How is it already November? October flew by, but I racked up plenty of empties as I spent the increasingly longer evenings on increasingly elaborate skincare routines. (One of these days I should share my whole routine and allow myself to get dragged, but you can probably intuit its length based on these monthly reviews.) Here’s what I’ll no longer be putting on my dry skin in November

Wash-Off Products

🐘 Drunk Elephant E-Rase Milki Micellar Water

I don’t tend to be interested in Drunk Elephant, but I picked up their E-Rase Milki Micellar Water because I wanted a micellar water specifically billed as *no rinse* so I could play around with eye makeup better. Turns out I don’t wear much eye makeup, though, even when I have the ability to easily remove and retry, so I eventually just used this as my first cleanse. It’s definitely a milky micellar water — having three types of ceramides as well as melon oil in a formulation will do that to you, though. I did find that this removed eye makeup reasonably well, and while I typically rinsed this off as part of a double cleanse, when I didn’t bother my skin wasn’t the worse for wear.
Opened: April
Price: $28 USD / 240 mL; shown in the $14 USD / 100 mL mini size
Rating: 9/10

🐐 Beekman 1802 Milk Foam Calming Bubble Mask

The Beekman 1802 Milk Foam Calming Bubble Mask is a fun, gentle wash-off mask. This is in the “oxygenated mask” category — it starts out as a gel, then as it sits on your face it starts to bubble and foam. The idea behind these masks is to, well, deliver more oxygen to the skin, which theoretically helps increase cell turnover while reducing inflammation. For my part, I think that’s mostly a gimmick to make it sell — the soothing and strengthening here comes from the goat milk, colostrum, bifida ferment lysate, aloe, honey, and a variety of plant extracts. I didn’t notice a ton of difference while using this, and it definitely required a few pumps to cover face, neck and chest, but it was sure fun.
Opened: this month, by my records, though I thought it was September
Price: $40 USD / 50 mL; shown in the $13 USD / 15 mL travel size
Rating: 8/10

Toners

💦 RNW Der. Special Ceramide Mist

I love the RNW Der. Concentrate Ceramide Plus Serum, so I had to try the mist from the same line. This has 5 types of ceramides, a ceramide precursor and cholesterol, plus panthenol, a peptide, and a bunch of prebiotics — it’s arguably the serum in a bottle, but way way way more watery. The mister on this makes it take quite a few sprays, so it doesn’t seem quite as hydrating as I would like for a mid-routine spritz. Because ceramides are hydrophobic, this mist has a swirling effect to it that’s quite pleasing.
Opened: April
Price: $27 USD / 100 mL
Rating: 9/10

🐝 Cosrx Full Fit Propolis Synergy Toner

The Cosrx Full Fit Propolis Synergy Toner has long been one of my holy grails, and this iteration of using it proved no different. I’ve sworn by propolis for effortless glow and passive breakout fighting for over two years, and firmly believe Cosrx makes some of the best propolis products out there (though I also like Some By Mi). This toner is great because you can layer it up for extra hydration and moisturization, or just use one layer and feel quenched — either way, it doesn’t feel tacky or heavy. If you feel like your skin is dehydrated and dull, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Just be sure to patch test, since this is a bee-based product and occasionally propolis triggers those allergic to fragrance.
Opened: July
Price: $22 USD / 150 mL
Rating: 10/10

Serums

🍶 SCINIC First Concentrate Ampoules

I picked up the SCINIC First Concentrate Ampoules for our trip to Greece in September, because I’m a sucker for galactomyces and didn’t want to go without. Scinic had been one of the few brands in the first essence category that I had not yet tried (the other being Cosrx), and while these ampoules aren’t a direct comparison to a first essence, they kept my skin looking and feeling good while traveling (I swear by galactomyces for keeping my pore size in check). As part of an ampoule set, the notion is to use one a day for 28 days, but I used AM and PM — when I remembered. The format of these definitely makes them easy to lose track of in a larger routine, but I’ll definitely remember the ampoule format for my next international trip.
Opened: September
Price: $17 USD / 28 mL
Rating: 8/10

🍊 Rohto Mentholatum Melano CC Vitamin C Essence

Renowned for its cost-effectiveness and stability among j-beauty lovers, Rohto Mentholatum Melano CC Vitamin C Essence lives up to the hype. Despite being 20 mL, the fact that this dispenses drop-by-drop makes it easier to make last, and the light-proof packaging (plus the vitamin E) keeps the ascorbic acid from oxidizing. Unfortunately they don’t disclose the amount of ascorbic acid in this product, so best guesses place it anywhere from 5 to 20%. There is a bit of an added citrus fragrance to this, but that’s pretty common in the Vitamin C serum space, as ascorbic acid naturally has a “hot dog water” smell to it.
Opened: May
Price: $14 USD / 20 mL
Rating:10/10

Moisturizers

🏆 Stratia Liquid Gold

Stratia Liquid Gold: you know her, you love her. This enormous bottle actually met its untimely demise falling from a shelf while we were staying in Tulsa — turns out airless pumps don’t work too well when they’re not, well, airless. We tried taping up the crack, but eventually I had to just repot it. This moisturizer has become my husband’s holy grail: he loves the color, how lightweight it is, and how it makes his skin feel. I love that it’s the sort of product that can be the only one you use, between the ceramides, cholesterol, fatty acids and great oils like sea buckthorn and rosehip.
Opened: December
Price: $49 USD / 120 mL
Rating: 10/10

🛌 Purito Dermide Cica Barrier Sleeping Pack

I picked up the Purito Dermide Cica Barrier Sleeping Pack before the brand’s snazzy rebrand — in part because this truly does just last so long. This sleeping pack includes centella asiatica extract as well as cica compounds madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid, plus panthenol and ceramide NP for soothing. Squalane, jojoba and sunflower seed oils make it moisturizing without being too heavy. Many folks use this as their only PM moisturizer, but I used it over top another moisturizer as my true last step. It was great particularly on days that my skin felt dry or irritated, as well as a mixer for my By Wishtrend retinal.
Opened: March
Price: $19 USD / 80 mL
Rating: 9/10

Sunscreens

🌻 Etude Sunprise Mild Watery Light SPF50+ PA++++

The Etude Sunprise Mild Watery Light SPF50+ PA++++ is one of the least expensive k-beauty sunscreens out there, which is saying something. It uses a combination of old and new generation chemical filters, and while it uses alcohol to stabilize the solution, it’s actually quite a moisturizing sunscreen. This was fortunate, as it turns out: I found it to pill over moisturizers with a high oil content, so I tried to use it without a moisturizer when I could get away with it, or over something light like the Cosrx snail cream when I couldn’t. This does have a bit of masking fragrance, but I found it to be quite pleasant — which is good, because it lingers.
Opened: July
Price: $16 USD / 50 mL, less expensive at most retailers
Rating: 8/10

🍃 Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++

The Mary & May CICA Soothing Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++ is one of the latest k-beauty sunscreen releases to be going near-viral. It uses new generation chemical filters, and is lightweight while feeling moisturizing. True to its name, it has seven forms of centella asiatica: three extracts, plus asiaticoside, madecassoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid.It also includes saccharomyces ferment, which can be a pro or a drawback, depending upon your relationship to fermented ingredients. This also has some masking fragrance, but it’s not noticeable after initial application.
Opened: August
Price: $20 USD / 50 mL
Rating: 10/10