What Dr Alison Jamieson Excludes From Every Formula

Most skincare marketing is a list of what's inside the bottle. At Aliangé, the list of what's been left out does just as much work.

Dr Alison Jamieson — Cosmetic Physician — reviews every formulation before it reaches production. The review isn't only "does this ingredient perform." It's "does this ingredient perform without undermining something else the skin needs to do." A protocol is only as reliable as its weakest step, and the fastest way to weaken a step is an ingredient that looks good on a claims sheet and costs the skin something else in practice.

Four exclusions currently shape the range.

High-Foam Surfactants

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is the surfactant most cleansers are built on, because it foams generously and costs very little. It's also the ingredient most associated with barrier disruption. Research has linked SLS to a measurable increase in transepidermal water loss and a reduction in ceramide content within days of use, disrupting the same lipid barrier every other step in a protocol depends on to work.

Daily Devotion Cleanser is built on Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate instead: a larger, gentler-clearing molecule that removes surface debris without stripping the barrier. It foams less. That's the point, not a compromise. Foam was never the signal that cleansing had worked; it's a marketing convention. Daily Devotion Cleanser

Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone is still the benchmark pigment-correcting ingredient most brightening products are compared against, and in Australia it's restricted to prescription-strength formulations above 1% for good reason: prolonged, high-concentration use carries a recognised risk of exogenous ochronosis, a paradoxical darkening of the skin.

Revitalize Brightening Serum is built around Oligopeptide-68 instead, evaluated in published trial work against hydroquinone for pigment correction without that same long-term risk profile. It's a formulation choice made for what a customer can safely use for years, not for what wins a single before-and-after photo. Brightening Serum

Unbuffered Acid Concentrations

Exfoliating acids work by loosening the bonds between dead surface cells, and it's tempting to assume more acid, at a lower pH, means faster results. It doesn't. A 2021 study on buffered glycolic acid found that a concentration held near pH 4 stimulated collagen synthesis without triggering the inflammatory cascade seen at lower, unbuffered pH levels. Inflammation, not exfoliation, is what causes the redness and sensitisation people associate with "strong" acid products.

Transforming Exfoliator is formulated at a controlled, buffered concentration, used two to three times a week rather than daily, for exactly this reason. Faster is not the same as better tolerated, and a step that irritates the skin undoes the barrier work every other product in the Protocol is doing. Transforming Exfoliator

Retinol Without a Stabilisation System

Retinol is one of the most evidenced actives in skincare, and also one of the least stable. It degrades through photolysis, oxidation and isomerisation, meaning a jar of plain retinol can lose meaningful potency before it's even opened, let alone applied. A formula that lists retinol on the label without a system to protect it is selling a concentration on paper that the skin may never actually receive.

Ultimate A Night Cream is built around an antioxidant stabilisation network designed to slow that degradation, so the retinol delivered is closer to the retinol formulated. This is also why Aliangé doesn't sell a standalone retinol serum: the delivery system is inseparable from the active, and both were selected as a pair. Ultimate A Night Cream

Essential Oils With No Job to Do

Essential oils are common in "natural" skincare marketing, added for scent and a sense of botanical credibility. Aliangé's approach is narrower: an oil is only included if it has a specific, evidenced function, at a controlled concentration. Tea Tree Leaf Oil appears in Transforming Exfoliator because of its antimicrobial action alongside the exfoliating acids, not as a fragrance note. See how the exfoliator uses it. Fragrance ingredients generally, including many essential oils, remain among the more common triggers of allergic skin reactions, which is why Aliangé keeps fragrance load minimal across the range rather than using it to signal a "natural" story.

Common Questions

Does leaving ingredients out mean Aliangé formulas are simpler than other brands?
Not simpler. Fewer active ingredients does not mean less work is happening in a formula. It means every included ingredient is doing a specific job the skin actually needs, and nothing is included to pad a label or chase a trend.

Why do some other reputable skincare brands still use ingredients Aliangé excludes?
Cost, shelf life and consumer expectation all push formulation in that direction. SLS is cheap and foams well. Hydroquinone is a familiar benchmark. Unbuffered acids show visible results faster. None of those are safety guarantees; they're commercial trade-offs, and Aliangé has made a different one.

Does this mean Aliangé products never cause any reaction?
No formula, however it's built, suits every skin. Excluding known high-risk ingredients lowers the likelihood of a reaction; it doesn't eliminate it. Patch testing a new product, especially an active step, is still the sensible approach for anyone with a history of sensitivity.

This is the same logic behind The Protocol's sequencing: each step is chosen for what it contributes and what it doesn't cost the next step. The Protocol