December Openeds Reviews

My skincare in December felt very dominated by my “sheet mask every day” challenge — which I did succeed at! But I did still empty a fair bit of skincare, so I had to open a fair bit too! And since I get questions every time: I don’t rate skincare when opening it — you’ll have to wait till I empty it for that!

🍓 boscia Berry Blend Smoothing Facial Mask with 28% Acid Complex

I haven’t reached for boscia, as a brand, since early on in my skincare days, but when I got the Berry Blend Smoothing Facial Mask with 28% Acid Complex as a sample from Sephora I figured I may as well give it a go. On long, dark evenings — like I’m experiencing now in Colorado — I really enjoy using an exfoliating mask and then a moisturizing mask as a way to lengthen my PM routine. The 28% acid complex is a combination of glycolic acid, malic acid and lactic acid, all AHAs, as well as salicylic acid and some fruit extracts. I have had issues with some other exfoliating masks tingling, but so far this one does not.
Price: $44 USD / 80 mL for the full-size; shown in a sample size

🌾 I’m From Rice Toner

The I’m From Rice Toner is one of the cult favorites from the brand, and this is technically my second time opening it — I previously had it as a mini. As you can tell from the picture, it’s very easy to wear. I previously compared it to Laneige Cream Skin in a Face Off post, but this definitely layers in a way that does not. I’ve been doing two layers of this, AM and PM, after my One Thing Galactomyces and Cosrx Cica toners and before my Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water. My hope is that continued use over the period of a few months will help address some persistent post-inflammatory erythema (PIE) while giving my skin some extra cushion through the cold months as these are two areas where rice can really excel.
Price: $28 USD / 150 mL

🥑 Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum

Y’all asked me to review this, and Santa made it possible — I got the Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum for Christmas. I stand by a ceramide serum, as you all know, and this one is definitely an aesthetic experience — it’s the same green as the bottle itself, and has more of a standard serum texture than a ceramide gloopy texture. It actually reminds me a fair bit of RNW Der Concentrate Ceramide Plus: both have five ceramides, avocado oil, niacinamide, cholesterol, peptides (though RNW beats Glow Recipe on this — 8 to 1), green tea water/extract, and loads of other plant extracts for extra antioxidant support.
Price: $42 USD / 30 mL

🏆 Stratia Liquid Gold

Stratia Liquid Gold is back, baby, and this time bigger than ever. My husband loves this stuff, for good reason, so Santa got him the big size (and the smaller size, for a back-up). This will probably last him until summer, so you might not see it in an empties review again for a while. Highly recommend as a go-to moisturizer or a cost-effective skin barrier serum.
Price: $49 USD / 120 mL

👄 Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

I’ve tried plenty of other Laneige products, but somehow it took till now for me to try their Lip Sleeping Mask. Of course, this month I finally got two sample sizes of it, so maybe just getting it as part a kit (Sephora birthday gift as well as the Sephora/Laneige/To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before set) rather than jumping right into a huge size was what I really needed. I can certainly see some of the hype already — this is nicely hydrating and emollient. I can see why others aren’t pleased with it though, as it has basically no occlusivity. It’s been a great soldier in the war against dry lips from drinking too much red wine (the struggle is real), but probably wouldn’t hold up too well against, say, wind burn.
Price: $20 USD / 20g; shown in a sample size

🎭 I DEW CARE Let’s Get Sheet Faced Face Sheet Mask Pack

Going through 31 sheet masks in a month will make you feel like you need more, so Santa brought the I DEW CARE Let’s Get Sheet Faced Face Sheet Mask Pack. I’ve only just started getting into the brand due (dew … puns) to their wash-off masks. I appreciate the pricing on this box — my usual rule of thumb is to pay around $2 USD per sheet mask. This includes 2-3 of each mask type, and thus far I’ve tried an “Up All Night” and a “Time Warp.” They seem to be fairly high quality, compared to other inexpensive mask like Tony Moly — even better, they’re set to go 50% off in the Ulta Love Your Skin Event, so I may pick up another batch to share.
Price: $25 USD / 14 masks

🛁 Neutrogena Body Oil

Turns out if you dig around on the internet, you can find Neutrogena Body Oil in enormous bottles. You all know that I love this oil for use in the bath, so I’m very excited to have a bottle with an easy pump, and which will actually last me longer than a month. Unfortunately the fragrance free version is only available in the smaller bottles, but hopefully eventually they’ll release that in large sizes.
Price: $30 USD / 946 mL