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Balance Serum

$92.00

Option

Size

1 oz lasts 3–4 months with twice‑daily use due to our ultra‑concentrated, nutrient‑dense formula.

A regulating tremella mushroom serum (cucumber blueberry & enzymes) that harmonizes oil, hydration, and sensitivity without disruption.
Your skin finds its middle ground.
A nervous system skincare™ formula designed for sensitive women.

SKU: BAL-SERUM

At a glance

Niacinamide · Zinc PCAFragrance-FreeEWG 2

HydrationBalanced

MinimalMaximum

ActivityBalanced

CalmingActive

ScentNone added
WhenAM & PM
UseSerum

i. The Signal

When your skin can’t seem to settle.

Some skin lives between extremes. Shiny in one place and tight in another. Calm one day and reactive the next. And you have probably learned by now that the products sold to fix it swing hard in one direction and leave you more unsettled than before.

Balance Serum was made for the middle ground.

ii. The Ritual

Your skin finds its middle ground.

A cucumber and aloe serum carrying 2.5% niacinamide and 1% zinc PCA, with licorice root and a bamboo bioferment. It meets combination skin softly, with no acids or enzymes in it and nothing to activate. Your skin finds its middle ground.

The texture is a lightweight, silky serum that absorbs cleanly and layers easily. A few drops, morning and night, is the whole ritual. Gentle enough for daily use on the most changeable skin.

Made for skin that

feels shiny in some places, tight in others

shifts between calm and reactive

reacts to strong balancing or mattifying actives

wants a steady, evening-out daily serum

iii. The Standard

How this serum is built.

Balance Serum is built on cucumber water and aloe, with 2.5% niacinamide, 1% zinc PCA, licorice root, and a bamboo bioferment. Those were chosen because they even the look of changeable skin at a level reactive skin tolerates comfortably. The exfoliating route is left out on purpose, so there are no acids and no enzymes here.

Niacinamide 2.5% · Zinc PCA 1%Two skin-familiar ingredients, at levels you can check on the label.

EWG 2 · a short listA short, transparent formula with a clean EWG rating.

Fragrance-free & EO-freeNo synthetic fragrance and no essential oils.

Properly preserved · zero wasteA certified preservation system, in a refillable, lidded bottle.

The hero · Niacinamide and zinc

A closer look at the pairNiacinamide 2.5% · Zinc PCA 1%

Two skin-familiar ingredients, at levels you can check against the label. Niacinamide at 2.5% and zinc PCA at 1%, chosen together for the look of even tone and settled shine on skin that swings. Neither one exfoliates, so this can be used twice a day and there is nothing to recover from afterward. One thing worth knowing: zinc PCA is the water-soluble zinc salt. It is not zinc oxide, and it offers no sun protection.

A little goes a long way. One ounce lasts 3 to 4 months with twice-daily use.

Sensory Notes

A lightweight, silky serum that absorbs cleanly. The first touch is fresh and fluid, never tacky. It sinks in fast and leaves skin feeling comfortable and even. There is no tingle and no sting, and nothing that asks your system to brace.

Initial feelFresh, fluid, and silky. Never tacky.

AbsorptionSinks in fast, with no tack and nothing to wait for.

LayeringTakes a butter or cream straight over the top.

FinishComfortable and even. Balanced, never shiny or tight.

OverallA quiet, settling layer for skin that cannot quite land.

Scent: none added. Only the soft, fresh note of the cucumber and aloe base. No synthetic fragrance, no essential oils.

How to Use

After your essence

Use on clean, slightly damp skin, after your essence and before your butter or cream.

Place your hands first

Press a few drops between your palms, then rest your hands over your face for a breath before you move. Let your system register the warmth and know what is coming. It is a small thing, and it is the part that lets your shoulders drop.

Press it in, slowly

Pat gently over the face and neck. A few drops is enough, and a little goes a long way. No rubbing, no pulling.

Morning and night

Use twice daily, AM and PM, as your steady, evening-out layer.

Seal it in

Follow with a facial butter or cream to hold the serum and the hydration in place.

Where it sits in your routine

This is step three. Cleanse, then an essence, then this pressed in while skin is still damp, then the Ceramide Barrier Cream or the Defy Face Butter over the top to seal it. If you would rather have it decided for you, the Steady Ritual is exactly that sequence: the Hydrate Cleansing Bar, the Clarity Essence, the Balance Serum, and the Ceramide Barrier Cream.

Once or twice a week the Cacao Renewal Polish or the Radiance Mask goes in after cleansing. That step is optional, and the routine works without it.

Care & Keeping

How long a bottle lasts

One ounce runs 3 to 4 months at twice-daily use. A few drops covers face and neck. This is a press-in step rather than a slather-on one, so the amount you need is smaller than the habit suggests.

Whether it is preserved, and why

Yes, and it has to be. This is a water-based formula, and water is what makes a preservative necessary. Without one it would not be safe to keep on a bathroom shelf for months.

The system is gluconolactone and sodium benzoate, both ECOCERT-certified. It carries no benzyl alcohol. Benzyl alcohol is a declarable fragrance allergen, and its absence here is the reason this one is called fragrance-free with no caveat attached.

Storing it, and keeping it clean

Cool, out of direct sun, closed between uses. Because it is water-based, dispense onto clean hands rather than dipping wet fingers into the bottle, and keep it off the wet edge of the sink. A preserved product is protected, and it still does better when you are not adding tap water to it twice a day.

If it arrives warm, and when to stop

Warmth in transit is normal, and a hot mailbox is nothing to worry about here. A water-light formula has nothing to melt. Leave it somewhere cool for an hour and it will be exactly as it should be.

What to watch for instead is a change in the formula itself. Separation or cloudiness that was not there when you opened it, or a smell that has shifted. Any of those and you should stop using it and tell us, and we will replace it. On a water-based product that is the honest answer.

Ingredients

A cucumber and aloe base carrying niacinamide, zinc PCA, and a bamboo bioferment. Every ingredient earns its place.

Niacinamide & Zinc PCA2.5% and 1%

Two skin-familiar ingredients, chosen together for the look of even tone and settled shine. Neither exfoliates, so there is nothing to activate. Zinc PCA is the water-soluble zinc salt, not zinc oxide.

Cucumber & AloeOrganic hydrosols

A fresh, soothing base that gives the serum its light, calming feel.

Bamboo BiofermentLactobacillus · Arundinaria

A gentle ferment for a conditioned, even-looking finish. Ferment-derived, so see the note below if you are sensitive to ferments.

Licorice RootBotanical

A classic botanical chosen for an even, comfortable look on changeable skin.

Snow MushroomThroughout the line

A botanical prized for holding water against the skin, for a plump, comfortable finish.

Full Ingredient List

Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Water*+, Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water*, Propanediol, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Lactobacillus/Arundinaria Gigantea Ferment Filtrate, Gluconolactone****, Zinc PCA, [ VEGAN SILK INCI, TO CONFIRM ], Sodium Benzoate****, Tremella Fuciformis (Snow Mushroom) Sporocarp Extract, Sodium Phytate.

*Organic ****ECOCERT-certified +Ethically Sourced

EWG-Rated 2
Fragrance-Free
Essential Oil-Free
Zero-Waste Bottle
No Parabens, Dyes, or Talc

Please Note

Contains a bamboo bioferment and snow mushroom. If you are sensitive to mould, yeast, or ferments, read the transparency section below before you order.

Formulated for reactive, easily-overwhelmed skin. We suggest a patch test on the inner forearm, left 24 hours, before facial use.

For external use only. Keep away from the eyes.

Indiefog products are cosmetics, made to cleanse, soften, and comfort skin, not to treat, cure, or prevent any condition.

Because we prioritize freshness and small-batch production, the list above may occasionally vary from your packaging. The ingredient list printed on your bottle always reflects the exact formula inside.

Community Access

Your purchase unlocks free access to Rooted & Well™, our holistic community with monthly founder sessions, journaling prompts, meditations, and practitioner-supported resources.

Sensitivity Transparency

A gentle balancing layer for reactive skin, and open about every ingredient.

I formulate for bodies that react to almost everything, including my own. So I build for less, and I name all of it.

Balance Serum helps changeable, can’t-quite-settle skin look even and comfortable using 2.5% niacinamide and 1% zinc PCA on a cucumber and aloe base, with no acids or enzymes in it. It is truly fragrance-free and essential oil-free. If you are navigating an autoimmune condition, MCAS, eczema, psoriasis, or combination skin that reacts to strong actives, this is balance with nothing sharp in it. Here is the full picture.

Why it’s made for reactive skin

Truly fragrance-freeNo synthetic fragrance, no essential oils, and no benzyl alcohol. Nothing scented at all.

Non-exfoliating by designNo acids and no enzymes. Nothing here strips the skin and nothing rebounds afterward.

EWG 2 · a short listA short, transparent formula with a clean EWG rating.

Gently preservedA naturally-derived ECOCERT preservation system, with no benzyl alcohol and nothing scented.

Truly fragrance-free

This is one of the products I can call fragrance-free without a caveat. There is no synthetic fragrance and no essential oils, and the naturally-derived preservation system contains none of the benzyl alcohol that, as a declarable fragrance allergen, keeps our water-based butters from carrying that claim. The soft, fresh note is simply the cucumber and aloe base itself.

Every ingredient, named

Here is everything in the bottle, nothing hidden and nothing cherry-picked. It is built on niacinamide and zinc PCA over a cucumber and aloe base, with a bamboo bioferment and snow mushroom. The notes below are written for anyone with a mould, yeast, or ferment sensitivity, a legume allergy, or a melon-family allergy, so you can decide with the full facts in hand.

Open the full ingredient list

Niacinamide & Zinc PCA2.5% and 1% · hero

The two ingredients doing the evening-out, at levels printed on the label. Neither exfoliates. Zinc PCA is the water-soluble zinc salt and not zinc oxide, so nothing here is a mineral sunscreen and nothing offers sun protection.

Bamboo Bioferment & Snow MushroomLactobacillus/Arundinaria Gigantea Ferment Filtrate, Tremella

A gentle ferment and a polysaccharide mushroom, for a conditioned, cushioned feel. Ferment- and fungal-derived, so this is the note for anyone with a mould, yeast, or ferment sensitivity.

Cucumber & Aloe BaseCucumis Sativus, Aloe Barbadensis

The fresh, soothing base. Cucumber is in the melon (Cucurbitaceae) family, named here for anyone with a melon-family allergy, though reactions are uncommon.

Licorice RootGlycyrrhiza Glabra

A soothing botanical for an even, comfortable look. Licorice is in the pea (Fabaceae) family, named here for anyone with a legume allergy.

Texture & preservationPropanediol, glycerin, gluconolactone, sodium benzoate, sodium phytate

Texture, humectants, and a naturally-derived ECOCERT preservation system. It is the reason this one can be called fragrance-free, with no benzyl alcohol.

That is everything in the bottle. Nothing hidden, nothing implied. If a particular ingredient gives you pause, the bamboo ferment and the snow mushroom especially if you are sensitive to mould or yeast, patch test a small area first. You know your body best.

If you are navigating a condition, use this alongside your doctors, never instead. Balance Serum is a cosmetic. It is made to soften and comfort skin, and it does not treat, cure, or prevent any condition.

Make it a guided ritual

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