Caffeine Gel Booster

This caffeine gel booster is a concentrate you add to a cream you already use, rather than a step on its own. It contains 1% caffeine and is aimed mainly at the eye area, for mornings when it looks puffy and tired, and it can also go into a face moisturiser. It is listed for mature and oily skin, and it contains no oils.

The formula is short. Water comes first, then alcohol and glycerin made from organic ingredients, then caffeine. Caffeine is the active here: on the skin it helps puffy, tired-looking areas look smoother and more awake. Glycerin draws water into the surface layers. Cellulose gum and algin, a thickener from seaweed, turn the liquid into a gel so it blends evenly into a cream.

Mix 1 to 3 drops into your eye cream or face moisturiser, then apply as usual. It can go into the Brightening Eye Cream or the 3-in-1 Eye Cream for Men, for example. Two honest notes. Alcohol is the second ingredient, so on dry, sensitive or freshly shaved skin it may sting, although diluting it as directed keeps the amount per use small. It also contains fragrance (parfum, with geranyl acetate and linalyl acetate from natural essential oils). Patch-test your mix first and keep it out of the eyes themselves.