• Follow me on Twitter

  • Plant-Powered Remedies

    Bright Eye Vitalizing Nutrient Serum for the eye area, mature and sensitive skin types of all ages. Natural, botanical recipe with time release vitamin C, antioxidants, and anti-aging oils.

  • Curated Green Beauty

  • Beagle Freedom Project: Make a Difference

    The Beauty Librarian Beagle Freedom 1

    The Beauty Librarian Beagle Freedom 1

iS Clinical Review: Extreme Protect SPF 30 and Pro-Heal Serum Advance
January 23, 2016
PR Sample

I am someone who likes clinically-validated products, so I was immediately drawn to iS CLINICAL, a brand that holds itself to this standard for every single  one of its products. Sean Francis, Public Relations and Events Manager at iS CLINICAL, was kind enough to give me the opportunity to feature the brand, and he went above and beyond by thoughtfully selecting two products–Extreme Protect SPF 30 and Pro-Heal Serum Advance–best suited to address the dual concerns of photosensitivity and inflammation, major issues for most of us with lupus as well as nearly anyone with sensitive skin or photosensitivity.

Extreme Protect SPF 30 impressed me right off the bat, because in addition to providing broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection (featuring zinc oxide at 4.12%, always a favorite to see, along with oxtinoxate at 5.5%), the formula also includes Extremozymes (a combination of  enzymes proven to protect and repair DNA), Vitamin E, extracts of Centella Asiastica  to stimulate collagen synthesis and promote wound healing, as well as aloe and olive leaf extract. Just looking at the ingredients, this is an appealing product.  
I love the consistency: this is a medium thick cream that spreads seamlessly with no white streaks, leaving skin hydrated and with a gorgeous glowy finish. Even my parched skin does not dry out with Extreme Protect SPF 30, and the slightly dewy finish is somewhat light-dispersing, such that I feel no need for concealer or foundation. From a purely aesthetic perspective, my skin looks healthier after applying it. The protection Extreme Protect SPF 30 offers is groundbreaking, as it protects skin from UVA/UVB, infrared radiation, intrinsic aging processes, pollution, and free radical particles released from melanin at night after daytime exposure and absorption.
In fact, clinical studies performed on Extreme Protect SPF 30 have shown that skin protected with Extreme Protect SPF 30 may experience less DNA damage in direct sunlight than untreated skin in complete darkness!  Given that Extreme Protect SPF 30 is a game-changing sunscreen, its price point is quite reasonable. I’m sold . . . and tempted to wear this 24 hours a day. Without a doubt, Extreme Protect SPF 30 is is a fantastic moisturizing, DNA-repairing sunscreen for those of us who are photosensitive due to lupus or otherwise.  My only wish is that iS CLINICAL would offer a version that is SPF 50.
Pro-Heal Serum Advance is designed to offer antioxidant protection, boost UV photoprotection, and tame inflammation and redness. Yet this is also a product with 15% Vitamin C and 1% Retinol in it, both of which have been often known to irritate, redden, and dry out my sensitive skin. A lot of the “best” anti-aging ingredients, like retinol and Vitamin C, typically end up taking such a toll on my skin that I look worse if I use them. At first, I had a healthy degree of skepticism about whether Pro-Heal Serum Plus could possibly provide any anti-inflammatory benefits, but then I considered that iS CLINICAL holds all its products to a rigorous clinical validation process. In this case, iS CLINICAL went so far as to use strong detergent  on human skin (on a control area as well as an area where Pro-Heal Serum Advance was applied before the detergent) to test the product’s ability to prevent and decrease inflammation; the study showed that Pro-Heal Serum Advance provided near-complete protection from the detergent; skin protected by Pro-Heal Serum Advance had practically no reaction at all, whereas the control side revealed erythema, roughness, scaling, edema, and fissure formation. 

My own version of the “inflammation test” was simply to see if my skin could handle the retinol in Pro-Heal Serum Advance without turning into a beet red flaking mess (the typical outcome of retinol).  Much to my excitement, my skin tolerates twice daily use of this serum without any of the usual retinol side effects.  This is remarkable given my reactive skin, and it proves to me that this is a very special serum. I never would have expected that a serum with retinol and vitamin C would help calm inflammation and even my skin tone, but this does! That was proof enough for me. I put my skepticism aside. Pro-Heal Serum Advance quickly exceeded my expectations; it reduced inflammation and left my skin with a better texture–and did so quickly, within just a few days.  In addition to taming inflammation, Pro-Heal Serum Advance has been shown to far outperform four comparable products in its ability to absorb free radicals. This means applying Pro-Heal Serum Advance before Extreme Protect 30 will boost photoprotection even more!

Based on many skin care trials, I can tell you that Pro-Heal Serum Advance is a one of a kind product in its effectiveness in healing and protecting irritation-prone skin, toning down redness and irritation, and improving skin texture.  For anyone concerned about inflamm-aging and/or looking for the ultimate antioxidant serum that boosts UV protection, this is a great choice and one that is wonderfully suited to sensitive, reactive skin. 

Conclusion: iS CLINICAL clinically validates all of its products, and my personal experience echos the empirical findings for both Extreme Protect SPF 30 and Pro-Heal Serum Advance.  Both products are excellent for health-challenged skin. Extreme Protect SPF 30 is an advanced formula with skin-beneficial ingredients, as well as data that suggests that skin protected by the product may receive less damage in direct sunlight than untreated skin in pure darkness.  My only wish is that they would make the product even stronger by offering a version that is SPF 50. Pro-Heal Serum Advance provides strong antioxidant benefits, boosts photoprotection, tames inflammation and redness, and improves skin texture–all in a single remarkable product.  This is a very unique formulation with a number of benefits: highly recommended.


Share

Retinol  / Skincare Review  / SPF

Melissa Davis