Typology. Skincare

It’s rare that I’m tempted by a new beauty brand, particularly one that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and took over my Instagram feed over night. But Typology. proved to be an exception to this personal rule. The brand ticks a lot of boxes for me – it’s French, its packaging sleek and minimal, and its prices decidedly affordable. Back in November, I found myself running out of a lot of skincare products all at the same time. I tend to buy in advance, which means that doesn’t happen often. When it does, I consider it a perfect opportunity to try something new – so I placed a large order from Typology., and I’ve been using products from their range ever since.

At this point, most of the products I bought are nearly empty. I’ve had time to get a really good sense of how I felt about each one… what worked and what didn’t, what met my expectations and what left me shaking my head. Overall, my experience with the brand was mixed. If you’ve found yourself tempted by Typology. like I was, the best advice I can offer is to consider your product selections very carefully. Some are amazing – others, less so.

A little about Typology.

Typology is a vegan, ethical skincare brand from France. All of their product formulations are 100% French, made a partner laboratories in Bergerac, Aix en Provence and Compeigne. The brand strives to create products that are simple and effective, in packaging that leaves as few traces on the environment as possible.

What I bought…

Part of what attracted me to Typology was the sets they curate for specific skincare concerns. It seems the set that I bought has changed since I made my purchase last fall, so I can’t link to it, but I’ve broken down a list of the products I bought below, as well as the cost of each one, and my thoughts on how they worked for me. At the time that I made my purchase I was really struggling with acne, which has been an ongoing concern for me since I stopped birth control last year. It’s improved a bit, but I think that’s because of colder temperatures more than any of the skincare products I’ve been using.

7-Ingredient Cleansing Oil – 100 ml – 13€50
This cleansing oil works as well as any other that I’ve ever used, which is to say that results are mixed. I find I still need to double cleanse and tone to get all of my (pretty minimal) make-up off at the end of the day, so if you want a high powdered make-up removing oil, this isn’t it. But the formula is lovely, luxurious and feels great on the skin, unlike many other make-up removers. It’s been a nice addition to my make-up removal routine.

7-Ingredient Micellar Water – 200 ml – 10€50
I’d never really found micellar water added much to my skincare routine, until this one came along. I am obsessed. Now that it’s in my life, I can’t imagine not using it morning and night. It’s super gentle on my skin, but I can clearly see all the impurities it’s removing from my skin. While I love the luxury in my skincare routine, I’ll sacrifice it for results every time – and for me, this stuff really works.

Purifying Cleansing Bar with Nettle – 100 g – 9€80
Before Typology, I never considered a cleansing bar for washing my face. After Typology, I know exactly why a cleansing bar isn’t practical. Using a cleanser in bar form is messy. I needed to get a special container to keep this in, separate from the other bars of soap we use. The formula smells and feels lovely, but as a cleanser I didn’t find it especially effective. And to make matters worse, the natural formula doesn’t hold together very well, so I find myself denting the bar regularly just by touching it. Definitely don’t recommend this unless you already wash with a cleansing bar and love it.

Peppermint Hydrolate – 100 ml – 8€50
As a teenager, I couldn’t live without Bonne Bell’s 10/06 toner. This is not its equivalent by any means – and I still miss the original. But if you are looking for a product to remove extra impurities from your skin and tighten your pores after cleansing, this works well, particularly considering the price point.

Purifying Moisturizer – 50 ml – 19€50
What a disappointment. My hopes for this moisturiser were so high, and they were dashed on the first use. Problem number one, for me, was that the formula caused a stinging sensation on my skin if I used it right after a shower. Problem number two was despite that intense feeling on my skin, I got almost no moisture benefit! I’ve been using this moisturizer in tandem with another from Caudalie to keep my skin hydrated. On its own, it just wasn’t enough.

Purifying Night Serum – 15 ml – 21€50
This is a nice addition to a skincare routine, but doesn’t pack the power I want in a serum. It feels more like a botanical oil and, from what I can tell, is about as effective. It smells lovely, feels lovely and adds some moisture, but I didn’t notice any other positive effects from using it. I’m back to my regular serum now, but do use this as a moisturising oil. For that purpose, it works well.

Charcoal Purifying Mask – Discontinued
I’ve never been a huge fan of charcoal masks. They’re messy. I don’t want the additional fuss. But these were truly a nightmare, and I understand why they’re no longer available. The mask is in powder format in a metal container to which you add water. You close, shake and, when you reopen the container, you find a gooey, chunky black mess that is your mask. While my skin felt brighter and smoother after using it, the formula looked awful, was hard to work with and worst of all, was wasteful. The product isn’t reusable – once you’ve added water, you have to use it all or throw it away. But each container held enough for four masks! Reformulated and repackaged, this could be a great product. It’s original iteration, however, was pretty awful.

Overall Impressions

There is a lot to love about what Typology. is trying to do as a beauty brand. But for me, the experience with their products was too uneven for me to be able to say I think they’re succeeding just yet. While they make some products that I love and will buy again, I will be slower to try new products now, knowing that I’ve liked, or gotten consistent results from, only about half of the ones I’ve tried so far.

With that said, I’m excited to see how Typology. evolves and expands their range of products as time goes on.