Naked & Thriving is a skincare brand that claims to promote “youthful-looking radiance.” Their most popular product is called Renew Resurfacing Night Cream and is used to increase skin hydration, reduce wrinkles and improve skin quality.
But does this serum contain ingredients shown in research studies to have these effects, or are these just marketing claims? Does the serum contain any questionable additives? How do real users rate and describe its effects? And how does its price compare to other luxury skincare products?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Naked & Thriving Renew Resurfacing Night Cream based on research studies to give our take on whether or not it's likely to have an anti-aging effect.
We'll feature unsponsored customer reviews, provide a cost comparison to see how the price of this serum stacks up to competitors, and explain why we commend the brand for the health claims on their website.
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Naked & Thriving Renew Serum are shown above.
A number of the active ingredients in this formulation have promising research backing for anti-aging effects.
Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most effective topical anti-aging ingredients in our opinion.
A medical review published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules described sodium hyaluronate as a “skin rejuvenating biomedicine” because of how effective it is at improving skin hydration, reducing wrinkles and stimulating collagen production.
Ferulic acid is a potent antioxidant that protects the structural health of the skin, according to a 2018 medical review.
Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) fruit extract has been found to improve skin barrier function in a clinical trial published in the Antioxidants journal. This means that it can help protect the skin from external damage from sources like bacteria and environmental toxins.
Aloe leaf juice is clinically shown to be an effective, natural, skin moisturizer, as we documented in our article reviewing Curology ingredients.
Clearly, Naked & Thriving’s serum has a number of effective botanical ingredients, but what sets this serum apart is that it contains zero ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy like fragrance, harsh synthetic preservatives or artificial dyes that are so common in cosmetic formulations.
Phenethyl alcohol is used as a naturally-derived preservative. It's a compound found in essential oils, and is a much safer choice in our opinion than synthetic preservatives like phenoxyethanol that are more commonly used.
Overall, we consider Naked & Thriving Renew Serum likely to improve skin quality and appearance and to have an anti-aging effect. This is one of the best cosmetic formulations that we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
The brand's website currently appears to be the only official online retailer of this product, and can be accessed here.
But how do real users rate and describe the effects of this serum? We'll feature some user reviews in the next section of this article.
Real Users Review Renew Serum
A TikTok creator named Lisa Hammack claims that Naked & Thriving Renew Serum significantly improved her daughter's skin quality after 30 days:
@lisa.hammack Naked &Thriving #fyp #bodycareroutine #facecareroutine ♬ Traveling - Kush Mody
A review from the Naked & Thriving YouTube channel features a user trying the product with a live demo and sharing her thoughts:
How Does the Price Compare?
Sometimes it can be challenging for cosmetic consumers to directly compare the price of popular products, because the product sizes vary so much.
Here's a price comparison between Naked & Thriving Renew Serum and other popular anti-aging products on a per-ounce basis, at the time of updating this article:
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair: $85
Biossance Squalene + Vitamin C Rose Oil: $74
Naked & Thriving: $68
CeraVe Vitamin C Serum: $17.50
CeraVe is an industry leader for affordable, well-formulated cosmetics, but Naked & Thriving seems to be priced slightly lower than most luxury cosmetic brands with similar anti-aging products.
Surprisingly Accurate Health Claims
Naked & Thriving is one of the few cosmetic brands that we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health that makes accurate, non-exaggerated health claims. This is a green flag of brand quality.
On its website, the brand states that 100% of users noticed improved skin hydration when using this product, based on a survey of 34 participants, but very clearly states that these are “Consumer Results.”
The brand does not make false and misleading claims of “Clinical Results,” which would suggest that the product has been studied in a clinical trial published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, which is unfortunately a common practice in the industry.
Many skincare brands we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health have claimed to be “clinically proven” to work based on similar user-reported data, which is misleading to consumers.
Real Customers Review Renew Serum
There are over 900 customer reviews of this product on Naked & Thriving’s website at the time of writing this article. We consider reviews from third-party platforms to be more objective, but this product is only sold on Naked & Thriving’s website.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Cyana Seychell” who claims the product is effective:
“This serum lives up to all the reviews I read. It’s life changing.”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Nikki” who gives the product a 2 star rating out of 5 stars, and claims it caused breakouts:
“I was hoping to love this but it’s not working for me. Doesn’t feel like I even put anything on afterwards. Skin is dry, breakouts haven’t stopped. Only reason I want to use it longer is because it was expensive”
Renew Serum currently has an average user review rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars on Google.
Our Clean Skincare Picks
There are skincare products that contain ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality generally.
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top skin cream pick because of its effective and clean formulation. It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
Interested consumers can check out Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum at this link to the product page on the official brand's website.
Hydraglow is our top moisturizer pick. It features bakuchiol as an active ingredient which was described in a 2014 clinical trial as "clinically proven to have anti-aging effects."
Interested consumers can check out HydraGlow at this link to the product page on the official brand's website.
The only oral supplement we recommend for skin quality improvement is Bulletproof Collagen Powder.
Oral collagen supplementation was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology to improve visible signs of skin aging as well as improve skin elasticity and skin hydration.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Collagen Powder at this link to the product page on the brand's official website.
None of the products recommended in this section contain additive ingredients that we consider questionable from a health perspective.
Pros and Cons of Naked & Thriving
Here are the pros and cons of Naked & Thriving Renew Serum in our opinion:
Pros:
- Likely to have anti-aging effect
- Likely to optimize skin health
- Zero unhealthy additive ingredients
- Lower-priced than luxury competitors
- Brand doesn't make exaggerated health claims
Cons:
- Mediocre Google reviews (small sample size though)
