The Best Skin Serum for Smooth Skin

May 2024 · 3 minute read

The Splurge is our recurring column dedicated to expensive beauty products that are actually worth it. This week, why we're rebuying epi.logic's Master Plan: Collagen Renew Growth Factor Serum, despite the $210 price tag.

Getting older is nothing short of a blessing, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your skin looking its best along the way — which is exactly why Brooklyn-based oculofacial plastic surgeon Dr. Chaneve Jeanniton developed the Master Plan: Collagen Renew Growth Factor Serum.

I first discovered this product back in fall 2019, when the physician initially launched the epi.logic collection. While all eight products included in the line have become cult favorites (and for good reason), the serum always stood out for me for one reason: the formula includes over 300 human stem cell-derived growth factors.

These large proteins — which essentially tell your body to produce more collagen and elastin in order to help repair and rejuvenate the skin — are found in abundance in our bodies when we're young. However, once we reach our late 20s, we tend to produce less growth factors, resulting in the loss of supple, tight-looking skin.

Seeing as I'm in that age demographic, Dr. Jeanniton didn't have to say a whole lot to convince me to give it a shot. But with a bunch of work-related travel booked for the remainder of the year, I wanted to put the serum to the test when I knew my skin wouldn't necessarily be at its best.

My skin starts to break out whenever I step onto a dry airplane or enter different climates. So I figured if this product could keep my skin looking refreshed and supple throughout the numerous trips I had planned, it was a keeper.

However, to make sure I got accurate results, I gave my regular nighttime serum the boot for two weeks pre-travel, and instead incorporated one pump of Master Plan into my routine before I applied my moisturizer. (Just in case I had a breakout in the interim, I wanted to be able to pin down the source, rather than just blame it on the travel itself.)

But I was pleasantly surprised that about after one week of usage, my skin already looked smoother, and I consistently woke up with a lovely glow.

The results only got better and better as I used the serum for the upcoming weeks while I traveled to Toronto, Cincinnati, Marrakech and back.

To buy: $210; brooklynfaceandeye.com

Once I got home, I was so in love with the product that I made sure to make room for it in my already crowded bathroom cabinet — and I've been using it every night since.

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To make the deal even sweeter, the serum also gets an extra kick from the hyaluronic acid, peptides, and lactic acid included in the formula, which help to hydrate, firm, and exfoliate the skin, respectively. Combine those ingredients with the cell turnover nurturing power of the growth factors, and you have yourself a damn good product that's 100% worth the splurge.

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