I absolutely love the Ouai scrub! I will say that to me, the rose scent isn’t very strong, but it is there, if that means it’s a dealbreaker.
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maybe i’ll see if i can get a sample at sephora
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Ohhh I’ve been wondering about that serum!!
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This is my current morning skincare on the left and nighttime regime on the right, with the sunscreen being the divider. I suppose it’s obvious that the sunscreen goes on in the morning. 
And although the CeraVe says PM, I use it in the AM. The squished tube is tretinoin.
Except I’m not actually using that Pura d’or Vitamin C serum anymore. I put it in the picture because I still want vitamin c to be part of my skincare routine but not that stuff! I usually use Dr. Brenner’s or Timeless but I tried this on a whim (OK, let’s be honest, it was cheap!) but oh god no. My skin is not terribly sensitive and I don’t usually have problems with products but this stuff smells like PineSol and made my skin VERY dry and irritated and unhappy and just, no. Stay far away.
It’s kind of a lot and I’m looking to simplify. I’m thinking of trying Proven someday. Is it Proven? One of those subscription things that put a bunch of ingredients together based on your skin. I know of Curology as well, but I haven’t tried any of them.
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I’m older than most people here so I need extra help! I don’t really know much about skincare, never learned much growing up and haven’t investigated much as an adult. I used Philosophy exclusively for many years until hearing about The Ordinary. I tried quite a few things from them and I think I have settled on these. Some of this is AM, some PM, the masks probably happen every few weeks. The hyaluronic acid is pretty new and I mostly forget about using it. The argan oil is just occasional too.
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I’m supposed to be writing a final paper, so I’ll play! (lol)
Spoilered for long
My main foci are minimizing plastic waste (so glass/metal/no containers or bulk-size plastic if need be), clean ingredients to the extent possible, minimizing redness, sloughing flakes, and anti-aging.
The foil-wrapped bottle is homemade vitamin C serum and beside it is homemade lactic acid serum. Both are a little more watery than commercial stuff but seem to work OK. The gold-topped jar is just organic rice flour that I sometimes add to my cleanser as a scrub. The bar is Gallinee soap-free cleansing bar, which I was testing out to replace the FAB cleanser (which I’ve had that tube for YEARS) and I’ll probably stick with the bar when I run out of the tube. It is an expensive bar, but I cut it in half (that’s half of it shown there) and has lasted me to the point shown since buying it in February.
The entire section of four items to the right is my recently experimenting with redness reduction. Jury is kind of still out as to whether ANY of it is working. The green stuff was super expensive and I suspect I might have to be more consistent about using it to see it working. I only remember to do my face stuff about half the time.
The Kiehl’s tub was a gift and I tend to use it only in daytime and only when it’s not dry out, as it’s more lightweight than my go-to Ultra Repair Cream. I’m just trying to use it up before it goes bad.
My main problem is that I’m super inconsistent about doing my face stuff since quarantine. I’ll be really good about it for a couple of weeks and then I’ll get too busy and all my self-care goes out the window and I don’t even wash my face before bed half the nights when that happens. I also only shower like once a week as a general forever trend. I do generally slap some moisturizer on most days at least. It was different when I had somewhere to be and did morning face things as a matter of course.
So, as a result of this neglect, I get really bad flakiness in my T-zone from the dead skin building up and nothing exfoliating it at all, not even water and a washcloth, and then when I get alarmed and try to fix that in the shower, nothing in the world takes all the flakes off.
So the buf-puf is my newest acquisition in that war—at least I can get down to the smooth skin and feel somewhat good about myself even if I fail at applying everything else.
When I’m “being good” about face things, I usually do a routine like this:
Weekly at night (not all on same night)
- Lactic acid
- Needle roller (not shown)
- Rice scrub
- Frownies (not shown)
Daily AM
- Water splash
- Vit C
- Hyaluronic
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen (plain or tinted)
- Mattifying primer as needed if overly dewy from sunscreen
Daily PM
- Cleanser
- Vit C
- Hyaluronic
- Azaleaic (redness)
- Green stuff (redness)
- Snail (redness)
- Moisturizer
- Bakuchiol
- Cicaplast Balm (redness)
- Lip salve
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Where does one buy this snail potion?
I alternate the face washes, but have been using the serum consistently for the last 3 weeks since I got them. I use the moisturizer almost every night.
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Looks like you are a true brand loyalist! Can you tell me more about this brand? Why 3 cleansers?
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I bet you can get it lots of places, but I bought it from Ulta: https://www.ulta.com/p/advanced-snail-96-mucin-power-essence-xlsImpprod15641052
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Thanks!
It’s an organic Hungarian product. My mom got me on to it, and I have had it used on me at spas. When I go visit her she likes to take me to buy it, so it has accumulated!
The stone crop oil cleanser I will use at night time, as it leaves my face very moisturized and soft. I don’t use it often, and that bottle I received at Christmas 2019. The lemon cleanser is a soft one I will use in the morning and is almost empty. The charcoal cleanser I like to use at nighttime because it is gritty and my face feels super clean and tightened. The mangosteen I will use in the mornings, a little gritty but quite gentle. I also have an anti-aging face wash not shown that I use in the shower.
The duo mask is nice, this is the second container I have used in 3 years, and the almond mask makes your skin feel a bit tingly as it heats up. The camellia glow face oil I like for the daytime, it is very light and I like the smell. The night moisturizer has now been discontinued, but I use it at night time as it is thicker. It can be watered down if you want a thinner layer.
The nice thing about the products is you don’t need much, so it lasts a long time.
A few other items I use that were not shown - using up neutragena sensitive skin moisturizer and an oil of Olay total effects moisturizer for the day time, and I use Lancaster 50 sph sunscreen in the summer time for any outdoor time. I love that sunscreen for my face and neck. Also have a small tinted Lancaster sunscreen to use too.
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low key horror movie vibes. Like you’re wearing a mask of skin.
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YESSS exactly!!
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I got a sample of cold cream in a Fancy Lipstick order I put in, and used it last night before putting some retinol on.
Is cold cream a miracle substance that I have ignored all my life? My skin is soft and glowing and my pores are smaller and a new zit disappeared overnight? (And tbf, I hadn’t used retinol in over a week, and it usually does me a real solid… but this is like, reallll good.)
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What kind of cold cream? I think I might need it during the winter. My poor dry nose 
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What brand?
But yes, it’s a winter miracle
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It’s from Besame. It’s not cheap at all. I’ve never used anything like Pond’s, so can’t compare.
I’m definitely using up this sample. If it keeps on like this, I might actually shell out the money for it. My skin is fairly sensitive and acne-prone, and I’m somewhat scent-sensitive. This is unscented and didn’t make my skin breakout or get a rash, which is what happens with about 50% of products. I also looked up the ingredients on EWG and it does very well there – no parabens/mineral oil/generally no endocrine disruptors.
So, yes, very nice moisturizing cleanser so far.
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Ah, I’ve been meaning to try their cake mascara anyway….
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