[Republished with permission from The Twenties Club - "Emma Lewisham Expands Her Clean Beauty Empire With An Insanely Good Moisturiser"]

Between the myriad of over-priced serums, treatments, oils and acids, it seems as though we’ve forgotten about one of the founding fathers of skincare: The humble moisturiser.

My first ever moisturiser was Cetaphil’s Moisturising Lotion. It was for face and body – I know! Both! Or neither. And I applied it everywhere, liberally. I learnt early on in my skincare journey that my face was almost offensively sensitive and a brand like Cetaphil, with its commitment to being free from fragrance and other irritants, did the job well. But that’s all it did: Temporary hydration.

Now imagine that same humble Cetaphil went to Oxford or Cambridge where it completed a Masters in hydration followed by a PhD in non-toxic skincare, and the result still wouldn’t come close to Emma Lewisham’s new Supernatural Anti-Ageing Peptide 72-Hour Crème – the latest addition to her clean beauty empire.

Since launching her eponymous brand in 2019, Emma Lewisham has been on a mission to make a meaningful impact in the beauty industry and set a new standard for sustainability in skincare. Lewisham’s belief is that luxurious, efficacious products shouldn’t come at the expense of a person’s health or the planet. The term ‘clean’ gets thrown around with an almost reckless abandon, and that’s mostly because the beauty industry still remains self-regulated. Most brands agree that, at a minimum, a clean product is one that is free from parabens, phthalates, sulphates and petrochemicals, but Lewisham doesn’t think that goes far enough: 

“Clean, for us, is rigorous. It means a product that is made without any ingredients linked to harmful health effects whether that be hormone disruption, cancer, or plain-old skin irritation. Where some brands eliminate six, we adhere to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) definition of hazardous ingredients and eliminate 1,400 ingredients that are identified by the EWG as being deleterious, potentially harmful or irritating to the skin.”

 Lewisham and her team spent two years undergoing product research and development before launching the Supernatural 72-Hour Crème, and she was quick to point out that it is so much more than just a moisturiser:

“Our goal from the start was to develop high-tech evidence-based products that prevent the visible signs of ageing, all while being 100% natural.” Soon after receiving the product and being floored by the quality, I discovered that the secret sauce to its efficacy is an innovative green-tech hydration compound called “Pentavitin”.

Due to its small molecular size, Pentavitin has the ability to profoundly penetrate the skin’s epidermis later and increase skin hydration tenfold. It’s also scientifically proven to remain in the skin’s epidermis for over 72 hours – hence the name. This is something I can personally vouch for because I distinctly remember going about my normal nighttime routine a couple of days after first trialing the product and feeling like my skin…. didn’t need anything? It still felt just as soft and hydrated as it had the day prior. To me, this is one of the most appealing things about this product because, at $141, it’s not a purchase you can make without some consideration.

And if you’re thinking, “Yeah, this is all great but I’ve already got a routine jam-packed with Hyaluronic Acid to plump my skin within an inch of its life.”, research shows that Pentavitin is completely unparalleled when it comes to hydrating skin and consistently outperforms hyaluronic acid, which is usually diminished within the skin’s epidermis within three hours of application.

Vitamin C junkies might also remember me raving about the Kakadu Plum Extract in Emma Lewisham’s cult Skin Reset Serum, and interestingly, Lewisham’s Hydration Crème contains the same ingredient. Vitamin C stimulates the growth of collagen in the skin, reduces dark circles and improves skin elasticity, and Kakadu Plum has the most concentrated plant-based source of Vitamin C in the world – 100x more than an orange. So if you’re in a position where pigmentation isn’t your main concern, but you’d still like some of the benefits of Vitamin C and youcan’t afford to buy more than one product, I’d recommend buying the 72-Hour Crème instead of the Skin Reset.

All of this is to say: Is the Supernatural Anti-Ageing Peptide 72-Hour Crème the best moisturiser I’ve ever used? Maybe. But what I can say with certainty is that it’s better than Drunk Elephant’s Lala Retro Whipped Cream, it’s better than the iconic Crème de La Mer (which is too thick and fragranced for most women), and it’s sure as hell beats my humble Cetaphil.

Image credit: The Twenties Club