I've Been Through Three Bottles of This $195 Serum

The Eighth Day Regenerative Serum has a lot of skin-care hype surrounding it. It sold out a whopping five times on the luxury e-retailer Violet Grey, whose founder — Cassandra Grey — told Harper's Bazaar that it makes her skin look younger. 

What is it, you ask? The actives that make up the serum's patented peptide-rich plasma consists of 24 different bioidentical growth factors, peptides, and amino acids that the brand's founder — Antony Nakhla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon based in Orange County, California — identified as being key markers for skin healing in his years of research and practice.

You may know platelet-rich plasma (PRP) because of the vampire facial that's responsible for perhaps one of Kim Kardashian's creepiest selfies: The treatment uses injections of a person's own blood to improve skin texture, reduce fine lines, and wrinkles. PRP can be used to improve everything from hair loss to the appearance of stretch marks. "The platelets contain high levels of growth factors, which, when applied to the skin, stimulate cell turnover," says Beverly Hills-based board-certified dermatologist Ava Shamban, MD. 

While the Regenerative Serum isn't, of course, made from anyone's blood, the synthetic peptides are supposed to have a PRP-esque, soothing effect on the skin.

Makeup artist Nam Vo tells Allure she's a fan of the serum, adding that it helps after her regular microneedling session from facialist Aida Bicaj. Those treatments typically leave her sunburned-looking and red for two days. 

"The first time that I used the serum it was probably less than a day later and I was [already] completely healed, soft, and supple, like baby-dewy dumpling skin…,” Vo says. “I find it to be incredibly healing and I love it." So, yeah: This luxurious healer-in-a-bottle has developed quite the reputation.

What initially turned me on to this much-raved-about $195 per half-ounce serum? For starters, I, like Vo, regularly undergo microneedling and in-office laser treatments. Any time I receive an in-office treatment, it leaves microchannels in the skin for a day or two that make highly healing serums especially absorptive. While in-office, I might opt for PRP, but once I'm home it's always a struggle to determine what the most healing and anti-inflammatory course of topical treatment will be. This is where my love of Eighth Day's chosen ingredients comes in.

• Nam Vo, makeup artist
• Anthony Nakhla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and the medical director of OC Skin Institute in Orange County, California.
• Hadley King, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical instructor of dermatology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City.

I first began by working the serum into my nightly regimen, as I love combining growth factors with retinoids for an ultra-potent boost of skin-rejuvenating goodness. "Growth factors are signaling proteins [that] bind to receptors on cell surfaces to send commands to repair, rejuvenate, and replicate," says New York City board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, MD. 

Dr. King says that when applied topically, growth factors increase cell turnover and promote the increase of structural proteins responsible for fullness and elasticity, collagen and elastin. (Plus, if you are someone who cannot tolerate retinol or retinoids, growth factors are much gentler.)

What I noticed about the serum on the first application is how it seems to absorb so rapidly and deeply into the skin. In fact, I couldn't get over it and sent multiple questions to the brand. This is important because, particularly when it comes to stimulating cells to regenerate components like collagen and elastin, the serum is designed to reach a certain dermal depth for optimal impact on the skin cells' fibroblasts. And what are those? "Fibroblasts are what synthesize structural proteins like collagen and elastin, the abundance of which is what makes youthful skin taut and supple," Dr. King says.

But here comes the interesting part: After making my way through two entire bottles of the serum — typically used in conjunction with a retinaldehyde serum, Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6, or a CBD-retinol serum, Aforé CR Emulsion — within a meticulously chosen, multistep regimen that leaves my skin smooth and happy, I decided to switch things up. I do not usually do this. I try to keep my regimen consistent and test only one new product at a time in order to accurately assess its impact. But in this instance, there was some faint pigmentation on my skin that my medical professional wanted to treat topically.

With a great deal of hesitation, I decided to switch over to a prescription regimen containing harsh-but-effective active ingredients like tretinoin (a retinoid) and hydroquinone (a controversial skin lightener some use to treat hyperpigmentation). While these are products that work for many, the formulations are known for being somewhat abrasive. 

My doctor had warned me ahead of time that my skin would go through an adjustment period and might look bright red, which made me nervous, but I started nonetheless, discontinuing my treasured lineup of hand-picked products. By day three, most of my skin was adjusting well, but my sensitive undereye area was in tatters. Although I had not applied the products on my undereyes, the zone became red and visibly inflamed. It was raw and patchy, as was the skin on my cheekbones. (I showed a photo to my friend and her response was that she would be "freaking out.")

I very well could have slowed down and found a way to adjust, but I was already on the fence about the regimen and I had a wedding to go to that weekend. And because I was eager to get back to my usual regimen of products that had left my skin so happy in the past, I discontinued faster than you can say "melasma."

I couldn't jump right back in because the skin was damaged, but I did start applying Eighth Day along with the most soothing picks from my go-tos: Priya Apotheca Phyto Metamorphosis Creme, a water-soluble CBD moisturizer for daytime, and Anfisa Lilou Radiant Hydra-Balm, an anti-inflammatory botanical green balm at night. Each day, the irritation went down. By the weekend, my undereye was still drier than usual, but the inflammation was gone. In a matter of days, I was completely healed.

And that is the story of how I made it to bottle number three of this pricey, luxurious serum — one that I don't see myself discontinuing anytime soon. Seeing firsthand the way that it helped to rehabilitate my compromised, inflamed skin has made it a serum that I trust. Like Vo, I  now reach for it following in-office treatments to promote expedited healing.

So while this particular serum is costly for the pocketbook, it espouses a technology that is potentially less so for the environment… and in my experience, it's definitely worth it for the skin.

You can shop the Eighth Day Regenerative Serum for $195 at eighthdayskin.com (available in 0.5, 1, and 1.7-ounce bottles) or $325 (one-ounce bottle only) at violetgrey.com.

Learn more about in-office skin-care treatments here:

• What Is Softwave? Everything You Need to Know About This Skin-Tightening Device
• 7 In-Office Injectables to Try If You're Not a Fan of Injectables
• The Complete Guide to Laser Treatments for Hair and Skin

And now, watch the skin-care device that helped one of our editors fake an expensive facial:

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