For many consumers, Vitamin C has become the gold standard of antioxidant skincare. And to be fair, the marketing around Vitamin C is really compelling.

Much of its reputation comes from a landmark study that demonstrated the protective effects of combining vitamin C, vitamin E, and ferulic acid. The results were so impressive that the formula became one of the most influential antioxidant combinations in modern skincare.

But there is an important lesson hidden within that research. The study did not prove that one antioxidant (Vitamin C) is enough. It showed that antioxidants become more effective when the three work together.

Within living systems, nutrients exist in networks. They support, stabilize, and often amplify one another's effects. This is why the famous research on vitamins C and E, combined with ferulic acid, performed so well: adding ferulic acid stabilized vitamins C and E and doubled the sun protection they provided together. No single ingredient did that. The network did.

At KLEOS+KLEA, we don't use synthetic antioxidants, but we understand this ecosystem within plants, because a whole fruit is already a network, dozens of antioxidants grown to work as a team.

That's why pairing IÓ and ÓNISI with a high-quality mineral sunscreen is so important. Using them both before and after sun exposure helps support your skin in different ways.

The sunscreen acts as your first line of defense, helping to shield the skin from UV rays. But even the best sunscreen can't block every trigger of skin damage. UV and visible light can still generate free radicals that contribute to oxidative stress, inflammation, and premature aging.

That's where the plant antioxidants in IÓ and ÓNISI come in. Working beneath the sunscreen's protection, they help neutralize those free radicals and support the skin's natural repair processes. Sunscreen blocks most UV from penetrating the skin, while antioxidants neutralize the free radicals from the light that still gets through. Sunscreen alone can't stop all light from getting to the skin, a second line of repair and recovery needs to be there to prevent most damage.

They do two different jobs, but together they create a more complete approach to protecting and supporting healthy skin.

IÓ: The Power of Mineral Diversity

Healthy skin depends on more than vitamins and antioxidants. Minerals play essential roles in countless biological processes, helping support hydration, resilience, and overall skin function.  Our bodies can’t make them, hence they are essential and need to be applied, daily.

IÓ delivers more than 77 trace minerals in a highly bioavailable form that the skin can recognize and utilize immediately. Trace minerals in IÓ like Zinc, Selenium, Copper and Manganese are antioxidants in mineral form.

ÓNISI: Beyond the Hero Antioxidant

The famous ferulic acid study demonstrated that synthetic Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is highly unstable and other compounds are necessary to keep it stable in solution.  It also proved that layering antioxidants helped increase sun protection 8 fold when they went from 2 antioxidants to 3. ÓNISI extends that idea even further.

Made from 10 whole plants and raw honey, ÓNISI delivers nearly 200 naturally occurring phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and supportive plant compounds in a single formula.

Instead of relying on one isolated antioxidant or even 3, ÓNISI delivers dozens of antioxidants drawing strength from the complexity of whole plants.  "These plants have survived, adapted and thrive today because of this  complexity and now we can deliver it directly to the skin,” says Tammy Demos, founder of KLEOS+KLEA. 

The power was never in a single ingredient. It was in the partnership. Nature knew that all along.

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