If you’re into skincare in any way, then I’m sure you’re familiar with personalised skincare treatments. However, for those who aren’t, let me quickly introduce you to the basic concept: you fill in a form discussing your skincare requirements, you send over some photos of your bare face and a pharmacist or skincare professional will put together a prescription product (containing actives) that focuses on your skincare needs. However, one thing I think a lot of people don’t realise is that the treatment can only be personalised to a certain level, and actually, most of the prescriptions are pre-formulated and only the percentages can be tweaked, which can cause problems if you have reactive skin, you struggle to tolerate certain ingredients or you just want a very specific mix of actives. Enter, Uncouth.
Uncouth offer a prescription service that goes above and beyond what we’re used to, with a huge variety of actives available that can be customised to your exact requirements, plus a range of tablets, if you need them. My biggest issue is adult acne, but I also struggle with pigmentation and early signs of ageing. Also, there are a lot of ingredients that my skin just will not tolerate, with Niacinamide being right at the very top; I mention this as it seems to be an ingredient that features in absolutely everything nowadays, but thankfully not in the base formula from Uncouth, which mostly features skin-loving hydrators and soothers such as Aloe Vera, Vitamin E and Hyaluronic Acid.
After my consultation, it was agreed that I would start on a formula containing 5% Spironolactone, 4% Tranexamic Acid and a touch of Tretinoin (just 0.006%!) as one of my biggest issues with similar prescription products is that even the lowest level of Tret was too high for me, and I don’t believe that results can only be achieved by attacking the skin with aggressive actives, so I wanted to ease my skin in with the Tret. I think it’s safe to say that the most exciting ingredient is the Spironolactone, which is available from Uncouth as both an oral (pill) and topical (skincare) treatment and works by inhibiting the impact of androgens, so it’s incredible for those of use who breakout from stress or hormones. I don’t think there are many places you can get topical Spironolactone, so this is a brilliant option for so many of us who have tried all the usual acne treatments with little or no success. Unfortunately this mix of ingredients isn’t currently available as a trio, but you can get the Spironolactone either alone or with Tranexamic Acid, or Tretinoin with other ingredients.
I have several causes for my breakouts, ranging from the usual (hormones, lack of sleep, poor health) to outside factors such as trying out new skincare and makeup, or wearing my CPAP mask at night, all of which cause different types of breakouts, so my situation isn’t very black and white and instead sits in lots of different areas of grey. The Uncouth formula has helped so much without causing any peeling or signs of barrier stress; I actually use it every other day because I like to do treatments each week and I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix and match actives and treatments, but on lazy skincare weeks when I don’t have the energy to do much more than a basic routine, I happily use this every day and it doesn’t cause any problems. I have slowly upped my Tret to 0.04% and I’m quite happy at that percentage for now, but I love that I can request a formula adjustment at any point to adapt to my changing skincare needs.
If you fancy giving Uncouth a go, you can use code BLACKFRIDAY for 50% your first two months of a skincare treatment (some exclusions apply) to try out the service and see how you get on. Find out all about it here – link.
Disclosure: unpaid ad – PR
