For our Depology reviews, we put seven of its bestselling products to the test to see if the brand is as good as everyone makes out
UPDATE: Depology is, once again, running a Black Friday sale and to get the best deals, you need to sign up to its VIP list.
Signing up gives you early access to the offers before they launch widely on Friday 29 November.
Last year, a large number of products sold out via early access before they even went on general sale so if you’ve been wanting to stock up on the best Depology products, or try something new without paying full price, we highly recommend you get on the list.
In addition to big discounts, the Black Friday Depology sale usually includes product bundles. We’re hoping to get some more of the Matrixyl 3000 Collagen Boosting Serum, which you can read more about in our Depology reviews below.
We also have a discount code for Depology but we’re not sure yet whether it will work alongside the Black Friday savings. Last year, this code gave you an extra 10% off all sale items and we’ll confirm if that’s the case this year as soon as the offers go live. Click here, and enter MAMABELLA22 at the checkout.
Alternatively, see all the other best Black Friday beauty deals that are already live or coming soon here.
JOIN VIP LIST
Original Depology reviews article continues below
Last year, when the Dēpology micro-dart patches were all over our Instagram feed, we decided to spend a month putting them to the test to see if they lived up to the hype. Spoiler alert: they did!
Not one to stop there, though, we recently decided to review (almost) every other product in the range.
We were so impressed with the patches, and the online Depology reviews are overwhelmingly positive, that we wanted to see if our original experience was a fluke, or if the skincare range is worth investing in. Each product is on the pricey side, so it’s not the kind of product you may feel comfortable buying on a whim, so that’s where we come in!
The products we tested were:
We have a discount code for anyone looking to give these products a try. Click here, and enter MAMABELLA22 at the checkout for 10% off your order!
For each product, we used them as directed by the company’s website, for a month. Skincare takes time to work and testing it overnight isn’t adequate enough to get a true feel for how well it works, or what the pitfalls are.
Spending at least a month testing skincare can also reveal if it causes breakouts, or – if it causes our skin to purge – we can check how our skin looks once it’s cleared. You can read more about how we test skincare here, and below we explain more about the individual tests we carried out with the individual Depology reviews in this list.
FURTHER READING: How we test skincare
Depology sells a range of products and we’re working our way through testing as many as possible. These are the products we’ve spent a good amount of time with, so we feel confident in reviewing them properly.
£50 | Buy now
mamabella | mamabella We wanted to start with this product because it is absolutely superb. On our hydration test, these patches increased the levels of hydration under our eyes by a staggering 10% – considering that even the most so-called hydrating moisturisers struggle to raise it by 1% (if they can raise it at all) we couldn’t believe the results. So much so, we had to repeat it a couple of times more to check there wasn’t a mistake…
We’d go as far as to say that if you only buy one anti-ageing eye product, make it this one.
According to Depology, caviar extract is an “emollient active ingredient” that helps boost hydration, moisture levels, and plump fine lines and wrinkles, while also lowering inflammation and puffiness – namely, eye bags.
In these eye patches, the caviar extract is joined by sodium hyaluronate (which is in the same family as super hydrator hyaluronic acid), and an antioxidant called Centella asiatica. These ingredients combine to help and enhance how well the collagen peptides, also known as hydrolyzed collagen, found in these patches work.
We’ve tried using these at different times of the day but they seem to work best before we apply makeup, or at least first thing in the morning. It gives us a fresh appearance while also reducing how much our makeup ends up in the creases in our eyes. All of which make us look younger. Over time, we’ve definitely seen a decrease in crepey skin around our eyes.
Our biggest complaint, and this goes for all patches in this range as well as many rival patches, is that they’re too big for our under eyes. This makes them difficult to position correctly. They are also so well coated in serum that they tend to slip a bit at first before your skin starts absorbing it. This isn’t a big problem, you just need to be aware of it.
Buy now from Depology
£38 | Buy now
mamabella | mamabella These may not provide the same level of hydration as the Black Caviar Collagen patches, but they’re still great, raising hydration levels by 3%.
They contain the same ingredients of sodium hyaluronate and hydrolysed collagen as the more expensive patches, but they additionally feature glycerin and Irish moss. Glycerin is what’s known as a humectant, meaning it attracts moisture from the air into the top layer of skin, and it can then carry that moisture to the deeper layers of the skin.
Meanwhile, Irish moss helps soften and smooth the skin, thanks to the presence of fatty acids and phenols that preserve the skin’s natural film and fights dryness.
As the name suggests, these Depology patches are best used in the evening after your cleanser, but before applying any other skincare products. We have tried wearing these overnight while we sleep but they dried out quite a bit, which meant that we effectively undid the great work these patches do when they’re worn for about half an hour.
You only need to wear them 10-15 minutes to see an increase in hydration but we like chilling for 30 minutes before removing them to get the maximum effect. We had the same problem with comfortably positioning these patches as we did with the Black Caviar patches, but that’s a minor point.
Buy now from Depology
£44 | Buy now
mamabella | mamabella Glycolic acid is a fantastic all-rounder ingredient that works to exfoliate and clear the skin – so much so, we like to use it on our face as well as in hair scrubs to leave our scalp fresh, clean and healthy. It’s what’s known as an AHA (an alpha-hydroxy acid) and penetrates the skin to clean it from within. You can read more about this in our glycolic acid explainer.
The downside to this exfoliating power is that it’s not always suitable for sensitive skin.
To get around this, Depology pairs glycolic acid in its facial cleanser with peptides and hydrating ingredients. Thus getting rid of dead skin cells without stripping away too much moisture.
These include the peptide Argireline, which has been dubbed a natural Botox; amino acids that boost your skin’s natural collagen production, and which help fight the signs of ageing; plus hyaluronic acid which helps water bind to the collagen to plump the skin and give you an amazing glow.
You usually have to apply multiple serums and creams to get the benefits of these ingredients so it’s incredible that all of them are available in a cleanser. This, in theory, means you could just use this cleanser for most of your skincare needs. It’s expensive, but if it can replace multiple other products, you’ll likely save money in the long run.
Plus, out of all of the products in this range, this facial cleanser has been the most impactful over time. Since we stopped using it religiously every day (at the end of our testing period) our skin definitely looks less plump and duller.
Buy now from Depology
£42 | Buy now
mamabella | mamabella If you want a more targeted anti-ageing product, Depology’s Matrixyl 3000 Collagen Boosting serum is a great option.
Matrixyl 3000 is a type of synthetic peptide that’s been scientifically proven to boost collagen production. It’s becoming increasingly popular in skincare products, recently being added to a number of Charlotte Tilbury skincare products. It gets its name from the fact it’s made up of so-called matrikines. These are peptides generated via proteins in the skin which tell your cells to produce more collagen.
In the Depology serum, Matrixyl 3000 is joined by hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and Aloe barbadensis. These combine to plump out the skin and make it look more youthful by locking in moisture and vitamins. Namely Vitamins A, C, D and E as well as minerals zinc, potassium and magnesium.
These all help heal the skin, while creating a barrier that moisturises and protects.
On our first couple of uses, this serum felt a little greasy. However, we think this is because our skin wasn’t as clear as it could have been.
Once we’d got into a routine of using the glycolic acid cleanser, and our dead skin cells and build-up had been cleared, this serum was absorbed much quicker and more effectively.
Hydration-wise, it didn’t boost the skin as much as the eye patches but it still made a noticeable difference. What’s more, this hydration lasted for hours and barely dropped off when we later re-tested our skin.
Buy now from Depology
£63 | Buy now
mamabella | mamabella This was our least favourite product in our Depology reviews. It’s not bad – far from it – but it didn’t quite impress us as much as others. Depology claims that this cream moisturises without feeling greasy. However, on our oily skin, it felt a little slick and didn’t sit as comfortably on the skin as other night creams we’ve used.
Retinol is one of the most studied, proven anti-ageing ingredients and this cream contains a relatively high level, at 2.5%. This makes it perfect for more impactful results, yet it also means that it needs to be introduced gradually. Especially if your skin isn’t used to retinol at all.
Our skin is already well used to retinol, so we could use this cream every night. This meant we started to see results within a few weeks.
If you’re just starting out with retinol, we recommend using this two-three times a week, at first. It will cause the results to appear slower, but once your skin is used to it, you can increase the usage and this should increase the impact. You can read more about how retinol works here.
In addition to retinol, this Depology night cream includes an ingredient called niacinamide. Niacinamide helps even out skin tone and dark spots, but it can also help increase your skin’s natural defence against moisture loss and dehydration.
What’s more, because retinol can be quite drying, the niacinamide in this cream helps minimise any potential side effects.
As well as these two powerhouse ingredients, the Depology Anti-Aging Retinol Night Cream contains hydrolysed collagen and sodium hyaluronate. Hydrolysed collagen is another name for collagen peptides and these are broken down into more easily dissolvable amino acids than regulate collagen, which allows for better skin penetration.
This is particularly great for dry or damaged skin, so further helps negate any potential effects of retinol.
Buy now from Depology
£32 | Buy now
Face sculpting masks, like the Derma Face Mask from Depology, are becoming more commonplace and we’ve reviewed a couple – including the Wishful Skin Chin Lift. Each of them are typically soaked in hydrating and firming products that are applied to the chin and lower parts of the face. They’re designed to help tighten double chins, give a stronger jawline and create a tighter, youthful appearance.
The Depology mask is no different.
This jawline-specific mask contains ingredients called tocopherol, glycerin, anthocyanins, and seaweed extract.
Tocopherol is found naturally in the skin and makes up “96% of your skin’s antioxidant defence system”. In this way, it absorbs UV rays and helps prevent UV-induced free radical damage to skin.
Glycerin helps attract moisture from the air into the top layer of skin and penetrate it into the deeper layers of the skin; anthocynanins is known to boost collagen and increase blood flow and circulation in the skin, while seaweed moisturises the skin and is rich in fatty acids and phenols that preserve the skin’s natural protective film and fights dryness.
We don’t have particularly noticeable jowls or a double chin, so we didn’t see a huge difference when using this mask but it did leave the skin on our chin feeling soft and smooth. It’s not the most comfortable mask we’ve used; it pulled on our ears quite significantly, but this is a minor complaint.
Buy now from Depology
Since testing this cleansing bar, Depology appears to have discontinued it. We’re leaving the review below in case it comes back into stock
mamabella | mamabella Our next favourite in our Depology reviews is the Hydrating Micro Foam Cleansing Bar. We’ve been trying to reduce the amount of plastic packaging we consume, and bars like this Cleansing Bar from Depology are a great, sustainable way to clean your face and leave it feeling soft, fresh, and smooth.
Unlike other traditional foaming cleansing bars we’ve tried, this one has a slightly odd consistency. Its lather is more silky, than bubbly and almost slimy – but not in a bad way. It glides over the skin and feels soft and luxurious, plus this slightly oily feel means it melts makeup and dirt with ease.
This is largely due to the fact it contains goat’s milk. According to Depology, goat’s milk and human skin have the same pH levels. This means this cleansing bar is nourishing and gentle, even for the most sensitive skin.
Goats milk is antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory due to the fact it’s high in fatty acids, which makes it great for acne or skin prone to breakouts as well. The addition of lauric acid has a similar effect on spots and pimples.
Other ingredients include hydrolysed silk, which is great for improving your skin’s elasticity and helping the water barrier retain moisture to avoid your face feeling tight and dry after cleansing, and glycerol. Glycerol pulls moisture from the deeper levels of your skin and the air to your outer skin layer. This ingredient then locks that moisture into the skin and also shields it from pollution.
As you may have probably guessed from this ingredient list, this cleansing bar isn’t vegan, so while bars generally are a great sustainable option for the planet, this bar falls a little short of being entirely vegan and eco-friendly.
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
