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Lifestyle | Beauty The Evening Standard's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. I’m fanatical about skin.

Initially, it was because my teenage skin was so riddled with spots and I wanted them to go away, then, handily for my chosen specialities of beauty and wellness journalism, the obsession with helping my own skin fuelled a desire to find out about the very best in skincare. The problem, I quickly discovered, is the relentless noise; so many product launches, so many promised miracles. It’s exhausting.



As such, I tiptoe in carefully, talk to experts, try the products, get a feel for things before I consider writing about them. I’m keenly aware that if I feel like this, with access to insider knowledge, that it must be a minefield for those not in my line of work. Therefore, I would absolutely not be typing this piece if I didn’t believe that there is merit to ectoin, an ingredient that I keep seeing crop up and is increasingly being touted as a must-have by those in the know.

A postbiotic which Science and Innovation Lead for AWvi Giacomo Santus tells me, “was discovered as a product of microorganisms surviving in extreme conditions like desert environments, the non-living substance acts as a protective measure against external conditions.” I thought this made it sound like a lightweight windbreaker for the skin — it does the job of protecting from the elements, but not as int.

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