This “Everything” Serum Kicks Ass

Like my knowledge of car types—or are they called breeds? Flavours?—my skincare routine is not as comprehensive as it should be. I don’t do much beyond cleansing, plus the occasional my-life-feels-out-of-control face mask.

And despite turning 19 the year Drake dropped Hotline Bling, I’m still getting ID’ed—though interestingly, not when I’m out with my fellow editors. Do they make me look older? Do they think our food and wine editor is my legal guardian? Hard to say. Either way, I’ve been blessed with a pretty youthful look.

For now. I’ve been made well aware that if I want to maintain my dermatologic health and also go on the number of tropical vacations feel I deserve, I need to develop a more regular routine.

I find a lot of skincare brands overwhelming, a little fearmonger-y, and largely targeted at women, which—you guessed it—I have a problem with. Beauty expectations are different for men than women, it’s everywhere you look, blah blah blah. If you ask me, everyone should be equally terrified of aging. Sun damage will come for us all. It’s only fair.

And that’s an attitude that Non-Gender Specific is embracing, albeit in a much more positive way. The Atlanta-based brand was founded by Andrew Glass, who was frustrated by gendered products and having to shop in the women’s section to find quality skincare. Non-Gender Specific’s products aren’t targeted towards a certain gender, and each product is designed to address multiple issues (read: less products are needed, and less waste is created). It’s also all vegan. Their most popular concoction, the Everything Serum, launched in Vancouver at Curlique Beauty in December 2019—for now, they’re the city’s exclusive retailer. The serum is meant to address wrinkles, skin fatigue, elasticity, hyper-pigmentation/discoloration, pore-size reduction, brightness, and cellular rejuvenation. The ingredients (full list here) include algae extract, lavender extract, grape seed oil, and vitamin E.

I’ve been using it this entire year. And even though it’s only March, that’s a big deal for me. I can’t say much about what it does for wrinkles (brag alert!) but I have noticed that my skin is brighter, and the acne scars I was convinced would accompany me to my grave are fading. I also should mention what the serum is not doing: namely, making my skin oily, causing me to break out, cursing me with more of the aforementioned scars.

The Everything Serum is a little pricey—$89—but the formula is light and applies thinly, so it should last a long time. Unless a jealous friend/roommate/editor who you slandered earlier in this article steals it.