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If The Ordinary’s ingredient-driven formulas and affordable price points were blended with a chic, French minimalist aesthetic (think: Chanel) and ‘clean’ formulations — you’d have a brand that looks like Typology. Launched in just 2019, the French skincare brand has been such a runaway hit, it’s just launched stateside.
Ning Li conceived of the brand when he was looking for a cream to use on his (at the time) newborn daughter. He found long product ingredient lists confusing and wanted to create something transparent that wouldn’t require as much work (or a science degree) to understand. As a result, Typology has a collection of products containing less than ten ingredients, for customers who prefer to stick with what Li calls the utmost in “le minimalisme” (you can probably translate that one on your own).
In the name of transparency (and like The Ordinary, The Inkey List), Typology puts the names of each ingredient front and center on its packaging. Though the word ‘niacinamide’ was everywhere in 2020, most people don’t have the time to become amateur skincare chemists for fun. So, to help demystify skin care — and get the right products to the right people — Typology offers a quiz that generates a personalized routine. But unlike many similar quizzes, where skin is categorized based on whether it is ‘dry’, ‘oily,’ ‘combination,’ or ‘normal,’ Typology’s quiz accounts for twenty four skin types.
“We believe that two people with dry skin do not necessarily have the same needs. For us, there are a multitude of skin types and our mission is to offer products adapted to each one according to its needs,” explains founder Ning Li. This is also, he says, how the brand’s name came to be. The quiz is based on the data of half a million French consumers who participated in the brand’s testing.
One way to discover the brand is through its collections, some of which have become best sellers. In addition to “TEN,” there’s also the “WOMAN periodic serums,” a set of four serums designed to sync up with the skin’s needs for each week of a woman’s menstrual cycle, and “PLANTES,” a range made solely with botanical ingredients. Below, discover some of the brand’s must-try hero products:
9 Ingredient Face Cream
For just under $20 ($19.80 to be precise), you can try this moisturizer that is emblematic of Typology’s mission. It’s fragrance-free, and made to be safe for sensitive skin — the ingredients are mostly basic hydrators like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, organic coconut oil — and just six others.
Macerated Oil Organic Carrot
Carrot oil is not one of the most talked about ingredients, but perhaps it should be. The antioxidant-dense ingredient brings skin a radiant glow. Typology notes that this oil can be used on its own, or blended with other serums to hydrate, nourish, and revive dull or tired skin.
Plantes Night Serums
These botanical oil blends (there are five) range from $19.80 to $23.50 but have the look, feel, and ingredients of far more expensive products. Options include: Radiance (Botanical Blend With White Rose), Purifying (Botanical Blend With Peony), Firming (Botanical Blend With Nopal), Soothing (Botanical Blend With Cotton), and Hydrating (Botanical Blend With Papyrus).
Teint Tinted Serum
The brand’s first foray into ‘makeup,’ (sort of) is this tinted serum, which gives skin light coverage while also delivering antioxidant vitamin C, nourishing squalane, and hydrating aloe vera to the skin.
5 More Reasons To Love Typology
- Typology is cruelty-free, in the process of receiving PETA certification, and B-Corp certified
- Their site is simple to navigate and lets you shop by category (serums, moisturizers, hair care, hydrolates and toners, etc.) or concern (blemish prone skin, wrinkles and fine lines, dry and dehydrated skin, and more).
- Typology's team includes prestigious skincare experts and product developers who have worked on some of the most prestigious beauty and skincare brands out of Paris such as Chanel and L'oreal.
- Typology is the first and only brand that offers a serum collection specifically designed to complement a woman's skin throughout her menstrual cycle, with four serums (one for each week of your cycle) to combat skin's hormonal changes from week to week.
- The brand will be expanding their TEINT range with concealers and tinted lip balms later this year.
