Epionce

An American clinical brand founded by a dermatologist, and the one on this part of the site that takes the most different approach.

Most clinical skincare works by pushing the skin, with retinoids, acids and high strength vitamin C. Epionce works the other way round, on calming inflammation and rebuilding the barrier, using botanical ingredients rather than the usual actives.

That makes it a genuine option for people who have tried clinical brands and found their skin could not take them.

It is deliberate. The brand's position is that a lot of visible ageing is driven by low level inflammation and a barrier that is not working properly, so it treats those directly instead of adding a retinoid on top.

Being straight about the trade-off: retinoids have more published evidence behind them than any other topical ingredient, and nothing here replaces that. If your skin tolerates a retinoid, using one is still the single most effective thing you can do.

Where Epionce earns its place is with skin that cannot tolerate one, skin that is already irritated from trying, and anyone who wants results without the peeling and adjustment period. It also sits happily underneath a retinoid from another brand if you want both.

Lytic Tx is the brand's main treatment for congestion, blemishes and uneven texture. Lite Lytic Tx is the same idea in a gentler version.

• Lite Lytic Tx if your skin is dry, sensitive or new to the brand
• Lytic Tx if your skin is oilier, congested, or you have used the Lite and want more

Start every other night rather than nightly either way, and give it a month before increasing. Buying the stronger one first is the usual way people decide a range does not suit them when it would have.

There are five and they line up with skin type rather than with the rest of the range.

• Milky Lotion Cleanser for dry and sensitive skin
• Gentle Foaming Cleanser for normal skin that wants a foam
• Lytic Gel Cleanser for combination and congested skin
• Purifying Wash for oily and breakout prone skin

The toners follow the same logic, Balancing Toner for drier skin and Purifying Toner for oilier. Neither is essential if you already have a routine you like.

The pigmentation side of the range. MelanoLyte Serum and MelanoLyte Tx are aimed at dark marks, melasma and uneven tone.

Pigmentation is the slowest thing in skincare to shift, so expect three to six months rather than weeks, and understand that none of it holds without daily sun protection. Sun exposure will undo the work faster than any product can do it.

Daily Shield Tinted SPF50 is the sensible partner here, since a tint blocks visible light as well as UV and visible light is part of what drives melasma.

Three products, and the brand is designed to be used this way.

• A cleanser from the list above
• A moisturiser. Renewal Lite Facial Lotion for normal to oily, Renewal Facial Lotion for normal to dry, Intensive Nourishing Cream for genuinely dry skin
• Lite Lytic Tx at night, a few nights a week to begin

Add Daily Shield Tinted SPF50 in the morning and that is a full routine. The eye products, masks and Intense Defence Serum come later, if at all.