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Azelaic acid might not have the same hype as retinol or vitamin C, but this grain-derived dermatologist-love ingredient has slowly become one of skincare’s most versatile power players. With Korean brand Anua’s viral azelaic acid finally launching in India, the acid’s name is on everyone’s lips.

Naturally found in rye and barley, azelaic acid belongs to the dicarboxylic acid family and suits almost every skin type. It soothes inflammation, clears congestion, fades pigmentation and can be used during pregnancy. No wonder it’s cropping up everywhere, from prescription tubes to over-the-counter serums.

But what exactly does it do, how do you use it and is it safe to mix with other actives? Here’s your need-to-know guide to one of skincare’s most underrated multitaskers.

What does azelaic acid do for your skin?

“Azelaic acid is one of my favourite skincare ingredients,” says Dr Anita Sturnham, the founder of skincare brand Decree. “It is most well known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, meaning it helps to prevent the formation of the comededone, the primary acne lesion.”

A hugely versatile ingredient, it also works to calm and exfoliate the skin, and reduce redness and oil production, as well as preventing the blocking of pores for a clearer complexion. “It also helps to reduce hyperpigmentation and even out skin tone by inhibiting an enzyme called tyrosinase, which leads to dark spots and patches on the skin,” adds skincare expert Nilam Holmes.

Is it ok to use azelaic acid every day?

A fantastic all-rounder, azelaic acid can easily be incorporated into your daily skincare routine with products that are available over the counter (and therefore are not too powerful). However, those with sensitive skin might want to start slowly and use it on alternate days, in order to build up to eventually tolerating daily use. If you’re using prescriptive strength azelaic acid, you might want to use it in conjunction with a squalane based serum, suggests Sturnham, as it can be a little drying.

If in doubt, always consult an expert. “It’s always better to seek professional advice to ensure you are using the right ingredient in the right way, especially when using other actives,” says celebrity facialist Teresa Tarmey. “It’s important that you’re not over-using, so as not to cause irritation.”

What should you not mix with azelaic acid?

On the whole, azelaic acid is a great team player, which means it works well with most other ingredients. If you suffer from sensitive skin, however, or are using prescription strength products and want to be extra careful, you can always separate it from other actives such as benzoyl peroxide, topical antibiotics or retinoids, by shifting these to be part of your evening skincare regime. One thing you might want to steer clear of, says Holmes, are facial exfoliation brushes and other physical exfoliators, given azelaic acid’s existing exfoliant properties.

Is azelaic acid better than retinol?

There are many similarities between azelaic acid and retinol. “Both can help with cell turnover and collagen production,” says facialist Keren Bartov. “They can also treat skin issues like hyperpigmentation, melasma and acne.” However, where azelaic acid treats inflammation and bacteria (hence why it’s ideal for skin that’s prone to breakouts and those with rosacea), retinol can reverse sun damage and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. “The best thing to do is use them in combination,” continues Bartov. “Together they are a powerful and complementary duo.” Note also that azelaic acid can be used when pregnant and on sensitive skin.

Should I put azelaic acid all over my face?

Yes. After cleansing, apply azelaic acid all over the face and neck. Just be careful around the eye area when using a higher strength product. Follow with your moisturiser.

The best azelaic acid products to try now

This article first appeared on Vogue.co.uk

Also read:

Retinol vs retinoid–what to start and when, according to experts

10 peptide lip balms that do more than just hydrate

How to use vitamin C the right way for glowing, even-toned skin (and the products to pick up)

Cosmic tip: Make those tough choices to catapult forward.

An unwillingness or an inability to pick a side may be leading you towards more conflict and a push-pull scenario in life. Leo, sometimes the fear of making a mistake keeps us feeling trapped, and sometimes all we need to scale the wall is to decide whether we want to jump over or walk around it. Either way, the only way through is by choosing not to stand in front of it wishing it would disappear, unless, of course, you use your magical intent and urge the cosmos to make this happen. Even then, a decision on your end would be needed. You have divine support flowing in, now will you please choose to rise above this conflict and focus on better things in life?

Cosmic tip: Pick your battles to be able to fight them.

You’ve decided to take the higher road, Virgo. And while this may feel very warrior-like initially, the sadness and despair end up creeping in one way or the other. Now, here is the thing, it is never healthy to suppress your emotions, but it is also not healthy to dwell so much in them that you forget to move, go beyond and look up into the sky to breathe some fresh air. You need not hold up to any standards, Virgo, not even ones you have set for yourself. Remember you are a person, not a machine? Yes, it is important to find that strength to power through, but also yes, it is important to remain soft and open through it all.

Cosmic tip: Your innocence is the tool that keeps you going. Don’t you lose it!

This is a crowning moment for you, Libra, where you not only see things differently but also begin to hold and nurture them differently. For those worried about material success, stability and gratification, your angels remind you that you are not stuck; in fact, you are far from it. As you view yourself as more worthy, you will realise that you are no longer attached to appearances, how you look and seem to others, what begins mattering to you is how you feel about yourself in a totally non, cocky way. You are no longer a slave to titles and perceptions; you have made your choice, and it is your view of yourself.

On Friday evening, in the heart of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, a convoy of brightly decorated trucks—festooned in traditional Indian lorry art—pulled into the Eva and Marc Stern Arrival Court at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Inside them: 100 life-sized elephant sculptures, made not of stone or bronze but of a humble invasive plant. This was the final stop of The Great Elephant Migration—a 5,000-mile public art journey that has moved through cities, tribal lands and national parks across the United States—and the elephants arrived swathed in something new: more than 70 bespoke blankets, created by designers and Indigenous communities around the world in a ceremonial offering called “Wrapped in History.”

Photo: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Photo: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

The sculptures themselves are the work of the Real Elephant Collective, a sustainable, community-owned enterprise of 200 Indigenous artisans from India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Using Lantana camara—an aggressive weed that chokes native forests—the artisans spent years handcrafting each elephant based on a real-life counterpart.

Bulls, cows, calves and tuskers were shaped with anatomical precision, their forms bent and woven from dried reeds in a process as environmentally conscious as it was emotionally resonant. The stop in Los Angeles marked the first time the Real Elephant Collective had joined the US tour in person—representing a powerful reunion between creator and creation.

Ruth Ganesh, Kristin DavisPhoto: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Photo: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Since debuting during the pandemic in London’s Hyde Park, the herd has trotted through Newport, Manhattan, Miami Beach, Jackson Hole and more. But Los Angeles was something different: a ceremonial close, a new artistic layer and a powerful gesture of reverence. “Blankets are wrapped around members of the community as a sign of respect,” said Ruth Ganesh, the UK-born conservationist and co-creator of the project. “This echoes traditions across many Indigenous cultures, where blankets symbolise protection, honour and belonging. In the context of the Migration, each draped elephant becomes a living monument—wrapped in collective memory and care.”

Photo: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Photo: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

The idea for the blanketing was born last fall, during an All Night Smoke hosted by the Blackfeet Nation, where Ganesh saw elders and guests alike arrive wrapped in traditional blankets. What followed was a new curatorial initiative led by Indian designer Vikram Goyal, who invited collaborators from the worlds of fashion, Indigenous craft and textile heritage to create ceremonial pieces—each infused with ancestral motifs and messages of coexistence.

Kristin DavisPhoto: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

Olubi Mairumbi, Karin Betts, Luke MaamaiPhoto: Victor Arriola/BFA.com

“In Indigenous cultures around the world, blankets hold profound significance,” said Goyal, who contributed his own design. “They are often intricately woven with traditional patterns and colours, representing a tribe’s history, identity and spiritual beliefs.” Goyal’s blanket took inspiration from his repoussé metalwork, translating a gilded wall sculpture—based on a 17th-century Rajput manuscript called The Book of Dreams—into an embroidered textile layered with symbols of good fortune: the Gajaraja (Elephant King), Gajasimha (Elephant-Lion), blackbuck antelope and parrots in a flowering tree.

Other contributors to “Wrapped in History” included Ralph Lauren, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi, Diane von Furstenberg, Johanna Ortiz, Ozwald Boateng and the Navajo Nation, alongside India’s craft communities and schools like Chanakya, whose women artisans stitched together a textile map of India using techniques drawn from the Deccan plateau to Assam. “Craft has always evolved within contemporary frameworks,” Goyal noted. “Textile has long led by this example.”

Sudha Reddy attends the 2024 Met Gala.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Mind you, she doesn’t have it all figured out—quite the contrary, in fact. If there’s one thing she swears by, it’s the power of continuous learning, as much in career as in life. While engaging with experts and fostering open dialogue within her teams has helped her create impact in the workplace, raising her sons, Manas and Pranav, to embody empathy is something she and her husband have taken upon themselves. “We actively involve them in our philanthropic discussions and activities despite the privileges they enjoy. I speak openly with them about the responsibility we bear. The goal is to pass on this legacy to them when the time is right.” Her advice to fellow parents hoping to raise kind kids is to lead by example. “Children learn more from what you do than what you say, whether it’s volunteering, helping a neighbour or simply showing compassion to a peer.” At the end of the day, it’s the little things that count.

Motivated by my conversation with Reddy, I decided to cull out the takeaways from our conversation to practise small acts of philanthropy in my day-to-day:

Offer mentorship

Share your skills with someone who’s just starting their career. Take an hour out each day to offer guidance, especially to those without privilege or access. If you’re in a position to share contacts that will help them get a head start, make necessary introductions.

Donate smartly

Often, we have the intention to give but get bogged down by the ‘to which cause’ of it all. The trick is to regularly set aside a small amount for causes you care about each month and try to channel some money towards each of them. Set weekly reminders on your phone that notify you to make your donation for the week to reduce the sting of a chunk of money disappearing from your account in one go. Even micro-donations can go far when done consistently.

Support small and ethical businesses

Where you spend is as powerful as how much you give. Supporting local artisans, women-owned ventures, queer-led initiatives and environmentally conscious brands converts your purchases into intentional and impactful acts. From your morning coffee and your laptop cover to the clothes you wear and the shampoo you use, aligning your purchases with your principles can go a long way.

Use your voice

Reddy may have 1.1 million Instagram followers but she insists that you don’t need that many to make a difference. Whether it’s a post on your private profile, a comment in a group chat or a thoughtful conversation at the dinner table, raising awareness is a form of philanthropy too. When you talk about causes that matter, be it gender equity, mental health, caste privilege or climate justice, you’re not just sharing information, you’re influencing your inner circle and nudging them to think, act and give in ways they might not have known.

Be kind in micro-moments

Philanthropy isn’t always grand or headline-worthy. It’s in tipping your delivery person generously, enrolling your house help’s child in school or buying a meal for someone who looks like they need it without their asking. In a world that moves so fast, taking a moment to be soft, patient or generous is subversive in its own way.

“Every woman you know is fighting a lifelong battle against a single chin hair.” That viral tweet, recently written by stand-up comedian Julia Claire, has garnered more than 41,000 likes and counting—so it sounds like she might be onto something.

Hey, we’ve certainly been there. Sometimes you just happen to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and suddenly there’s a chin hair right there, in all its glory, protruding from the same spot it always mysteriously appears in, even though you could swear you plucked that sucker like a month ago.

Responses to Claire’s tweet may have been just as relatable as the original thought: “You never see it growing. It’s either freshly plucked or 3 inches long,” one person tweeted. “That thing is not of this realm. Dark forces summon it overnight because I cannot accept that it’s been growing all this time and I didn’t notice it until it was Rapunzel length,” another added.

Of course, chin hair (or any facial or body hair, for that matter) is “absolutely normal in everyone” and nothing to be ashamed of, regardless of your gender, Susan Massick, MD, associate professor of dermatology at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.

That said, it’s also totally fine if you prefer to remove any of your body hair, including the ones on your chin that seemingly sprout overnight. Chin hair can seem different and even tougher than other hairs on your face, and there’s a reason for that. The hairs on your body can generally be divided into two camps: vellus hairs, which are usually lighter, thinner, and smaller (peach fuzz); and terminal hairs, which are darker, thicker, and longer.

Your body—including your face and neck—is covered in vellus hair, but sometimes vellus hair can turn into terminal hair, board-certified dermatologist Ife J. Rodney, MD, FAAD, founding director of Eternal Dermatology and Aesthetics and professor of dermatology at Howard University and George Washington University, tells SELF. The culprit, she says, is usually testosterone; everyone has this hormone in their bodies, but some people produce more of it than others and each person’s hair follicles react to varying hormone levels differently. Cis women “mostly have vellus hair with very few thick dark hairs on the face,” Cindy Wassef, MD, assistant professor at the Rutgers Centre for Dermatology, tells SELF.

This was the kind of exhaustion that built up slowly. I was working with the best in the business as a travel writer but the routine had worn me down: mentally, physically and emotionally. I quit my job, deleted the apps and tried to remember what silence felt like. I quit writing altogether. The burnout wasn’t urgent, but something felt off.

A month later, I was packing for a family trip to Madikeri, Coorg. Normally, I’d use the time to chase stories. This time, I left the pitch emails behind. If I were Ethan Hunt in a Mission: Impossible film, I’d have said ‘no’ to any mission that came my way.

Branching out

In Coorg, I spent nine out of ten days in the suite my parents had booked, cocooned in a lush coffee plantation. Travel, which had always fueled my passion for writing, now repelled me. It became more of a chore: one of the prospective risks of making your passion your work. The only time I left was when my mum convinced me to join the family to go forest bathing in Madikeri’s thriving coffee estates. “Come for the vitamin D,” she said. I didn’t expect much.

It’s strange how things open up when you stop trying to optimise every moment. As a travel writer, I’d been trained to look for the highlights, to find the hook. But that day in Coorg, with no agenda, I felt something change.

Following the path, not the plan

We walked for over an hour and I remembered why I pursued travel writing in the first place. Silver oak trees arched above us. The path was damp, slippery and alive. The Japanese call this Shinrin–yoku, also known as forest bathing, only I was not expecting to encounter it in Coorg.

I watched as my dad chatted with our guide over Arabica beans, my mum collected fallen avocados and my sisters battled bugs. I was finally travelling the way I always meant to. Instead of chasing moments, I was inside them. A stray dog started following us. I was scared at first. But the deeper we went into the forest, the more I stayed close to it. We kept walking together, like we’d done this before. Just as the rain stopped, we heard the sharp call of the rare Malabar Grey Hornbill. We spotted it a few minutes later as it flew by.

Photo: Mishri, Arundhati and Rhea Mulani

I didn’t feel the need to make sense of it all. And perhaps that’s why my senses felt awakened, for the first time, in a long time.

Cosmic tip: Make time for yourself, and in that, you will be able to hold space for those you love as well.

You wish you had support and love a certain way, perhaps you reminisce about the old times or even romanticise days where you feel you felt loved, seen and cared for. Perhaps some of you even wish that you were loved differently and this has led you to your present moment where your desire to once be held is now translating into goals that make you feel everything you desired to feel, it may be a money goal that helps you live the life you wanted, or a love goal that will make you feel the way you wished you felt, or anything else. Whatever it is, Scorps, move beyond feeling bound by duty, and move towards what really fits into what gets you to where you wish to be. There are a million ways to save the day, and sacrificing yourself need not be one.

Cosmic tip: Step into the unknown and allow life to surprise you.

As you pull strings from the cosmic mind, you also remember lost fragments of your soul that were once joyous, less concerned about appearances and more focused on feelings. Sag, while you hold on tightly to your money bag right now, remember to also focus on the ethers that are willing to be birthed through you. Simply put, that idea that haunts you, that call to do more with your life, that inkling to formulate a version of your life that still yearns for it to be born, for attention and for your nurturance, waits to come alive. Soon you will be transitioning into a new phase, but before that, bask in the sun and enjoy the warmth that surrounds you.

Cosmic tip: You are pure magic. And when you pour from your heart, everything comes alive.

You’ve held solid ground for so long. You’ve fought battles to keep your spark alive, Capricorn! And now, when you look back, you wonder how you did it. You wonder what drove you, and you wonder how you would get through your present phase in life. And the answer remains the same, the way you found your way earlier will be the same way you will find it going forward, through the cosmic helping hand that opens elevator doors just in time to allow you to make an entrance. Support from across the realms is available to you now. Open your palm wide and receive all that is being blown your way.

“I remember there were red flags where the swimmers could be, and I’d often drift into the surfers’ zone. Some of my earliest swimming memories are of being rescued by surfers — and just wanting to be one of the people who could ride the big waves,” Lisa Haydon shares in a recent Beautyscope episode with Vogue India.

That childhood curiosity has since evolved into something deeper. Today, Haydon, model, actor and avid surfer, spends her days in saltwater, with a swimwear wardrobe that reflects her beachy lifestyle.

For Haydon, swimsuits aren’t reserved for resort holidays or European summers, they’re a daily uniform, worn with the ease of someone who feels at home in the ocean. For the rest of us, bikinis might only see the light of day on vacation, but if you’re looking to embrace the coastal chic lifestyle, take cues from the actor’s sun-soaked wardrobe.

Below, 5 swimsuits from Haydon’s collection, and 5 different ways to style them.

1. With a midi skirt

Instagram.com/lisahaydon

Monsoon perfumes behave differently. What feels warm and enveloping in January turns sour or suffocating by June. A woody amber that once smelled like sophistication can suddenly feel like being trapped inside a cedar closet with no ventilation. Even citrus can go flat if it is too sharp and florals—especially powdery ones—tend to balloon in the humidity like a puffed-up sleeve.

But the right fragrance doesn’t wilt. It adapts. It softens into skin, plays well with moisture and leaves behind something clean, green or radiant. This season calls for notes that feel like fresh air: gentle citrus that slices through the fug, florals that bloom lightly in the rain, green accords that echo petrichor, aquatics that smell like sea mist and soft woods that warm up without weighing you down.

These are monsoon perfumes that work with the weather. Here are 11 options that perform beautifully in damp air, turning the season into a sensory asset instead of a challenge.

CHANEL PARIS-ÉDIMBOURG

A perfume that smells like a misty retreat: wet pine needles, cool air, the brush of tweed against skin. This is green done the CHANEL way: aromatic juniper, lemon and cypress open the scene, before drying down into dry cedar and smoky vetiver.

Kayali Fleur Majesty Rose Royale

A high-gloss floral wrapped in velvet fruit and rose centifolia. It opens with juicy pear and sweet peach, tempered by peony, violet wood and ambrox. The base of vetiver and musk keeps things plush, not powdery. Rose is the star, but the overall effect is a low, slow hum of sensuality—warm, feminine and monsoon-proof.

Parfums de Marly Palatine

This one smells like confidence under pressure. Mandarin, bergamot and pear open bright and clean, before violet petals and sandalwood take over with velvety assurance. The drydown is woody and light, not too sweet and never too sharp.

YSL Libre L’Eau Nue

An alcohol-free scent that feels like citrus-laced body oil after a swim. Green mandarin, bergamot zest and Moroccan orange blossom melt into a water-based formula that hydrates and blooms on contact. Breezy, luminous and perfect for sticky weather.

Issey Miyake A Drop D’Issey Essentielle

This vegetal-floral feels like following a water droplet through a sunlit garden—crisp leaves, magnolia in the air and soft musk at the end. It’s green without being grassy, floral without the fluff. A drop-shaped bottle for a perfume that wears like light.

Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt

Salt on your skin, sage in the air, waves breaking on distant cliffs. This isn’t aquatic in the obvious way. It’s wind-worn and mineral-rich, lifted by ambrette seed and grounded by woods. It’s a cult-favourite for a reason.

Maison Margiela Replica From The Garden

If you’ve ever crushed a tomato leaf between your fingers in the middle of a rainstorm, you’ll get this. Green mandarin and patchouli anchor the vegetal sharpness, while geranium adds depth. It’s raw, earthy and alive; the smell of soil under nails and something growing.

Versace Pour Femme Dylan Blue

This is fruit made structured; blackcurrant, apple and peach meet jasmine, icy rose and smooth woods. The base of patchouli and musk gives it body, but never bulk. It’s the kind of scent that smells like effort without showing it.

Xerjoff Dama Bianca

A powdery dream of vanilla, kumquat, orris and white florals that clings like soft fabric to damp skin. It’s romantic and sweet without getting syrupy. Malt, violet, lily of the valley and ambrette turn this into something otherworldly.

Amouage Reflection Woman

Green leaves, water violet and freesia tumbling into magnolia and ylang-ylang. The base is a polished swirl of amber, sandalwood and cedar. Rain or no rain, this one lives long on skin.

Louis Vuitton Afternoon Swim

Pure citrus joy. A sunburst of orange, bergamot and mandarin, softened by ginger and ambregris. It’s juicy without being juvenile. Wears like a cold drink when the air feels heavy and settles into a trail that’s addictive.

Lisa Haydon remembers her first lipstick. A maroon Revlon bullet, borrowed from her mother’s makeup drawer and swiped on with the optimism of someone still learning what womanhood might feel like. It’s a memory she mentions offhand, but it stays with you, because it says everything about the kind of beauty she returns to now. Easy and unconcerned with perfection.

“I think my relationship with beauty has changed with age,” she says. “When I started out in my teens and twenties, I was probably harsher on my body or just my expectations of myself.” Now, she says, there’s a shift. The sense of urgency has been shed as she started following the rhythms of her body.

On set for her July-August cover shoot, Haydon is all long limbs, slicked hair, skin that reads more like beach holiday than highlighter. Off-camera, her rituals are similarly minimal. “To be honest with you, my beauty rituals are so basic,” she says. “I love things that multitask.” It’s not a rejection of beauty. She no longer sees it as something to be constantly managed.

Much of that shift came with motherhood. “Now that my youngest is four and in school for the full day, I can actually go grocery shopping in peace,” she says. “Or do an hour-long workout. Just little moments in the day where I’m not being pulled in many different directions.” The logistics aren’t dramatic, but the impact is real. Having time to move through a task without interruption. Finishing a thought. Choosing your own pace.

Those “little moments” are threaded with purpose. She walks almost daily—“just a long moment to breathe”—and does Lagree Pilates regularly. “It’s all about slow, agonising movements… and it feels meditative because I make the effort to really focus.” Haydon doesn’t describe her routine with a tone of reverence that often accompanies wellness. It’s more matter-of-fact, like brushing your teeth.

There’s a discipline to it all: early to bed, early to rise and appreciation for that one hour in the morning when the world hasn’t started yet. “It just gives you the space to feel as though your life is your own,” she says. “No stress, it’s silent.” She pauses, then adds: “I feel like for me, that sets my whole day.”