July Favourite - Niod

Niod - Non-invasive Options in Dermal Science

Niod is just one of the brands from Canadian skincare Gods - Deciem (The Abnormal Beauty Company) - other brands are The Ordinary, Hylamide, The Chemistry Brand, Stemm, Fountain, HIF, White RX and AB Crew.

I already own a large majority of The Ordinary products as the products are an amazingly affordable alternative for essential science/beauty hybrid products that really work!

Niod products are at a higher price point (but not significantly compared to other brands offering similar products).

 

I initially wanted to try out Niod CAIS (Copper Amino Isolate Serum 1.00%) as I had heard so many amazing things about this product's seemingly miraculous results on many of the main signs of aging -  including texture, uneven skin tone and enlarged pores. All issues I want to address. The brand also promises that within just five days of continued use you will notice younger looking skin.

I'll go into more detail about each item in this set, but firstly I have to give an amazing shout-out to QVC for offering this set at such an amazing price.
QVC have really blown me away in the last few months since re-discovering them as a shopping source. They have some amazing brands and often group together sets such as these at great prices (and you can often pay in instalments and have the option to return for a full refund if not satisfied).
I was preparing to buy the CAIS on it's own for £38 for 15ml, which for me is at the higher price range of what I'm comfortable with. And I was planning to buy the next day, when, with great fortuitous timing, I received an email from QVC offering the above set at an amazing price of £39.95! How could I not?!

FYI, unfortunately the above set is sold out at QVC - soz!

 

So here's what I got in the set (if you notice five items in the box and only four above, that's because one of the bottles was the activator for the CAIS).

 

Before I start, I have to show my love for the simple, old-school apothecary design of Deciem products. Not only do they look cool, the dark brown glass dropper bottles are also essential (for the correct storage of the contents to avoid the product becoming decontaminated by exposure to light and air) but also practical. Although I will say, I did drop the dropper of my Ordinary Caffeine solution and the glass pipette broke - luckily I was able to remove the lethal jagged remains of the pipette so I could still safely use the product). So you do need to use with caution as they are glass.

CAIS - Copper Amino Isolate Serum 1% (15ml)

Why is does this product make Holy Grail status for so many people?

From Niod's website:

Copper Tripeptide GHK-Cu is a peptide found in nature and originally isolated from human plasma. The concentration of this peptide in human plasma continues to drop with aging past late teenage years and this drop exceeds 60% by age 60. The natural role of this peptide as found in the human body includes activation of a wide range of skin health functions, including wound healing, immune function, collagen synthesis, blood vessel development, fibroblast production and anti-inflammatory responses.

Many topical anti-aging products contain variations of copper peptides in extremely small amounts. Generally, these variation peptides are found in parts per million in active technologies that topical products claim to include at high percentages but the final concentration of the variation peptides in topical products is generally less than 0.01% and these peptides would then have to be converted to even smaller amounts of pure copper peptides within the skin.

This product contains 1.0% pure Copper Tripeptide-1 (GHK-Cu) to be mixed with a specialized activator before first use. This extraordinary concentration targets signs of skin aging, including visible textural damage, uneven tone, visibly enlarged pores and a general lack of a visibly healthy radiance normally present in younger skin. In short, the skin will look younger starting within 5 days with continued visible improvements with continued use.

I've only been using this for a few weeks but within two days I saw a marked improvement in my skin. I usually find it hard to pinpoint exactly which product I'm using in a routine is responsible for any positive changes in my skin, so generally, I'm happy to accept that my routine has worked particularly well on a certain day and leave it at that.

But after two days of using CAIS, it was evident that this wasn't a chance encounter of mixing the right products in a routine to give a few hours of skin equilibrium, my skin was smoother, brighter, my pores were definitely more refined and most noticeably, the '11' lines on my forehead were definitely looking a lot less obvious - and this wasn't just for a few hours but seemed to have changed for the better!

At first, I was using this in both my morning and evening routine, but then I started to worry that I was getting through it too quickly, and I changed to using it just in the morning. I think I may go back to using it twice a day for a week to see if there's further improvements.

The serum is a blue, very runny watery liquid. It felt like I was wasting some when I used my fingers as it was so runny, so then I realised that I needed to drop it from the dropper directly onto my skin.

It initially feels very slightly tacky on the skin but if you leave if for a couple of minutes before your next step it does soak in/dry down nicely. Just this morning I noticed that it has much more spreadability when using it directly after my Pyunkang Yul mist toner and this also makes it feel like it's more efficacious somehow.

So it's early days yet, but I have high hopes for best results with prolonged use. I'll report back in a couple of months to see how things are progressing.

 

MMHC - Multi-molecular Hyaluronic Complex

This is the next item that came in the set and is the product that Niod advise you to use with CAIS for best results. Please note - Niod have since changed the formula (MMHC2) but I have the last version.

 

For the quite long, science-y explanation it's best to read all about it from Niod's website - here.

But in a nutshell - MMHC combines 15 hyaluronic compounds which keep the skin's surface looking plump and elastic through hydration. Basically - hyaluronic acid is a fantastic skin hydrator (and that's a very, very basic statement - as I said, the Niod website can give a more in-depth explanation than I possibly could!).

 

 

Again, the clear serum is runny but has more viscosity than the CAIS. I also apply this directly to my skin from the dropper and it is more spreadable than the CAIS.

To be honest, although this *feels* like it's doing good, it just doesn't feel to me that it is the one that's make all the magic happen - even though I've been using it at exactly the same time as the CAIS.  To me, it feels like my Scinic all-in-one Aqua Ampoule hydrates my skin more than the MMHC, I can't be sure - it's just a feeling I have which I can't quantify. I need to get one of those skin moisture readers - that might back up what I feel with actual numbers on an LED screen!

So at the moment, I'm not convinced by this and may or may not repurchase when it runs out.

 

Both the CAIS and the MMHC are part of Niod's 'Core' range.

 

 

Photography Fluid Opacity 12%

 

This is the third item in the set and I had to do some research about this as I didn't actually know what it was for!

 

According to Niod:

A novel approach to creating a foundation for skin that reflects even radiance in life and very specifically through the camera lens, this instant treatment is serum-textured but contains a wide array of light refracting prisms, tone and hue correctors and topical photo-finishing technologies to offer even radiance within seconds. 
            

 

             So I tried to use this as a foundation, but it had zero coverage. I did notice that it had a very faint blurring effect on my skin, but after first use I felt absolutely none the wiser.

Subsequent uses (and to be honest, I haven't played around with this too much so far) made me feel that this works best for me as a primer and highlighter. It was really noticeable on the palm of my hand as a high-lighter (as I applied with my fingers rather than a brush or blender) but not so much on my face. And I don't really feel like going around waving at everyone to show them how radiant the palms of my hands are!

 

Hopefully you can make out in the photo above, just how illuminating this fluid is. It doesn't make your whole face shine like the beam from a lighthouse though - it's very clever in that it picks up the areas of your face (where you'd apply highlighter) that would naturally glow if you were a young, super-healthy, radiant person naturally. And I'm guessing there's not many of us that could claim that.

 

I have realised that my skin has to be really hydrated to wear this because when I used it the morning after my retinol treatment it clung to and highlighted the dryness on my cheeks. I feel like I definitely need to try it out some more and work out when and how it's going to work best for me. Most reviews I've read suggest that it works best mixed with your foundation.
 

 

Mastic Must

Finally the tube of Mastic Must from the 'Yesti' range. Again, I've only used this twice so far so cannot form any strong opinion about it so far.

 

But here's Niod again:

 

MM is a transparent masque for efficient, yet innocuous, cleaning and visible refinement of pores and impurities, resulting in immediate and maintainable visible reduction in both the number and the size of pores. (Note: It is not possible to modify the genetically-determined number or size of pores as apparent in optimal skin condition. However, pores do become more apparent in number and size with ageing and environmental exposure. MM works to restore the appearance of pores to an ideal state, within individual genetic limits.)

In line with yešti's commitment to traditional approaches to science, MM uses a highly-densified sap from Greek mastic trees. It is a dense gum that binds to congestion like gum would but it doesn't bind to oil or water just like gum wouldn't. It purifies and shrinks the look of pores without drying. The sap is a powerful anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It's definitely Greek in every way but borrowed by Middle Eastern medicine and called Arabic Gum which should not be confused with the very common substance known as Gum Arabic. The sap in MM is sustainably sourced and is purified in a very precise bio-technology lab with extremely high purity.   

        

So the smell is quite intense!  It's obviously the mastic but it smells like oily peanuts! You know how Argan oil has that slightly nutty smell? Well this is much more intense and rather off-putting. Not off-putting enough for me not to use it though - this product has some great reviews.

It's enjoyable to use too (if you can get past the smell) and Niod advise to not dry your face after you've washed it off but to use a hair dryer to dry your face for best results!

I did use the hairdryer, but I can't say that I've really noticed any results other than that generic 'skin-feels-and-looks-nice' non-committal way after using wash-off masks.

So unless repeated use ramps up the results, I probably wouldn't repurchase this.