One of these times I’ll actually iron my backdrops, but not this month! It’s been a busy one, though not so much in terms of emptying skincare. This month features the usual suspects like sunscreen and ceramide, vitamin c and propolis serums, as well as some other products you might not have been aware I was using unless you’ve been reading for a while. So without further ado, let’s jump into what I used up on my dry, sensitive skin this month.

🍶 Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence

I’m a big believer in first essences as a way to reduce my redness and pores, and that’s how I used this essence. The Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence doesn’t have “First Essence” in the name like some other products do, of course and it doesn’t contain galactomyces like most first essences do, but it does have 93% fermented ingredients — bifida ferment lysate and saccharomyces, in this case. Unfortunately I don’t find it to be as hydrating, pore-reducing and redness-reducing as other first essences, particularly those ones that do include galactomyces, so while it was nice to use, it’s not a rebuy for me.
Rating: 6/10
Price: $38 USD / 150 mL

🍒 Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum

If you’ve been reading my empties and openeds for a while, the Good Skin Days C’s the Day serum should need no introduction — I go through a bottle every 1.5 to 2 months. This is an incredibly non-sticky, non-hot-dog-water-smelly vitamin c that is great for more sensitive skin. 10% ascorbic acid, niacinamide, licorice root, camu-camu, ginseng and mushroom come together for some great brightening and hydrating power. I’ll probably be rebuying for forever — luckily it’s one of the cheaper vitamin c serums out there, and SokoGlam runs sales fairly regularly. Just beware that it WILL oxidize on you — I’ve had great success just ensuring I close it tightly and tuck it away in a little bag.
Rating: 10/10
Price: $26 USD / 30 mL

🐝 Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum

I talked about the Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum at length in my Face Off of the Propolis Serums, so I’ll keep this relatively brief. Suffice it to say that this has 60% propolis, 2% niacinamide, turmeric, tea tree extract and betaine salicylate, making it a propolis serum hyper-focused on treating and preventing acne. Which I can certainly say it did! I’m not acne prone by any means, but even in my thirties hormones cause me to get a spot or two every period — but not this summer while using this! The texture is a bit thick (more like honey) so it takes a bit more than I’d like to get full coverage. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a gentle way to fight blemishes.
Rating: 9/10
Price: $17 USD / 30 mL

🐐 Beekman 1802 Milk Drops Probiotic Ceramide Serum

I picked up two of the Beekman 1802 Milk Drops Probiotic Ceramide Serum when they were half of on Ulta’s last 21 Days of Beauty sale (sad news, it’s not in this next one BUT the brand runs some pretty decent promotions through their site). I was sure that if I didn’t get two I’d be sad, because I’m a sucker for ceramides and would probably like it. Well, here we are. I DO like this very much, though it almost feels more of a general skin barrier supportive serum like the Missha Probio Ampoule than a ceramide serum, especially in texture, so if your focus is purely on ceramides there are definitely better options. If you’re looking for an all-in-one serum of ceramides, probiotics and hydration, though, this is a great option.
Rating: 8/10
Price: $45 USD / 28 mL

💧 Dear, Klairs Watery Oil Drop

The Dear, Klairs Watery Oil Drop is a holy grail among the Skincare Fanatics modmin team, and I can see why. It’s one of the most cost-effective k-beauty serums, for one, and has a nice texture to it — truly a watery oil, despite being oil-free. This is another well-rounded serum, that pairs hydration with antioxidants (tea tree water and extract, rice extracts and seaweed extract), skin-barrier strengtheners (bifida ferment extract, ceramide NP) and, in proper k-beauty style, peptides copper tripeptiide-1 and acetyl hexapeptide-8. If your skin isn’t ridiculously thirsty like mine is, this serum can last you a Long Time because it spreads really easily with just a few drops.
Rating: 9/10
Price: $31 USD / 50 mL

🔴 Indeed Labs Retinol Reface Serum

I discussed the Indeed Labs Retinol Reface Serum in depth as well in my recent Face Off of the Starter Retinols so I won’t wax too eloquent here. This includes encapsulated retinol at an unknown percentage, as well as bakuchiol and palmitoyl tripeptide-38 (Matrixyl synthe’6). While it’s not my favorite starter retinol — the texture is a bit thick, the formula i otherwise pretty boring, and the dispensing mechanism makes it hard to get out once you’re nearly out — this is one of the most globally and easily accessible options if you’re nervous to try retinol or if you, like me, hate tracking skincare schedules and just want something you can use every night.
Rating: 6/10
Price: $20 USD / 30 mL

🍵 Peach & Lily Matcha Pudding Antioxidant Cream

I’ll admit that I didn’t fully appreciate the Peach & Lily Matcha Pudding Antioxidant Cream when I first tried it as a sample over a year ago, but I’ve come around to it. This strikingly green cream features matcha, of courses, as well as niacinamide, adenosine and panthenol for a generally soothing, redness reducing effect. In proper k-beauty form it also includes a variety of other plant extracts, which together with the matcha make this a very antioxidant rich moisturizer. For my part, I think that this makes a great AM cream — antioxidants and redness reduction are always nice when you go out to face the world, and for my skin I find this has too light of a texture to really hold up as a night cream without a facial oil and sleeping mask over top. If you’re wary of essential oils you might want to skip this one, but I found that, although it includes my old nemesis orange peel oil, my skin wasn’t bothered by it.
Rating: 8/10
Price: $40 USD / 50 mL

😎 HYGGEE Vegan Sun Cream

The Hyggee Vegan Sun Cream is a recently released k-beauty sunscreen that’s been getting a lot of play because it passed external SPF validation and because, according to the ingredient list, it’s basically a dupe of Krave Beauty Beet Shield. And it basically is! Same color, almost all of the same UV filters, and a bunch of antioxidants including beet extract. Like Krave Beauty this does also include alcohol for stabilizing and dry-down purposes, but unlike Krave this doesn’t feel drying — the texture itself is actually quite creamy and moisturizing, so I actually don’t feel like I need a moisturizer under this (though I use a bunch of serums so your mileage may vary). You’ll definitely need to reapply this as you go out and about and it’s unfortunately a little pricey, but if you’ve struggled to find something good, give it a go!
Rating: 10/10
Price: $25 USD / 50 mL

👄 Aquaphor Lip Protectant + Sunscreen

I bought this last year, when lip spfs didn’t seem so abundant (now I’ve found loads that I like). The reason it’s taken me this long to empty it is … because I haven’t even emptied it, I just don’t want to use it anymore. It’s got the great protective aquaphor texture but the flavor is just awful. It’s a chemical sunscreen, which is great because unlike many other lip spfs you don’t get a whitecast. But the taste of the filters is just too gross to deal with.
Rating: 1/10
Price: $4 USD / 10 mL

Bonus Round: Body Skincare

🛁 Bioderma Atoderm Body Cleansing Oil

Long-time readers will know that I am an avid bather, but hot water plus dry skin plus desert is a pretty disastrous combination. Because of this, it’s been my project over the last few years to optimize my bath into something where I can spend hours at a time. Key to this? A cost-effective bath oil. Moisturizing after a bath is all well and good, but if you bathe as often and as long as I do, you might find that you can feel your skin start to be stripped mid-tub-time. And that, of course, won’t do. So what do I do? Put four pumps of the Bioderma Atoderm Body Cleansing Oil in. Because of the surfactants it doesn’t just stay on the surface of the tub like some other oils do, but it also doesn’t strip my skin more like a bubble bath might. The one drawback? This does have a baby powder fragrance to it, though my other bath products overpower it pretty readily.
Rating: 10/10
Price: $20 USD / 1 L

🌋 SUNTIQUE I’m Pure Perfect Cica Suncream

My husband jokes that “this is the sort of sunscreen that makes you wonder how bad skin cancer really is.” And while skin cancer is no joke and this sunscreen isn’t THAT bad, the Suntique I’m Pure Perfect Cica Suncream definitely feels like a heavy US sunscreen to us both, which is a shame because Suntique is a Korean brand and I was hoping for a lighter texture. I also find it to be quite drying, though that’s a problem for me with just about any mineral sunscreen I’ve tried. The great thing about this, however, is that it just does not budge. This is DEFINITELY a sunscreen you’ll need to wash off at the end of the day, but that turned it into a fantastic sunscreen for playing outside. It even seemed to hold up while dripping sweat during 20 mile mountain-bike rides, so begrudgingly I can’t give it the lowest possible rating.
Rating: 3/10
Price: $27 USD / 120 mL in the jumbo size shown (from Costco); $24 USD / 50 mL through most retailers

Note: all links included in this are affiliate links. I buy a lot of skincare so you don’t have to, and using those referral codes to defray my own skincare costs is always appreciated but never necessary.