This Next-Gen Cold Cream Took 2 Years To Develop, and Is *So* Much Better Than the Stuff You Used To Steal From Your Mom

Cold cream is the stuff of beauty legend. It dates back to 1600s Rome, and its popularity continued through much of the 20th century. Ponds Cold Cream, which launched in 1905, was a staple in our grandmother’s beauty bags, and all the cool kids were using Noxzema in the ’80s and ’90s. But in the last few decades, cold cream fell off the radar as we gravitated toward harsher, more active cleansers. Recently, though, we’ve come back around to soft and gentle cleansing, and with the launch of its Juneberry & Collagen Cold Cream Cleanser ($39), Alpyn Beauty is here to remind us why cold cream is so good.

Alpyn Beauty Juneberry & Collagen Cold Cream Cleanser — $39.00

“Cold cream is an emulsion of oil in a water molecule,” says Kendra Kolb Butler, the brand’s founder and CEO. “When you apply it to the skin, that water evaporates and the skin gets a very cooling, sensorial effect. It’s really, really good at smoothing and softening skin it is just the best at removing makeup.”

Just three years ago, a dermatologist told us that cold creams “don’t contain ingredients that are amazing for your skin” so you “shouldn’t expect them to be a skin-care savior. But with this new launch, Alpyn Beauty is flipping that narrative. “Skin care has made a lot of progress in terms of innovation,” says Kolb Butler “I wanted to do a more modern-day, current version of a cold cream, utilizing our wild plants and some clinical ingredients but removing the majority of the no-no’s that we don’t use, like Phenoxyethanol, parabens, and fragrance and all of that stuff that the cold creams of yesteryear had in them.”

The star ingredient in the formula is wild juneberry. “Juneberry is actually a very potent antioxidant and it grows literally in my backyard in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,” says Kolb Butler “I’ve been studying and watching this plant for a very, very long time, because it’s technically known as a super berry which means that its antioxidant content is extremely high and it’s also packed with tons of vitamins.”

Unlike the cold creams of the past, Alpyn Beauty’s offering goes above and beyond to deliver gentle physical exfoliation by way of jojoba beads. “The jojoba is very, very small. It’s a micro exfoliant, it’s spherical, so it doesn’t cause tears or abrasions on the surface of the skin,” says Kolb Butler. “As you apply this cream and you’re getting that softening, hydration, and antioxidant protection from the wild juneberry, you’re also able to have a little bit of movement on the skin with the dirt, sebum, stubborn oil molecules, anything that’s sitting on the surface with that jojoba. So it’s giving you this buffing, a little bit of gentle exfoliation.”

The first time I used the Alpyn Beauty cold cream, I was instantly impressed with the way it feels. Kolb Butler set out to recreate the “refreshing, sensorial experience,” she remembered from using her mom’s cold cream when she was little, and that’s exactly what she’s done. When you rub the product into your skin, you get a tingly, cooling sensation, which is equally amazing for waking up your complexion in the morning and resetting your skin at night. You can use it as the first step in a double-cleanse routine, but I’ve been using it on its own and don’t feel like I need a second step (even when I’m wearing makeup). After I rinse it off, my skin feels soft and clean.

There are a lot of products in my collection of cleansers that I really, really love, but this is the only one I actually look forward to using. I’ve been enjoying it over the past few weeks, and know it’s going to feel even better as we enter the cooler, dryer months of the year thanks to its high-powered hydrating abilities. It’s nothing like your grandma’s cold cream, and for that, I am grateful.

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