Hyaluronic Acid 0.2 %, Aqua, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butylene Glycol, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Dimethicone, PEG-8, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Triazone, Silica, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hydroxide, Carbomer, Disodium EPTA, Tocopherol, BHT, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid & ColourRegalia

How Regalia works

Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are mineral filters: they sit on the skin and scatter and absorb ultraviolet light before it reaches the cells beneath. Octinoxate, octocrylene and the other organic filters absorb UV and release it as heat. Broad-spectrum protection needs both UVB cover, which prevents burning, and UVA cover, which prevents the deeper damage that causes pigmentation and ageing. Sunscreen is also the single most effective thing anyone using a brightening product can do, because untreated ultraviolet exposure undoes it. Hyaluronic acid holds up to a thousand times its own weight in water. Applied to skin it draws moisture into the upper layers and holds it there, which plumps the surface and makes fine lines less visible almost immediately. That effect is physical and temporary rather than structural -- it works while the skin is hydrated, so it is applied to damp skin and sealed with a moisturiser. Vitamin C works on pigmentation in two ways at once. It interferes with tyrosinase, the enzyme that begins melanin production, so less new pigment is made; and it is a powerful antioxidant, neutralising the free radicals ultraviolet light generates in skin. It is also required for collagen synthesis -- the enzymes that cross-link collagen cannot function without it, which is why vitamin C appears in anti-ageing formulations as well as brightening ones. Plain ascorbic acid oxidises quickly, which is why stabilised derivatives such as 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid are used. Putting them in one formulation means the routine stays short, which is the main reason people keep to it.