was pretty impressed.
So well done Utopia, on a cracking, well-priced-for-the-great-quality range. If I had to criticise I’d say less of the anti-wrinkle/age defying wording please, we love our wrinkles here at TWR and the whole ‘anti-ageing’ conversation needs to shift to be much more supportive and positive. But otherwise, love your work!
It’s available online, or at Harvey Nichols exclusively.
Looks great however they don’t seem to do sample sizes. I’ve contacted them to ask if they are planning to introduce some as I would never invest in a skincare range I hadnt had an opportunity to try out. Fo women outside of London (and that’s most of us!) popping into Harvey Nics isn’t an option….
Good point Maureen, I know the brand have read this page so I’m hoping they will have taken on board your comment and might look at this. You’re right, on line brands need good sampling systems Ax
Thanks for share on beauty article.
Hello! Thanks for such an informative and helpful article. I will definitely try Utopia products, it seems to me that this will be my new favorite. But I saw how many brands there were that made great products and over time they downgraded the quality of the products as they gained popularity. I hope this does not happen with Utopia.
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To celebrate our pro-aging stance, should we do driving directions a happy dance atop a mental mountain of skincare lines aimed towards millennials? Better still, you may click the “complete purchase” button without worrying about the whole cost.