When it comes to skin care, there’s only so much you can do before you have to hit the hard stuff. I’ve tried it all, eating right, facials, 12 step night routines, you name it. Generally if you have “normal” skin, this will probably be enough. However, if like me you have underlying reasons your skin doesn’t want to play ball, this article is for you.
The two main players in the personalised skin care world are Dermatica and Skin + Me. Both of these services offer an online consultation with a dermatologist, and personalised skin care products. It’s worth noting that the ingredients in these creams aren’t available over the counter, and you can only get them from a licensed professional.
With only £5 between them (Skin + Me is £29.99 a month, and Dermatica is £24.99 a month), how do you choose which one to go for? Let me help.
Process
Getting started with Skin + Me and Dermatica is pretty simple. You go onto their websites and fill out a very detailed questionnaire about your skin. It’ll take you around 10-15 minutes, remember to be brutally honest, it’s for your benefit. They’ll also ask for a few photos, but don’t worry, they’re for the consultant’s eyes only.
24 to 48 hours later, you will be emailed with your very own skin care plan. This will include the percentage of each ingredient that will go into your cream, and a recommendation for a regime to go with it. If you’re happy to proceed, you sign up (scroll down for money off codes) and a few days later, your cream arrives in the post. You can also pause or cancel at any time.
You’ll be contacted by the consultant every 3 months to check in, and make sure it’s still working for you. It is likely that they will increase the dosage or make little changes to your prescription along the way, to make sure it’s working for your skin.
If you have questions about your cream or skin, both Skin + Me and Dermatica allow you to send a message to the dermatologist at any point. From my experience, Skin + Me were slightly quicker to respond, but both companies provided satisfactory customer service.
Product
Without doubt, the packaging for Skin + Me is better. Mainly because your name is printed on the actual bottle! I was hoping to reuse these bottles as little travel tubs, but annoyingly you can’t open them up, so the personalised element is a bit of a waste after you’ve finished the cream. For ease of use, the Skin + Me bottle has a twisty top, to dispense just the right amount per day. It is marked for 28 days, but I managed to squeeze out around 30 days worth.
Dermatica’s bottle is bigger. With a regular old pump, you can use as little or as much as you want. I was asked to use 1 – 2 pumps a day, which I did. The bottle ended up lasting me 6 – 8 weeks! This meant I was pausing future orders, and only paying for a new bottle every other month or so, pretty much halving the initial cost.
Results
Both Skin + Me and Dermatica helped improve my skin dramatically. The first 3 months is rough, I’m not going to lie. Due to the strength of these ingredients, your skin will need time to adapt, so sensitivity and dryness is a given at the start. After that though, it’s like a new day. Clear skin come through!
The ingredients in both creams are very similar, however the dosage in Dermatica’s creams are a lot higher. This doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best choice, as your skin might not be able to handle it straight away. They do give you tips on how to overcome some of the starting hurdles, such as applying it on top of your moisturiser to dilute it slightly.
Also, if your skin complaints are due to underlying issues such as hormones, this is not going to be a one and done thing. It is likely that you will have to use the cream long term.
Overall
There is a clear winner for me out of Skin + Me and Dermatica. Due to the size of the bottle, the strength of what’s inside and the fact that it is £5 cheaper a month, I’m on team Dermatica.
Why not give them a try with a free bottle?
Use code KARISHMS5FEC for a free bottle of Skin + Me, or try Dermatica for free with code UGYH. Let me know what you think in the comments!
See my 10 week Dermatica transformation below.
Interested in skin care? See what I thought of Fenty Skin’s day and night creams here.
