Even with the heat of summer, it’s still important to remember to keep skin moisturised and protected. As always, at The Amazing Blog, our mission is to find the more unusual and innovative serums that have ideally organic and vegan formulas. Founder's Formula is one of those brands that ticks those boxes. Regular readers will be familiar with this brand (which we’ve previously reviewed here), this time it’s with their Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum, that’s full of potent vitamin C and waratah extract that enhances its antioxidant activity.
In February 2021, Founder’s Formula was officially launched by anthropologist Dr. Annie Holden; however, the story begins much earlier. Three years before the launch, Annie took a trip to Bologna, Italy, to attend the world’s biggest international beauty fair, Cosmoprof. There, she made an astonishing realisation. There were no beauty products containing Australian botanicals. With this in mind, she went back home to Australia with a burst of inspiration and an idea in mind. Annie began her research on Australian botanicals to find a way to incorporate them into daily skincare. As an anthropologist, Dr. Holden spent 35 years working with indigenous peoples in the most remote places of Australia. Having sensitive skin herself, she built a lab where she tested gentle formulas with wild-harvested and organic ingredients. Australia has a very extreme and harsh climate. This has made for unique and exotic plants, with Australia hosting 70% of the world’s most unique plant species. Australian plants have evolved, powerful adaptation mechanisms to store vast quantities of Phyto-compounds needed to survive the Australian climate. There are about 23,000 known species in Australia, but only 1,000 are studied. Dr. Holden was more than excited to have these unique plant-based ingredients to create a new and innovative range of products for her skincare line. Annie explains how she creates her products "I start with an Australian Botanical with proven benefits, then I consider the most suitable application for that ingredient and with Toni, my chemist, we build a formula around it." By working with leading chemists and research from Australia’s leading 5-Star Plant Sciences universities, the company created a range of skincare products that target four things in the formulation: hydration, anti-inflammation, depigmentation, and pro ageing. Dr. Holden mentions that even though she’d love to include fragrances and essential oils in her products, she’d rather keep the formulas as natural and straightforward as possible adding that “kind skincare has little or no smell.” The brand is certified by Certclean and meets the Australian Certified Organic Standard. The brand is proud to be manufactured in Australia and is cruelty-free, toxin-free, and vegan. It has won 14 international beauty awards since its launch.
Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum hydrates and promotes dewy skin. This product is a recent Winner at The Global Makeup Awards 2022 for both Best 50+ anti-ageing product’ and ‘Best Innovative Beauty Product’. With the blend of Australian botanical extracts, it’s clear why this is an award winner. The ingredients are organic and natural and help to reduce uneven skin tone, promote collagen production and create a more dewy skin. There is organic aloe, propanediol, wild-harvested kakadu plum, finger lime caviar, waratah, organic natural glycerin, water, sodium levulinate, sodium anisate, and sodium hyaluronate.
Let’s look at the three hero native Australian ingredients starting with the kakadu plum. It’s a fruit known for its source of vitamin C and is thought to be the richest source of vitamin C of any known plant! It contains high levels of phytonutrients and bioflavonoids that enhance the formula's efficiency and may assist in transporting vitamin C. Plus, its insoluble fibre helps stabilise vitamin C and makes it easier for the skin to tolerate ascorbic acid. Vitamin C improves skin luminosity and pigmentation by inhibiting the enzyme tyrosinase, which helps prevent melanin production and reduce skin issues caused by UV exposure, such as redness and sun damage.
The waratah extract found in the serum intensifies the antioxidant activity. The extract itself has powerful antioxidants that reduce cell death and injury, which are a significant cause of ageing and helps build collagen and elastin, which keeps skin firm and plump.
The third ingredient is the finger lime caviar extract which is high in ferulic acid, which helps stabilise the vitamin C in the serum, which is why this product is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin. Not only that, but the plant is said to help fight fine lines, hyperpigmentation, acne, and dry skin.
Other ingredients here are organic aloe vera made up of 80% water, together with vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and more unusually, vitamin B12. It soothes and moisturises, and also fights skin ageing and pigmentation. Propanediol is derived from corn acts as a humectant and emollient and helps reduce moisture loss. Organic natural glycerin is extracted from vegetable oils and has anti-bacterial qualities, adds a silky smooth texture, is suitable for skin sensitivity and improves the barrier function. Sodium levulinate is a natural preservative obtained from starch and vegetal inulin. Sodium anisate is from fennel, it’s antimicrobial and when paired with sodium levulinate, the two ingredients work in tandem to make a very efficient preservative controlling microorganism colonies, without altering the integrity of the formula. Finally, sodium hyaluronate attracts moisture in skin cells and due to its low molecular weight can provide a more significant hydrating effect than hyaluronic acid.
Like the other serums in the range, this has a stylish, clear glass bottle and dropper for application. It is fragrance-free, vegan and not tested on animals. It’s also certified organic, spray-free and has wild-harvested ingredients. It’s a serum that can be ‘layered’ or paired with others like the Phyto-A+ Australian Native Tobacco Serum particularly if you have sun-damaged and pigmented skin like us. Did you know that approximately 1 in 50 people are sensitive to vitamin C in skincare? What we like about this Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum, is that it’s packed full of natural vitamin C, which is less irritating than the synthetic forms of vitamin C found in other serums. We’re always nervous when using skincare high in vitamin C due to having had adverse reactions and redness. However, we found this extremely gentle and hydrating on our sensitive skin. As Annie states, “The skin will only absorb as much vitamin C as it needs.,” and went on to say, “if your skin is dull and dry, or your nutrition is poor, and you are concerned that your skin needs higher amounts of vitamin C. We recommend you use your vitamin C serum on clean skin twice a day. A little applied more often is better than a high % applied only once.” They also have clinical studies on this Wild Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum, where they measured the skin luminosity with its 'Gloss value'. The average improvement in gloss value with 20 volunteers, the average age of 37, was 17%. On the best volunteer, Kakadu Plum Extract was shown to induce skin luminosity up to 21% after 15 days and up to 30% after 30 days.
In the heat, we’ve been using this serum and an SPF and found that no extra moisturiser is needed. As you can probably tell, we’re smitten with Founder’s Formula. They’re extremely innovative with their use of these extraordinary native botanicals. Not only that, we love that they’re all natural formulations and have clinical trials and science to back them up. Curious to try? Then see here for the 30ml Wild-Harvested Kakadu Plum Vitamin C Serum at $120 AUD.