Have you heard the exciting news? Our Age Defend Regenerating Night Treatment has recently been shortlisted for Best New Premium Skin Care Product in the Pure Beauty Awards 2020! Ever since our Night Treatments launched at the beginning of the year, they have been ARK best sellers, so we are delighted with this nomination.

Please Vote! 

What Is a Night Treatment Used For?

ARK Skincare’s Night Treatments are used to offer the ultimate pamper session while you sleep. These formulations are the result of extensive research and have been developed with the latest understanding of how skin cells rejuvenate at night. Both unique formulations contain hard working active ingredients which have been specifically chosen to help aid the skin’s natural healing process as you sleep. By applying before bed, you can trust that your Night Treatment will get hard to work, allowing you to wake up looking and feeling well rested. 

  Age Defend Regenerating Night Treatment 

Key Active Ingredients

Silk Tree Extract  promotes the visible reduction of the signs of fatigue: dark circles, under-eye bags, dull complexion and drawn features by protecting and repairing the skin from damage caused by glycation. It also encourages a boost in collagen which can help your skin to glow and appear more energised. 

Vitamin A Palmitate  is an antioxidant and a source of vitamin A. In the skin, it is converted to retinol, and ultimately to retinoic acid (the active form of vitamin A). It functions as a protectie and free radical scavenger. 

Passionfruit Seed Oil is very rich in essential fatty acids which have anti-inflammatory properties, helping to alleviate inflammatory skin concerns such as rosacea and acne while keeping skin smooth and supple. 

Blue Lotus is considered the sacred flower of anti-aging and a symbol of beauty. The flower is rich in flavonoids, which improves the skin’s firmness and elasticity. It also contains powerful antioxidants, ideal for sensitive and irritated skin.  

Age Defy Repairing Night Treatment 

A night cream formulated for those in their 50s onwards

 98% natural. Suitable for vegans  

Rejuvenates tired, damaged skin whilst you sleep. Bioactive ingredients tone, re-densify, and regenerate skin whilst improving the natural barrier function and diminishing the visible signs of ageing. Includes ingredients to promote collagen and reduce inflammation, as well as an energizing cocktail of vitamins and minerals to detoxify and vitalize. 

 Key Active Ingredients 

Borage oil is the richest commercial plant source of GLA, an Omega Fatty Acid which is a key ‘building block’ in production of the body’s regulatory hormones.  Borage oil also has many calming and nourishing properties, making it the perfect ingredient to treat skin concerns such as eczema, dermatitis and rosacea.

Jiaogulan extract contains high amounts of flavonoids and gypenosides, noted for their antioxidant effects and has been shown to prevent UV-induced damage. 

Stabilised Vitamin C helps promote the synthesis of collagen which increases skin suppleness. It also scavenges free radicals, reducing the skin roughness and inflammation, appearance of wrinkles and helps to brighten complexion. Vitamin C can also help to heal skin and protect against sun damage. 

Hyaluronic acid helps to maintain a moisturised and firm skin by improving cell cohesion. Our Hyaluronic Acid is organic and low weight, meaning it can penetrate to the deeper layers of skin to plump fine lines, boost moisture and improve collagen synthesis. 

Blackcurrant seed oil contains two important fatty acids that help regulate inflammatory response and dry skin. It can also be used to nourish and protect skin tissues preventing chronic skin conditions such as dermatitis and eczema. 

Goji Berries are packed with nutrients including Vitamin C, Zinc and Selenium, which help in the formation of collagen and the repair of damaged skin tissue. They provide protecting, detoxifying, fortifying and vitalising properties and contain over 5 times the antioxidant activity of any other fruit or vegetable. 

 How to Use

Use in the evening. Massage into dry skin after cleansing with Pre-Cleanse and your Age Intelligent cleanser. 

Reviews & Awards

Age Defend Regenerating Night Treatment 

Winner - BEST (NIGHT) SKINCARE PRODUCT (Age 30+)

When it comes to the colder months, my skin needs a bit more oomph in my moisturiser and this fits the bill perfectly.  Talonted Lex, Beauty Blogger

Age Defy Repairing Night Treatment

Winner - BEST (NIGHT) SKINCARE PRODUCT (Age 50+)

Wake Up Feeling Well Rested! 

To celebrate our most recent nomination, we are offering 25% off of the Age Defend and Age Defy Night Treatments. Add the code ‘BEAUTYSLEEP’ at checkout to receive your discount. 

Loving the warmer weather? We certainly are! It’s great to see some sunshine and feel the warmth on our skin while enjoying the long summer evenings.

With the season change and warmer temperatures, it's important to keep your skincare at the ready to ensure your skin is kept clean and hydrated. 

Therefore, In this post, we focus on our top heatwave essentials and the ingredients they include to keep your skin looking and feeling great throughout the summer. 

SPF 30 Primer 

You can’t go without it. In fact, a good quality SPF is crucial all year round as sunlight rays are present even on cloudy days. However, they are at their strongest on the hotter days, so it’s extremely important to protect your skin from the sun.

Unlike many others, ARK Skincare’s SPF is broad spectrum meaning it protects skin against both UVA and UVB rays. It also includes ingredients such as Sunflower and Hyaluronic Acid to soothe and hydrate the skin, along with Shea Butter to protect it while keeping it soft and supple.

You can find out more about why SPF is so important here. 

Tip: Use alone or under make-up to create a perfectly smooth base for foundation application. 

Radiance Serum 

"Radiance Serum is a miracle in a bottle. Obsessed is an understatement!" Stephanie Pratt, Actress

Looking for a natural summer glow? This product is the one for you. Our radiance serum includes multiple powerhouse ingredients such as Red Algae to illuminate skin and reduce pigmentation, while Amino acids to help brighten. Vitamin C helps to boost the skin's collagen levels helping it to look energized and youthful. 

Tip: Apply a few drops by patting them gently into the skin, or mix your serum in with your age intelligent moisturiser and apply together. 

Hydrating Beauty Mist

An essential in the summer months. Not only is this beauty mist great for keeping your skin hydrated, but it’s also the perfect product to keep in your bag for a refreshing spritz throughout the day to keep you cool. Active ingredients include Hyaluronic Acid which helps to hydrate and relieve dry skin, Amino Acids to lock in moisture and wild water mint - an antioxidant to keep skin looking healthy and youthful. 

Tip: For an extra intense refreshing spritz, keep your beauty mist in the fridge! 

Conditioning Body Serum

A favourite of  beauty journalist, Celia Walden's - featuring on her 'can't-live-withouts' products list, in the Telegraph Magazine. 

 Made with 100% natural ingredients, our rich and silky body oil is perfect to keep your skin hydrated and glowing. Sweet Almond Oil helps to keep skin smooth while Sacha Inchi Oil, rich in omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, helps to lock in moisture and reduce redness. 

Tip: Use all over the body. Massage into damp skin after bathing to lock in moisture. 

Advanced Action Plumping Lip Cream 

Don’t forget to protect your lips, too! Our intensive lip treatment cream helps to hydrate, plump and protect the entire lip area. It contains clinically proven plumping peptides which increase lip volume appearance while keeping the area hydrated and supple. Perfect for extreme weather conditions. 

Tip: Use alone or as a hydrating primer under lipstick.

To view more of our products, head over to the ARK Skincare website! Should you ever need any help or product advice, please send your questions over via email to office@arkskincare.com or call 0203 740 3303 and we will be happy to help. 

The Science of Sleep

We all know how important rest is and the struggle we can face without it. So, what happens when we sleep and why do we need it?

Sleep is incredibly important as it helps the brain to function properly. Without it, we are unable to properly process what we’re told and remember things we learned throughout the day. This is why it can be hard to focus on what would usually be fairly straight forward.

Bad or little sleep can lead to many different complications. Some are physical, such as seizures, high blood pressure and increased likelihood of illness and infection. It can also increase the risk of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and paranoia.

Despite knowing all of the factors that are associated with lack of sleep, I was interested to find out what actually happens when we slumber. So, with that in mind, I went away and did some research of my own.

So, What Did I Find?

Sleep is regulated by our circadian rhythm (also known as our body clock). It responds to light cues and ramps up the production of melatonin – a natural hormone known as the ‘sleep hormone’ which tells our body it’s night time. Once the sun starts to go down and we are exposed to less light, melatonin is released into the bloodstream and as levels begin to rise, we start to feel sleepy. (This definitely makes me feel less guilty about feeling so sluggish in wintertime!)

When we sleep, we experience a four-stage cycle. These cycles are often repeated 3-4 times during the night, depending on how good of a sleep we get.

Stage One

This stage is the transition between being awake and falling asleep once we get comfortable, close our eyes and begin to relax. This usually lasts about 5-10 minutes.

Stage Two

This is when our heart rate and breathing begins to slow down, body temperature drops and our muscles may twitch. This stage is still fairly light and the brain produces sudden increases in brain wave frequency known as sleep spindles.

Stage Three

This is known as the “delta” stage of sleep due to the delta slow brain waves which take place. It is at this particular stage in sleep that the most growth hormone is produced to service bones, muscles and repair the body. At this point, it becomes a little harder for us to be awakened because we become less responsive to outside stimuli. 

Stage Four

Stage four is known as REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), the deepest stage of sleep which we usually enter about 90 minutes after initially falling asleep. This is the stage where the brain is most active, the eyes dart back and forth and breathing becomes fast and shallow. It’s also when our dreams take place. Chemicals that are released within the body render it temporarily paralyzed so that we don’t act them out in our sleep. Each REM stage can last up to an hour and an average adult has five to six a night.

ARK Skincare’s Brand-New Night Treatments

After some extensive research into the science of sleep over the past two years, ARK skincare has recently released two new night treatments. Each is packed full of active ingredients that help to aid the body’s natural repair process when we sleep, allowing us to wake up feeling rested and glowing. You can find more information about these here.

Sources

This informative video from The Economist explains each stage of sleep in detail which you can watch here 

NHS - How To Beat Insomnia

How do you keep your hands soft and supple? - A good hand cream!

Without mentioning what is going on right now, it's easy to say that we're all adamant about washing our hands a lot more. While this is extremely important, it's very easy to let your hands get dry, especially in the cold weather. So, as a gift from us to you, we're adding in a free hand cream to every order placed over £5. 

To help you to understand what makes this product a multi-award winning staple in our range, we thought we would share the ingredients that make it up, what they do and how they benefit the skin. 

Raspberry Seed Oil

Raspberry seed oil is rich in essential fatty acids such as omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9. It also contains high levels of vitamin E making it the perfect lipid choice for daily protection as it provides protection and moisture retention for the skin. 

   Shea Butter & Cocoa Butter     

Shea butter melts at skin temperature, helping to moisturise the skin as it easily absorbed without leaving the skin feeling sticky. It is well-known for overcoming dry, irritated and sensitized skin and cocoa butter can help to improve elasticity. 

   Kiwi & Avocado Oil 

Kiwi oil helps to maintain moisture in the skin and prevent drying and scaling. It can also help aid in the relief of itchy, scaly, irritated skin conditions such as eczema and dermatitis. The fatty acids within avocado oil have excellent moisturising properties that help regenerate and rejuvenate the skin. 

 Grapeseed Oil 

 Grapeseed Oil is rich in both Omega 6 and vitamin E, which helps to moisturise the skin and give it the ability to bounce back. It is easily absorbed by the skin and leaves it feeling soft and silky. This oil also contains a powerful antioxidant ingredient called proanthocyanidin. This antioxidant may even out skin tone when it’s used on your skin consistently.

              

Red Algae

Red algae is known for its amazing skin benefits including increasing moisture, moisture retention and promoting smooth skin. It also has the ability to block UV rays, protecting the skin against pigmentation, sun damage, and dark spots. It has also been clinically proven to prevent wrinkles. 

Blackcurrant Seed Oil 

Press & Awards

Click here to shop and claim your free hand cream now!

We are delighted to announce that we were awarded 7 accolades at the Beauty Shortlist Awards last week.

The Beauty Shortlist Awards was founded in 2012 by beauty journalist Fiona Klonarides and went global in 2017. All entries are independently tried and tested to reveal the 'best in class' of global beauty, so we are thrilled to be recognised.

As proud winners, we wanted to share our exciting news with you and a little about the products which were awarded.

Best Daily Moisturiser WINNER

Agedefend Replenishing Moisturiser

One of ARK’s best-sellers & loved by celebs including Lisa Falkner, this treatment moisturiser is packed full of Olive oil and Shea butter to moisturise and protect the skin against UV rays. It also includes clinically-proven anti-ageing peptides such as Matrixyl which smoothes out wrinkles, diminishing signs of premature ageing, whilst Vitamin A keeps skin strong and increases collagen production.

How & When: Apply to cleansed skin every morning.

Best Day Skincare Product for age 50+ WINNER

Agedefy Nourishing Moisturiser 

Our best-selling product. This powerful moisturiser combats the signs of hormone loss such as dullness, dryness and loss of elasticity. Hyaluronic Acid visibly reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles and blackcurrant and Borage Seed Oil contain fatty acids to deeply nourish. The rich, silky texture glides on effortlessly, providing a long-lasting base for make-up.

How & When: Apply to cleansed skin every morning.

Best Face Mask for Hydration WINNER 

Skin Perfector Hydration Injection Masque

This intensive treatment is rich in hyaluronic acid which quenches skin, plumps wrinkles and restores skins vibrancy. It provides 24-hour protection against water loss and can be used as an instant boost to restore a healthy glow to stressed, weather damaged or travel-weary skin.

How & When:

Apply a thin layer to cleansed skin. Leave on according to the skin’s age and then remove with a cloth soaked in hand-hot water.

Age-specific leave on times:

Teens & twenties – leave on for 5 minutes

30’s & 40’s – leave on for 10 minutes

50s onwards – leave on for 20 minutes

Or use overnight as an intensive treatment.

Best Daily Use SPF Product WINNER

Skin Essential Skin Protector SPF30 Primer

Your skin-perfecting daily defence. This is a multi-award-winning hero and has clinically proven skin benefits, providing an antioxidant & vitamin boost, while also supplying broad-spectrum UVB protection. The airbrush finish allows make-up to glide on like a dream.

How & When:

Apply in the morning over your moisturiser and under makeup.

Best Eye Product for all ages FINALIST

Skin Essential Reverse Gravity Eye Cream

This gravity-defying treatment with BeautifulEyeTM from the Persian Silk Tree instantly tightens & hydrates whilst fading dark circles and diminishing puffiness. It contains Aloe Vera & Allantoin which calm and nurture dry, sensitive eyes and Amino Acids to boost moisturise levels and plump skin.

 How & When

Use morning and evening on cleansed skin. Smooth around the eye contour using the massage ball or ring finger if you prefer.

Best Night Skincare Product for age 50+ WINNER 

Agedefy Repairing Night Treatment

A night treatment specifically formulated for those in their 50s and onwards. Rejuvenates tired, damaged skin during the night, allowing you to wake up feeling rested and glowing.

The bio-active ingredients help improve skin tone and cell cohesion. Contains essential nutrients and the building blocks for healthy-looking skin as well as active plant extracts to regenerate the skin's barrier. Intensive rehydration ensures firmness and elasticity are restored while you rest.

How & When

Use in the evening. Apply to cleansed skin before bed.

Best Night Skincare Product for age 30+ WINNER

Agedefend Regenerating Night Treatment

A rich night cream, bursting with hardworking actives. Specifically designed for those in their 30s and 40s, this treatment is packed full of active ingredients which help aid the body’s natural repair process when we sleep. Silk Tree Extract promotes the visible reduction of fatigue: dark circles, under-eye bags and dull complexion and Passionfruit Seed Oil, rich in essential fatty acids which have anti-inflammatory properties, helping to calm skin concerns such as rosacea and acne. 

How & When

Use in the evening. Apply to cleanses skin before bed.

You can view all of these award-winning products here. If you have any other questions regarding any of these products you are more than welcome to get in touch via email or call 0203 740 3303.