As referenced in a previous post, October, November and December of 2023 were pretty wild. On top of everything happening at work and at home, I also managed to get a pretty awful case of eczema around my right eye that shrank and flared throughout the last two months of the quarter, leading me to bust out a variety of skincare in the desperate hope it’d help.

Toners

🥕 Benton Let’s Carrot Oil Mist Toner

The Benton Let’s Carrot Oil Mist Toner was a rewards gift through Soko Glam a while back, and because I’m constantly curious about carrot’s skincare benefits, I had to snatch it. Who doesn’t love beta-carotene, am I right? This is a biphase product and you get carrot in both the oil and water layers, with carrot root water, carrot seed oil and carrot root extract. This also has grape seed adn avocado oil, but doesn’t feel oily when spritzed on the skin.
Price: $25 USD / 150 mL

🥬 Soo Good Feel Soo Calm Toner Pad

I was influenced into buying Soo Good Feel Soo Calm Toner Pad — I was curious that Soo had found that cabbage leaf water so helpful for her skin that she used it as the basis for a product. Cabbage leaf water is one of those ingredients that you’ll see on a surprising number of ingredient lists but is rarely given center stage, despite having tons of antioxidants, and being a good soothing ingredient. I like using these toner pads for a lazy cleanse. They’re quite large, and could be cut in half, but given that I’m really leaning into being lazy, I haven’t been. These toner pads have a different texture on the front and back, and supposedly their texture was also heavily workshopped by Soo.
Price: $26 USD / 70 pads (170 mL)

🦸‍♀️ PSA Heroine Mandelic & Licorice Superfood Glow Toner

The PSA Heroine Mandelic & Licorice Superfood Glow Toner has been on my radar for a while, and I picked up during one of the brand’s many BOGO sales. This has mandelic acid and lactic acid for exfoliating. For brightening, it has niacinamide, licorice root extract and various other extracts. In addition, it has various ferments, centella extract, allantoin and panthenol. In theory, it SHOULD be incredibly gentle. In practice, I find that it stings a bit, at least if applied to my hands and then patted in. I’ve taken to applying it to one of the Soo Good toner pads, then applying to my face, which works well.
Price: $36 USD / 150 mL

🍓 Mary & May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence

The Mary & May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence is often deemed a dupe of the Dr. Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence. On some levels, it certainly is — it’s a biphase essence, with a water layer and a cream layer which needs to be manually mixed before application. This makes it pretty peak “skintertainment”. They have a pretty similar feel on the skin, as well, though I personally find the Mary & May to feel less oily, and better for multiple layers. The hero ingredients of this are its 5% blackberry fruit extract, 10% blue lotus water and 8% jojoba seed oil, making it an antioxidant product that’s soothing as well as moisturizing. In addition, this has centella extract and ceramide NP, making it that much better of a skin strengthener.
Price: $30 USD / 140 mL

Serums

🪸 Krave Great Barrier Relief

I’ve been interested in the Krave Great Barrier Relief pretty much since I got into skincare, and here we are four years later. As the weather got colder and my eye irritation increased, it seemed to be exactly what the metaphorical doctor would order. This is a creamy serum that some oily skin types with money to burn could probably use as a moisturizer. It has 10% tamanu oil, which gives it its characteristic funky smell, as well as niacinamide, cermaide NP, rosehip oil and urea. It wasn’t as soothing as I had hoped for my use case, but I imagine that it has its cult following for a reason, for the acne-prone among us.
Price: $28 USD / 40 mL

🍑 Blithe Pressed Serum Gold Apricot

The Blithe Pressed Serum Gold Apricot wasn’t on my radar, until it popped up as a YesStyle influencer product (I still need to write that review … ugh, I’m the worst). What is a pressed serum, you might ask? It’s essentially just a gel moisturizer. Indeed, this feels heavy enough, on my skin, that I certainly wouldn’t recommend using it at any other step in your skincare besides immediately before moisturizer (it’s probably the dimethicone that makes it feel that way). This has apricot fruit extract, of course, as well as niacinamide and various fruit extracts, the intention being that it will brighten the skin. Unfortunately, it also has various fruit oils, so when my eczema flared I had to slow my roll, lest those irritate it further.
Price: $39 USD / 50 mL

Other

🍷 Krave Makeup Re-Wined (Pilot)

I am, admittedly, falling out of the habit of double cleansing — I’ve been stressed enough that it’s hard to do any cleansing generally, and given that I don’t wear makeup, it feels like it has limited utility. But I was curious about the Krave Makeup Re-Wined, so I picked up one of their pilot versions. This has upcycled grapeseed oil, which is a popular oil in first cleanses, as well as sunflower seed oil. As warned, this is quite a slippy and lightweight texture (unlike their non-pilot version), but I don’t have any issue with that. I like keeping it near the tub, where I can use it as a first cleanse in the bath, or as a body wash.
Price: $25 USD / 100 mL

🛢️ Stratia Fortify Facial Oil

I don’t always go for facial oils, but when my eye area flared with dry, irritated skin, I reached for Stratia Fortify Facial Oil. This is a blend of oleic and linoleic acids, which made me figure that whatever was ailing my eye area, it could probably help soothe it. And indeed, it did. This has camelia seed oil, squalane, perilla seed oil, borage seed oil, jojoba, marula, tamanu and cranberry seed oils, making it a who’s who of pretty much every oil I get excited about. I have tried this on its own as well as mixed with a moisturizer, and I find that it sinks in nicely without feeling heavy in either configuration.
Price: $24 USD / 30 mL

🌊 Kopari Moisture Whipped Ceramide Cream

Kopari hadn’t been on my radar because I don’t go cuckoo for coconut, but Alice in the Rabbithole sang this moisturizer’s praises, so I had to pick it up last January (literally, of 2023) when it went half off. This does, of course, have coconut fruit extract, because it wouldn’t make sense as an entry to their portfolio without it, but no coconut oil. Instead, it has squalane, shea butter, jojoba oil and watermelon seed oil, making it a great choice for dry skin. In addition, it has cholesterol, ceramide NP and ceramide precursors. It has a whipped texture, despite otherwise being a reasonably heavy cream. I find that a little goes a long way, and it feels quite nourishing.
Price: $42 USD / 40 mL

☀️ Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel

Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel is such a staple in our household that it almost doesn’t mention bringing up every time we open a new tube — except that I have to, in case someone hasn’t tried it yet. This is a chemical sunscreen with the newer generation chemical filters, meaning it has great UVA and UVB protection, and feels nice and lightweight. I still play around with new sunscreens, but my husband is basically sticking with this until it gets discontinued.
Price: $17 USD / 50 mL