Meet the 2PY Serum: What It Is, Who It's For, and What's in It
The 2PY Serum is a lightweight PHA serum for sensitive skin, built around PHA, papain and yuzu. Here is who it was made for, what is in the bottle, and how to use it.
The 2PY Serum is a lightweight exfoliating serum for sensitive skin, built around three ingredients: PHA, papain and yuzu. It comes in a 50 ml (1.7 fl oz) dropper bottle, costs $19.95, and has no added fragrance, no parabens and no silicones. It is the first of the two Parang Blue products and step one of the two-step routine.
That is the short version. The longer one is below, written for the person who reads the back of the box before the front.
What the 2PY Serum is
Most exfoliating serums are built to be noticed. You feel them go on, sometimes you feel them for an hour afterward, and the tingle is sold to you as proof that something is happening. The 2PY Serum goes the other way. It is a PHA serum that works slowly and quietly at the surface, and it was designed to be used morning and night rather than once or twice a week.
The texture is thin and watery, not slippery or greasy. It sinks in within about a minute and leaves a satin finish rather than a film, which means a moisturizer goes on over it without pilling.
One reviewer from The Calm Skin Project described it like this:
"It's ultra-hydrating, water-based, and literally feels like a drink of water for your skin. Zero oiliness."
Gifted, The Calm Skin Project
Who it was made for
You probably know the pattern. A new product goes on, nothing happens for the first two days, and then around hour forty your cheeks start to feel tight and warm. The bottle goes into the back of the drawer with the others. Most of them are close to full.
Somewhere along the way you stopped trusting the word "gentle," because it turned out to be a marketing word more often than a formulation one. You started reading ingredient lists instead.
The 2PY Serum was made for that reader. It is not a strong product and it is not trying to be one. It is the step you reach for when you want texture to smooth out and you cannot afford the two days of redness that usually comes along with exfoliation.
It was also made for one specific person first: the founder's daughter, whose skin reacted to nearly everything she tried, including ingredients most people consider mild. That story gets its own post later in this series.
What's in the bottle
The formula is short on purpose. Here is how it breaks down by job.
| Group | Ingredients | What they are there for |
|---|---|---|
| Exfoliating | PHA, papain, yuzu | Loosening dull surface cells, gently |
| Soothing | Centella asiatica, madecassoside, asiaticoside, allantoin, aloe | The calming half of the formula |
| Moisturizing | Panthenol and five peptides | Moisture and the feel of the skin surface |
PHA is a polyhydroxy acid. It belongs to the same broad family as the acids most exfoliating serums are built on, and it is the one formulators tend to choose when the skin in question has not done well with the others. In this serum it does the main work of loosening dead surface cells.
Papain is the enzyme from papaya. It works on a different principle from an acid, breaking down the proteins that hold dull surface cells in place.
Yuzu is an East Asian citrus. Its extract rounds out the exfoliating side of the formula, and it is also the source of the faint natural scent in the bottle. Nothing has been added on top of it.
Pairing an acid with an enzyme and a citrus extract means none of the three has to carry the job alone at a high level. That is the whole design idea behind the serum.
The five peptides are copper tripeptide-1, acetyl hexapeptide-8, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 and palmitoyl tripeptide-1. They are short chains of amino acids, included for the feel and condition of the skin surface. They are not there to do anything dramatic, and we would rather say so plainly.
Not in the bottle: added fragrance, parabens, silicones, mineral oils, dyes and PEG. The serum is vegan and is not tested on animals.
The patch test result
The 2PY Serum went through a primary skin irritation patch test using the Finn Chamber method, with 24 hours of occlusion, read by a dermatologist. It scored 0.00 and was rated "No irritation (Excellent)." The certificate number is HM-IR0084-76.
That is a result on a test panel under controlled conditions, not a prediction about your skin. Patch test on a small area before using it on your whole face. If anything stings, stop.
How to use it
Morning and night, on clean skin. Two or three drops, pressed in with your fingertips rather than rubbed. Follow with a moisturizer while the serum is still slightly damp. Ours is the Hydrasnow Cream, which was designed to sit on top of it.
If your skin has been reacting to everything lately, start every other night for the first week and build from there. Nothing in the formula depends on daily use to work, so there is no reason to rush.
Quick answers
Is the 2PY Serum a strong exfoliant?
No. It is a gentle PHA serum built for daily use on sensitive skin. The exfoliating work is shared between PHA, papain and yuzu so that none of them has to be used at a high level, and a calming group of cica ingredients, allantoin and aloe sits alongside them.
Does the 2PY Serum have a scent?
There is no added fragrance. What you may faintly notice is the yuzu extract, which is in the formula for its own sake. Nothing has been layered on top to cover a base smell.
Do I need the cream as well?
No. The serum is a complete product by itself. The two Parang Blue products were made as a pair because the founder's daughter needed both steps, and many people who use one end up using both, but you can add the serum to the routine you already have.
Where to find it
The 2PY Serum is $19.95 for 50 ml. If you want the full routine, The Two-Step Set puts the serum and the Hydrasnow Cream together for $35.90, ten percent less than buying them separately. Tomorrow's post covers the cream.
