CORTEX — Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Toner
Three actives. Twelve ingredients in all.
Not sure it's right for your skin? Four questions — Daddy will tell you.
Glycolic acid, cranberry, lingonberry. Strips away the dull layer weekly — skin comes back smoother, not raw. Flesh, resurfaced.
The outermost layer of skin is mostly done. Cells that have finished their work and haven't left, sitting on the surface, scattering light and holding old marks in place. CORTEX takes the layer off a few nights a week and lets what's underneath show.
Five percent glycolic acid — the smallest AHA, the one that gets furthest — dissolves the build-up so it lifts rather than scrubs. Betaine and sodium PCA keep the skin hydrated while it works; organic cranberry and lingonberry cover the antioxidant side. It's a liquid, not a peel: a few passes on a cotton pad, no rinsing, no tingling theatre. The effect is cumulative — smoother and brighter with every use, tone more even, dark spots fading rather than fought.
Twice a week. Sunscreen after. That's the deal.
What it does
- Exfoliates and removes skin build-up
- Promotes the appearance of a more even skin tone
- Skin appears smoother and brighter with every use
- Softens the look of dark spots
What is in it
- Betaine
Sugar-beet humectant. Draws in moisture and takes the edge off surfactants, which is why a wash built on it rinses without that tight, squeaky finish.
- Sodium PCA
Part of skin's own natural moisturising factor. Replaces what washing takes out, and keeps the hydration from evaporating off again.
- Lingonberry extract
Organic Nordic berry, antioxidant-rich. Sits with black currant and elderberry in the base doing environmental-defence work.
- Glycolic acid
5% glycolic acid. The smallest AHA molecule, which is why it exfoliates faster and deeper than the rest of the acid family — CORTEX's entire reason for existing.
- Cranberry
Organic cranberry fruit extract. Antioxidant, included to calm what the acid in the same formula is busy exfoliating.
How to use
Evening, two or three times a week, on clean dry skin. Sweep over face and neck with a cotton pad, avoiding the eye area. No rinsing. Follow with SURGE or PREBIOTIC ONE, then SOMNUS. Start once a week if skin is new to acids. Not on the same night as ACIES or BAKUCHI — alternate. Sunscreen the following day, every time: SHIELD, or the mineral SPF30.
Glycolic is the smallest AHA, which means it gets furthest, which means it deserves respect. A few nights a week, not every night, and sunscreen in the morning. Treat it like a power tool.
