It’s nearly summer! And I’m finishing up another batch of products just in time. Some of these will be familiar to frequent readers, as there are three recurring favorites in here, but there are also some new favorites to be found — I think this is the most 10/10 I’ve done in a batch of empties.

Then I Met You The Giving Essence

This essence is a really light liquid, pink liquid, and both it and the bottle are incredibly aesthetically pleasing. The color comes from black chokeberry fruit extract, but that’s arguably not the hero ingredient of this. Indeed, this essence is chockful of fermented filtrates — galactomyces, aspergillus and saccharomyces — so between those and the texture it works well as a first essence, which is how I used it. Unfortunately, however, it didn’t seem to pack the punch for my skin like more traditional first essences do. For example, I noticed that a lot of my redness on my chin came back while using, which Missha had seemed to banish. In general, I don’t know that this added much beyond feeling fancy.
Price: $50 USD / 100 mL
Rating: 7/10

RNW Der. Ceramide Concentrate Serum

I swear by ceramide serums, and this one has a particularly lovely ingredient list: five types of ceramides, niacinamide, a variety of antioxidant plant extracts, a bunch of peptides, and a few other nice-to-haves like squalane. It’s got what I’m now considering to be a classic ceramide serum, meaning a bit gluey and goopy. For my part, I enjoy using ceramide serums AM and PM mixed into another serum, and this one was no exception. It and I’m From Ginseng became best buddies for a while there. I really enjoyed this, and really appreciated its support for my skin barrier while using. If you’re using a pricey ceramide serum (*cough* Kate Somerville *cough*) try this one instead!
Price: $32 USD / 30 mL
Rating: 10/10

Good Skin Days C’s The Day Serum

This is my holy grail vitamin c serum — this was my second bottle, and I had another in reserve to open up. This has 10% ascorbic acid, which is enough to be effective but not enough to be irritating. It’s got licorice root and niacinamide to amplify the brightening benefits, and mushroom and ginseng to amplify the anti-aging ones. I find it to be super gentle, and put it on first thing in the AM after toning. It does oxidize, so definitely use it up within 4 months after opening (as it says on the bottle) but I tend to empty it just as it starts to go particularly orangey. My skin tone has definitely improved since I began using it in December.
Price: $26 USD / 30 mL
Rating: 10/10

I’m From Ginseng Serum

As a human of a certain age, I’m starting to look for passive well-aging benefits in my skincare (as opposed to active ones like vitamin c and retinol, which I’m already incorporating elsewhere). So ginseng, of course, sprang to mind. This lovely hydrating serum has two different ginseng ingredients (red ginseng extract and panax ginseng seed oil) as well as other yummy antioxidants (hello licorice root, my old friend). Honestly in the two months I’ve been using this — both AM and PM — I haven’t noticed any differences, but well-aging is playing the long game, so I’d be down to give it another go. Worth noting that this does have some fragrance to it but it’s a yummy cinnamony sort of scent, so I didn’t mind it.
Price: $29 USD / 30 mL
Rating: 8/10

Chiasm Skin Daybreak Prototype A

This orangey daytime facial oil really helped ferry my skin from winter to near-summer. I mixed a couple drops in with my moisturizer, and it kept things from drying out throughout the day. I did find it to be a tad smelly when it went on, but that’s being addressed once it comes out of prototype mode, as I referenced in my “opened” review for it. My main beef? I do suspect that it’s stained some of my clothes, particularly the collar of my robe. (Yes, sometimes I do my skincare and stay in my bathrobe. Come at me.)
Price: TBD
Rating: 8/10

Versed Press Restart Retinol

This is my holy grail retinol. This is my second bottle of it, and both times I found that I could use it daily, even on exfoliation days. This has a very low (.03) percentage of encapsulated retinol, as well as bakuchiol, but it’s enough to be effective. In particular, I’ve noticed that improves the redness around my nose where I had previously thinned my skin from overuse of cortisone on seborrheic dermatitis. I find it takes me about four pumps to cover face, neck and chest, but I also give it credit for keeping me from pronounced tech neck, and love that it’s gentle enough for me to use there.
Price: $22 USD / 30 mL
Rating: 10/10

Rhonda Allison Cherry Jubilee Enzyme

I got this as a Christmas gift from a friend (along with the antioxidant mask below) and I’ve finally opened it up. This is a very cherry exfoliating mask. The first ingredient is sweet cherry seed oil, which it smells and tastes of. (No, I don’t lick my skincare. But also I can’t rinse off wash-off masks easily to save my life.) It’s also got glycolic, lactic, malic, salicylic and mandelic acids. It didn’t tingle, thankfully. It was fun to use in tandem with the mask, but I wouldn’t repurchase.
Price: $15 USD / 15 mL
Price: 5/10

Rhonda Allison Chocolate Antioxidant Mask

This mask looks and feels like melted Hershey’s chocolate. It does have cacao extract, so it can lay claim to the name, but mostly there are a variety of oils in here doing the heavy lifting, as well as some obligatory other plant extracts and essential oils. In the product description sheet, they claim this may have a “stimulating” effect, but I just found that it left me surprisingly red. (Granted, this may have been in large part due to pairing it with the enzyme mask, like they recommend.) Definitely a fun visual, but there are moisturizing wash-off masks I enjoy more.
Price: $15 USD / 15 mL
Price: 5/10

Krave Beauty Beet Shield

Another holy grail, and I’m devastated that it’s been discontinued, and really really hope that they reformulate and re-release it. Luckily I stocked up last Black Friday, so I have enough to last me and my husband through the summer. Unlike many others, I’ll continue using this until we use up our stock, as I’ve seen it work for me even at high elevations on very sunny days.
Price: N/A
Rating: 10/10

Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer

I’ve recently written about Laneige Cream Skin in my Face Off post, so I’ll spare some of the details about it here, but suffice it to say this is a great addition to your skincare if you’re hoping to give your skin a bit of an extra hug. I really enjoyed it during the winter and definitely anticipate buying for next winter.
Price: $33 USD / 150 mL
Rating: 10/10

Cosrx Full Fit Propolis Light Cream

Yes, I just opened this in April. Yes, I’ve already emptied it. I’ve been using it both AM and PM as the weather transitioned and let me just say, it’s a delight. Light enough for use under sunscreen, but great for nights in the 40s and 50s (Fahrenheit) under facial oil and/or a sleeping mask. Between this, the accompanying ampoule and, admittedly, a little help from the Glow Recipe toner, it’s now been a month and a half since my last spot. Propolis for the win! Definitely recommend.
Price: $32 USD / 50 mL
Rating: 10/10

Bonus Round: Body Skincare

Detox Seaweed Bath

If you’re new here, you’ll soon find out that I’m obsessed with baths, so I’m obsessed with bath products. I mostly just look for things to make the bath less drying, but this ain’t that. What it is, however, is bladderwrack seaweed. Brown algae, of which bladderwrack is the most common type, is an emollient, antioxidant and skin brightener. It’s also a source of iodine, which given my recent hair loss I figure couldn’t hurt. This comes with a sachet to put a good portion of the seaweed in, and after use you can compost it. I didn’t notice any particular benefits after my four baths with it, but given the price I’m down for trying it out some more.
Price: $10 USD / 70 g
Rating: 9/10