Robb Recommends: This Powerful New Antioxidant Serum Will Help You Banish Your Dark Spots
Welcome to Robb Recommends, a regular series in which our editors and contributors endorse something they’ve tried and loved—and think will change your life for the better.
The more years I log, the more things like “dark spot prevention” and “complexion smoothers” matter to me. Hyperpigmentation—the word dermatologists use to describe any patches of skin that are darker than your normal complexion—has been a not-so-lovely mainstay on my face of late, and has even caused me to dial down my summer sun exposure by a good 75 percent or more. And as for my skincare regimen, products like Medik8’s new Oxy-R Peptides serum are imperative.
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The new product, which I’ve had the opportunity to test for the past several weeks, was developed to target dark spots specifically, treating them with a high concentration of the antioxidant oxyresveratrol, or Oxy-R (a mulberry-derived defense against free radicals including city pollution, UV rays, chemicals, cigarette smoke, and more). In my experience, the serum reduces existing dark spots and patches and prevents new ones from taking up space on your face.
Medik8 Oxy-R Peptides
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Apart from freckles, my biggest foe here is the post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation left behind after the occasional acne blemish, which can leave marks on my face for upward of a year sometimes, even when I use peels and retinol to combat them. I find that ingredients like Vitamin C and resveratrol are top form here—in short, it’s all about antioxidants in order to fortify the skin’s defenses as time takes its toll.
The magic of this serum is its relatively high concentration of oxyresveratrol, which Medik8 takes pains to keep stable and effective. In a single box, you get two vessels, to ensure that the second half of your purchase stays potent. On top of that, there’s a button on top of each bottle that you press down to release the active ingredient, meaning it stays as fresh as possible.
I’ve been using it for a few weeks, with no side effects and confidence that it will help remove some of my recent lingering blemish marks (so I can bid them adieu after one month instead of after 10). As I often say with most product trials, it’s hard for grooming writers and editors like me to say “This single product has changed everything for me,” since we are in a constant state of reviewing multiple products. (This serum has been tested in tandem with a $2,000 collagen-stimulating laser wand, for example.) But when there’s a brand I trust as much as Medik8, with formulations and quality assurance baked into the deal, it’s not hard to give it a positive review—especially considering its reasonable prices for such high-power active ingredients.
With a week or two to go before my one-month mark (the time it takes for skin cells to turn over), as well as a second bottle waiting to be activated, I’m looking at a pale-skinned winter with as few noticeable blemish scars as possible. Usually, I try to get super tan in summer so that I can cover up any splotches, which really only aggravates the problem because the UV rays can damage my skin and cause more splotches. That’s probably the best result of testing this product: A new approach—less sun, more antioxidants, and a full-court press against hyperpigmentation.
The Oxy-R Peptides serum is available from September 19, exclusively on Medik8’s site.
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