At Best of Best Review, we honour brands that aren’t just pushing new products, they’re pushing boundaries. That’s why we’re proud to name 41° South Glow as the Best Breakthrough Skincare Brand in Australia of 2025. Founded by cosmetic nurse Rachel Watchorn, this bold, barrier-repair brand is redefining skincare through truth, transparency, and real results.

Rachel’s journey didn’t begin in a marketing boardroom, it began in the treatment room. With over nine years of clinical experience treating thousands of faces, she began noticing a disturbing pattern: clients arriving with red, raw, overly sensitised skin, often the result of being over-prescribed retinol and aggressive actives. These weren’t isolated cases, they were the new norm. She saw women of all ages caught in a never-ending loop of 10-step routines, expensive serums, and skin confusion. And she’d had enough.

“I saw a beauty industry profiting off insecurity and misinformation,” Rachel says. “People were being sold miracles that made their skin worse, not better.”

So, she decided to break the cycle. Rachel stepped away from trends and created something smarter, simpler, and genuinely transformative, Glow, a single serum that does the work of an entire skincare regimen. Powered by science and empathy, Glow is a one-step formula that targets 16 of the most common skin concerns including dullness, dryness, pigmentation, fine lines, uneven texture, congestion, and inflammation. But what truly sets it apart is what it leaves out, there’s no retinol, no barrier-stripping acids, and no gimmicks.

Rachel’s decision to omit retinol wasn’t made lightly. She’s one of the few professionals in the industry publicly challenging its overuse, particularly on young or already damaged skin. “Retinol has become the industry’s default answer, even when it’s not the right one,” she explains. “I see so many girls come in with red, raw, damaged skin because they were told they ‘need’ retinol. They don’t. They need barrier repair.”

Her approach, rooted in real-world results, not hypothetical claims, has resonated with women who are tired of overcomplicating their skincare. Glow is designed to be both potent and gentle, using a blend of emerging, skin-loving ingredients like peptides, snail filtrate, CBD extract, aloe, ceramides, and vitamins B and C. Each ingredient is chosen to soothe, restore, hydrate, and strengthen the skin barrier without triggering irritation. It’s a product made not for idealised skin, but for real skin, sun-damaged, hormonal, perimenopausal, inflamed, and it works.

But Glow is more than just a formula. It’s a philosophy. Rachel believes that great skincare shouldn’t require a degree in chemistry or cost a small fortune. “I didn’t want to create another luxury serum that only influencers could afford,” she says. “I wanted results, not marketing hype, so I built one serum that does what most routines take 10 steps to achieve.” And she’s living proof of its power. At 48, Rachel confidently says she’s ageing backwards, and she’s done it without retinol or Botox.

That lived experience is what makes 41° South Glow such a breakout brand. Rachel isn’t selling fantasy or filters, she’s sharing what actually works. Her no-BS approach speaks to a growing generation of women who are rejecting the pressure to keep up with impossible beauty standards. Instead, they’re learning to understand their skin, trust their instincts, and prioritise healing over perfection.

What makes this brand truly breakthrough is its ability to merge clinical insight with emotional intelligence. It’s skincare designed by someone who’s been in your shoes, and your skin. Rachel isn’t guessing what people need. She’s treated them. She’s seen the trauma that overuse of actives can cause. And instead of feeding into that cycle, she built an exit route.

With 41° South Glow, Rachel has created more than a serum, she’s created a movement. A movement rooted in simplicity, science, and self-trust. For those who have been told they need more, more steps, more downtime, more products, Rachel’s message is refreshingly simple: you don’t. You just need the right one.

Congratulations to 41° South Glow, Best Breakthrough Skincare Brand in Australia of 2025, for changing not just the way we treat our skin, but the way we think about it.

Learn more at www.41southluxuryelixir.com or follow along on Instagram and Facebook.