Review of my top 3 most used autumn/winter skincare products in 2018/19.
Spring is finally here, so it's time to talk about my most used skincare products I've been relying on last autumn and winter. Most of the time I'm trying at least a couple new products in each category; for a product to get mentioned in top 3 means that it survived considerable competition and made a difference for my skin health. I've noticed that my skincare routines are quite different in cold and hot weather, so I decided to divide the yearly favorites post into two seasonal favorite posts. As
usual, I purchased all the products myself, and all opinions are my own;
YMMV.
Last several months were rather stressful for my skin. To start with, I had a terrible reaction to one of new foam cleansers I've been trying, and I ended up with completely ruined skin barrier and a new allergy to go with that; sadly, now I have to avoid Cocoamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB), and some of my old favorite face, body, and hair products are not working for me anymore. Add to it a lot of stress and a few big flare-ups that it caused, and the usual windy and cold New York weather, and you can see that my skin was in dire need of calming and soothing ingredients in all my products.
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| My top 3 most used cleansers last autumn/winter: Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 cleanser, IOPE Pore Reset Cleansing oil, and Cow Brand Mutenka Facial Wash (Normal/Oily skin). |
After the CAPB disaster (I'm not going to get into details here, as I'm talking about it at length in my review of new second cleansers that is almost ready to get published) I ended up relying on a couple very mild low-pH second cleansers: Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 cleanser and Cow Brand Mutenka Facial Wash (Normal/Oily skin). I can't say enough good things about both foam cleansers; they're mild enough to be used during a flare-up when my skin overreacts to almost anything. Mutenka is the gentlest unfragranced foam ever that sacrifices some of its cleansing power to be super kind to my skin; it's been my go-to morning cleanser. Innisfree is perfectly balanced, mild but powerful foam that is gentle enough to be used on sensitized skin; mostly I used it in my evening routines, but it's mild enough to be used in the mornings. My new HG IOPE Pore Reset cleansing oil was a mainstay in my routine (see my review here); I was using a couple other first cleansers, but only to finish them off. I will definitely repurchase all three; perhaps I should say "keep repurchasing" when talking about Innisfree, since I already got a backup for it - the packaging was changed, but the ingredient list is the same.
I rely heavily on toners in warmer weather to provide lightweight hydration without clogging my pores, but they have room in my cold weather routines as well. P50 PIGM 400 is my main acid peel product in any weather; I had to take a break from peeling products when my skin was at its worst just to let my skin barrier to heal up, but I got back to using P50 PIGM 400 as soon as I was able to, and I did notice a difference. I might switch back to either P50 or P50 1970 (with or without phenol, not sure yet), since P50 PIGM 400 has vitamin C in it, and my skin seems to hate it with a passion; there are precious few vitC-based products that I can use safely, so it might be a good idea to limit my skin's exposure to vitamin C in general. Scinic First Treatment essence is a repurchase, it's a perfect mild watery galactomyces-based essence with minimal ingredients list (cosdna here); it does great job combining mild exfoliating with hydration. I have a couple other watery first essences ready for my 7-layers summer routines, so i might wait a little bit before repurchasing after this bottle runs out, but I'm definitely going to come back to it at some point.
Missha Super Aqua Ultra Water-full Control emulsion was in my last "end of the year favorites" list (you can see the post here), and it's safe to say that I'm going to keep repurchasing it until it's discontinued (which hopefully will not happen, because why would anyone discontinue a perfect product, right?). I never had any adverse reactions to it (you can check out its ingredients on cosdna here). It works as a perfect intermediary between whatever serums/ampoules/oils etc I used in my routine and following sunscreens; I never experienced any pilling or drying out when I was using it. Basically, it just layers seamlessly on top of the stickiest, tacky-to-the-touch, slow-drying worst offenders and makes them play nice with whatever sunscreen I pick for the day. I do try new emulsions now and then, but I always come back to this one.
I'm going to cheat and list 4 products for serums/ampoules/actives section; it's literally impossible to leave one out, since I relied on all 4 rather heavily. The History of Whoo Contouring massage mask is not technically a serum or ampoule, but I believe it should be mentioned as such for oily skins. I used it mostly as a rescue treatment right after toner when my skin looked and felt its worst. I think it's one of the most under-rated THoW products that hardly ever gets mentioned by bloggers or Reddit users. It belongs to the Jinyul line that targets 40+ mature, dry skin demographics (official US seller here). Most of the products in Jinyul line are too heavy for my oily skin; however, this mask is the exception. It has heavy, balm-like texture (see full ingredients on cosdna here), but it sinks in almost immediately; when I had 5 minutes to massage it in with my Hada Crie massager or one of mechanical massagers, I had literally no residue left on my skin (you can check out the swatches in full review I did a few month ago here). Also, I can follow it up with the either emulsion or a cream without any stickiness or products pilling. It transforms dry, dull, suffering skin into "I slept 8 hours today, and I had time to exercise this week" glowy, perfectly hydrated skin, and the effect lasts about 8-10 hours. I don't use it on consecutive days, it's more of a must-have miracle potion; I'm definitely going to keep repurchasing it.
Accoje Vital In Jeju Time Repair serum is another under-rated, hardly ever mentioned K-beauty product. I picked it on a whim when one of my favorite eBay Korean sellers started carrying the brand, and I'm glad I did. It's formulated for hydrating and whitening with quite a few plant extracts (cosdna here), and it worked for me. I can't say I loved its texture - it's on a heavy side, especially for a serum - but I made it work, and my skin seemed happy with it; I've noticed some brightening in a couple months or so. It did not absorb as fast as Purito or some other serums, but it never clogged my pores or caused any adverse reactions. Truskini did a great job showcasing the serum's texture here; such nice short videos are most helpful! Overall, it was worth waiting extra few minutes for the serum to get absorbed, and I enjoyed using it; I might repurchase it next winter, but I think it might be too heavy to get fully absorbed in warmer weather, when my skin is generally oilier and gets clogged by heaver skincare products.
I reviewed Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum in great detail here. I think it's one of the best peptide-based serums I've ever tried, and the fact that it includes 49% of Centella Asiatica extract (cosdna here) makes it perfect for oily sensitive skin. Packaging leaves a lot to be desired, but in general, packaging, either good or bad, is almost never a deal-breaker for me. HG, will keep repurchasing.
LabNo Idebenone serum deserves a separate detailed review sometimes soon. Idebenone, a synthetic, more potent form of coenzyme Q-10 (see full description on DrugBank here), used to be patent protected in skincare; the patent expired recently, and the market is having a heavy influx of various idebenone-based products. It's a powerful anti-oxidant, so I'm not surprised it's trending right now. LabNo was one of the first K-beauty brands to come up with idebenone-based serum. It has clean, sensitive-skin-friendly ingredients lists, like most of LabNo products (cosdna here), and it's not too heavy to be used on oily skin. I was using it in my evening routine right after retinoid, and it was gentle enough to be used when my skin was acting up; overall, I think it contributed quite a bit to a long, painful process of restoring my skin barrier. I've a few unopened serums that I bought at the same time as LabNo, so I think I'm going to give them a try first; but I'm definitely going to come back to this serum sometimes soon, and quite possibly try more of LabNo Idebenone line - I've noticed they have a toner and a cream listed on their website.
I got Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched Eye cream after I tried their sunscreen, Ultra Moisturizing sun cream (my review here), and it fully answered my expectations. I actually purchased almost the whole Phyto Natural line, but the eye cream is my absolute favorite. Like most Kicho products, it has nice clean ingredients list with various plant extracts and niacinamide (cosdna here). It's balm-like in texture, but it absorbs beautifully without leaving any greasy sheen on my eyelids (I'm applying eye creams on the whole periorbital area, so usually the cream covers everything from 1/4 inch above my eyebrows down to the zygomatic bone). The best part is that this eye cream is making my eyelashes and eyebrows grow faster and longer; the effect is not permanent, as it happens with most grow serums and such, and I noticed some fallout when I stopped using this eye cream for 3-4 weeks to test another one. Sometimes I put it on my eyebrows just to nourish them, since I prefer using eye serums or treatments under most sunscreens to avoid caking up multiple products. It's a huge jar, so I'm having difficulties finishing it before it expires; I will definitely keep repurchasing it for as long as Kicho's making it!
Elensilia EGF Renovage Youth Activating Eye cream (cosdna here) was an impulse purchase; I noticed a couple of Elensilia eye creams listed by one of my favorite K-beauty sellers on Ebay, and since they were both under $20 or so, I decided to try both as a part of budget-friendly eye cream experiment. Recently quite a few Korean skincare brands came up with stellar eye creams that utilize newer western beauty ingredients in K-beauty clean ingredients formulation concept, and they're managing to keep the products super budget friendly. There is an abundance of great K-beauty eye creams on the market, such as Purebess Galactomyces 80 (a dupe of Procter&Gamble's SKII eye cream, my review of it here); AHC Eye Cream for Face, a South Korea's bestseller that gets reformulated new versions every year or so it seems (I just love their commercial with Anne Hathaway) and reminds me strongly of Estee Lauder Advanced Night repair (can't say it's a dupe since the ingredients differ quite a bit and get changed often, but it seems to have the same vibe for me); Secret Key Starting Treatment Eye cream, and great many others that are using various peptides, proteins, and patented ingredients from leading western R&D centers. Apparently, Elensilia is well-known in South Korea and some of their products had been home-shopping bestsellers for several years, but it's hardly ever mentioned by English-speaking bloggers. The brand uses quite a few of French R&D suppliers such as Sollice Biotech (website here) and Sederma, known for Matrixil complex (website here). This particular eye cream has both multiple peptides and EGF among active ingredients (full ingredients lists on cosdna here), so I just had to try it, and I was not disappointed. In texture it reminds me of HERA Signia eye treatment, perhaps just a bit lighter, and it absorbs just as fast. It was perfect for layering under sunscreens in the morning; also, I used it quite often as a peptide treatment on my nasolabial folds and on my neck area. It's supposed to be used in 6 months after opening; since there is too much product to use it on eye area only, and a little goes a long way, I can see myself using it as a lightweight face moisturizer in hot summer weather. Right now I'm using another Elensilia eye cream I got from the same Ebay seller, and I like it too, so I'm definitely going to either repurchase them or try something similar from Elensilia if they'll get discontinued. However, I've quite a few eye creams waiting for their turn, so I probably wait until I'm done with a least a few I have at hand before shopping for more.
I bought Skyn Iceland Brightening Eye serum as a part of peptide-based skincare haul, and at first I was surprised how small the bottle is; I thought I'll use it up in less than a month, but it lasted about 4-5 months for me. It's a plant-based lightweight serum that has both Centella Asiatica and chamomile extracts among top 10 ingredients (cosdna here), along with 4 different peptides. It claims brightening and plumping effects, and it's supposed to be used on under-eye areas only, since obviously not many people would enjoy extra plumped eyelids. I would strongly suggest using the smallest amount possible; I started with 1 drop (the bottle comes with a dropper) for both eyes, and it took a long while to absorb fully. Personally I find 1/3 of a drop more than enough for both eyes. I put it on immediately after applying toner, since many peptide products absorb better on damp skin. I should mention that the skin in my eye area is extremely sensitive, so every flare-up and seasonal allergy give me zombie-like appearance with desiccated, grayish eye areas and even under-eye bags... In short, I need a lot of help quite often, despite not having that many wrinkles. On its own the serum gave me some moderate improvement; but a few months ago I decided to try Heimish Hydrogel Eye patches, and the patches radically improved the serum's performance. I put them on either right after I apply the serum, or after the serum and whatever face essence/ampoule I'm using, and usually I don't have to wait more than 10 minutes in the morning to get my under-eye area all smoothed and radiant. The effect is not permanent, but it lasts long enough (from 7pm-7.30am until 4pm-5pm on most days), and I'm OK with that. I'm not going to try fillers, and in absence of serious professional interventions like lasers and/or fillers nothing will give me any permanent results. Will repurchase when I'm done with current eye serums.
I don't always use creams under my sunscreens; when my skin is in its healthy-ish state, an emulsion is sufficient to keep my skin hydrated the whole day. However, it was not the case this winter, and I was relying heavily on both Bonajour and Uriage creams to calm down and soften my skin. Bonajour Peptide Waterfall cream is lighter in texture than Uriage, and it absorbs faster; it's actually a gel-cream, despite the name, and I prefer it to many other gel moisturizers I've tried so far. It never pills under my sunscreens, it's easy to layer, it has nice, clean, and minimal ingredients list (cosdna here), and I never had any adverse reactions to it, even when my skin was mad at the world. I find that gel-creams work better for me than the traditional gel moisturizers, and I'm definitely going to try a repackaged version sometimes soon.
Uriage Roseliane Anti-redness cream is heavier in texture compared to Bonajour; it's a classic French pharmacy cream, and I've been relying on it for years (see my detailed review of it here). It's light enough to be used under any sunscreen, even very moisturizing ones, it calms down my skin, and it layers beautifully over all my serums/ampoules. It's less famous than Bioderma anti-redness line, but it works better for me. Recentrly I've been experimenting with chamomile-based anti-redness products, and I have to admit I like them a lot, but I'm going to keep repurchasing my old reliable Uriage cream, thank you Amazon for almost always having it in stock...
Differin Adapalene gel is not technically a cream, but since I almost always skip creams in my evening routine in favor of sleeping masks, it's the closest thing, and I will mention it as such. I had to take a break from it for a few weeks when my skin barrier was at its worst, but usually I try to use it every day. It does not dry out my skin (cosdna here), it seems to help with congested pores and breakouts, and there is quite a bit of new research on its long-term anti-aging properties (it's less researched than tretinoin, but we're getting there); it's enough reasons for me to keep using it.
Finally, there are my best finds and/or most beloved products of the season (in no particular order): LabNo Idebenone serum, Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched Eye cream, Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum, and Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 cleanser.
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| Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 PIGM 400, Scinic First Treatment essence, and Missha Super Aqua Ultra Water-full Control emulsion |
I rely heavily on toners in warmer weather to provide lightweight hydration without clogging my pores, but they have room in my cold weather routines as well. P50 PIGM 400 is my main acid peel product in any weather; I had to take a break from peeling products when my skin was at its worst just to let my skin barrier to heal up, but I got back to using P50 PIGM 400 as soon as I was able to, and I did notice a difference. I might switch back to either P50 or P50 1970 (with or without phenol, not sure yet), since P50 PIGM 400 has vitamin C in it, and my skin seems to hate it with a passion; there are precious few vitC-based products that I can use safely, so it might be a good idea to limit my skin's exposure to vitamin C in general. Scinic First Treatment essence is a repurchase, it's a perfect mild watery galactomyces-based essence with minimal ingredients list (cosdna here); it does great job combining mild exfoliating with hydration. I have a couple other watery first essences ready for my 7-layers summer routines, so i might wait a little bit before repurchasing after this bottle runs out, but I'm definitely going to come back to it at some point.
Missha Super Aqua Ultra Water-full Control emulsion was in my last "end of the year favorites" list (you can see the post here), and it's safe to say that I'm going to keep repurchasing it until it's discontinued (which hopefully will not happen, because why would anyone discontinue a perfect product, right?). I never had any adverse reactions to it (you can check out its ingredients on cosdna here). It works as a perfect intermediary between whatever serums/ampoules/oils etc I used in my routine and following sunscreens; I never experienced any pilling or drying out when I was using it. Basically, it just layers seamlessly on top of the stickiest, tacky-to-the-touch, slow-drying worst offenders and makes them play nice with whatever sunscreen I pick for the day. I do try new emulsions now and then, but I always come back to this one.
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| LabNo Idebenone serum, Accoje Vital In Jeju Time Repair serum, Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum, and The History of Whoo Contouring Massage mask |
I'm going to cheat and list 4 products for serums/ampoules/actives section; it's literally impossible to leave one out, since I relied on all 4 rather heavily. The History of Whoo Contouring massage mask is not technically a serum or ampoule, but I believe it should be mentioned as such for oily skins. I used it mostly as a rescue treatment right after toner when my skin looked and felt its worst. I think it's one of the most under-rated THoW products that hardly ever gets mentioned by bloggers or Reddit users. It belongs to the Jinyul line that targets 40+ mature, dry skin demographics (official US seller here). Most of the products in Jinyul line are too heavy for my oily skin; however, this mask is the exception. It has heavy, balm-like texture (see full ingredients on cosdna here), but it sinks in almost immediately; when I had 5 minutes to massage it in with my Hada Crie massager or one of mechanical massagers, I had literally no residue left on my skin (you can check out the swatches in full review I did a few month ago here). Also, I can follow it up with the either emulsion or a cream without any stickiness or products pilling. It transforms dry, dull, suffering skin into "I slept 8 hours today, and I had time to exercise this week" glowy, perfectly hydrated skin, and the effect lasts about 8-10 hours. I don't use it on consecutive days, it's more of a must-have miracle potion; I'm definitely going to keep repurchasing it.
Accoje Vital In Jeju Time Repair serum is another under-rated, hardly ever mentioned K-beauty product. I picked it on a whim when one of my favorite eBay Korean sellers started carrying the brand, and I'm glad I did. It's formulated for hydrating and whitening with quite a few plant extracts (cosdna here), and it worked for me. I can't say I loved its texture - it's on a heavy side, especially for a serum - but I made it work, and my skin seemed happy with it; I've noticed some brightening in a couple months or so. It did not absorb as fast as Purito or some other serums, but it never clogged my pores or caused any adverse reactions. Truskini did a great job showcasing the serum's texture here; such nice short videos are most helpful! Overall, it was worth waiting extra few minutes for the serum to get absorbed, and I enjoyed using it; I might repurchase it next winter, but I think it might be too heavy to get fully absorbed in warmer weather, when my skin is generally oilier and gets clogged by heaver skincare products.
I reviewed Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum in great detail here. I think it's one of the best peptide-based serums I've ever tried, and the fact that it includes 49% of Centella Asiatica extract (cosdna here) makes it perfect for oily sensitive skin. Packaging leaves a lot to be desired, but in general, packaging, either good or bad, is almost never a deal-breaker for me. HG, will keep repurchasing.
LabNo Idebenone serum deserves a separate detailed review sometimes soon. Idebenone, a synthetic, more potent form of coenzyme Q-10 (see full description on DrugBank here), used to be patent protected in skincare; the patent expired recently, and the market is having a heavy influx of various idebenone-based products. It's a powerful anti-oxidant, so I'm not surprised it's trending right now. LabNo was one of the first K-beauty brands to come up with idebenone-based serum. It has clean, sensitive-skin-friendly ingredients lists, like most of LabNo products (cosdna here), and it's not too heavy to be used on oily skin. I was using it in my evening routine right after retinoid, and it was gentle enough to be used when my skin was acting up; overall, I think it contributed quite a bit to a long, painful process of restoring my skin barrier. I've a few unopened serums that I bought at the same time as LabNo, so I think I'm going to give them a try first; but I'm definitely going to come back to this serum sometimes soon, and quite possibly try more of LabNo Idebenone line - I've noticed they have a toner and a cream listed on their website.
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| Elensilia EGF Renovage Youth Activating Eye cream, Skyn Iceland Brightening Eye serum, and Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched eye cream |
I got Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched Eye cream after I tried their sunscreen, Ultra Moisturizing sun cream (my review here), and it fully answered my expectations. I actually purchased almost the whole Phyto Natural line, but the eye cream is my absolute favorite. Like most Kicho products, it has nice clean ingredients list with various plant extracts and niacinamide (cosdna here). It's balm-like in texture, but it absorbs beautifully without leaving any greasy sheen on my eyelids (I'm applying eye creams on the whole periorbital area, so usually the cream covers everything from 1/4 inch above my eyebrows down to the zygomatic bone). The best part is that this eye cream is making my eyelashes and eyebrows grow faster and longer; the effect is not permanent, as it happens with most grow serums and such, and I noticed some fallout when I stopped using this eye cream for 3-4 weeks to test another one. Sometimes I put it on my eyebrows just to nourish them, since I prefer using eye serums or treatments under most sunscreens to avoid caking up multiple products. It's a huge jar, so I'm having difficulties finishing it before it expires; I will definitely keep repurchasing it for as long as Kicho's making it!
Elensilia EGF Renovage Youth Activating Eye cream (cosdna here) was an impulse purchase; I noticed a couple of Elensilia eye creams listed by one of my favorite K-beauty sellers on Ebay, and since they were both under $20 or so, I decided to try both as a part of budget-friendly eye cream experiment. Recently quite a few Korean skincare brands came up with stellar eye creams that utilize newer western beauty ingredients in K-beauty clean ingredients formulation concept, and they're managing to keep the products super budget friendly. There is an abundance of great K-beauty eye creams on the market, such as Purebess Galactomyces 80 (a dupe of Procter&Gamble's SKII eye cream, my review of it here); AHC Eye Cream for Face, a South Korea's bestseller that gets reformulated new versions every year or so it seems (I just love their commercial with Anne Hathaway) and reminds me strongly of Estee Lauder Advanced Night repair (can't say it's a dupe since the ingredients differ quite a bit and get changed often, but it seems to have the same vibe for me); Secret Key Starting Treatment Eye cream, and great many others that are using various peptides, proteins, and patented ingredients from leading western R&D centers. Apparently, Elensilia is well-known in South Korea and some of their products had been home-shopping bestsellers for several years, but it's hardly ever mentioned by English-speaking bloggers. The brand uses quite a few of French R&D suppliers such as Sollice Biotech (website here) and Sederma, known for Matrixil complex (website here). This particular eye cream has both multiple peptides and EGF among active ingredients (full ingredients lists on cosdna here), so I just had to try it, and I was not disappointed. In texture it reminds me of HERA Signia eye treatment, perhaps just a bit lighter, and it absorbs just as fast. It was perfect for layering under sunscreens in the morning; also, I used it quite often as a peptide treatment on my nasolabial folds and on my neck area. It's supposed to be used in 6 months after opening; since there is too much product to use it on eye area only, and a little goes a long way, I can see myself using it as a lightweight face moisturizer in hot summer weather. Right now I'm using another Elensilia eye cream I got from the same Ebay seller, and I like it too, so I'm definitely going to either repurchase them or try something similar from Elensilia if they'll get discontinued. However, I've quite a few eye creams waiting for their turn, so I probably wait until I'm done with a least a few I have at hand before shopping for more.
I bought Skyn Iceland Brightening Eye serum as a part of peptide-based skincare haul, and at first I was surprised how small the bottle is; I thought I'll use it up in less than a month, but it lasted about 4-5 months for me. It's a plant-based lightweight serum that has both Centella Asiatica and chamomile extracts among top 10 ingredients (cosdna here), along with 4 different peptides. It claims brightening and plumping effects, and it's supposed to be used on under-eye areas only, since obviously not many people would enjoy extra plumped eyelids. I would strongly suggest using the smallest amount possible; I started with 1 drop (the bottle comes with a dropper) for both eyes, and it took a long while to absorb fully. Personally I find 1/3 of a drop more than enough for both eyes. I put it on immediately after applying toner, since many peptide products absorb better on damp skin. I should mention that the skin in my eye area is extremely sensitive, so every flare-up and seasonal allergy give me zombie-like appearance with desiccated, grayish eye areas and even under-eye bags... In short, I need a lot of help quite often, despite not having that many wrinkles. On its own the serum gave me some moderate improvement; but a few months ago I decided to try Heimish Hydrogel Eye patches, and the patches radically improved the serum's performance. I put them on either right after I apply the serum, or after the serum and whatever face essence/ampoule I'm using, and usually I don't have to wait more than 10 minutes in the morning to get my under-eye area all smoothed and radiant. The effect is not permanent, but it lasts long enough (from 7pm-7.30am until 4pm-5pm on most days), and I'm OK with that. I'm not going to try fillers, and in absence of serious professional interventions like lasers and/or fillers nothing will give me any permanent results. Will repurchase when I'm done with current eye serums.
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| Bonajour Peptide Waterfall cream, Differin Adapalene gel, and Uriage Roseliane Anti-redness creme |
I don't always use creams under my sunscreens; when my skin is in its healthy-ish state, an emulsion is sufficient to keep my skin hydrated the whole day. However, it was not the case this winter, and I was relying heavily on both Bonajour and Uriage creams to calm down and soften my skin. Bonajour Peptide Waterfall cream is lighter in texture than Uriage, and it absorbs faster; it's actually a gel-cream, despite the name, and I prefer it to many other gel moisturizers I've tried so far. It never pills under my sunscreens, it's easy to layer, it has nice, clean, and minimal ingredients list (cosdna here), and I never had any adverse reactions to it, even when my skin was mad at the world. I find that gel-creams work better for me than the traditional gel moisturizers, and I'm definitely going to try a repackaged version sometimes soon.
Uriage Roseliane Anti-redness cream is heavier in texture compared to Bonajour; it's a classic French pharmacy cream, and I've been relying on it for years (see my detailed review of it here). It's light enough to be used under any sunscreen, even very moisturizing ones, it calms down my skin, and it layers beautifully over all my serums/ampoules. It's less famous than Bioderma anti-redness line, but it works better for me. Recentrly I've been experimenting with chamomile-based anti-redness products, and I have to admit I like them a lot, but I'm going to keep repurchasing my old reliable Uriage cream, thank you Amazon for almost always having it in stock...
Differin Adapalene gel is not technically a cream, but since I almost always skip creams in my evening routine in favor of sleeping masks, it's the closest thing, and I will mention it as such. I had to take a break from it for a few weeks when my skin barrier was at its worst, but usually I try to use it every day. It does not dry out my skin (cosdna here), it seems to help with congested pores and breakouts, and there is quite a bit of new research on its long-term anti-aging properties (it's less researched than tretinoin, but we're getting there); it's enough reasons for me to keep using it.
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| LabNo Idebenone serum, Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched eye cream, Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum, and Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 cleanser. |
Finally, there are my best finds and/or most beloved products of the season (in no particular order): LabNo Idebenone serum, Kicho Phyto Natural Enriched Eye cream, Purito Centella Green Level Buffet serum, and Innisfree Blueberry Rebalancing 5.5 cleanser.
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