Martha Stewart has mastered the art of looking good. (Just check out the gorgeous thirst traps she posts on Instagram!) As a beauty writer with decades of experience (and as someone who is over 50), I can only hope to look that incredible today, let alone at 84.
We all know Martha Stewart as the queen, the icon, the G.O.A.T. of living a good life, and we’ve been taking her no-nonsense advice on everything from recipes to gardening and paint colors for years. She absolutely does not put her name on just anything, so when she bottled her beauty and anti-aging secrets for her new skincare line Elm Biosciences, I knew I needed to try it.
Meet the experts: Mona Gohara, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in Connecticut and an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine; Lauren Manaker M.S., R.D.N., L.D., a registered dietitian.
Clearly, Stewart knows a thing or two about skin health and longevity, and she insists plastic surgery has nothing to do with it. So, I’ll have what she’s having. Here are my honest thoughts about her new line.
How I tested
As a veteran beauty and health writer, I’m a professional skincare junkie who is very picky about my products. I tried all of the Elm Biosciences products: I applied the serum every night for six weeks, making sure not to use any other anti-aging products during that time, used the cream for four weeks, and took the supplement twice a day for 30 days (to finish the bottle).
The Products I Tried
Elm Bioscience A3O™ Elemental Serum
Elm Biosciences A3O™ Elemental Night CreamElm Biosciences A30 Elemental Serum
For those who appreciate a fancy bottle, the luxe packaging (a glass bottle encased in a gold cylinder) is for you. When I pumped out the golden lotion-y A30 Elemental Serum, I was surprised by its fragrance. (To me, the smell is giving rich older ladies at expensive cosmetic counters, so maybe it’s totally on point?) I have sensitive skin and prefer fragrance-free products, so the scent was a little too strong for me, and it didn’t dissipate as quickly as I would have liked. If you prefer a perfumed product, this may be your jam.
The directions specify that you should use this morning and night, but because of the scent, I used it only at night and didn’t use any other active ingredients, such as retinoids or other antioxidants, until that elegant bottle was empty, so I could prove that any visible improvement was due to Martha’s serum.
The water-based serum has an ultra-light, creamy texture—it’s not a watery essence and definitely not oily. It blends on beautifully and absorbs instantly. Unlike some antioxidant products, like vitamin C serums, this did not irritate my sensitive skin, and I was able to safely use it every night with no redness, itchiness, or stinging. The formula was moisturizing, so I used it instead of a hydrating serum, and topped it with an emollient barrier repair cream. My skin is ultra dry and layering on moisture is my secret sauce for a youthful, dewy complexion.
The visible results were subtle. I noticed that my complexion looked smoother, fresher, and glowy. Full disclosure: I’m obsessive about my diligent skincare routine, so I started with a clear, even, healthy complexion that in my mind needed firming and line-erasing most of all. This serum did not do those two things in the span of 6 weeks, but it did effectively brighten and hydrate my skin—and it was not irritating, like a lot of potent antioxidant serums can be.
“Two weeks is often enough to see a hydration-driven glow and smoother texture from a well-formulated serum, however skin tone and hyperpigmentation usually takes longer,” says Mona Gohara, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in Connecticut and an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. “The clinicals for this formula appear to support incremental improvements, and the moisturizing base of glycerin, propanediol, hyaluronic acid, shea butter, squalene and fatty acid esters support the skin barrier. The A30 Complex features a new type of antioxidant called acetyl zingerone, which is a lab-engineered antioxidant inspired by zingerone, a compound associated with ginger,” says Dr. Gohara. “There’s emerging data showing its antioxidant activity and anti-photoaging effects, but it does not yet have the established evidence that topical vitamin C does. The serum also contains bakuchiol, a well-studied natural retinol alternative that can improve the appearance of fine lines, texture, and hyperpigmentation, often with better tolerability than powerful prescription retinoids like tretinoin.”
The Inner Dose Daily Skin Supplement
Like a good skincare product, a nutritional supplement is meant to be used daily, consistently for optimal benefits. “The nutrients like turmeric and vitamin D3 in this oral formula support barrier function but they do not go directly to the skin to give it a glow,” says Dr. Gohara. I took two capsules of the Inner Dose Daily Skin Supplement every day until I finished the bottle, and to be honest, I didn’t notice a visible difference in my skin.
“This supplement contains 500 mg per dose of turmeric, which contains curcumin, a compound with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may help to reduce the inflammation and combat oxidative stress that contributes to skin aging,” says Lauren Manaker M.S., R.D.N., L.D., a registered dietitian. (She adds that turmeric is generally safe at this dose for most people.) “It also contains the antioxidant holy basil leaf powder and polypodium leucotomos, which is known for its photoprotective properties that may help protect skin from UV damage and free radicals.” Her take? “There’s moderate evidence supporting the individual ingredients in this formula for skin health, but the efficacy of the combination hasn’t been rigorously studied. Supplements like this are best viewed as complementary to a healthy diet and skincare routine, not a standalone solution.”
A30 Elemental Night Cream
The A30 Elemental Night Cream launched in January, so I’ve only been using it for a few weeks (as opposed to six weeks of nightly A30 Serum use), but from night one, I loved it. It is fragrance-free and non-irritating, which is critical for me, and the creamy, rich texture delivers excellent moisturizing and barrier-supporting benefits for my dry, sensitive, and yes, mature skin. I applied this after putting on the A30 Serum—to seal in hydration and double down on the antioxidant and retinoid benefits. They pair beautifully, but for me, this cream is the big winner. This is the product I’ll continue using until I’m Martha’s age.
“Overall, this fragrance-free cream is really well done, especially when it comes to supporting the skin barrier, hydrating and calming the skin,” says Dr. Gohara, “so it works well for sensitive skin.“The proprietary A30 antioxidant complex adds an extra layer of defense against environmental stress, and it contains an ingredient called ‘trifarotenyl caprylate,’ which is a retinoid precursor, meaning it is converted into retinol in the body. This makes it gentler than traditional retinoids, but results tend to be more gradual.”
Is it good for mature skin?
Elm Biosciences describes its skincare formulas as “farm to lab, lab to patient, and designed by Martha Stewart and her dermatologist, Dhaval Bhanusali, M.D.” (He’s also the derm advisor behind the Gen Z cult-favorite Rhode Skincare, one of my favorite skincare lines.) There are currently three products in this line: an antioxidant serum, a nutritional supplement, and a night cream (launched in January). The skincare formulas have excellent hydrating, skin barrier-supporting ingredients like glycerin, shea butter, squalene, fatty esters, and sodium hyaluronate (a form of hyaluronic acid).
The superstar ingredient in both skincare products is a patent-pending proprietary “A30 Complex” of antioxidants that claims to smooth, firm, and brighten the skin. The stable antioxidants help to fight and repair UV damage to even the skin tone over time. “This defends against environmental stress and free radical damage, which supports overall skin health even if changes aren’t immediate,” says Dr. Gohara.
Final thoughts
For me, the A30 Serum delivered a subtle brightening and hydrating effect after using it for six weeks; although it wasn’t a dramatic game-changing miracle in a bottle (but nothing really is!). But overnight improvement is not the goal here; it’s more about long-term benefits. The hydrating ingredients plus stable antioxidants and retinol components in the serum and cream are excellent, and the combo works to support and protect the skin barrier and boost collagen production. (I only wish they’d make a fragrance-free version of the serum.) Martha Stewart says, “Anti-aging has never resonated with me. I prefer to call it aging successfully.” These products will definitely help you to do that.
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Gina Way is an editor, copywriter, and professional skincare junkie. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Oprah Daily, Allure, Marie Claire, and more. Follow Gina on Instagram.
