9 Must-Have Skincare Ingredients for Your Beauty Kit

1. Peptides

Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as messengers in the body, signalling your skin’s proteins to self-regenerate and repair.

Admittedly, peptides have become one of those “buzzy” skincare ingredients on everybody’s lips. However, Lancôme’s National Skincare Expert Brittany Hanchard assures us that they are every bit deserving of their acclaim:

“Peptides are so effective because they’re telling your body to make more of something it already produces: collagen and elastin. When we age, the body’s natural collagen and elastin production declines, so peptides encourage this biological process.”

What peptides are best for: skin firmness and elasticity

Peptides stimulate collagen and elastin production – two proteins that are intrinsic to your skin’s structure and resilience – which helps firm and tighten skin.

This is why peptides have become the gold standard of preventative and targeted anti-aging skincare productsv. And, since the body already produces a wealth of peptides all on its own, they’re highly compatible with all skin types.

Which product to try: Rénergie Collagen+ Lift-Xtend Cream

Target visible signs of collagen loss using the Rénergie Collagen+ Lift-Xtend Cream. This nourishing moisturiser helps tighten sagging skin and re-define facial contours, while supporting the skin moisture barrier to promote skin resilience.

2. Retinol

Retinol is a vitamin A derivative that stimulates skin cell turnover and encourages collagen synthesis. However, with great power comes great potency, and retinol can be known to cause redness, tightness, and dryness – especially if you have already dry, sensitive skin or it’s your first time using the ingredient.

What retinol is best for: aging and blemish concerns

Retinol’s ability to stimulate skin cell turnover makes it one of the best skincare ingredients for textural concerns like fine lines, wrinkles, and blemishes – as well as visible concerns like dark spots, post-blemish marks, and dullness. By encouraging the skin to renew itself, retinol can help unlock smoother skin, minimise the depth of fine lines, and clear breakouts.

Which product to try: Rénergie C.R.X. Triple Serum Retinol

You can harness the potent effects of retinol using the Rénergie C.R.X. Triple Serum Retinol, which helps encourage skin cell renewal, smooth textural concerns, and promote firmer, more even-looking skin.

Be sure to only apply retinol at night to clean, dry skin – and always use SPF in the morning.

4. Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps protect the skin from environmental damage, stimulates collagen synthesis for tighter skin, and brightens lacklustre skin tone.

Keep in mind that vitamin C may be too potent for sensitive skin types, so it’s best to patch-test this skincare ingredient on less tolerant skin.

What vitamin C is best for: dullness and hyperpigmentation

Vitamin C’s antioxidant properties help protect skin from free radicals caused by external aggressors like UV exposure and pollution – which are major contributors to premature skin aging. A powerful skin brightening tool, vitamin C also works by inhibiting melanin production, so it can also help to fade dark spots and hyperpigmentation.

Which product to try: Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum

Combining vitamin C + niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and ferulic acid, the Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum visibly corrects dark spots, enhances radiance, re-plumps sagging skin, and diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

5. Niacinamide

Powerful yet gentle, niacinamide is a true multipurpose skincare ingredient: it brightens and evens skin tone, diminishes facial redness, comforts stressed skin, regulates oil production, and supports skin moisture barrier function.

What niacinamide is best for: uneven skin tone across all skin types

While the list of niacinamide benefits for skin is long, we can’t look past this key skincare ingredient’s ability to even skin tone, including types of hyperpigmentation like dark spots and post-blemish marks. However, unlike other brightening ingredients – retinol and vitamin C, for example – niacinamide is gentle enough for sensitive and dry skin types.

Which product to try: Rénergie H.P.N 300-Peptide Cream

Enriched with a blend of niacinamide, peptides, and hyaluronic acid, the Rénergie H.P.N 300-Peptide Cream is a nourishing anti-aging moisturiser that hydrates, tightens, brightens, and evens skin.

6. Mitopure®

Developed in an exclusive partnership with Swiss biotech startup Timeline, this unique skincare ingredient is at the forefront of anti-aging skincare.

Mitopure® is the 98.5% pure and micronised form of Urolithin-A, a molecule known for its ability to intercept visible and invisible aging markers.

What Mitopure® is best for: visible aging concerns

Mitopure® helps promote skin cell renewal to combat visible signs of aging, such as diminishing the depth of wrinkles, improving skin firmness and elasticity, supporting hydration, and boosting skin resilience and longevity.

Which product to try: Absolue Longevity MD Reset The Cream

The Absolue Longevity MD Reset The Cream is a daily moisturiser that enhances skin extensibility and tonicity (your skin’s ability to snap back in place after being stretched). For the full Absolue Longevity routine, explore our exclusive, step-by-step guide to achieving youthful-looking skin.

7. Squalane

Squalane is an emollient, which is another type of moisturising ingredient that acts like a film over the stratum corneum – filling gaps between skin cells to strengthen the skin moisture barrier and seal in hydration.

What squalane is best for: dry and sensitive skin

Squalane is one of the best skincare ingredients for dry and sensitive skin types because it mimics the skin’s natural oil composition, combats moisture loss, and helps prevent external pollutants from entering more vulnerable layers of the skin.

Which product to try: Lip Idôle Squalane-12 Butterglow™

Thanks to squalane’s nourishing properties, this hero skincare ingredient is typically formulated in moisturisers, serums, cleansers, and even lip balms – like our Lip Idôle Squalane-12 Butterglow™. This emollient-rich formula includes ceramides, shea butter, and jojoba butter alongside squalane to soften and hydrate the lip surface.

8. AHAs and BHAs

Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) are chemical exfoliants, which are types of skincare ingredients that slough dead skin cells that collect on the skin surface to reveal smooth, refined, glowing skin. Chemical exfoliants are potent, so they’re not always compatible with less tolerant skin types (like sensitive).

What AHAs are best for: exfoliating dull skin

AHAs like glycolic acid are water-soluble and made up of small molecules that target deep layers of skin and loosen the bonds between dead skin cells. This helps stimulate skin cell renewal, encouraging brighter, smoother skin cells to the surface.

What BHAs are best for: purifying skin and unclogging pores

BHAs like salicylic acid are oil-soluble, so they can penetrate deep into pores to unclog debris, regulate sebum production, and purify skin. This makes BHAs ideal for supporting oily skin types and can help reduce and prevent breakouts.

Which product to try: Advanced Clarifique Double Treatment Essence

Concentrated with four pro-peeling acids, the Advanced Clarifique Double Treatment Essence helps tackle skin clarity on four levels: it refines pores, controls oil levels, hydrates, and polishes skin.

9. Caffeine

Caffeine is becoming an increasingly popular skincare ingredient for its ability to stimulate circulation in the skin and reduce puffiness. Caffeine is also an antioxidant, so it can help brighten skin, improve elasticity, and support firmness.

What caffeine is best for: under-eye wrinkles and puffiness

Caffeine-infused eye creams and serums promote youthful-looking skin where visible signs of aging appear first – the eye contour – reducing under-eye swelling and smoothing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Which product to try: Rénergie Yeux Eye Cream

Instantly refresh the delicate skin of the eye contour with the Rénergie Yeux Eye Cream, a potent formula that’s powered by a blend of caffeine, beech bud extract, and hyaluronic acid to lift, brighten, and hydrate.

Even the best skincare ingredients are only effective when applied correctly – so next, explore our expert advice on how to layer serums.