Nothing says “life needs to slow down” like posting my October openeds reviews halfway through November. On top of it being the busy season at work (related side note: if you’re in the US and need health insurance, it’s OEP right now so go enroll), after not planning on doing any more trips until 2023, we wound up on a sudden trip to Mountain View, California, which seriously cut into my blogging time. But I’ve been digging a lot more into my skincare practice since we got back from Crete in September, so here’s what I opened in October.

Toners

🔵 Tia’m Vita B5 Toner

If you have sensitive skin and love hydrating toners, you will inevitably come across the Tia’m Vita B5 Toner. True to its name, it has 1% panthenol, or vitamini B5, but to amplify its hydration it includes hydrolized collagen, three peptides and sodium hyaluronate.In proper k-beauty fashion, there are also a few fermented extracts: mistletoe ferment, saccharomyces and lactobacillus. The texture on this is quite novel, because it’s watery and thin, but it feels slick and almost oily on the skin — argubly a bit like the Klairs Watery Oil Drop, which had similar moisturizing characteristics while being oil-free.
Price: $14 USD / 180 mL

🌾 I’m From Rice Toner

The I’m From Rice Toner is relatively iconic, and this is not my first time trying it — I got it in a travel size just to try before, but when it was available as part of a value set from Wishtrend I snatched it once again. This uses rice extracts and niacinamide to brighten the skin, with added antioxidant benefits from other plant extracts. This is frequently compared to moisturizing toners like Laneige Cream Skin due to its appearance, but I personally wouldn’t characterize it as moisturizing, beyond incidentally.
Price: $25 USD / 150 mL

Serums

🥜 Stratia Soft Touch AHA

This bottle of Stratia Soft Touch AHA has been waiting to join my routine for a while — I received it in exchange for Stratia using a photo of my husband and his Liquid Gold haul summer of 2021. This serum has 10% mandelic acid (derived from almonds, and in my opinion this actually does smell like amaretto, which is also frequently derived from almonds), as well as allantoin and chamomile for calming. I’ve been using this every evening (even with retinal!) as my first post-essence step: I let it dry down, then proceed with my serums and creams.
Price: $16 USD / 50 mL

🍒 Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum

This bottle of Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum has been hiding in my cheese drawer since last winter, and now that Soko Glam has finally rebranded and rereleased it as Good Days For All C’s The Day Serum, it was time to rebuy. This has 10% ascorbic acid but is gentle (the reformulation has 20% more, at 12%, but will hopefully be as gentle), and increases brightening benefits with niacinamide and acerola extract. This does oxidize fairly quickly, unfortunately, which the reformulation claims to address.
Price: N/A; reformulation priced at $26 USD / 30 mL

🐝 Some By Mi Propolis B5 Glow Barrier Calming Serum

I am a lover of propolis serums and take the Pokemon “gotta catch them all” approach, so it really says something that Some By Mi Propolis B5 Glow Barrier Calming Serum is actually a repurchase. I love that it’s 50 mL, I love that it’s in a pump, and I love that while it’s fragranced it’s just a honey masking fragrance. Propolis is my go-to for passive acne fighting (nearly 34 and still getting spots every menstrual cycle? Hello, yes, that is me), as well as for moisturization. This also includes honey extract, niacinamide, panthenol (ergo the B5 in the name), multiple centella extracts, probiotics and more.
Price: $23 USD / 50 mL

🍑 Peach & Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum

Peach & Lily basically put the idea of “glass skin” on the map in the west, and so it was only a matter of time before I tried their Glass Skin Refining Serum. Is this glass skin in a bottle? No. Is it full of lovely hydrating, calming ingredients? Yes. This has niacinamide, peach extract, dioscorea japonica extract, beta glucan, as well several forms of centella and hyaluronic acid. One of the pleasant surprises here was the size (40 mL, vs the more common 30 mL for serums), as well as its pump format — I use two pumps to cover face, neck and chest both AM and PM, so we’ll see how long it lasts me.
Price: $39 USD / 40 mL

🌌 The Inkey List Ceramide Hydrating Night Treatment

As a ceramide lover, The Inkey List’s Ceramide Hydrating Night Treatment has been on my “to try” list for a hot minute — after all, outside of CeraVe, it’s probably the cheapest dose of ceramides out there. This has since been rebranded similarly as “Ceramide Serum”, since there’s nothing inherently PM-y about ceramides, but the formula (I believe) hasn’t shifted. This includes ceramide NP, cermaide AP and ceramide EOP, as well as ceramide precursor phytosphingosine. In proper ceramide trifecta fashion, this also has fatty acids (from jojoba oil) and cholesterol. This comes in a pump bottle, and much like the Peach & Lily, I use two pumps for full coverage, though I do legitimately use this only at night — but that’s a function of texture and routine length.
Price: $15 USD / 30 mL

Creams

🛌 Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Overnight Rehydrating Mask

Kiehl’s has truly never been on my radar as a brand I wanted to try, but I got a sample size of the Ultra Facial Overnight Rehydrating Mask so here we are. This is a fairly thick sleeping mask for which I can safely say a little goes a long way. It’s a fairly simple formula, with the big claim to fame being 10.5% squalane. For my part, I would consider this to be much more occlusive than hydrating, but I’m certainly impressed by how this melts down to cover face, neck and chest with fairly little product required.
Price: $40 USD / 100 mL; shown in a 14 mL sample size

☀️ OMI Verdio UV Moisture Essence SPF 50+ PA++++

Another repurchase this month, the OMI Verdio UV Moisture Essence SPF 50+ PA++++ is actually my go-to sunscreen for vacation — and I think I did indeed actually open this in September but forgot to include it in that blog post. This is a j-beauty sunscreen that uses modern chemical filters to get the coverage listed. OMI also has a gel, but the essence is their more moisturizing option. While this isn’t water-resistant, I’ve now used it on two water-adjacent vacations (Belize last year, Crete this one), without issue.
Price: $11 USD / 50 g