Beauty review: Sans (ceuticals) Cellular Repair Body + Face Lotion

Seeing Lucy Vincent’s Sans (ceuticals) brand name checked in Allure magazine a few years ago now was a huge buzz for me. I have watched the beautiful collection of hair and body products being born and blossom into some serious beauty contenders, and to see them being acknowledged world wide – and in the pages of a major beauty bible – iwas just such a sweet thing.

If you haven’t heard of it before (shame on you!) Sans (ceuticals) is pure, chemical-free and highly active new generation beauty at its best: a collection of products designed to renew the texture and appearance of your skin and hair that doesn’t harm the user or the environment. Unable to find products that were highly active but also pure and chemical-free, creator Lucy enlisted New Zealand’s top scientists to create a range of products unlike any other. Sans products use potent vitamin actives to repair, nourish and protect. These ingredients have been proven in rigorous scientific trials to actually change the appearance of skin and hair, helping it to recover from sun damage, skin pollutants and irritants. As I’m always ranting about, many ‘natural’ products today still contain sulfates, silicones, petrochemicals, artificial dyes, artificial colours, artificial fragrances and parabens. Sans contains no artificial chemicals – only sustainably harvested, natural ingredients and organic wherever possible - and in line with the name (Sans is French for ‘without’), the collection is pure, clean and without any unnecessary or harmful ingredients, reducing your daily beauty regime to a concise selection of multi-functional, highly effective products. It even uses PETG for its packaging, a modern, safe and non-leaching form of plastic that is the most stable packaging material available today.

My favourites from the brand include the Activator 7 Body + Face + Hair Oil, which I have gone through literally hundreds of bottles of since it first debuted over ten years ago. Now I’ve fallen equally in love with its also-highly active counterpart – the brand new Cellular Repair Body + Face Lotion. A highly nourishing emulsion utilising 5 per cent niacinamide, shea butter and omegas to support the skin’s barrier function, reverse UV damage and provide superior protection and repair, it has been designed address a number of issues often plagued by women who love nature and most importantly - love the sun. It goes to work on pigmentation and has been expressly designed for “skin with a history of frequent sunbathing and sun exposure”, tackling inflammation and redness in the form of a lightweight lotion.

As well as reducing water loss in the skin, it inhibits the transfer of pigment to skin cells thus preventing hyperpigmentation, as well as fading existing pigmentation over time. It also strengthens the protective barrier function of the skin by increasing ceramide production in the stratum corneum, whilst minimising UV damage by boosting the immune response that (sadly) declines with age. So, it’s pretty much a veritable powerhouse of skin loving and healing ingredients, and after using it over the last few months I can honestly call it a joy to use. Lucy told me she recommends using Activator 7 in the morning and then Cellular Repair at night for optimum results, and winter is the perfect time to hunker down and repair any damage that accumulated over summer.

This beauty is available right now with an RRP of $55 here.