February brought new products focused on soothing winter skin. Colorado doesn’t do dry skin any favors in the best of times, and even a winter spent indoors can do numbers on the skin. So I searched my stash for things that could help me get by, plus add a little fun to boot.

Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Enrich Essence

I’ve been wanting to try this essence for soooo looong thanks to Youtuber Kelly Driscoll’s rave reviews of it. While it’s called an essence, it does come in a dropper bottle, so some folks think of it as a serum. I use it after all my toners and before any serums so … we’re going to call it an essence. This has more bee products than you can shake a stick at, and I love it — royal jelly, honey and propolis (all right there in the name)! I’ve been finding it wonderfully moisturizing and nourishing so far, and it makes me feel super fancy.
Price: $39 USD / 50 mL

Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer

This product has a lot of hype around it and after using it for a few weeks, I think the hype is deserved. Though I’m not sure if the oft-touted white tea leaf water or the meadowfoam seed oil is doing more work. Known as the Cream Skin Refiner in Korea, this seems to bill itself as an emulsion (a watery moisturizer, basically) but it’s definitely too light for that. However, it’s too thick to layer up a la seven skins. I’ve been using it twice in my routine — once as my last toner, and again after my serums. It makes a bit of a nice hydration sandwich, and helps keep my skin damp before doing my final steps. My initial impression was that it feels like a hug for your face, and I stand by that.
Price: $33 USD / 150 mL

Cosrx Cica Serum

I opened up this serum once I finished the Cosrx Cica Toner (RIP I miss you already). It definitely soothes any active redness, even from puppy paw-ing. It’s a bit of a gel-type texture, which was unexpected but feels nice as it spreads. Definitely probably a nice choice for those with reactive skin — would help calm the redness that springs up mid-routine.
Price: $28 USD / 30 mL

Peach Slices Peach Pudding Makeup Cleanser

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting this texture to be, but I suppose the “pudding” should have been a tip-off. This reminds me of yogurt — definitely a cold cream type texture, and the smell of it definitely is like a lightly flavored peach yogurt. I find that I’m missing cleaning balms just because I love that balm-to-oil moment, but this is still nice so far! I’ll be curious to see how it does taking off layers of spf and dirt once mountain biking season start.
Price: $10 USD / 100 mL

Isntree Cica Relief Cream

Love at first try holy grail status? Maybe. The first time I used it, I had a bit of an itchy irritation. But the moment I put this on? Not only did it not itch, but the redness pretty much instantly faded. Now, granted, some of this redness reduction is attributable to its green tint, but a fair portion of it is also attributed to the cica (centella asiatica). On top of that, this makes my skin incredibly soft. Such a big fan, already. I’ve been loving it as an AM moisturizer.
Price: $34 USD / 50 mL

BONUS ROUND! Hair Care and Single Use Skincare

Dr. Althea Natural Brightening Velvet Mask

Usually I don’t cover sheet masks, but these came in a box and are interesting enough to merit it. After all, how often do you hear about velvet sheet masks? The texture of the mask itself is very plush, though it’s not velvet in the way you might think about velvet fabric. The ampoule itself is very milky and doesn’t dry down sticky. There’s enough left in the package for another use or two, afterwards too. Yum!
Price: $18 for six masks

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Repair Rituals Hair Care Kit

For all that I don’t have a lot of hair, I really enjoy hair masks. I’d tried the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! mask before in a small size, so I was excited to get my hands on a slightly bigger size. I find that my hair seems quite a bit thicker after using it. This kit also includes Briogeo’s oil. I haven’t used a hair oil before, but I’m pretty sold. It doesn’t leave my hair oily or heavy — in fact, it seems like my hair gets a bit bouncier with it on!
Price: $20 for 2 ounce mask and .25 ounce oil