New year, same finicky skin: dry, dehydrated, prone to redness, breakouts around the mouth and the inevitable fine lines that come with the progression of years. My routine is pretty long, because that tends to whip it into shape, but I did feel like I had some setbacks this month. Here’s what I emptied this month — stay tuned next week for what I opened this month.

Toners

🍶 One Thing Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate Toner

One Thing specializes in toners that focus on, well, one thing, and for this toner that was galactomyces ferment filtrate, my own personal skincare ingredient BFF. Galactomyces is one of those ingredients I always miss when I don’t have it — it whips my pores and redness into shape, while hydrating and moisturizing my skin. This definitely did all of those things … but not with the panache of a first essence like Missha, Mizon or (spoiler alert for next post!) SK-II. It’s definitely a more toner-like texture, and I ended up using two layers of this each routine to really feel the benefits.
Opened: October
Rating: 8/10
Price: $24 USD / 150 mL

🍃 Cosrx Pure Fit Cica Toner

Can’t stop, won’t stop loving the Cosrx Pure Fit Cica Toner. Cica, or centella asiatica, is renowned for its soothing abilities, and like the entire Cosrx Cica line, this includes seven cica-derived ingredients. This is a very watery toner, so if you’ve been looking for your toner buddy for Seven Skins, here you go — it layers beautifully without adding any heaviness or occlusivity. Bonus: this also has pinus pilasster bark extract (aka pycnogenol) for an added antioxidant boost, and betaine and panthenol for added soothing. Highly recommend for sensitive or dehydrated skin types.
Opened: November
Rating: 10/10
Price: $22 USD/150 mL

Exfoliants & Serums

🤍 Paula’s Choice 8% AHA Gel Exfoliant

You’ve certainly heard of Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, but as part of team dry skin I wanted to try their 8% AHA Gel Exfoliant. It’s 8% glycolic acid, and in classic Paula’s Choice they say you can use this twice daily. While this is surprisingly gentle for it percentage (much gentler than The Ordinary 7% Glycolic Acid Toning Solution) you should definitely not use this AM and PM, and probably not every day, just generally. I wasn’t particularly impressed with this, though. It didn’t really sink in, so whether I used it before toner or after, anything I applied after just felt like I was moving it around on my face. I also didn’t notice any particular glow-up or reduction in fine lines and texture. Due to relative inefficacy and the smell (it’s got a funky smell I can’t quite place), I ended up finishing this up on my body.
Opened: November
Rating: 6/10
Price: $30 USD / 100 mL for the full-size; $10 USD / 15 mL for the travel size shown

🐝 By Wishtrend Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule

I had high hopes for the By Wishtrend Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule, in large part because of how much Youtuber Kelly Driscoll has talked about it. And it is a lovely serum — 15% propolis extract, of course, and a bunch of polyphenols for antioxidant support. But I do think that this is one situation where formulation speaks louder than inci list. I’ve grown pretty accustomed to what I’d call propolis-forward serums — ones with 60-85% propolis, so they’re really leaning on that for moisturization. By Wishtrend Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule not only is the lightest in body of the propolis serums I’ve tried (possibly tied with iUNIK? it’s been a minute, though this one is definitely less tacky), but it also had the least glow of them. I’ll also admit that for the first time in months I got some breakouts while using this serum — not saying it’s the serum’s fault at all, but more saying that my skin seems to have grown accustomed to more heftier doses of propolis.
Opened: November
Rating: 8/10
Price: $32 USD / 30 mL

🍒 Good Skin Days C’s The Day Serum

Good Skin Days C’s The Day Serum is a staple for me, as you probably know by now. I highly recommend it for those looking for an ascorbic acid that (should be) safe for sensitive skin, as this has it at 10%. It also has other great brightening ingredients and is just generally a lovely serum to use — no funny smell, no weird texture, nada. Only drawback? Because it’s ascorbic acid, it will eventually oxidize on you. Luckily by the time full oxidization happens to me, I’m usually on my last days. It’s also fairly cheap, at its base price, and SokoGlam frequently runs sales where it’s included.
Opened: November
Rating: 10/10
Price: $26 USD / 30 mL

🐣 Rovectin Clean Forever Young Biome Ampoule

Probiotics have been having their heyday for diet for a while, but probiotic skincare is a relatively new craze outside of hyped products like SK-II Facial Treatment Essence and Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum. Enter the Rovectin Clean Forever Young Biome Ampoule. It has five ferments as well as two polysaccharides, and comes in at a fraction of the cost of the other probiotic products. I don’t tend to notice a direct effect from a lot of ferments outside of galactomyces (whose praises I sang above), but I think it doesn’t hurt to include, especially given the moisturization properties of a serum like this. The drawbacks to this are around packaging: the dropper doesn’t always screw on nicely, and because (due to environmental concerns) there’s no plastic dropper guide, it’s easy to lose product to the opening.
Opened: November
Rating: 9/10
Price: $36 USD / 50 mL

Moisturizers

🌵Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel

I’m sad to be emptying the Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel, though in my heart I know two things: I’m a sucker for trying new products and it will certainly be back in my life at some point. Initially it was all about burn care — I managed to get a second-degree burn from tea water, and my husband got a really lovely sunburn when snorkeling — for which it was fabulous. After all, aloe is a go-to for burn care generally, and propolis is helpful for promoting healing specifically. Then I got a NuFace, and I started using it as the gel for that. This is super lightweight, so it doesn’t add any thickness when doing it as part of an AM or PM routine, and of course it doesn’t make subsequent skincare pill like the actual NuFace primer is notorious for.
Opened: September
Rating: 10/10
Price: $12 USD / 100 mL

🖋 The Inkey List Bakuchiol Moisturizer

The Inkey List really had its moment in 2020, when I myself loved the Bakuchiol Moisturizer that summer, in my “all bakuchiol all the time because I’m afraid of retinol.” This has been my first time really using it since starting retinol. I used it AM, as a moisturizer, as well as PM as a serum. It’s very lightweight, almost emulsion in texture. While 1% bakuchiol, which this includes, has been shown to be clinically effective at reducing fine lines, I didn’t find it to improve anything more than the rest of my routine was already doing.
Opened: November
Rating: 9/10
Price: $10 USD / 30 mL

Oils & Single-Use Products

🍉 Chiasm Skin Epoché Clarifying Oil

I’ve had this sample of Chiasm Skin Epoché Clarifying Oil for long enough that I was overdue to finally open it, and I’m glad I did. Like all of Chiasm Skin’s facial oils, this is a lovely blend of a variety of different unusual plant oils, like blueberry, watermelon, cloudberry and blackberry. This oil is specifically geared towards blemish-prone skin, so it also has green tea, blue tansy and some plant-derived AHA and BHAs. I would definitely characterize it as a nourishing but dry oil, so a few drops sinks in super fast and doesn’t lead to any subsequent pilling, like it can with some oils.
Opened: this month
Rating: 9/10
Price: $50 USD / 30 mL, shown in a sample size

🛢 Derma: B Intensive Barrier Multi Oil

I love Derma B’s body products, and had originally purchased their Intensive Barrier Multi Oil figuring that it was a body oil — which it certainly is, but as the name might attest, you can also use it for hair or face. I used it as both a face and body oil for quite a few months, and I’m definitely pleased. It’s hard to beat the price, for one, and this is a really nice combination of moisturizing oils (sunflower, grapeseed, sweet almond), treatment oils (camellia oleifera, tomato, black currant, broccoli, carrot, green tea), as well as ceramides, peptides and ferments. It does have fragrance, but given all the upsides I can’t get too fussed about that.
Opened: August
Rating: 10/10
Price: $12 USD / 135 mL

💈 Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Strengthening Treatment Oil

I don’t have a lot of hair — both in volume or in length — but the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Strengthening Treatment Oil is fabulous. Due to my relative lack of hair and my forgetfulness in using it, this small size lasted me nearly a year. Immediately after using it, my relatively fine, relatively straight hair feels much thicker — enough so that my husband actually comments on it. Definitely worth keeping on hand for when hair needs a pick-me-up. Being a hair product, they did put some fragrance in this, but I find it quite enjoyable.
Opened: February
Rating: 10/10
Price: $30 USD / 30 mL; shown in a 7 mL promo size

🔴 Cosrx Acne Pimple Master Patches

I’m not very acne-prone, but when I get a spot I always pick at it and scar, so the Cosrx Acne Pimple Master Patches are lifesavers. Up until this month I felt like my occasional acne flares around my mouth were pretty well solved, and then I realized it was probably the skincare I was using at the time that was causing that, rather than some glorious hormonal change of being nearly 34. These patches come in three sizes, which is super convenient. I will admit that sometimes the big size is TOO big, but I use those overnight. They’re just hydrocolloid patches, but it helps spots heal faster, without as much irritation or inflammation.
Opened: October
Rating: 10/10
Price: $4 USD / 24 patches