It’s summer! And summer means sun, and heat, and trips. I’ve been mountain biking multiple times a week, hitting up the farmers’ market and melting in 90+ degree heat. I also went to Telluride for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, which you’ll read many references to below. Through it all, my skincare had to keep it up with hydration, sun protection and antioxidants. This month also accidentally saw me opening a lot of skincare I received for free through giveaways or, in one case, by giving a brand permission to use an image. I’ll always state how I received an item if I received it through one of theses means.

As always, products are listed in roughly the order used within a routine, with single use and body skincare at the end. My skin is dry and dehydrated, with a tendency towards sensitivity and redness particularly on my cheeks and chin.

Heimish All Clean Balm

I received this cleansing balm from Nudie Glow US after winning a $100 gift card giveaway from them. Besides Clean It Zero and Farmacy (whose cleansing balm I’ve yet to try), this is, or at least had been, one of the most popular cleansing balms. It’s certainly one of the cheapest on the market. It comes in a whole boatload of packaging, which seems to be Heimish’s thing, judging by their eye patches (see below for a review on those). But it works really well — you can feel the sunscreen roll up and pill off, and it removes eye makeup with minimal rubbing
Price: $19 USD / 120 mL

Manyo Factory Bifida Ampoule Mist

I’m officially into mists. Not for during the day, when I’m 99% sure they’d dry me out (the joys of a desert climate) but throughout my routine as my skin dries out (because, again, the joys of a desert climate). As a human of a certain age, I’m always looking for passive, gentle ways to protect my skin as it and I get older. In general, I feel like my efforts are working — I looked at a picture from 7 years ago and although I was clearly feeling myself, my skin looks much much better now. My favorite ingredient category in this pursuit? Fermented extracts, in this case bifida ferment lysate, lactobacillus ferment (from pumpkin) and bacillus ferment (from soybeans). It’s too early to really say the effects of this mist on my skin, but I swear by fermented ingredients to help reduce pore appearance and diminish rednesss.
Price: $24 USD / 120 mL

Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner

I won this from Isntree in their giveaway with Youtuber EuniUnni, along with their Water Essence and Mugwort Clay Mask. This toner is geared towards more combination and oily skin because of the willow bark extract. But it’s 80% green tea extract and many other antioxidant extracts that make it worthwhile for any skin type. The trick is that this is not necessarily a good toner for seven skins, as it’s not particularly hydrating. Trust me, I tried, and I’m seeing my crows feet. Fun fact: if you feel like you’re getting wrinkly at a young age, your skin is probably just dehydrated — put on more hydrating toner and be plumped.
Price: $20 USD / 200 mL

Hanskin Real Complexion Hyaluron Skin Essence

I purchased this from Ulta when it was half-off, which is really the only reason I sprang for something that touts hyaluronic acid so highly. I typically avoid hyaluronic acid because its humectant properties only really work a) inside your body or b) in very humid climates — otherwise it can actually dry you out. Living in the arid climate of Colorado, hyaluronic acid certainly doesn’t do me any favors. This essence doesn’t seem to be drying me out per se — there’s plenty of glycerin, and the forms of hyaluronic acid all fall below the phenoxyethanol line and thus are below 1% — but it’s certainly not hydrating like it claims. Indeed, I’ve actually been noticing the beginning of crows feet for the first time ever. I’m going to stick with it because I’m a sucker for wasting product, but I think I’ll be saving the mini I got until I’m in more humid climes.
Price: $25 USD / 150 mL

Stratia Rewind

You know how I just mentioned about how the Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner and Hanskin Real Complexion Hyaluron Skin Essence weren’t hydrating enough? Well, opening this was my solution. My husband and I were gifted this after agreeing to let Stratia use the picture I took of him and his Liquid Gold haul. This serum was recommended by a friend and considering I had recommended it to another friend without having tried it before (ah that skincare internet life), it seemed like it was time. It once again touts hyaluronic acid (insert gusty sigh here) but basically every other ingredient in this is a better humectant — glycerin, DMAE, panthenol, and hydrolized rice protein — or is a fantastic antioxidant and brightener. I’ve only just started using it, but hopes are high!
Price: $18 USD / 30 mL

Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum

I’m a sucker for propolis, and recently have been on a propolis serum kick (I’m actually working on a Face Off between this, Cosrx and iUNIK so stay tuned). The hero ingredients in this are propolis extract, of course, and niacinamide to really give the skin the glow this serum promises. The niacinamide makes it great if you’re looking for a 2 in 1 anti-acne and sebum-regulating serum. It also includes turmeric, cocoa and red algae extracts (antioxidants) plus centella asiatica, lotus seed and tea tree extracts (anti-inflammatory). It’s got a fairly thick texture, due to the high level of propolis, and I find myself using a full dropper in order to be able to cover my face and neck.
Price: $17 USD / 30 mL

Cosrx Cica Cream

I won this cream last year when Cosrx released and had a giveaway of their (at the time — it’s expanded since) entire cica line. Since we’re getting into summer and sunburn season, it seemed like a great time to use it. I enjoyed using the Isntree Cica Cream as an AM cream, so I had planned on using this the same way. I’ve been struggling, though, because it seems to pill, and I haven’t yet determined the combination of serums and sunscreen to use around it in order to keep it from pilling. That said, it’s been great to pop on sunburns. We took the long way round home from Telluride, and had the windows open the whole time. My husband got a bit of a sunburn on his arm (this is why you should push your sleeves up when applying sunscreen on your arms, folks) and this seemed to calm things right down.
Price: $32 USD / 50 mL

Portland Bee Balm Solar Eclipse Balm

I picked this up on a whim in a Natural Grocers on my way to Telluride. I’m officially in the “no such thing as too much lip balm” camp and, by extension, “no such thing as too much SPF lip balm.” A lot of the appeal of this lip balm is the aesthetics (wood veneer on the tube, what?), the farm-to-face nature of the company (they keep bees and make the products) and their signing of the 1% for the planet pledge. That said, this is legitimately a good and inexpensive SPF lip balm: it has 8% zinc oxide for sun protection, and there’s no white cast and no flavor.
Price: $4 USD / tube

Vaseline Original Healing Jelly

I purchased this last year in a fit of “let’s buy all the tiny size skincare at Target” and only recently opened it, despite being an avid fan of slugging. But I actually haven’t used it to slug (yet) — I’ve been using it on my thighs. I am an avid bather, but my recent trip to Telluride seems to have really upset my skin (I blame the hard water in that area) so my baths were stinging my thighs. For the last week and a half I’ve been applying a thin layer of Vaseline to my thighs before hopping in the tub — no more rashiness, no more stinging and no more tightness because the occlusivity of the petrolatum keeps the water away from my skin. Big fan! I’ll be keeping a tub of Vaseline by the tub from now on.
Price: $4 USD / 212g; shown in the $2 USD / 49g size

Bonus Round: Body & Single-Use Skincare

Heimish Bulgarian Rose Water Hydrogel Eye Patches

I received these eye patches from Nudie Glow US as part of the same giveaway as the cleansing balm from Heimish (Heimish is one of the five brands they currently carry on their US site — the Australian one is much more extensive). The Pixi eye patches really got me into keeping patches at my desk, so I decided to pick these up. They’re positively swimming in ampoule, which the gave me some troubles on the first few applications — they kept sliding down my face! These definitely smell like rose, so if your eyes are sensitive to fragrance probably skip these.
Price: $22 USD / 60 eye patches

Kroger Oil Spray Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50

I’ll admit, I picked this up on a whim. I’d heard a lot about Kroger’s dupe for the Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen and figured that while I’m set on face sunscreen for the moment, I could use another body sunscreen (see: the drying nature of the Make P:rem one above). This applies fairly easily — like all spray sunscreens, it must be rubbed in after application — and has a faint pleasant scent that fades pretty quickly. Due to its oily nature I’m almost positive I’m not applying enough, but because it’s SPF 50 I seem to still be well-protected, even though I’m getting something closer to SPF 15-30 protection (less sunscreen => less protection). It’s worth noting that this a chemical sunscreen and uses the FDA-approved chemical filters, and is considered reef-conscious by the brand due to the exclusion of octinoxate and oxybenzone.
Price: $11 USD / 215 mL