BYRDIE.COM

"The next morning, the redness I had from trying to exfoliate and extract my milia was gone."

I love new products—no, seriously. I’m that whacko that made my parents wait in line with me for Harry Potter books; I preorder the newest iPhones at 4 a.m.; I change out appliances like most people change their underwear. It’s beyond just wanting to create new memories; I love innovation. Science and technology are exciting for me. You could call me a crazy nerd, but that would be like calling Dolly Parton a blonde guitar player.



When I found out about a new skincare line helmed by a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry called Noble Panacea, I started shaking like a Chihuahua—I couldn’t try it fast enough. I love panaceas (i.e. universal remedies) like giant shrimp and Japanese white peaches from Okayama, and I’m always looking for more things to cure whatever ails me.



If you’re wondering what sets this skincare line apart, I’ll tell you: a promise of high-quality ingredients and a higher quality delivery system with more penetration than any other products.



First Impressions

Upon arrival, the packaging confused me. Every product came in small sachets containing daily allotted dollops. Given the lack of freedom around portion control and not being able to use less than the sachet’s dose of cream for the day, the monthly price tag clocks in at a whopping weight of $215 for Radiant Resilience Moisturizer, $253 for the Prime Radiance Serum, $232 for the Overnight Recharge Cream, and $149 for the Vibrant Eye Infusion. Because of the non-re-sealable sachets, that is a per month price, making it one of the most expensive lines I’ve ever used.



Skincare is what I choose to spend money on. Even well-before I became a beauty writer, I always prioritized creams over clothes. My complexion is closely linked to my mental health, and if I end up living in a yurt made out of my empty product containers someday, then that’s my choice—and at least I’ll have good skin.



The good thing about Noble Panacea’s packaging (more on this later) is that I don’t have to carry an entire pharmacy when I travel. Flying already sucks, and never mind the pain of pleading and begging a testy TSA agent not to throw away your expensive jar of cream that’s slightly over the limit.



Even though I feel like a chicken that’s just been plucked when I do the math on the annual price of Noble Panacea, I’ll say this: it’s an amazing product. I opted to try the Brilliant Collection as a preventative treatment. Time waits for no man, but it might wait for Nobel Prize-winning chemistry. After one night of using the product, I could see a difference in my skin. I had just gotten off of a long and very stressful plane ride while wearing a hat, so my forehead looked like it had been to war.



The next morning, the redness I had from trying to exfoliate and extract my milia was gone. My skin was glowing, and I hadn’t even slept on my back (I do this when I don’t want to lose product to my pillow).



The Ingredients

The ingredients in the product are really good: trioctyldodecyl citrate is a citric acid based skin-softening emollient, N-acetyl glucosamine is an amide used to reduce hyperpigmentation caused by aging and the sun, allantoin is a skin-protecting agent known for its anti-aging properties and speedy cell turnover, just to name a few of my favorites. It also has sea water, which is alkaline and packed with minerals to calm dry and irritated skin—and, in my opinion, is pretty damn cool.



All of the formulas check off my boxes for high-quality products: there’s no artificial or noticeable fragrance, and the line is free from phthalates, mineral oil, parabens, silicone, GMO’s, SLS & SLES, alcohol, nitrates, palm oil, petrolatum, artificial colors, and gluten—plus, it’s cruelty-free (not tested on animals).



The Packaging

Now, back to the packaging for a moment. The aluminum-free sachet is a bit hard to open; if you don’t tear it straight across perfectly, you may lose some product. I just used little scissors for this step, but there is definitely room for improvement here. The disposable sachets came a complimentary envelope for responsible recycling. Once your envelope is full of your month’s supply of aluminum and FSC-free packets, the instructions say to contact the Noble Panacea Skincare Concierge for a shipping label for you to print at home. Slap that thing on a box and send the envelope off in a mailbox with TerraCycle, a responsible recycling program.



Look, I’m a busy (lazy) 29-year-old woman with a full travel schedule and lots of things to worry about, like chalky makeup application at high altitude, why a frozen-foods heir is ghosting me, and the fact “anal bleaching” is in my recent Google search history. The truth is, I don’t have time to call anyone (besides my therapist) when I’m done using an expensive skincare product, much less print something (I’m always out of ink in my cartridge) and then drop it in a mailbox (no one walks anywhere in L.A.).



While I appreciate the efforts that Noble Panacea goes to in order to protect their bioavailable product and its recyclable packaging, I’m not sending my empties anywhere besides my building’s trash chute—and that’s if I’m even at home. I am very environmentally conscious in other ways, so nobody try and come for me.



Takeaways

After two weeks of using Noble Panacea’s entire Brilliant Collection, I’m seriously stunned. I brought it to a facial so that my esthetician could use the products during the treatment, and her feedback was also positive, aside from saying the texture was tacky. The tacky feeling goes away quickly though, because these creams literally melt into your skin. I prefer a heavier feeling product anyway, because my skin is oily yet consistently dehydrated because I’m too lazy to drink water. If the surface of my skin isn’t moisturized, I’ll breakout like a pre-teen.



I genuinely love how my skin looks and feels after using this for two weeks. The products don’t pill under makeup, but I haven’t even needed to wear any, thanks to this. I haven’t had a single breakout, despite traveling for Thanksgiving, eating what I did at Thanksgiving, and being outside in a blizzard at altitude. I’ve been in hot, cold, dry, and downright miserable weather conditions, but my skin hasn’t budged in clarity or complexion. I’m shocked that it’s felt so hydrated, too.



This is definitely a new add-on to the desert island list for me. If I had to choose just one product from the line to put on my team, it would be the Overnight Recharge Cream. If the price tag makes you gag, consider using it for a month when you’re in need of a full skin reset; think about it as the price of 2 facials. Glowing skin might not cure all, but it certainly comes really close.