BYBI Beauty
BYBI stands for By Beauty Insiders. Founded by Elsie & Dominika in 2017, they created products based on what they want and what they know don’t yet exist.
I don’t try many new skincare brands these days because I find my skin too precious and precarious to experiment with. However, BYBI Beauty showed up at a point of time when I was traveling quite frequently and needed an additional boost to my existing skincare line-up. And from the very first try, I was impressed both by the thoughtfulness of the brand and the efficacy of the products.
Elsie and Dominika are trained skincare formulators with a passion for natural beauty. They started Clean Beauty Insiders, a natural beauty blog and podcast in 2015; and also wrote Clean Beauty, a book containing over 100 natural beauty recipes published by Penguin in 2017.
BYBI products are formulated to be clean and efficacious, designed to optimise your skin’s health. But what impressed me more than all the catchy sound bytes is that the brand is very thorough in its efforts to do better and create change in a traditional industry. In addition to committing to using only 100% natural, vegan and cruelty-free ingredients in its products; all of BYBI’s packaging are environmentally friendly. All BYBI products with plastic tubes are made out of sugarcane-derived bioplastic tubes that are both recyclable and industrially compostable. They also minimise unnecessary paper materials by printing on the packaging where possible, and all the products arrive in boxes made from grass rather than paper.
I tried 3 products from the brand, and loved each of them.
I was initially apprehensive when I found out that the BYBI Crystal Clear Gel Cleanser was designed for oily and blemish-prone skin. However, when I finally plucked up the courage to try it out, I was surprised by how gentle it was! The clear gel liquifies immediately upon contact with water and produces a very light lather. It leaves skin clear, refreshed and prepped for the rest of your skincare routine, without a hint of feeling stripped, tight or irritated. It contains a prebiotic derived from chicory root to rebalance skin’s microflora to maintain a healthy microbiome.
I have used this cleanser on and off for several months now, and found that it works well when my skin is feeling stressed or sensitized. Since having my baby, my skin has started breaking out badly, and the anti-acne cream I was using dried up my skin and left me with red angry patches. My existing cleansers now feel either too harsh or so gentle that they do not cleanse my skin properly. On a whim I whipped out this BYBI Crystal Clear Gel Cleanser again and found it perfect for my skin’s current condition. It contains 0.5% salicylates from White Willow Bark to cleanse pores thoroughly without causing irritation. Cypress and Rosemary keep blemishes away and as well as prevent spread of existing infections. I found the addition of Quartz Powder most interesting as it is supposed to be a “master healer” to help repair skin.
My favourite is the BYBI Strawberry Booster. This is pure strawberry seed oil made from cold-pressed seeds that are by-products of the juicing industry. It is high in Omega-6 and Omega-3 essential fatty acids, and is a rich source of ellagic acid, making it perfect for soothing, nourishing and hydrating really dry, dehydrated or irritated skin. It absorbs quickly and does not leave my skin feeling oily, but rather gives it a nice plumped boost. This is truly an SOS cure for when my skin is most stressed out, and immediately after the first night I can feel my skin getting better! My red angry flakey patches are soothed and feel less itchy, and even the bumps under my skin are lessened! It is a tiny bottle but you really only need 1-2 drops each night. I highly, highly recommend this!
This is perhaps the product out of the 3 that I am most ambivalent about. It is a blend of 18 antioxidant-rich natural oils designed to rejuvenate and protect the skin [full list of ingredients here]. I found it relatively light for a facial oil, though it does not sink in as much as the Strawberry Booster and leaves a bit of an oily film on my skin. For those with very dry skin or living in very dry climates, this will be perfect. Personally, I found layering this with my usual night cream to be too much, but when I used it alone after my usual toner without any additional products, it worked very well proving that less is more. My skin responded very well to this BYBI Supercharge Serum, looking more even in tone, less sensitised and red.
It has been a really long time since I’ve been this excited over a new skincare brand, and I think BYBI Beauty is truly a brand worth following and checking out!
