The Environ Step Up System: How it works

The Environ Step Up System: How it worksThe Step Up system is Environ’s way of introducing your skin to vitamin A effectively, to avoid overloading your skin, and keep it looking healthy, youthful and radiant. Here we explain how it works.

Why vitamin A is so good for your skin

Vitamin A is the hero ingredient for the skin and the cornerstone ingredient of Environ Skincare. Think of it like oxygen for the body the skin needs Vitamin A to be healthy. But why is it so good for you?

It’s an essential nutrient for healthy skin, but it hangs in a delicate balance. Factors like sun damage can degrade the vitamin A in your skin relatively easily, leaving the cells sluggish. In turn you may start to see signs of ageing creeping in, the skin may be dull and you may start to see uneven skin tone and uneven texture.  Scientifically speaking, it’s the only known element that combats the signs of ageing.

Environ founder Dr Des Fernandez says “Aging skin is a direct result of sun-induced vitamin A deficiency. Correct the deficiency and you’ll have more radiant-looking skin.”

It’s proven that sufficient vitamin A:

• Supports the skin’s natural moisturisers, giving it radiance
• Strengthens the skin’s outer layer, keeping it firm
• Stimulates the production of proteins, such as collagen and elastin, ensuring your skin looks healthy
• Supports the skin’s immune system, helping to prevent breakouts

What the Step Up system is

Environ’s core products, Skin Essentia, are a series of products with increasing amounts of vitamin A, as well as other vitamins and antioxidants. This is the Step Up system. 

The products make it easy to progress through higher and higher levels and give your skin time to get used to the extra vitamins and active ingredients. This takes the hard work out of buying vitamin A products, as it can be difficult to know what level of active ingredients you should be using on your skin.

How it works:

• The first step is the AVST 1 moisturiser, which contains the lowest amount of active ingredients. Use 1-2 bottles or until your skin feels comfortable with the level of vitamin A.
• Then, move on to AVST 2, which contains a higher amount of active ingredients. Use 1-2 bottles until your skin feels happy.
• Continue this process until you reach AVST 4 where we recommend 3-4 bottles before progressing to AVST 5
• Your skin should become smoother, more youthful and radiant. At the highest level, your skin should look and feel the most beautiful it’s ever looked.

The advanced steps

The Step Up system doesn’t end there however. You can continue to improve and support your skin as its needs change throughout your life, even after you’ve reached AVST 5.

There are several different routes that you can take, depending on your age and your skin’s condition.

Maintaining your skin

If you’re in 20s and happy with your skin, then your skincare should be about maintaining that youthful glow. We’d recommend continuing to use AVST 5 until you notice changes in your skin.

Supporting your skin

If you’re in your early 30s or later, then you’re at the stage where your skin is naturally slowing down. We can make sure the skin is supported by progressing you further up the Step Up system.

We’d recommend continuing the use of AVST 5 but cocktailing it with Cquence 1. Two pumps of each gives you an extra dose of vitamin A, C, peptides for more repair. As with the AVST moisturisers, once you’ve used 1-2 bottles of Cquence 1, you can then move onto a higher dose with Cquence 2.

Once you’ve climbed to the top of the AVST and Cquence cocktail, you then have the option of using retinol alongside it as well.

Improving your skin

If you’d like to see more improvement in your skin, perhaps with:

• sun damage
• fine lines
• scarring
• pigmentation
• texture

Then we’d recommend cocktailing AVST 5 with Retinol 1. An extremely active form of Vitamin A,  retinol helps to improve stubborn skin conditions. There are three levels of Environ’s Retinol product, and you then cocktail Cquence on top of that as well.

Why you need a skin consultation

A skin consultation ensures that you’re using the best products for your skin’s needs, and that you’re not going to overload your skin with new active ingredients.

Vitamin A needs to be introduced slowly, otherwise you’ll have what is known as a “retinoid response”. Vitamin A essentially helps your skin cells turn over more quickly, so if you use too high a dose too quickly, then your skin may become irritated, dry and begin peeling.

If you’re at the higher levels of the Step Up system, there are many options for you to take, depending on what you want to achieve with your skin, so it’s important to have guidance on which route is the best for you.

How to get a skin consultation

Here at The Skin Gym, an in-depth consultation with Katherine Taylor is necessary before you can purchase any products. You can get 10% off your first product order when you complete your consultation.

Read more detail about skin consultations from The Skin Gym.