“This £20-per-month skincare service transformed my skin and I’ve ditched foundation”
Under-the-radar London brand Dermatica is democratising personalised skincare. You pay £20 per month, you get your best skin in years. Kerry Potter can’t argue with that.
Any products in this article have been selected editorially however if you buy something we mention, we may earn commission
What constitutes a good skin day for you? My gauge is this: when I get up at the crack of dawn to go to my gym class, if my skin is behaving I don’t feel obliged to slather on tinted moisturiser and concealer. Which means two extra minutes in bed – and every minute counts at 6am.
I’ve been using Dermatica’s personalised skincare serum for four months and it has transformed my complexion – and no, they did not pay me to write that sentence. Now almost every day is a good skin day. I’m enjoying a lot of micro lie-ins.
The photo on the left is my mug on the first week of January (festive season hangover vibes, anyone?), while the one on the right is from late April. There’s no filter on either. I’m wearing eye makeup in both but nothing on my skin (although I have been using tanning drops in the “after” photo.)
I’m not sure the photos really do it justice so you’ll have to believe me when I say this stuff has worked wonders for me. My skin glows more, my fine lines are diminished and my breakouts are greatly reduced. Plus scarring and pigmentation from previous spots are less visible. It’s been a gradual process – don’t expect instant results – but every month there are improvements and there’s no sign of plateauing, four months in.
How does Dermatica work?
It’s a subscription service – you receive a white tube of personalised formula in the post once a month, that you put on in the evening, after cleansing and before moisturising. It comes in a no-nonsense box with a prescription label, just like your normal pharmacy prescriptions.
When you sign up online, you answer a questionnaire about your skin, upload selfies and flag up what you’d like your serum to address.
The list includes:
I requested help with acne and ageing. Then the brand’s team of East London-based dermatologists and pharmacists prescribe and formulate your personal potion, using the best ingredients to tackle your concerns. You have a dashboard on your account, onto which you’re regularly encouraged to upload photos, to show how your skin is changing, access to the derms and report any issues with your formula. As the months go by, the experts may tweak your formula to boost results.
Why Dermatica appealed
I’m not a beauty editor, I don’t have a PhD in skincare ingredients and I don’t speak fluent actives – all of which meant I was feeling overwhelmed by the modern skincare market. I was suspicious that what had somehow developed into a 3,000-step nightly routine – including paint-stripping my face with various random acids – might not be the best approach. So it felt time to reset and pare things back.
Enter Dermatica. The team work out what exactly your face needs – and monitor how that might change from month to month – and put it in one formula. You are encouraged to use it with a simple cleanser and moisturiser – and that’s it. No nightly faff.
My serum contains tretinoin, a gold-standard retinoid that’s only available on prescription (another bonus of the service – their pharmacists can offer this). I’ve dabbled with retinoids in the past, got the dosages wrong, panicked and given up. But this feels safe – they start the dose very small and gradually increase it. You don’t need to pore over the percentages, you just do as you’re told, slap it on and go to bed. I’ve had no problems with it, apart from an itchy neck so I stopped using it there.
Mine also contains azelaic acid for treating acne and improving skin texture and initially also niacinamide to boost hydration and calm inflammation and pigmentation. I was concerned that perhaps this meant too much niacinamide on my skin – I am devoted to my Dr Sam’s Flawless Moisturizer, £27 (another brilliant, affordable, derm-led brand that actually works, by the way), which also contains it, and was unwilling to change to something different. The friendly Dermatica derms (who respond to your email queries within 24 hours) decided to remove the niacinamide, reformulating and swiftly sending me a new batch.
That’s the other huge benefit – you can ask them anything and they come right back to you. How cool is it to have direct access to a dermatologist? I’ve always felt that kind of thing was reserved for chic New Yorkers in TV shows. I’ve never had the funds to employ my own, nor the patience to attempt a referral from a GP (and to be fair the NHS has bigger fish to fry than my zits).
How much does Dermatica cost?
Another big tick here – it’s £19.99 per month. I think this is a bargain – not least because I’m not buying all the other stuff I used to, now my routine has been simplified. There’s currently a special offer where you pay £2.90 for the first month.
The brand was founded in 2018 by Dwayne D’Souza, a former JP Morgan trader, whose aim was to democratise bespoke skincare and access to derms. Mission accomplished, I’d say.
Best personalised skincare – what else is on the market?
The one you’ve probably heard of is the higher profile Skin + Me, a beauty editors’ favourite, which also launched in 2018. It has a similar offer at a similar price point, currently offering your first month’s subscription for £9.99.
Then there’s newcomer Klira, which launched late 2022. Founded by Dr Emma Craythorne, current President of the British Cosmetic Dermatology Group, Klira also supplies customers with a prescription, personalised formula, plus a bespoke edit of the skincare market, so you know what else to stock up on. They include brands such as La Roche Posay and the Inkey List and it costs £65 per month.
My picks of the Dermatica over-the-counter range
Dermatica has recently branched out into a small range of skincare basics, available from their website. If you want to get a feel for the brand before committing to the subscription serum, have a play with these first. None cost more than £20. Here are my three favourites:
1. The handbag essential: Dermatica Restoring Ceramide Skin Balm, £5.95
An excellent price for an excellent multi-tasker. I recently took this on a family skiing trip and we all slathered it around our noses and lips (alongside SPF of course) several times a day. No one suffered any chapping from the wind and cold.
2. The family-friendly cleanser: Dermatica Balancing Gel Cleanser, £12.95
I have an 11-year-old boy who, like all 11-year-old boys, doesn’t wash his face properly. It’s forever smeared with grot and he’s now starting to get a few tiny pimples. But I’ve taught him how to use this, and it works wonders. The pump action makes it simple for the whole family to use, it’s supremely gentle (no stingy eyes) and the glycerine helps gently lift dirt.
3. The versatile nourisher: Dermatica Nourishing Ceramide + Peptide Moisturiser, £15.95
Don’t tell anyone, but I use this face moisturiser designed for normal/dry skin on my hands when I’m working at my desk. Packed with soothing ceramides and skin-plumping peptides, it’s rich but not heavy, fragrance-free and leaves a pleasing sheen on my mitts.
