In principle, I dislike the term “unisex” when it comes to much of beauty. It’s sometimes relevant, but for the most part the gendering of fragrance and its packaging by marketeers is an acquired mindset based on Victorian stereotypes. And when it comes to skincare, it is a simple nonsense. Human skin is human skin, even if that of young men is more likely to be oily, that of menopausal women usually subject to other hormone-related symptoms.
The new overtly inclusive skincare brands shouldn’t need to declare what is common sense, but there is a growing audience for them.
Actor Idris Elba shared his wife Sabrina’s skincare during lockdown, and wondered how they’d ever been convinced they needed separate regimes. S’able Labs is their response, and I admire the thought that’s so clearly gone into the tightly edited lineup. There’s cleanser (£28), a good, glow-imparting exfoliating toner (£35) and a beautiful baobab moisturiser (£50), containing soothing niacinamide and other fairly traded ingredients like shea butter which, it should be said, is generally more successful on drier types. Packaged in matte grey, S’able Labs is simple but practical, smart and almost 100% recyclable.
The tobacco-coloured glass and retro typesetting of Soho House’s new Soho Skin hits the sweet spot between function and luxury (this is skincare for the person who keeps a bottle of Aesop handwash at the kitchen sink). The star of Soho Skin is the 24/7 Treatment, an instant skin booster containing my own non-negotiables like glycerine, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and squalane, as well as high-quality exfoliating acids (lactic and mandelic).
This very pleasantly moist, lightweight and soothing serum instantly woke up my skin with zero irritation, so if your eyes are still watering from the price (£72), its contents should help see them right. But where both of these otherwise-very-good ranges stumble, is at the first hurdle – cleansing. Because for better or worse – and putting cool Harry Styles types aside – cleansing is not gender neutral.
Overwhelmingly, women are still the makeup wearers while the most men have to wash off is oil, sweat and sunscreen. A man is likely to find both S’able Labs granular wash and Soho Skin’s very lovely – albeit misleadingly named – Cream Cleanser (it’s actually a face wash at £55 for a whopping 200ml) perfectly satisfying, but any woman looking to shift foundation may be left with an airing cupboard full of stained towels.
