Exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, Canadian skincare company Indeed Labs has been on my skin radar for about 2 years. From the straightforward, attractive packaging to incredibly reasonable pricing for what looks to be some cutting edge skin technology, getting “fillumed” sounded like an awesome skin weekend! With the goal to get rid of marketing jargon and focus on skincare that delivers nothing but real results at a cost-friendly price, Indeed Labs sounded like a company I NEEDED to get to know. With a couple of well-loved products in its assortment, like Nanoblur and the Hydraluron series, already it seemed like the right time to launch not just one, but TWO other must-have products! Launched this September, the fillume Volumizing Duo focuses on those whose main skin concerns are loss of volume and elasticity. The word “fillume” almost makes sense now that I know what the line is intended to do!
The Volumizing Serum* ($29.99 CDN) is all about plumping those areas of the skin that have lost their “pizzaz” over the years including smile lines and forehead furrows. Five clinically proven peptides, including something called “Linefill”, a natural active produced from sesame seeds, work to leave skin feeling firmer while restoring facial contours.
When it comes to skincare, when I see claims like these the very thing I look for is silicone which is actually ingredient #3, #4, #7 and #8. While I believe silicones have their place in skincare, I cannot help but feel like they are doing most of the “wrinkle-smoothing”. In fact, there is also an ingredient I have never heard of called Pullulan, about halfway down the ingredient list, that is produced from the starch of a fungus. It is used in anti-aging products because of its ability to provide an instant tightening effect as it adheres to the skin as well as forming a sheer film on the skin that improves both its appearance and texture. It also gives formulas a much smoother feel which is something I enjoyed about this serum (Truth in Aging, 2015). The peptides are present, but closer to the end of the ingredient list which may or may not be good depending on how high the concentration of peptides needs to be in order to have an effect on our skin.
So, while this serum did in fact make my skin look more even, I do feel like like a large part of that was due to the presence of silicones. The texture was very nice though as it was a cooling gel that just melted into my skin and made me feel quite refreshed (thank you Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer!) This serum had the perfect consistency for priming skin for makeup application making it a go-to first step in the mornings for me.
I always think of serum as the “potent stuff” as it is usually the most expensive product in any skincare regime. Moisturizer is what “caps” everything in and also gives skin that bounce. The Volumizing Moisturizer* ($24.99 CDN) works to increase hydration and improve the overall tone and texture of the skin using sesame seed extract, hyaluronic acid and something called Sym3D, that stimulates fat cells to rebuild volume.
The dispensing system is one of my favourites as you simply push and then wipe off what you need. It seems much more hygenic than an open pot and no unused product is exposed to air. Though the instructions say to use a pea-sized amount, I found that it was not hydrating enough for me and I had to top up with a facial oil at night.
It was tough to find information on what Sym3D is actually composed of and though I suspect it is the ingredient with the longest name, I cannot be sure. The texture of the moisturizer is similar to the serum in that it feels refreshing and does not leave a greasiness to the skin. The only silicone in this moisturizer is dimethicone which I suspect is present more for texture than for smoothing out and plumping up skin as this was the main responsibility of the serum.
Final verdict: Though I agree that both the serum and moisturizer do what they claim in terms of plumping the skin and improving texture, I am again very torn as to whether the results are long-lasting because of the number of silicones in the serum especially. When I worked in skincare, a question I would ask my clients is whether they wanted smoother skin NOW or later and surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) most clients said NOW. This fillume Volumizing Duo is the NOW solution. Your skin will look better within the day and foundation will apply beautifully. It all depends on what you’re looking for and the Indeed Labs products are not incredibly affordable for what they do, but are also free of phthalates, parabens, sulfates and colourants. There are a number of Indeed products that I will certainly still look into, like their exfoliator and Nanoblur (review for that soon!) even though this duo didn’t quite do it for me in terms of ingredients.
Thoughts on getting “fillumed”? What have you tried from Indeed Labs that I should try next?
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