Best Kits With The Essentials

Starting out with new skin care can often be a challenge – with so many products available, how do you choose? Kits are a great way of trying products in an economic way, seeing results and deciding if they are right for you. They are also great gift options and a great option for all skin care lovers to keep in the cupboard ready for travel. All the products in a kit come under the 100ml mark for carry on luggage and don’t weigh much. If you’re heading on an overnight road trip, a kit is the perfect companion to throw in your overnight bag. Nothing worse than arriving at your accommodation and having to use the hotel body lotion as a face moisturiser! So, what are the best kits with the essentials included? Check out our guide below.

Kits With The Essentials

If you want to have the essentials in a kit, what you should be looking for is a good gentle cleanser, a vitamin A serum (retinol), a vitamin C serum (antioxidant) and a sunscreen and moisturiser. Here we will look at the basic functions of these particular products and some recommended kits.

Gentle Cleanser

A gentle cleanser should not strip your skin or impair your skin’s natural barrier with harsh ingredients. It should adequately remove the day’s grime, makeup and dead skin buildup without making your skin feel tight or irritated. Some great ingredients to look for in a good cleanser are Enzymes, AHA’s, Lactic Acid and Plant Extracts. Do not be put off by the word ‘acids’ as these are plant acid extracts and are not chemical acids.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A, or Retinol as it is also called, is the number one ingredient for anti-ageing. It stimulates cellular turnover, meaning that your cells are duplicating faster and leaving you with newer cells. This means you will have a much smoother and brighter complexion. If you suffer from dull, ageing or acneic skin, you will love the resurfacing nature of retinol. Retinol is also one of the most powerful antioxidants, so it will fight signs of damage. It is collagen stimulating, the protein building blocks for our skin, so by using retinol, you will have a tighter, firmer and plumper complexion with less fine lines. Contradictions: Due to the increase of cellular turnover retinol produces, it is not suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers. We have recommended a retinol alternative in one of our kits below.

Vitamin C

Another very powerful antioxidant, vitamin C is crucial for fighting signs of free radical damage that comes with UV exposure, blue light exposure, and all other environmental stressors. Vitamin C is a natural lightener, so it is great for pigmentation and with its healing ability, it is a perfect all-round serum for anyone who has issues such as scarring, acne, inflammation and pigmentation. This vitamin provides exceptional moisture for the skin. It also promotes the growth of collagen.

Vitamin C can also help even out the skin tone. The skin will appear brighter, firmer, and have an overall healthier appearance with regular use of this product. It is a serum that is amazing for strengthening your skin’s natural barrier, allowing it to repair and function as it should.

SPF

If you want to protect your skin from premature ageing, skin cancers, pigmentation and dead skin buildup, then you need to use an SPF daily. Luckily, cosmetic companies have come a long way in how they make sunscreens, and so they now feel more like a daily moisturiser and leave you with a lovely glow, rather than making you look like a cricketer. But not all sunscreens are equal. We still need to ensure that they contain no nasty chemicals, that they are not tested on animals and that they will not get into your system where it can accumulate for many years. The sunscreens that we stock are all micronised into small particles so they don’t feel ‘thick’, but they are not micronised into nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are what your body can absorb and accumulate. We stock both physical and chemical sunscreens.

Moisturiser

Keeping moisture in our skin and strengthening our epidermal barrier are two very important elements in keeping our skin looking youthful. To do this, we need to have moisturising products that are high in moisture content, such as hyaluronic acids, shea butters or seed oils. Products like these not only have the ability to penetrate moisture deep into your epidermal layers but also locks it in so that the moisture does not escape. The best kits with the essentials will typically have a best selling moisturiser included!

Our Recommended Kits

Unfortunately, not all of our kits come with an SPF, so when recommending one of the kits without, we will recommend a good SPF option to go with it.

Aspect Dr Starter Kit. This is a kit that we recommend a lot to first time customers as it contains all the essentials mentioned above, other than an SPF. This kit is an affordable option and suits both women and men who are in their late 20’s and above. We recommend Aspect Dr Hydra Shield as a daily moisturiser/SPF all in one.
The Aspect Dr Age Management Kit gives you the same products as the Starter Kit, but the A and C serum comes in a full size.
Aspect Starter Kit. Almost the same as the Aspect Dr Starter Kit, just a little less active in the ingredient list, which makes it suitable for younger skins, such as those in their late teens, early twenties. We recommend Aspect Hydra Shield as a daily moisturiser/SPF all in one.
Medik8 The Essential CSA Kit. Quite possibly the best kit for those who don’t like the fuss of many products but still want the essentials. This kit utilises their moisturises as a way to add vitamins A and C into your routine. There is a vitamin A moisturiser for night time use and a vitamin C moisturiser for day time use that also contains SPF. We recommend this kit for anyone who has a no-fuss approach to skin care.
Medik8 CSA Bakuchiol Kit. This kit is designed for those who want the benefits of retinol but are unable to use it. This is a great option for those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Bakuchiol Peptides will restore the skin barrier leaving the complexion protected and supple whilst visibly reducing inflammation and redness. It is infused with brightening peptide precursors to promote a more even, illuminated complexion. The formula helps to trigger collagen production which minimises fine lines and wrinkles.