Every Step of Zoë Foster Blake’s Very Amazing Skincare Routine
January 1 | 5 minute read
Words by Kerri Gordon
Originally published on | June 23
Her work as a beauty editor, early-days blogger, bestselling author, brand founder, formulation guinea pig and trusty recommender of Good Things has solidified Zoë as the ‘Go-To’ for simple skin solutions (especially when the overwhelm – or spots, dots and lines – set in).
When we got word that Go-To would be launching a clinically proven, high-performing retinal serum (and according to the product’s name, a Very Amazing one at that), we whisked Zoë away from her Melbourne ‘circuit’ (Avenue Bookstore, Cinema Nova, Marion, Capitano, Pidapipo, repeat) and straight to MECCA HQ to chat about the new serum and how it slots into her Very Uncomplicated skincare routine.
A Very Amazing Vitamin A
“Personal experience,” she starts. “I was a dabbler with retinol. I always found I had to go pretty easy on it and I was using it at a very low strength because my skin would get a bit bitchy.”
“When I first started as a beauty editor, I was in my early 20s and the going philosophy was; ‘you do not use vitamin A until after you've had your babies’. I started dabbling in my early 40s, but it’s not always an age thing, it's how your skin state is.”
We segue into a conversion on the shrinking age of skincare obsession, and Zoë flags this serum is made for many, but not for all. “This is certainly a product we're talking to people who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, but this is not for teens, not for tweens, and I really can't imagine a world where you have enough fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation in your 20s to warrant this serum.”
“When we started developing our own vitamin A products,” she notes, referring to the brand’s retinal-powered Decrease eye serum launched earlier this year, “I wanted to make sure that whatever we did, it was following the Go-To philosophy of being gentle and uncomplicated.” The brand has done this by using retinal; not a spelling error, but a shortening of retinaldehyde, a retinoid further along the vitamin A pathway than retinol and one step closer to retinoic acid (aka prescription retinoids). Despite it being closer to vitamin A’s strongest form, Zoë notes, “it is more tolerated. It’s a perfect balance of being super effective and getting those results.”
To keep things “nice and gentle,” retinal is paired with calming centella, strengthening niacinamide and plumping peptides to produce an all-in-one formula with everything you need bundled up - no need to slug, sandwich or smear with a slew of additional products.
Go-To Gets Clinical
Having celebrated their 10th birthday earlier this year, Go-To heads into double digits with a newfound sophistication, especially when it comes to their clinicals. “We now recognise that if you're launching a serum that's going up against some heavy hitters, even in the cosmeceutical world,” says Zoë, “you have to have to back that up. We used to just go, ‘It's great, you'll love it, I like it’ and that doesn't fly anymore.”
Very Amazing Retinal’s clinical trials delivered stellar results, as the founder proudly lists off; “We saw a reduction in pigmentation and skin redness by up to 70 percent, it reduces fine lines by up to 40 percent, it reduces wrinkles by up to 30 percent, it increases skin firmness by up to 15 percent, and it also brightens the skin by up to 15 percent.”
“The customer knows more, needs more and wants more. So we had to start fine tuning for a more sophisticated customer.” Zoë’s up for the challenge. “We need to make best in class, high quality, high grade, high strength skincare, but keep that genesis of hand-holding, simplicity, and uncomplicatedness. That is hard! But we're now talking to more ages, stages and skin types than ever before.”
Zoë’s “Things Will Calm Down Soon” Night Time Routine
On October 1st, the multihyphenate drops her newest novel ‘Things Will Calm Down Soon’, a story about a founder who has an idea, builds a business and then sells it. Not quite ready for her memoir or “dry business book” moment, it's a fictionalised story of real-life events and particularly, their learnings.
What follows here is not an excerpt from Zoë’s book, but her non-fiction bedtime tale of getting things like lines, wrinkles, pigmentation and dryness to, well, calm down.
Chapter 1: Cleanse. “I double cleanse most days, starting with Fancy Face and then Juicy Gel because I like the hydration. I've switched from Properly Clean to Juicy Gel unless I'm a bit breakout-y, in which case I'll go back to Properly Clean.”
Chapter 2: Treat. “Alternating nights when my skin is clean and dry I go in with Very Amazing Retinal and let it completely dry for a good five minutes, or I use the Glow Exfoliator and just let that sink in.
Chapter 3: Hydrate. “Then I go in with a mist, so much plumper skin, our hyaluronic acid, face hero, and Very Luxe Face Cream.
The end. “I feel very smug with that routine because you're getting your chemical exfoliation and your re-texturizing, you're getting your brightening, you're getting your antioxidants, you're getting your nourishment, your peptides, your ceramides… it's gorgeous!”
The epilogue. “Then, I yell at myself to put my phone down. The kids are going to bed later and later, so that screen time is pushing out; but we try and watch a TV show, which I find really anchoring after everything's done, and then I take all my vitamins, have a cup of tea, read (editor’s note: she just finished Bri Lee’s The Work, and Miranda July’s All Fours) and go to bed. I try to switch off at about 10.30pm. Eye mask, Very dark room. Goodnight.
