Own Firming Silk Concentrate

Conjugated linoleic acid in skincare? What the heck? It's good stuff, and I'm surprised that Own is the first brand to highlight the ingredient in its line of skin care products. Sure, Cellex-C included borage oil in an eye cream, which contains essential fatty acids including CLA, but Own products include the concentrated stuff.

You might have heard about CLA in weight loss supplements such as Tonalin (R). It's an omega 6 essential fatty acid found in dairy products, beef and plant oils such as sunflower, safflower, evening primrose and borage. Fatty acids are necessary for skin's health and appearance, doing kinds of great things like helping to reduce water loss from the skin and generally strengthening skin's barrier. And if you're not sure what all this skin barrier business is about, think about that fabulous glycolic peel that left you with shiny, sensitive, hot pink skin immediately afterward, or red, irritated wind-burned cheeks after ice skating. That's a compromised skin barrier. So it follows that if you strengthen the barrier, your skin is less likely to be reactive. My sisters with sensitive skin - are you paying attention? We need us some essential fatty acids.

And before you ask the scientific question of whether applying CLA topically does anything at all, it's been proven that essential fatty acids can be absorbed topically as well as internally from your diet. Score.

This particular product is meant as a gentle anti-aging serum and contains only four ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Coco-Caprylate, Conjugated Linoleic Acid, and Tocopherol. Shorter ingredient list = better for those with sensitive skin. Though it keeps things simple, the product has glowing (ha!) reviews on the Own Products website and Amazon.com. 

I've used it for only a week thus far, so I might just be crazy, but my skin is looking smoother and less red. One huge benefit, in my opinion: it hasn't broken me out, which is always a risk when using products with coconut-derived ingredients like caprylic/capric triglyceride and coco-caprylate.*

*If you're acne-prone and also worry about these ingredients, you can test whether caprylic/capric triglyceride breaks you out by using CapriClear, which is the concentrated ingredient a.k.a. fractionated coconut oil. Keep in mind that this is the ingredient at 100%; even if CapriClear breaks you out, that doesn't mean that another product with a lower concentration of caprylic/capric triglyceride will do the same. As always, your mileage may vary, but it's always helpful to identify ingredients that may be problematic to you. Because you read ingredient labels and stay away from the nasty stuff, right? Of course you do!