Senté

Senté is a small American clinical brand built around one molecule, Heparan Sulfate Analog, shortened to HSA on the packaging.

Heparan sulfate is a sugar molecule that occurs naturally in skin and is involved in how skin holds water and repairs itself. The analog is Senté's version of it, designed to be stable and usable in a cream. Every product in the range is built around that rather than around acids or retinoids.

That makes Senté unusual on this part of the site. It is clinical strength but it is not an active in the way a retinoid is, so it tends to sit alongside other treatments rather than replacing them.

Skin that is easily upset. Reactive, red, tight, or struggling after treatment, and anyone whose barrier has been worn down by too many actives.

It is also worth knowing if you have tried clinical brands before and found them too much. Senté gives you a route into that part of the market without starting on a retinoid.

If your skin is persistently red or flaring rather than occasionally sensitive, get that looked at by a GP or dermatologist alongside whatever you buy. Rosacea and dermatitis need treating, and no cream is a substitute for that.

The product the brand is best known for and the one to buy if you are only buying one. A rich moisturiser built on HSA, aimed at skin that is dry, sensitive or recovering.

It comes in a 50ml jar and a 15ml, which is a sensible way to find out whether it suits you before committing to the full size.

Hydrate+ Serum is the lighter option underneath it if you want the same idea without a rich cream, or if your skin is dehydrated rather than dry.

There are two, Light to Medium and Medium to Dark. Both are tinted mineral sunscreens, so pick the one closest to your skin and expect it to blend rather than match exactly the way foundation would.

A tinted mineral SPF is genuinely useful if you are working on pigmentation, because the tint blocks visible light as well as UV, and visible light is part of what drives melasma and dark marks.

Use more than feels natural. Tinted sunscreens get under-applied because people treat them like makeup.

Yes, and that is largely the point of it. Senté is not competing for the same slot in your routine, so it pairs well with a retinoid from another brand.

Use Dermal Repair Cream as the moisturiser over the top of whatever you are treating with, or Hydrate+ Serum underneath. Plenty of people use it specifically to make a retinoid tolerable.

There is nothing in the range that needs to be kept apart from anything else, which is unusual for a clinical brand and makes it easy to add to a routine you already like.

Dermal Repair Cream, and nothing else until you know how you get on with it. The 15ml is the sensible first purchase.

After that, Daily Soothing Cleanser if your current cleanser leaves skin tight, Hydrate+ Serum if you want more hydration underneath, and an Even Tone SPF if you are treating pigmentation or redness and want the tint.

It is a small range on purpose. Four products is the whole routine.