What’s actually in it — and who says so?

There is no retinol and no added fragrance in it. Those are the two things most often left out of a gentle formula, and we left them out first. As with anything new, try a little on your inner arm before you put it on your face. If your skin is not happy with it, stop using it.

We publish every review word for word, and some customers have told us their marks, breakouts or redness improved. We are glad. We are also not turning their experience into a promise. Svaya has run no clinical trial on any of that, so we will not claim it. If that is your main reason for buying, speak to a GP or dermatologist first. They will give you a better answer than a serum bottle can.

Because it does the job of five bottles, and we would rather charge once than sell you a range. Seven actives at printed amounts cost more to make than one active in a big bottle. Add up what is already on your shelf and this is the cheaper shelf.

One pump, once or twice a day, gets most people through about eight weeks. That is long enough to see whether it works for you twice over.

It is not a weaker retinol. It is a different plant-based molecule that gets to a similar place by a gentler route. In a twelve-week double-blind trial of 44 people it matched retinol for reducing the look of wrinkles and pigmentation, with far fewer reports of irritation.

Then you will know in two weeks rather than two months, and you will not have spent a whole bottle finding out slowly. That is why we publish the timeline instead of a vague promise: day one softer, week two visible glow, weeks three to four dark spots fading. If your fortnight looks nothing like that, it is not working for your skin and you should stop rather than push on out of hope.

Sunscreen, always. Nothing replaces it, and without it you undo the pigment work every school run. Moisturiser depends on your skin. The hyaluronic acid and ceramides handle hydration and barrier for most people, so try it on its own for a fortnight before you add anything back. Fewer steps is the point.

We made this for skin in its thirties, forties and fifties. A teenager does not need seven actives, and it will not do much for what she is dealing with. We would rather say that than sell you a second bottle.

The fair version of this question is whether they interfere with each other. These seven were chosen to work at the same pH and not compete: bakuchiol and peptides on lines, niacinamide and vitamin C on tone, hyaluronic acid and ceramides on barrier, vitamin E protecting the rest. Concentrations are printed on the page — no proprietary blend hiding the amounts.