‘What’s the weather like on your skin today?’ That’s how AXIS-Y opens the conversation, rather than with the usual question about skin type. Skin, the brand says, doesn’t have a ‘type’; it has a state that responds to everything around it. Yesterday’s air and today’s are different, and so are morning and night temperatures. All of it quietly leaves its mark on the skin: dryness, sensitivity or breakouts for no obvious reason. So AXIS-Y doesn’t sort people into dry, oily or combination; it matches the routine to the skin’s weather today.
The brand’s main line is built on one formula it calls 6+1+1. Six base ingredients nourish the skin and keep it healthy. One core ingredient works on a specific concern. One ‘technology’ ingredient helps the rest work harder and sink in deeper. The brand’s products, it says, are vegan and not tested on animals. Its ‘5 FREE’ means no parabens, alcohol, mineral oil, artificial fragrance or artificial colour. And every product, according to AXIS-Y, is tested to make sure it suits sensitive skin before it’s released.
Dark spots left by sun and breakouts: Dark Spot Correcting Glow Serum
The weather: the marks of sun, breakouts and city life have built up. Skin tone is uneven and dull, with dark marks that won’t fade. The brand’s answer is its bestseller, the ‘niacinamide serum’, as the brand calls it. There’s 5% niacinamide here: it evens out skin tone and brightens dark spots, that is, hyperpigmentation. Alongside it, squalane hydrates and supports the skin barrier, the top layer of skin that holds moisture in. Sea buckthorn is there for radiance and, the brand says, for those same dark marks. The formula also has rice bran, papaya, acerola, calendula and glutathione. There’s no artificial fragrance, but right at the end of the ingredient list there’s a small amount of rosemary oil, so you may notice its scent. The texture is light and absorbs quickly. Use a small amount on the whole face or just on the dark spots, and pat it in gently with your fingertips until it’s absorbed. Every day. Morning or evening is up to you. For more help with dark spots, see our Pigmentation and Dull Skin Tone collection.
Clogged pores and oily shine: Daily Purifying Treatment Toner
The weather: excess oil, clogged pores and a layer of dead skin cells leave the skin looking rough, congested and prone to breakouts. The brand’s answer is a toner with three acids. Two of them, AHA and PHA (that’s how packaging labels the groups of exfoliating acids), lift dead cells off the surface; on the ingredient list they’re glycolic acid and gluconolactone. The third, BHA, is salicylic acid, at 0.5% here; it works inside the pores and clears excess oil. To stop the acids irritating the skin, a quarter of the formula is centella extract, a plant that calms redness; the brand writes it as 250,000 ppm. Tea tree and aloe sit alongside it. After cleansing, soak a cotton pad with the toner and sweep it over your face, avoiding the eye area. Once a day. For sensitive skin the brand advises using it less often, going by how your skin reacts. The toner has its own herbal scent, from the lavender and tea tree oils at the very end of the ingredient list. Toners with and without acids are in our toners and essences collection.
Rough, dull skin: PHA Resurfacing Glow Peel
The weather: a layer of dead cells plus city life, and the skin is rough and the tone dull. Creams and serums work less well on skin like that. If your skin is also oily and your pores are clogged, your answer is above: the toner, every day, or less often if your skin is sensitive. If it’s rough and dull, the answer is here, and it suits sensitive skin too. It’s a rinse-off gel peel with 10% PHA, a mild exfoliating acid (gluconolactone on the ingredient list). Unlike stronger acids, PHA works mostly on the skin’s surface, and it draws in moisture as it goes; that’s how the brand explains it. That’s why it suits sensitive skin and skin with a weakened barrier. Centella and cucumber are there to soothe, green papaya for gentle exfoliation; green plum, green apple and camellia flower are there as antioxidants. After cleansing, apply an even layer to dry skin, leave it on for 10–15 minutes and rinse off thoroughly with lukewarm water. The brand doesn’t say how often; let your skin decide. Peels and enzyme powders are in our peels collection.
Tired eyes: Vegan Collagen Eye Serum
The weather: fatigue, stress and whatever the city throws at it every day, and the skin around your eyes is puffy or sunken, with the first fine lines. The brand’s answer is an eye serum it aims at three things at once: fine lines, puffiness and dark circles. In it are vegan collagen and a complex of five peptides. Together they work on firmness and make fine lines less visible. Three forms of hyaluronic acid are there for moisture, and 2% niacinamide to brighten dark circles. Use a small amount on the skin around the eyes: pat it in gently with your fingertips, then finish with light circular strokes, working upwards, until it’s absorbed. Morning and evening, every day. If you’d rather have a cream than a serum, there’s our eye creams collection.
On its own site, AXIS-Y builds its routines around three ‘skin climates’, named after the weather, and they’re weather reports of the same kind. Thirsty Skin Society is for when your skin won’t hold moisture and feels tight and rough all day. Dewy Mode is for when your skin is oily in some places and short of moisture in others. Handle With Care is for when your skin reacts to everything. There’s a quiz there, too, that tells you your skin climate. Among the brand’s other products are a mineral sunscreen and a mugwort mask; there’s also a separate line, ay&me, which the brand put together with creators from its community, more than a thousand people from 68 countries. Behind all of it is Asia Master Trade, a Seoul-based company. And the brand suggests starting with the same question: what’s the weather like on your skin today?
