I’m sure by now you’ve seen a few bloggers reviewing the brand new Boost! Skin Serum? I was lucky enough to be sent two myself, and I’ve put together a review for you. I am a skincare junkie, but I also know what I do or don’t like in my skincare.

Some things you should know about the brand:

Boost! is proudly South African.
It’s the brainchild of renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon Professor Tim Christofides
None of the serums contain any nasties – no sulphates, SLS, parabens, PEGS, etholylates, phthalates, petrochemicals, artificial colours, fragrance or formaldehyde donors.
No products or ingredients are tested on animals.

A serum is basically a super potent addition to your skincare. You apply it after cleansing and before moisturising, and it supplements your skincare routine with a high dose of actives that can penetrate your skin deeply. The make up of a serum is designed to penetrate more deeply than a moisturiser.

Boost! has launched a range of six serums that can be added to your regular skincare routine:

GLOW – antioxidant serum for dull, uneven skin or environmentally damaged skin (R349)

CALM – a soothing serum with DMAE for redness, irritation, discomfort and stressed skin (R329)

CLEAR – a decongesting serum with a natural form of salicylic acid, for oily or problem skin prone to breakouts (R299)

ENERGISE – a serum rich in vitamin B3, for lacklustre, dehydrated skin (R329)

QUENCH – a hyaluronic acid serum for dry skin, or skin parched from the climate or air conditioner exposure (R329)

SMOOTH – an exfoliating serum with AHA, for skin with poor or dull texture, and fine lines and wrinkles (R299)

BOOST SKIN SERUM

I was lucky enough to be sent two of these serums to trial – the Calm and the Clear. I have sensitive skin that is prone to irritation and redness, especially with climate changes. I also suffer with congestion on my chin, as well as blackheads on my nose. Lately I’ve been going through a hormonal round of on-and-off-again breakouts too, on my cheeks, chin and neck (so frustrating), and when the spots go, they leave red marks for ages afterwards.

I stopped using any other skin serums for the duration of my trial – no anti-ageing products, no actives. I used a basic set of skincare, and I exfoliated once a week.

This was my skincare routine for the three weeks I used the two serums:

Cleanse (double cleanse at night) – Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm or Pink Cosmetics Cleansing Balm

Apply serum – Boost! Calm (AM) and Clear (PM)

Moisturise – The Ordinary Natural Moisturising Factors + HA (AM) and Clinique Moisture Surge (PM)

Facial Oil (PM only, and only if my skin needed it) – Nikel Evening Primrose Oil

Exfoliate once weekly – Dermalogica Age Smart Multivitamin Thermafoliant

Daily SPF – Yungskin Sun Care SPF40

Obviously there were some days where I felt like I needed a little of the Clear on my skin in the morning (ANY acids = must wear an SPF) due to a breakout, and some days my skin was a little more red in the evening, so I’d add Calm to those areas too. I’d then use them both at the same time.

Both serums were obviously unfragranced, the Calm was a milky colour and the Clear was completely colourless. Neither irritated my skin in the slightest, and I’d wait a couple of minutes for the applied serum to sink in before applying moisturiser.

BOOST SKIN SERUM

Calm

The Calm serum was incredibly soothing to apply. My skin immediately felt calmed and the redness started to fade as it sunk in. I was impressed with how quickly this soothed away any irritation or redness. I liked how hydrating this was too – I didn’t feel like I needed to reach for my hyaluronic acid serum at all.

Clear

I have to be honest. I didn’t think this was doing anything at all to my skin. In fact, after the first week, I had a CRAZY breakout on my chin, with around 5 different spots popping up. I was so frustrated, I almost stopped using the Clear, as I thought it was making my skin worse. However, I thought about it and figured that perhaps it was pulling things to the surface and purging my skin. I have found some products for spot-prone skin do this, so I pushed through and carried on using it. One thing I was impressed with, was that these spots cleared up quicker than they usually do (and I wasn’t applying any spot products to them at all). They also cleared up and didn’t leave behind the tell-tale red marks that I’m usually stuck with for over a month after a pimple. Once I saw this difference, I was impressed, but it took around 2 weeks to see. Then, the spots I’d been getting on my cheeks and neck slowed down and the marks cleared up. I’m still using the serum, and my skin is still improving. I’m so glad I pushed through! I also did a pore strip for the first time since I started the trial, and what came off on that pore strip was really icky. I think the serum must have loosened up all the dirt and oil in my pores, and it came out so easily on that pore strip, like never before!

Now, I’m going to show you a series of before and afters. Please note that I’ve tried to show the skin in similar lighting (although not possible in each picture), and I’ve used NO EDITING and NO FILTERS. Please also, for the love of doughnuts, do not judge my bare face. It took a lot of guts to put these up!

BOOST SKIN SERUM

Notice the redness and irritation, the spots and marks left behind from them.

BOOST SKIN SERUM

See how the skin around my nose and on my chin is really pink in the first picture? Those are my problem areas where my skin barrier is often compromised. They feel tight and irritated. In the second picture you can see my skin as a whole is a little pink still, but there is clearly not as much irritation. The congestion is less around my nose and chin too.

BOOST SKIN SERUM

You can see my whole face looks clearer, less irritated and the spots have cleared! Less congestion too. I realise the after image is taken in day light, while the before was in my bathroom at night. But I just had to show you how bad it really was before. I genuinely took the before images, saved them in a folder, then took the after and threw them into that folder on my laptop too. I only really looked at them side-by-side when I created the images for this post. I am so impressed with the overall difference, as I knew my skin looked better than it had, but I had no concept of just how much better!

Overall

I loved using these serums. Don’t get me wrong – I’m excited to get back into my anti-agers (those lines on my forehead need to be tackled hard), but I am definitely going to keep the Clear serum in the running. I’m going to use the Calm once a week or so, or keep it for when my skin needs a break, or if I’ve overdone the AHA’s or Retinol. I really found the products to be easy to use and very VERY effective.