Acne Day Serum
One-line proposition
A personalised morning serum that keeps proven acne-active ingredients on your skin every day, without adding steps to your routine.
Price block
£125 - 15ml refill pump, roughly a two-month supply at one pump daily
Subscription available, monthly refills, cancel any time
Primary CTA
[Personalise Your Serum]
Secondary, smaller: Or read what's in it first
Credential pill row
Consultant Dermatologist · PhD in Dermatological Research · Made Individually to Order · Fragrance-Free · No Known Contact Allergens · Recyclable Refill Pump
Recyclable Packaging
Suitable for Vegans and Filler Free
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What Goes Into It
Function-based information about the ingredients in this formula. Not a claim to treat or cure acne for a diagnosis and a treatment plan; see a dermatologist.
- Niacinamide: A form of vitamin B3, and one of the best-tolerated ingredients in skincare. It helps regulate oil production, supports the skin's barrier, and calms the redness and inflammation sitting underneath most active breakouts.
- Salicylic Acid: A beta-hydroxy acid and oil-soluble, it works inside the pore rather than just on the surface. It loosens the buildup of dead skin cells and sebum that block follicles and turn into congestion and blackheads, with mild anti-inflammatory action of its own. Formulated here at a concentration intended for daily use, not the higher, more irritating strengths sometimes used in occasional peels.
- Zinc Sulphate: Well tolerated and genuinely useful for congested, inflamed skin. Published evidence compares topical zinc against oral antibiotics for acne, with comparable results in some studies, worth knowing if you'd rather not go on a course of oral antibiotics for a skin problem if a topical will do the same job.
- Personalised to you, individually: The exact concentration and the base it's carried in vary by skin type. Oilier, more resilient skin tolerates a higher salicylic acid concentration comfortably; dry or reactive skin needs a gentler base or a lower strength. We decide this based on your skin questionnaire and can adjust it at any point, including as your skin changes over the course of treatment. If you already know you react to a specific ingredient, tell us, and we'll leave it out of your formulation.
We compound every bottle individually to your formulation, rather than making a small number of fixed variants in bulk and labelling them for you. That's a real difference from how much "personalised" skincare is actually made.
Fragrance-free, and formulated without the ingredients dermatologists most commonly see cause contact allergy. It isn't preservative-free; a preservative system is what keeps a leave-on product safe over the months it takes to use a bottle. It doesn't need the heavier preservative load a product designed to survive years on a supermarket shelf carries, because this one is made fresh and used within months, not stored indefinitely before it reaches you.
The base is designed so you shouldn't usually need a separate moisturiser on top. It's hydrating enough to stand alone in your morning routine, before sunscreen.
The Day-and-Night System
This serum is designed to be used alongside its counterpart, the Acne Night Serum, though it works as a stand-alone product if that's what's right for you. Mornings get niacinamide, salicylic acid and zinc sulphate. Evenings, when skin's repair processes are more active and stronger actives are better tolerated without sun exposure to worry about, get the prescription side of the regime: tretinoin, clindamycin and azelaic acid. The Night Serum contains prescription-only medicines and isn't available to buy directly; it requires an assessment before it can be prescribed, so that page runs on a consultation or free questionnaire rather than a checkout.
Who This Is For
Adults with ongoing blemish-prone or congested skin who want a daily regimen built to work together, rather than a shelf of separate products chosen without much logic behind the combination. People who've tried standard over-the-counter acne ranges and found them either too harsh to use consistently or too mild to do much. This sits in between: active enough to do something, personalised enough that it shouldn't leave you dry and flaking by week two. People whose skin has calmed down on isotretinoin in the past and who want a maintenance regime that isn't a repeat course of oral medication.
This is not suitable for you if you are pregnant, could become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. Salicylic acid at higher or more frequent doses is generally advised against during pregnancy, and the safer, equally personalised option is the Pregnancy Safe Acne Serum, which uses niacinamide and zinc sulphate instead.
The honest limit, and what's behind it. Topical treatment helps many of my patients clear or achieve much clearer skin when used consistently over a few months. It doesn't do that for everyone. Acne that's cystic, scarring, hormonal, or simply not responding after a genuine trial of a well-built topical regimen is a reason to come in and discuss the next step, not a reason to try yet another serum.
That next step isn't a referral elsewhere. Dr Ophelia sees acne patients in person at 130 Harley Street every week. Beyond what's in a bottle, she can prescribe oral isotretinoin, oral antibiotics, or oral spironolactone (an anti-androgen often effective for hormonal, jawline-pattern breakouts in women), treat with AviClear, a laser cleared for acne itself rather than just the marks it leaves and manage acne scarring directly, one of a small number of UK dermatologist-led clinics to offer it. In-person consultations and in-clinic treatments are priced and booked separately from the serums: a skin consultation is £375, and AviClear and scarring treatments are quoted individually.
What a supplement can and cannot do
I would rather be straight with you than sell you something on a false premise. A supplement corrects a deficiency. If you have one, correcting it can make a real difference to your hair, and I see that difference regularly in clinic. If you do not have one, no supplement will grow hair that was not going to grow anyway.
Most hair loss has a driver beyond nutrition, whether hormonal, autoimmune, inflammatory or genetic. Nutrition is the foundation underneath whatever else is happening, and getting it right makes every other treatment work better. It is rarely the whole answer by itself.
Please check with a doctor first if
You are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding. You have haemochromatosis or any condition involving iron overload, or a family history of either. You have kidney disease. You take levothyroxine or another thyroid medication, which needs separating from both tablets by at least four hours. You already take a separate iron, zinc or vitamin D supplement, since doubling up on any of those three is the main risk this product carries. Or you take tetracycline or quinolone antibiotics, or bisphosphonates, all of which bind to iron and zinc.
Iron in particular is not something to take speculatively. If you have not had your ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid function and full blood count checked, that is the right first step, and a consultation with me includes it. Knowing your numbers turns this from a reasonable guess into a targeted correction, and it also tells you whether something other than nutrition is driving the loss.
Who This Is For
Anyone experiencing hair thinning, increased shedding or reduced density, whether postpartum shedding, post-illness telogen effluvium, or gradual pattern thinning, in men or women. It pairs well with a topical treatment, since unrecognised deficiency often explains why a good treatment underperforms, and being vegan it suits plant-based diets, at higher risk of low iron, B12 and zinc.
A supplement corrects a deficiency; if you do not have one, no supplement will grow hair that was not going to grow anyway. Most hair loss has a driver beyond nutrition, whether hormonal, autoimmune, inflammatory or genetic, so nutrition is the foundation, not usually the whole answer.
Check with a doctor first if pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding, if you have haemochromatosis, kidney disease, take levothyroxine, or take tetracycline, quinolone antibiotics or bisphosphonates. A consultation with me includes checking ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid function and a full blood count first.
What a supplement can and cannot do
I would rather be straight with you than sell you something on a false premise. A supplement corrects a deficiency. If you have one, correcting it can make a real difference to your hair, and I see that difference regularly in clinic. If you do not have one, no supplement will grow hair that was not going to grow anyway.
Most hair loss has a driver beyond nutrition, whether hormonal, autoimmune, inflammatory or genetic. Nutrition is the foundation underneath whatever else is happening, and getting it right makes every other treatment work better. It is rarely the whole answer by itself.
Please check with a doctor first if
You are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding. You have haemochromatosis or any condition involving iron overload, or a family history of either. You have kidney disease. You take levothyroxine or another thyroid medication, which needs separating from both tablets by at least four hours. You already take a separate iron, zinc or vitamin D supplement, since doubling up on any of those three is the main risk this product carries. Or you take tetracycline or quinolone antibiotics, or bisphosphonates, all of which bind to iron and zinc.
Iron in particular is not something to take speculatively. If you have not had your ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid function and full blood count checked, that is the right first step, and a consultation with me includes it. Knowing your numbers turns this from a reasonable guess into a targeted correction, and it also tells you whether something other than nutrition is driving the loss.
How to Use
Apply one pump (around 0.5ml) to clean, dry skin each morning. A thin, even layer is enough; more doesn't work faster, and with salicylic acid in the formula, more is more likely to irritate. A separate moisturiser usually isn't needed; follow with sunscreen and you're done.
Use sunscreen every morning. Not because this formula is photosensitising the way a retinoid is, but because actively treated, sometimes-inflamed skin is more vulnerable to UV damage and pigmentation, and it's good practice regardless. Expect an adjustment period; some mild dryness or flaking in the first one to two weeks is common as your skin adapts, particularly at a higher salicylic acid concentration. If it's more than mild, or doesn't settle, tell us the base or strength can be changed. Give it eight to twelve weeks before judging whether it's working.
Frequently Asked Questions
None of the three active ingredients- niacinamide, salicylic acid, and zinc sulphate need a prescription on their own. This bottle does, because it isn't a fixed, mass-produced formula: it's compounded fresh, at a concentration and in a base chosen for your skin, to my prescription for you specifically. The short questionnaire comes before payment because a pharmacist can only compound and dispense it once that specific formulation has been directed for that specific patient. It's a quicker step than the Night Serum's, because the clinical risk is lower, but it isn't skippable.
Mostly in what it's combined with, and in how it's made. Over-the-counter salicylic acid products are formulated for the average user, which is too strong or too weak for a lot of skin. This one adjusts strength and base to your skin type, pairs salicylic acid with niacinamide and zinc sulphate to calm inflammation, and is compounded individually for you.
Usually not. The base is designed to be hydrating enough to use on its own each morning, followed by sunscreen. If your skin is particularly dry, mention it in your questionnaire, and we can adjust the base.
Yes, that's the intended system. Use Day Serum in the morning and Night Serum at night; Night Serum requires its own assessment since it contains prescription-only ingredients.
It can help, since congestion and inflammation are part of most acne. But jawline, cyclical breakouts often have a hormonal component a topical alone won't fully address. Oral spironolactone is often effective for this pattern in women and is something I prescribe; it's worth a consultation to discuss.
The same principles apply to congestion made worse by friction, heat, and humidity; it responds to the same activities, alongside changing masks more often and avoiding heavy makeup underneath.
No, Tretinoin is not used in pregnancy or when breastfeeding. Use the Pregnancy Safe Acne Serum instead.
Not ruled out, but planned. Tretinoin is stopped ahead of trying to conceive.
The evidence is stronger than it used to be for a link between high-glycaemic diets and dairy and acne severity in some people, though it's not the main driver for most patients and isn't a substitute for treatment.
With salicylic acid bringing congestion to the surface faster, a short adjustment phase is common in the first couple of weeks. If it doesn't, it should settle rather than keep worsening.
Not this one. The Pregnancy Safe Acne Serum uses niacinamide and zinc sulphate instead of salicylic acid and is the version to use while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Give it eight to twelve weeks first. If it genuinely isn't working after a proper trial, it usually means either the Night Serum or a conversation about oral isotretinoin, oral antibiotics, oral spironolactone, AviClear, or scarring treatment is the better next step. A skin consultation is £375.
No, this is a treatment formula, not a lifetime skincare step. Once your skin is genuinely clear and stable, the plan is usually to move you onto standard over-the-counter maintenance skincare.
Because acne treatment only works if you use it consistently for months. You can pause, change or cancel it at any time.
15ml at one pump (about 0.5ml) daily is roughly a two-month supply.
AWARD WINNING PRIVATE CONSULTANT DERMATOLOGIST
Dr. Ophelia Veraitch is a globally recognised dermatologist with an unparalleled educational foundation and international expertise in both medical and aesthetic dermatology.
As a private consultant on Harley Street, she specialises in diagnosing and treating complex skin and hair conditions while also offering a full range of professional aesthetic treatments.
Alongside her clinical work, Dr. Ophelia has developed her namesake line of prescription-strength skin and hair products, bringing her world-class knowledge and experience directly into patients’ hands, to continue treating their skin at home.
Patients Most Often Pair This With
Acne Night Serum.
The prescription is half of the regimen: tretinoin, clindamycin and azelaic acid, available after a consultation or the free skin questionnaire.
Pregnancy Safe Acne Serum.
The version to switch to if you're pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding.
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