For most of my life, my skin’s undertones have been decidedly neutral. I could never describe my skin as warm or cool with any particular conviction, and I never fell into golden, olive, or pink groupings of foundation; if the shade number ended with an N, that was the one for me. But in the last few years, it seemed like my skin had decided it was now pink.
Upon further inspection, I realized it wasn’t pink all the time — mostly for about an hour or so after applying almost any skin-care product. And it wasn’t pink, per se, so much as red. It seems that my undertones hadn’t changed, but rather my skin had become more reactive and easily reddened. Even if I wasn’t experiencing the sensation of irritation, I was serving its telltale look.
Perhaps I’ve been in denial about my recent rubicundity, but I’ve almost entirely avoided the redness-reducing category of skin care. I wasn’t really going anywhere over the last year, and on the rare occasion I put on makeup, I relied on Erborian’s CC Red Correct as a sunscreen-spiked primer to help hide the flushed look. It wasn’t until I heard that Glow Recipe was launching the new Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum that I felt it may be worth addressing the issue at the skin-care level instead of leaving it up to superficial cosmetic solutions.
I think what really caught my interest was the two-tier approach to combatting redness. Yes, it features some of the most promising irritation-undoing ingredients, but it also contains ceramides, which approach redness-prevention from a different angle.
“Ceramides are more for maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier,” says board-certified dermatologist Dhaval Bhanusali. “Think of it as the glue holding things together.” In other words, Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum helps strengthen skin’s barrier with ceramides to help it stand up to its usual irritants — something Glow Recipe co-founder and co-CEO Christine Chang is very enthusiastic about.
“Our Ceramide-5 blend harnesses the five of the most abundant, skin-identical ceramides that help mimic the skin barrier to maintain moisture and support barrier function,” she tells Allure. “Incorporating this blend in the formula instantly helps to relieve skin of discomfort and prevents redness from dehydration.”