The beauty world loves a buzzword, but not every trend deserves the hype. This month, we’re taking a closer look at the skincare topics that actually matter, from what botanicals really do in formulations to why dehydrated skin isn’t the same thing as dry skin.
We’re also diving into skin protectants, barrier-supporting ingredients, and the surprisingly good value of redeemable beauty treatments available at major retailers.
Along the way, we’re spotlighting Australian brands working with Indigenous botanicals, sharing our favourite products for dehydrated skin, and rounding up the beauty launches, reviews and industry conversations that caught our attention this month.
Whether you’re trying to better understand your skin, build a more effective routine, or simply stay across what’s happening in Australian beauty, here’s everything we’re talking about in May.
🌿 Botanicals Do Much More Than Smell Nice
Read: Meet The Conscious Australian Beauty Brands Celebrating Hard-Working Botanicals
Botanicals can be dismissed as “ultra natural” or non-potent, when in reality many of the most researched skincare ingredients are plant-derived.
Chances are, you already love a few planty-picks without even realising.
Let’s jump in!
What Does “Botanical” Mean in Skincare?
A botanical is simply an ingredient that comes from a plant. That’s the whole definition. Short and sweet, right?
For a deep dive, we’ve chatted with our go-to ingredient pro Saul Pyle, founder and cosmetic scientist at Sydney-based cosmetic lab, skinterest, all about botanicals.
He shared “Botanical ingredients are a very broad category, they essentially describe any ingredient derived from plants (eg herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, leaves, or seeds).
This contrasts with ingredients derived from petroleum, minerals, animals or synthetics which may still utilize a botanical ingredient in their creation, adding significant grey area.”
So, What Do Botanicals Actually Do For The Skin?
Saul continues “Because the category is so broad, it’s hard to describe how they contribute to performance and consumer experience. We can break botanical ingredients down into subcategories based on their different functions”.
So the short: botanicals can do almost anything because there are so many of them in many different ingredient subcategories. Yes we asked for examples.
Image: Examples of botanicals in an ingredients list. Featuring the Fermented Kakadu C Brightening Serum from Alkylo Organics
Saul explained some act as thickeners, helping give products their texture and consistency, such as guar gum and tara gum.
Others work as humectants, attracting and holding water in the skin, including ingredients like aloe vera and certain seaweed extracts.
Emollients such as macadamia oil help soften and smooth the skin, while extracts like chamomile and Kakadu plum are often included for their soothing or antioxidant properties.
Botanicals can also function as exfoliants, with ingredients like almond shell and bamboo powder helping to remove dead skin cells.
Some botanicals contain naturally occurring phytoactives (more on this in a future edition), like bioactive plant compounds such as tocopherol and bisabolol, that contribute specific skincare benefits.
And yes, some can function as preservatives (such as phenethyl alcohol) to help keep formulations stable and safe to use over time.
🐢 Our Highlight on Indigenous Botanicals And Desert Tomato
Read: My Honest Thoughts on Thirsty Turtl’s Skincare Range
The Desert Glow Brightening Gel-Crème is a bouncy gel-creme that smells faintly tomato-esque in the very expensive scent way.
The formula combines 5% niacinamide alongside antioxidant-rich Indigenous botanicals, including desert tomato (also known as bush tomato) and prickly pear.
We love how Thirsty Turtl celebrates Australian-grown ingredients while partnering with Indigenous growers and suppliers who utilise sustainable cultivation practices.
💆 We’re Converted. Redeemable Treatments In-Store Are Worth The Hype
If you thought redeemable beauty treatments were more miss than hit, that was probably true 10 years ago. Can we tempt you to give them another go?
Many of the in-store experiences have had a revamp, and this month Minnie visited the Broadway Adore Beauty store to try a Dermalogica Pro Skin 30 Treatment that was not only performed by a Dermal Therapist, but also fully redeemable on products in store.
Read: Dermalogica Pro Skin 30 Treatment Review: My Experience at The Adore Beauty Store
To get the most out of your experience, here are some tips we’ve learned over the years:
We always, always recommend you book well in advance.
If you’re getting makeup done, bring reference photos or inspo pics (Pinterest is your best friend!) and it’s good practice to make sure the person in the photos has your features and colouring, so there’s no surprises at the end.
Don’t hesitate to share any allergies or preferences. Trust us, they want to know!
If you find a specialist you love, try to book with them consistently for the best results. We’ve rounded up our favourites from the big 3 below, but counters at David Jones and MYER can also have similar offerings depending on location.
Popular Adore Beauty Options
- Clarity / Radiance / Hydration Boost (60mins), $100.00 redeemable.
- The Advanced Treatment (60mins), $100.00 redeemable.
- Dermalogica Pro Skin 30 Treatment (45mins), $100.00 redeemable.
- There’s a whole lot more to pick from, check out everything available at Adore Beauty here.
Popular MECCA Fully Redeemable Options
- Makeup Lesson (90 min), $150.00 redeemable.
- Express Skin Services, $60.00 redeemable.
- Facials, $120.00 redeemable.
- MECCA now offers a variety of flagship store exclusive options, and other services that aren’t redeemable, or are partly redeemable. Check it all out here.
Popular Sephora Australia Options
- Feature Focus (30 min), $60.00 redeemable.
- Full Face Makeup (60 min), $115.00 redeemable.
- Ultimate Glam, $140.00 redeemable.
- You can also get free skin consultations from Sephora.
💧 Dehydrated vs Dry (You’ll Want to Know This With The Recent Cold Snap)
Read: 5 of The Best Serums For Dehydrated Skin
Dry skin and dehydrated skin are skincare terms often used in the same way, but they’re two very different things.
Dry Skin 101
Dry skin is a skin type, meaning your skin naturally produces less oil and sebum.
Dry skin can naturally feel more rough, flaky, tight, or even uncomfortable throughout the year.
Lots of skincare made for dry skin focuses on replenishing the skin’s lipid (fat) barrier using richer feeling creams.
Everyone Can Have Dehydrated skin
Dehydrated skin, on the other hand, is a temporary skin condition caused by a lack of water.
Any skin type can become dehydrated, including oily and acne-prone skin (and yes, you can have dry and dehydrated skin, too).
Signs of dehydration can include tightness after cleansing, overall dullness, increased visibility of fine lines (that go away after hydration), or skin that feels both oily and dry at the same time.
Read: Is Your Skin Dry or Dehydrated? And How to Treat It
What Really Helps Dehydrated Skin
If your skin is dehydrated, adding a hydrating serum is only part of the equation (though we have some recommendations for that, too).
Keeping the hydration in the skin is just as important as replenishing.
Our 3 Tips to Save Your Skin This Winter:
- Apply products to slightly damp skin. This helps lock in moisture to stop the air sucking out your hydration. Yes it’s a real thing! Read more about TEWL here.
- Don’t skip moisturiser, even if you’re oily. Hydrating serums add to the skin, yes, but moisturisers help slow water loss. You still need to lock everything in.
- Avoid over-cleansing. Using a cleanser that’s too harsh can strip away the skin’s natural oils and compromise the skin barrier. It’s one of the biggest culprits for dehydrated skin, especially in winter.
Some of Our Favourite Serums For Dehydrated Skin
- Biobod Replenishing Hydra-Soothe Serum, $65.00
- SVR B3 Hydra Ampoule, $62.00
- Avène Hydrance Boost Serum, $69.99
- Boring Without You Make Me Wet™ Hydrating Milk Serum, $44.95
- Alpha-H Hyaluronic 8 Super Serum, $84.95
🛡️ All About Skin Protectants (You’re Probably Already Using Some)
We’ve been chatting all about barrier supporting ingredients, but what about skin protectants?
They’re a specific category of ingredients and officially defined by the FDA.
A skin protectant is a product that “temporarily protects injured or exposed skin from harmful or annoying stimuli, and may help provide relief.”
The official list is longer (and stranger) than most people expect:
Read: What Are Skin Protectants? The Overlooked Ingredients Behind Barrier Repair
Often these ingredients work by forming a protective layer on the skin’s surface and slowing down moisture loss, though some provide quick relief from itching and irritation, too.
Our Top Skin Protectant Product Picks:
- Lanolin: Biobod Probiotic Salvation Balm, $55.00
- Glycerin: BORING WITHOUT YOU Make Me Wet™ AQUAPORIN Hydrating Milk Serum, $44.99
- Petrolatum: CeraVe Advanced Repair Balm, $18.99
- Colloidal oatmeal: DermaVeen Shower and Bath Oil, $19.99
- Cocoa butter: Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Body Lotion, $15.00
- Zinc oxide: Avène Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream, $24.99
💄 Merit Must Haves And Misses
Read: Merit Beauty Review: Honest Ratings of Every Product I’ve Tried
If you’ve been eyeing Merit Beauty since shipping opened to Australia but have held off until more Aussie reviews rolled in, Praise has some good (and meh) news for you.
Praise’s Top 3 Merit Picks:
- The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick
- Day Glow Highlighting Balm
- Signature Lipstick in Millennial
🩹 Pimple patches just hit the AFW runway
Read: It’s Official: Pimple Patches Are Fashion Accessories (And We’re Not Mad About It)
Models wore the Skin Control Pimple Patch Flower Power patches hair-to-toe at Australian Fashion Week during the Jordan Gogos show, and we’re thrilled the pimple patch taboo is finally going away.
Patch-wearing in public reflects the reality that we need to care for spots during the daylight hours too, and though it doesn’t need to be bright purple and bedazzled, it’s cool it can be.
What a month! The cold snap gave a few of us whiplash, and we have our second community article underway on “the skincare that sparks joy”, Marie Kondo style.
How did you find the ingredient deep dive in this edition? Any topics you’re keen we cover?
Let us know. We’re all ears.
WRS Team x
Check out last month: Read April 2026 here: Save Your Skin Barrier With Sunscreen, Are LED Masks Actually Worth It, And Body Care Tips Without The Taboo
This Month’s Giveaway Winner of The $100 VAMS Beauty Gift Card: 🎉 Jade. I 🎉 Congratulations! We’ve sent you an email.
Check out: Award-Winning Australian Beauty & Wellness Brands at VAMS Beauty. Every month we giveaway a $100 VAMS Beauty gift card to someone on our email list.
Related Reading
- Best Serums For Dehydrated Skin in Australia To Shop Now
- What Are Skin Protectants? The Overlooked Ingredients Behind Barrier Repair
- Meet The Conscious Australian Beauty Brands Celebrating Hard-Working Botanicals
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