Excited about Bakel skincare

I'd seen Bakel in SpaceNK and been intrigued by the line, so when I was invited to a presentation by the founder of the brand, Dr Raffaella Gregoris, I was keen to attend.

The idea behind Bakel seems so intrinsically right to me that I wonder how no-one has ever tried to do it before. Each formula contains only 100% active ingredients that are able to bring realistic, clinically proven, benefits to the skin. There are no silicones, parabens, mineral oil, fragrance, colourants or emulsifiers, and no outlandish ingredients (there are no space rocks, crushed gems, precious metals or unicorn horn in these products). My skin tends to react to a lot of the filler ingredients in skincare; mineral oil, some silicones, colourants, fragrances and waxes (plant or otherwise) can all rile it up, so it makes perfect sense to me to opt for formulas that don't contain those things.

I imagine that the reason it hasn't been done before is that although it sounds simple, in practice formulating a product with only active ingredients is complicated; it took 10 years from the initial conception of the idea in 1998 to it reaching the consumer market in 2008, due partially to Dr Gregoris' insistence on the most stringent independent testing of the safety and efficacy of each formulation.

There are 6 formulas in the main range, which each target a different facet of skin health:

Jaluronic - hydrating, for skin lacking water
Lactobionic - anti-oxidant
Collagen - firming
Q10 - B5 - desensitising
Vit E-A - nutritive, for skin lacking oil
Malic - lightening

Each formula can be used on its own, or in a routine in combination with other formulations. There's also a P-Lipic rebuilding formula, which repairs compromised skin, and can also be used after the application of the core formulas. They cost £85 - £90 for 30ml in the core range, and £90ml for 50ml of the P-Lipic. That's just about in my acceptable price range for high-performance skincare; my personal cut off point is £100. (If a product costs more than that, it'd better turn me into Vanessa Paradis' double and come with a free Johnny Depp as a bonus.) Dr Gregoris emphasised that she has insisted on the best quality raw ingredients to formulate the Bakel line. Compared to similarly priced ranges that don't contain 100% active ingredients, if this range delivers what it promises, I would purchase the products.

Dr Gregoris explained that the formulas are designed to be used instead of face, neck and eye creams, not underneath them, which makes the prices a bit easier to accept. Although the formulations are fluid, these aren't serums that need to be supplemented with an emulsion or cream. The same formula can also be used on the eye area as the rest of the face, as the formulas already exclude ingredients that traditional skincare brands have to avoid in eye care. The only formula that can't be used in the eye area is the Malic formulation, due to the AHA content.

On the Bakel website, there is a simple oil followed by cleansing water cleansing regime in the line, although these products aren't in my local Space NK (I'd presume they're coming soon.) There isn't a sunscreen in the line yet, although Dr Gregoris is working on it. I was given a full size of the Q10-B5 formula to use (Dr Gregoris identified that my skin is prone to flushing, and thought this would be the most appropriate single formula for me) and samples of the rest of the range. I'm going to use only these with my usual double cleansing routine (balm followed by wash off cleanser) and a sunscreen, and will report back in a few weeks time with a full review of how my skin does with the regime.

Bakel is currently sold at Harvey Nichols and SpaceNKs in the UK and US. If you're interested in finding out more about the line and the specific formulations, the website at www.bakel.it is excellent, and lists other stockists worldwide.

Disclosure: product mentioned was provided without charge for consideration for review, as part of presentation.