Doctorly – The Guru Index

Every take, in full

Every review.

All 229 products Doctorly has reviewed, grouped by product type. Click a product to see the full guru consensus.

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Type

Serums49 reviews

"The cream and the serum both have 21 different types of peptides in it including ingredients like argerene and arjgerox. Now arjgerox I believe that particular combination of peptides has been shown to increase the longevity of your botox. So if you get botox done it usually lasts only 3 months. This can increase longevity at up to 6 months. So it is just a really interesting combination of ingredients and it's power packed with different types of peptides. And because of that, even though it's a little bit more pricey, it definitely makes our list of the year definitely."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Timeless 20% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum

"Timeless Skincare, they have a 20% vitamin C that's a really good affordable option. If you don't have very sensitive skin, eloscorbic acid is a good option for you."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

All 7 takes on 20% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum

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"Timeless Skincare, they have a 20% vitamin C that's a really good affordable option. If you don't have very sensitive skin, eloscorbic acid is a good option for you."

Is Vitamin C Worth The HYPE?? | Doctorly Investigates

"The Timeless vitamin C that's a 20% vitamin C with E and ferric acid at a much more affordable price point."

The ULTIMATE Budget Friendly Anti-Aging Skincare Routine

"This is a great vitamin C serum. It's a watery serum with a nice formula. The smell comes from benzyl alcohol, which is a fragrant alcohol, and it's canceling out a little bit of that smell that you get from the ascorbic acid."

Weekend SkinCare Live!

"It has vitamin E and ferulic acid, copying that Skinceuticals formulation, and it is 27 bucks, which is like a ninth of the price of the Skinceuticals one. Aesthetically it's nice. If you had 30 bucks and had to pick one vitamin C, it's that one. Timeless vitamin C for sure."

Building A Morning Skincare Routine for Every Skin Concern!

"A good affordable option is the 20% vitamin C from Timeless."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

"Timeless has a great vitamin C that's available at Target for this."

Building a Morning Skincare Routine For Every Skin Conccern!

"A good affordable option is the 20% vitamin C from Timeless."

Vanicream Vitamin C Serum

"They use THD ascorbate in their vitamin C. So a good derivative of vitamin C, but it has a lot less data."

~Mixed

79%approval rating

Allies of Skin Copper Tripeptide + Ectoin Advanced Repair Serum

"This is the blue that you would expect from a true copper peptide serum that has a good concentration of copper peptides in it. That one will come in at about $140 right now with Black Friday. So, a bit on the expensive side currently. Nice formula, but expensive."

~Mixed

78%approval rating

All 5 takes on Copper Tripeptide + Ectoin Advanced Repair Serum

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"I've been using their copper peptides probably for three years now. I love that product. The formulas are outstanding. I think they bring something unique to the table. There's so many copper peptide serums out there, but theirs is really stellar. Of the one I use the most frequently, it would be the copper peptide."

PART 2: 2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"If you want a good copper peptide, I do like the one from Allies of Skin. Unfortunately, this is very expensive. It's kind of ridiculous how expensive it is."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

"There are some really interesting combinations of ingredients in this formula like allantoin, like basobalol, like glutathione, like ergoionine. They also have this algae extract that I really like, and algaes are very powerful antioxidants because of the environment that they live in, and so they also can have profound benefits on the skin. And then they have a slew of different peptides in this one, so this one is really super formulated. The price point on this, if you had a problem with skincare prices, you will have a problem with this. They're nearing $200 per product. However, they are top tier in terms of innovation, formulation, and aesthetics."

THE BEST HYDRATING SERUMS | DOCTORLY UNSPONSORED REVIEWS

"This is a copper tripeptide and ectoin advanced repair serum. Ectoin is really where you're getting that hydration from. You're also getting some other hydrating ingredients in this formula as well. But you also get that compounded effect of the cetal hexapeptide aka giralene. And you also have two forms of different copper peptides in this formula. It's a beautiful blue serum and it's super hydrating. It's a super hydrating formula. Plus, it's delivering those copper peptides into the skin. The only real holdup from recommending it more often would probably be the price point. I think it's a little bit expensive. Very expensive I would argue. If this wasn't so expensive, I definitely would recommend it more often."

DRMTLGY Needleless Growth Factor Serum

"This is the dermatology needleless growth factor serum. It's a really nice serum from dermatology and it has multiple different peptides that act as growth factors in the skin. And that is able to stimulate your skin cells, fibroblast growth factor, platelet derived growth factors that can stimulate your collagen and elastin to build. It can speed up your skin cell turnover. If you're looking for growth factors, which I think are a little bit more advanced, meaning you've already mastered your retinoids and you've already mastered some of the more entry-level peptides like metatricxel or copper peptides and you haven't seen great results with them, I think growth factors are really the next step. I think the one from dermatology is a great option for somebody who is looking to introduce because it's not so expensive like the one from Allies of Skin."

✓Approved

79%approval rating

e.l.f. Vitamin C Serum

"If you want something that's not as irritating, something like the e.l.f. Vitamin C uses 3-O ethylascorbic acid at a relatively affordable price. And 3-O ethylascorbic acid is much more expensive to formulate with than L-ascorbic acid, but you'll see very similar results."

✓Approved

70%approval rating

The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Copper Peptides 1% Serum

"The Ordinary's got a higher concentration. From an efficacy standpoint, I would get the one from The Ordinary."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Clarins Double Serum

"The Clarins Double Serum is like a scam. I saw this ad for it where they showed a person who put their face like this in the before, and then the after they did this, and they were claiming that it shaped the jaw, which is just an insane thing to claim that a skincare product can do. There's just no universe where a skincare product is going to do that for your face. Ever since that I hated the Clarins Double Serum, but I'm sure it's a good product."

✕Skip

68%approval rating

Timeless Coenzyme Q10 Serum

"I really like their Coenzyme Q10 serum too. I think probably in descending order of data driven products is Vitamin C, peptides, and Coenzyme Q10. But you really can't go wrong with all three of those."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

Timeless Matrixyl 3000 Serum

"I really do love their Matrixyl 3000 Serum as well. I think probably in descending order of data driven products, Vitamin C, peptides, and co-enzyme Q10. But you really can't go wrong with all three of those."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

Vichy Mineral 89

"It's the Vichy Mineral 89 HA serum, thermal spring water, hyaluronic acid, little bit of glycerin, and it just sits so lightly on the skin. One of the things is it's been around so long and it's so simple. It may not be newsworthy, but it's always just a good staple hydrating product."

✓Approved

79%approval rating

All 8 takes on Mineral 89

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Weekend SkinCare Live!

"I love the Vichy one coupling it with thermal spring water that's the Mineral 89 that's their flagship product."

Reviewing Skincare Hacks: Hyaluronic acid for the lips, Dandruff shampoo face wash, & Sleep pillows

"One of my favorite hyaluronic acid products is the Vichy Mineral 89. It tastes terrible, actually it's extremely bitter. I didn't enjoy that. The plumping effect of it was minimal, maybe minimally noticeable improvement in plumping of the lips, but my lips after a few minutes started to feel either more dry or back to baseline. Especially with the lips compared to the rest of the face, because the lips either have no stratum corneum layer of the skin or a very slim thin stratum corneum layer of the skin, you are more likely with hyaluronic acid to lose water through your lips than you would in other parts of the face. I do not recommend, especially if you have dry lips or if you live in an arid climate, to just use hyaluronic acid on your lips by itself."

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"They basically took the content of their serum and created a lightweight cream. It's not a gel cream, I'd say like this is a lightweight cream, like a true lightweight cream. The Vichy volcano water in it, you know it sounds gimmicky but it's got data behind it. I think it does add a layer of fun flair but I think it actually does add some soothing."

Building A Morning Skincare Routine for Every Skin Concern!

"You can use your traditional hyaluronic acid serum like the Vichy Mineral 89 hyaluronic acid."

The ULTIMATE Routine for Sensitive Skin | Doctorly Routines

"The Vichy Mineral 89 is over 1,000 kildaltons and it's probably the best type of hyaluronic acid for sensitive skin. If you did want a hyaluronic acid serum, I would say the Vichy Mineral 89 would be a good choice."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

"We've always loved the Vichy Mineral 89. These hydrating serums can really help the skin barrier, they do hydrate. It's always more complex formula than just hyaluronic acid so that nuance. It's combined with glycerin, thermal spring water, whatever. I love the Vichy Mineral 89 serum."

Building a Morning Skincare Routine For Every Skin Conccern!

"You can use your traditional hyaluronic acid serum like the Vichy Mineral 89 hyaluronic acid."

iUNIK Beta Glucan Power Moisture Serum

"This one is from iUNIK. It's the Beta Glucan Power Moisture Serum. Beta glucan again a very great barrier building ingredient. This dropper didn't do the best job there, but you can see it kind of has that sort of snail mucin feel to it. Absorbs super well into the skin and it's just going to give you that extra hydration that's going to give you that dewy skin."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

Allies of Skin Multipeptides & Growth Factor Advanced Lifting Serum

"This is one of my guilty pleasure products and it's only a guilty pleasure because of the price point. This is I think $180, maybe up to $200 at times, but it combines multiple peptides. They have a 9% lifting peptide complex, and these are also listed in terms of igopeptides. So it does use multiple different types of growth factors. Aesthetically, love it. Sits beautifully on the skin just like all of the Allies of Skin products. It's just the price point. I really do love this. They have a lot of thoughtful formulations in their product lineup and this is just another banger. So phenomenal serum, you know, 3% Shallopeptide so it's that growth factors. It also has copper lysinate but it's not blue which makes me think that the copper concentration in this is quite low. But in general, this is a beautiful serum, beautiful packaging as always from Allies of Skin. Will perform incredibly well and they've done some really great clinical studies on there, albeit at a much higher price point for people. But if you like the brand, you can find a discount code. You should definitely check it out."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

All 3 takes on Multipeptides & Growth Factor Advanced Lifting Serum

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"The growth factor serum uses a high quality growth factor along with supporting ingredients. I've used this myself, so gentle, so great for repairing damaged skin. It has benefits otherwise for aging skin as well. If you were looking to splurge, this might be your opportunity to at least try it."

Weekend SkinCare Live!

"The growth factor serum in general is great, I love it. If you just take the price out of it, I have no complaints about the product. It's very thoughtful. The growth factors, there's multiple types of growth factors you can get, and this type in particular is actually high quality plus it has good supporting ingredients. Aesthetically it feels great, as gentle as can be. I actually really like the product, but it is still expensive."

ARE GROWTH FACTORS WORTH THE HYPE? Doctorly Explores

SkinMedica TNS Advanced+ Serum

"The price point is about $300 and it has the studies to back up its clinical use and the benefits you'll see. It's extremely popular amongst physicians and definitely has a cult following with a plethora of clinical data around it to support its efficacy. This one is derived from humans, specifically the foreskin. If you're looking for growth factors derived from humans that have been around for the longest, this would be the option to go with. If you're a growth factor purist, this would be the one for you. It really is kind of like that idealistic type of product that has been the gold standard for some time now. When using this in your routine, it's simply cleanse, treat, protect. You can cleanse at night, use the serum, moisturize, and in the morning cleanse, use the serum, use sunscreen. You can layer it with other actives and it is going to be stable with other actives as well."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Dermatology Needleless Growth Factor Serum

"This serum it's actually a really nice serum to just apply to the skin and it would definitely replace your hydration serum. It also has other peptides that are well-known in it, so that combination that forms matrixyl palmitoyl tripeptide-1 and palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 is also in this. It also has multiple types of ceramides. And overall, it's just a really nice serum with these really proven types of peptides. There's a pretty insane clinical study on this product to prove that it's effective, especially at this price point. They replicated something we see in the pharmaceutical space a lot. They took the leader in the space in terms of what was probably considered the best growth factor serum out there, then they compared theirs head-to-head to it. So it was like a $295 growth serum versus theirs. It was put in front of an institutional review board, and those individuals reviewed it, made sure the study was well thought out and ethical. And then it was a 12-week study with 20 individuals. By all the clinical endpoints, not only was this product non-inferior, it actually outperformed it. It's notable because you don't necessarily have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for something that works. But also, this one is vegan. It does not use human-based growth factors, and it was compared to a human-based growth factor product. It shows that while they are different in structure and shape, the results speak for themselves."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

All 3 takes on Needleless Growth Factor Serum

Building A Morning Skincare Routine for Every Skin Concern!

"Look for peptides, something like the Dermatology Needleless Growth Factor Serum that has a combination of different peptides can be phenomenal."

ARE GROWTH FACTORS WORTH THE HYPE? Doctorly Explores

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"Look for peptides, something like the Dermatology Needleless Growth Factor Serum that has a combination of different peptides can be phenomenal."

The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%

"10% azelaic acid products that are out there are phenomenal. There's a few of them, The Ordinary, and this is a really good option."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

All 6 takes on Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%

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"The Ordinary's got their Azelaic Acid, which is currently not discounted, but that one I said is pretty gritty. I would say no rush to buy this one in general. $80 for Azelaic Acid is quite expensive."

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"If you have rosacea and you're kind of limited over the counter, azelaic acid would be my go to option. There's The Ordinary at 10%, there's Paul's Choice at 10%."

AZELAIC ACID - IS IT WORTH THE HYPE? | Dermatologists Explain

"The first one that I discovered was the one from The Ordinary. Now, this one is affordable. It's widely available. It is a gritty bad experience in my mind, but it was the only thing that was available when we first started creating videos. And so I think we've made a lot of leaps and bounds since then, but still very affordable, still a good option, will still work for you."

Saturday Skincare Live!

"Azelaic acid helps for acne, it helps for hyperpigmentation. I think it's a supporting ingredient. I love azelaic acid, I think it's great. Do I think you should use only azelaic acid absolutely not unless you for some reason can only use that one ingredient. I think it's a supporting ingredient it shines best when combined with something like tretinoin. You can use azelaic acid once a day in the morning, you can use it twice a day, and then you tretinoin at night, either way whatever your skin tolerates is a good thing for hyperpigmentation, that is absolutely fine."

Building A Morning Skincare Routine for Every Skin Concern!

"10% azelaic acid products that are out there are phenomenal. There's a few of them, The Ordinary, and this is a really good option."

Building a Morning Skincare Routine For Every Skin Conccern!

"10% azelaic acid products that are out there are phenomenal. There's a few of them, The Ordinary, and this is a really good option."

Topicals Faded Brightening Serum

"if you're looking for a product without retinol, I would either get the topicals or the Anua one because those are both without retinol in them."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

All 3 takes on Faded Brightening Serum

BEST DEALS ON THE LAST DAY OF AMAZON PRIME DAY

"if you're looking for a product without retinol, I would either get the topicals or the Anua one because those are both without retinol in them."

Skin QnA

"Faded, I feel like it's the OG consolidated dark spot serum, the OG remedy for dark spots. Just still stinks. It has been improved upon. Most dark spot ingredients, just like acne ingredients, can be irritating. So if you're dealing with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from acne or any other insult and if this is too irritating for you, use it less frequently or don't use it at all, because if you keep irritating your skin it's going to make it worse, it's going to make the hyperpigmentation worse. So if it's too irritating with the stacked ingredient list, just try something else."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"Faded by Topicals is another good option for dark spots or discoloration. It's going to have your retinol, it's going to have your coic acid, your nicomide, your glutathione, your tranexamic acid all in one product."

Good Molecules Discoloration Correcting Serum

"I think it's a good option, especially at the price point, like $12. But I wasn't overly impressed. Even though it's a good combination of ingredients, I wasn't overly impressed with the performance over time with this product, even though it is a good starter product for dark spots. If you haven't tried any dark spot product and you're looking to start a dark spot product, I think this is a good starter product. But I think there are better, more comprehensive solutions that are currently out there."

~Mixed

76%approval rating

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

"Vitamin C is your prototypical antioxidant. SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic is a $180 product which is now officially out of patent so their patent finally expired. In the past you weren't able to actually create dupes because they had a patent. SkinCeuticals has a great vitamin C. The reason it was so expensive was because of the intellectual property."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 7 takes on C E Ferulic

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"People who like L-ascorbic acid and it works for their skin, they love it. And there is still a very large percent, I would say 50% or greater, that cannot tolerate L-ascorbic acid and they find it very irritating to their skin and they just completely cannot use it. So I'm talking about specifically SkinCeuticals vitamin C, which uses L-ascorbic acid."

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"I was ranting earlier about SkinCeuticals vitamin C and how I think it's a ripoff, right? They'll spend $180 on it."

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"SkinCeuticals really takes advantage of a 30-year-old formula that's now out of patent that costs a dollar to make in really cheap 40 cents packaging that sells for $180 and they continue to raise the price. At $180, you can go get microneedling done or a laser procedure done. I just don't like that style, that they're gutting their customers instead of coming out with something better."

Is Vitamin C Worth The HYPE?? | Doctorly Investigates

"SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, they did all the research, people love it, people swear by it. My skin tolerates it fine. I like the aesthetics, it's like watery, not super drippy, not super greasy. The body's good. I love the bread smell of vitamin C. It's an acquired taste, some people call it bread, some people call it hot dog water, some people hate the smell of this product. But for some people it's very irritating. I do believe that people are more likely to stick with it over other products."

Best And Worst Of Skinceuticals

"This is locked in as like the standard of what vitamin C looks, smells and feels like. It's definitely one of the stronger smelling vitamin C products out there and quite polarizing, but the advantage of that is that it is fragrance-free and it is optimized for absorption into the skin and they do hold the patent on this particular formulation. For me personally this product doesn't agree well with my skin. I don't know why I've tried it a million times, my wife loves this product, but for me it just irritates my skin. I even break out sometimes when I use it. For some people this is going to be a grail and if you're intro to the brand and you want to stick with any product that has the most research behind it then it would be this one. They even have studies that show that this is a really beneficial product post-procedurally, meaning that if you were to get microneedling done or laser done you could apply this and it would help with healing times. For me personally I find this to be an irritating product, so I think with a compromised skin barrier it would be something that would not agree well. With super low pH because of the high potent actives, I think it would be quite uncomfortable even if it does help repair the skin faster."

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"For vitamin C's I personally like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic. It's as expensive as can be, may love though it has a great glow maker, because it combines vitamin C along with functional antioxidants. Vitamin C is a very effective ingredient. It doesn't agree with everyone's skin, doesn't agree well with my skin, but it definitely has its benefit, especially as an antioxidant."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel with Hyaluronic Acid

"Neutrogena Hydroboost is just a really nice super lightweight gel formula. I personally prefer the fragrance-free versions of Hydroboost, so definitely check those out. I think that's a really good option if you're going with those like really nice lightweight gel formulas."

✓Approved

87%approval rating

All 2 takes on Hydro Boost Water Gel with Hyaluronic Acid

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"Neutrogena Hydroboost is another classic OG that patients, nurses, everybody swears by."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

Paula's Choice Antioxidant Serum

"Paula's Choice has an interesting one, it's a good one. It has a lot of those supporting antioxidants in there. I think it has glutathione, it has superoxide dismutase, it has ferulic acid. Interestingly, the forms of vitamin C in it are very low for me. It has THDC, tetrahexadecyl ascorbate, and then magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, which is absolute trash when it comes to vitamin C's. But if those vitamin C's do nothing, I actually think the rest of the supporting antioxidants in that formulation are good enough to compensate. So I actually like this product as another alternative for your vitamin C and your antioxidants."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

Minimalist Tranexamic Acid 3% Serum

"They have tranexamic acid, which I just didn't overall like this formula. It's 3% tranexamic acid, which is the active concentration you do want to look for. They have mandalic acid, which is thoughtful in this ingredient list because the thought is that tranexamic acid has some difficulty penetrating into the skin and mandalic acid as an exfoliant could help to amplify that absorption process. So it does have a thoughtful list of ingredients, it was yellow, I didn't find the serum really great to use. And also I think there are dark spot products even within their own lineup like the alpha arbutin one which are going to give you better results with dark spots."

✕Skip

68%approval rating

Minimalist 5% Niacinamide Serum

"My favorite and the one I've recommended the most from the brand altogether is their 5% Niacinamide Serum. Niacinamide we've talked about at length before over a period of years, and the concentration less than 5% is clinically functional. You can get great results, or as good as you could get from the supporting ingredient at low concentrations. There are so few brands I think that were brave enough to put forth that concentration and say this is your niacinamide product. You don't need more. Five is enough. And there's some good supporting ingredients in this as well. You add in things like a bit of ferment extract, oat extract, and hyaluronic acid, and so you basically have a niacinamide serum that's hydrating and calming and soothing to the skin. Bit of ferment extract actually been shown to help with sensitive skin, some of that irritation, stinging and burning sensation. So it's a phenomenal ingredient to add into a facial serum. Niacinamide plus, it's got a little bit more. It's going to do more for you. I think this product is a lot more interesting."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Minimalist Marula Oil Moisturizer

"This is their marula oil face moisturizer, this is a really nice, it's a little bit of a thicker cream and it leaves you with this really nice dewy marula oil finish. Now to be honest that's not going to be for everybody, for me this is the ideal texture in a moisturizer. I actually personally love the aesthetic of the marula one, even though I have a little more oilier skin I would probably just like the way that felt and restored my skin more, I just may not like how it makes me look afterward because I like to go for the little matte look more mattifying."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum

"I never hear anyone talk about it and I think there's probably a good reason why, it's just not that good. It is a simple hydrating serum, but it actually comes out more like a lotion. So to me, you have their range of moisturizers and some of their moisturizers like CeraVe PM or even their new lightweight gel moisturizer are actually very close in texture to this. I don't find this to be very hydrating. I don't find that the experience is great. As a hyaluronic acid serum, there are a lot of other competitors in this space that I would prefer. I find this one to be okay but not great. Because of its modest benefits, aesthetics plays a huge role for me. I love a very cooling, refreshing hyaluronic acid serum. This one is more of a gel lotion and it just doesn't have that."

✕Skip

64%approval rating

CeraVe Oil Control Moisturizing Gel-Cream

"The oil control moisturizing gel cream, if you have oily skin you're going to love this. That mattifying effect from the starch is great, it's subtle, it won't leave you flat, but it's a great one."

✓Approved

64%approval rating

Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster

"It's a 10% azelaic acid with licorice root and salicylic acid. The formula is much nicer than grittier options, it rubs in beautifully and is very elegant. Azelaic acid is great for acne, dark spots or discoloration, and people who get acne followed by post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It's great for rosacea and it's one of the few acne ingredients that's safe in pregnancy. The downside is that they threw salicylic acid in it, which makes it a product you would have to questionably recommend in pregnancy. We don't know with those concentrations how safe they are topically for pregnancy. It would be much nicer if it was just azelaic acid, because that's when we consistently use azelaic acid in the office, for the pregnant patient with acne. You'd probably exclude this just out of caution."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

All 2 takes on 10% Azelaic Acid Booster

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"The next one I discovered was Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid. A great formula, an improved formula compared to The Ordinary, except this one has salicylic acid in it, which makes it not safe to use during pregnancy and then no longer becomes a universal recommendation."

Paula's Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster

"Anything over 5% niacinamide has never really been studied and really never been shown to have benefit. All the studies that show niacinamide is great for skin tone, for brightening, for collagen support, for barrier support, all these different things niacinamide does, has been shown to be beneficial at the 5% concentration or less. So when you see a 10% niacinamide, you're like, do I really need 10%? It's double what the recommended amount is. The more you have of anything, the more likely you are to get irritation. It's not like the more of things the better it is. Sometimes less is more. Studies show 5% is sufficient for pretty much all your clinical endpoints. Between 10 and 15%, you're probably going to tolerate it, not that it's more effective, but the tolerability perhaps isn't terrible. But 10% is more than enough than what you need."

✕Skip

65%approval rating

Cosrx 6 Peptide Skin Booster Serum

"The six peptide skin booster from COSRX has tons of complimentary benefits: boosting, plumping, fine line, firmness, oil control, pores, reduce skin sensitivity, retexturize blemishes and brightening, and all of that is true. I think this is the best multi-purpose product because COSRX is very cost-effective. The aesthetics of this product feel so good. Peptides as a group are easily the number one supporting ingredient, providing the best broad benefits. When it comes to Korean skincare brands and COSRX in general, you really just cannot beat the texture, the way that it will layer under any other product or layer under your makeup or layer underneath your sunscreen. They always bring hydration, they always bring calming and soothing, and peptides truly play well with pretty much any other ingredient. This does really so much, especially with the copper peptides and especially with the organ that's in this formula."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum

"I like Drunk Elephant a lot. I think they have a lot of good products, but they're just expensive. They use pretty high quality actives, fragrance-free, useful products. Their moisturizers are really good, though they're expensive."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on C-Firma Fresh Day Serum

Is Vitamin C Worth The HYPE?? | Doctorly Investigates

"This one needs to be actually mixed together so it comes separately and you have to mix the powder into the serum, which I find some people like to be chemists and some people don't like to do it. The interesting thing about this particular formulation is that Drunk Elephant was sued by SkinCeuticals for patent infringement, so the formula was so close to SkinCeuticals' formula that they actually ended up suing them over formula copying, so just important to note there. This is not an inexpensive product, probably still in that 60 to 80 dollar range. What's kind of nice about this is that you're getting exactly what you need and you know that it's stable from the time that you get it, which is actually pretty cool because you don't know how long the other products have been sitting on the shelf with the cap on. The value is that you have these unstable ingredients that can break down and so this may stay stable longer."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

Timeless 10% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum

"I'm particularly fond of the 10% vitamin C because I think it's pretty hard to find a 10% vitamin C. We know from studies that that is sufficient to be effective, and also the irritation is lower the lower the concentration you get. So I think this is a perfect vitamin C serum if you're looking for a new one or even if you want something to last with you over time and you have sensitive skin. 10% is great, my favorite product from them. It's a 10% vitamin C serum for like $15 with vitamin E and ferulic acid, the stabilizers and the penetration enhancers to make it more effective."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

Abreva Cold Sore Treatment

"This is meant to be a cold sore treatment topically. The data on it is kind of mid so some studies say it does help some studies say it doesn't help. It's meant to shorten the duration of cold sores and cold sores are caused by the herpes virus. Maybe helpful for a specific case use scenario."

~Mixed

59%approval rating

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

"Niacinamide from The Ordinary is pretty lightweight, niacinamide is extremely stable and there is no wrong way to do it. Both of those ingredients play really well with most other things, and it's so stable if you wanted to use it in the daytime you sure could. Generally though what you would do, you'd probably wash face, use niacinamide twice a day as an earlier step."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

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"Functionally I like The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%. Niacinamide has been shown to be effective at concentrations 5% and less and there haven't been any studies on concentrations higher than 5%, even though you'll see 20, 30, 40% niacinamide products out there. There's no need for a concentration that high in your skincare routine. You can use this morning and night or you could just use it one time a day."

Weekend SkinCare Live!

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3%

"Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% from The Ordinary, top tier, top tier. It's one of my favorite antioxidant combinations of all time if you're going for a pure antioxidant and you just want two extraordinary ones. The funny thing is I always forget this product is slightly yellowy tinged to begin with and I always wonder because I don't use it very frequently when I pull it off the shelf if it's gone bad, but it is outstanding. There are a lot of studies head-to-head with antioxidants and there are just a lot of good ones, so if you're going for a purely antioxidant ingredient with potential to help with your sunscreen, help with your protection for your skin, yes, Resveratrol is great. Is it better than vitamin C? Probably not, but only because it doesn't have the supporting, complimenting benefits."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

Vichy LiftActiv Vitamin C Serum

"I love the Vichy serums. The LiftActiv line is a real win for me. I recommend their glycolic acid product in the office pretty regularly, and I really like their vitamin C out of that line too."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster

"I'm a big fan of Paula's Choice just in general. I think that they make overall good products. This is a product that I've recommended for a really long time. It's 15% vitamin C, vitamin E, and ferulic acid, and fragrance free. It's very similar to the Skinceuticals formulation, but the interesting thing about this one is that they've actually recently reformulated it to decrease the irritation from the product. A lot of people do experience irritation with the formula, so they added arginine to the formula to make it less irritating. I've tried it on myself and I actually find this version to be much more tolerable than other forms of pure L-ascorbic acid. I love the texture too, a nice full body, a little thicker serum."

✓Approved

74%approval rating

Matter of Fact Vitamin C Serum

"Matter of Fact has one of the most interesting textures of all the products. This is L-ascorbic acid but it's not liquidy, it's like it feels very oily. This is getting wiped off, this is not making it to my face. It's just a texture I don't enjoy. It's just too oily for me. But if you have dry skin this is going to fall into the category similar to the Neutrogena one, where it might sit well with you. A lot of people won't like this formula. It is L-ascorbic acid but it really has that oily texture to it."

✕Skip

53%approval rating

Maelove Fade Away Brightening Serum

"This is the Maelove Fade Away Brightening Serum. Dark spots are my main skin issue along with crinkles that I've developed. Texturally I think it's great. This is one of those dark spot serums that covers multiple different ingredients. This is where over-the-counter shines, you get tons of ingredients in one product and it keeps your skincare simple. So that's why I love this. The only questionable ingredient in this is the witch hazel. I have a suspicion it's there for a purpose. I feel like maybe it helps with absorption or skin penetration enhancer or something like that."

✓Approved

90%approval rating

Bubble Daydream Tone and Texture Serum

"This has sodium ascorbyl phosphate, which is what you'll find in a lot of your more budget friendly vitamin C options. This is not your L-ascorbic acid, this is not your ethyl ascorbic acid, which I'm a huge fan of, but this is a serviceable vitamin C with a huge supporting cast. I'm a big fan, it's on the best list for me. I would not say this is a vitamin C serum personally. I would say this has other benefits in it. I would use it in the morning after cleansing before applying my sunscreen and I would use it as my antioxidant and lightening brightening serum for complexion. It has a lot of added benefits and the vitamin C not being the heavy hitter here, and for $17 I think it packs a big punch."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Vichy Lift Active B3 Serum

"This is the Vichy Lift Active line and I really love the lift active line in particular from them. This is their B3 serum. B3 is niacinamide and B3 is an amazing supporting ingredient, but it also has glycolic acid here and then also tranexamic acid. I find this product to be very, very, very balanced. This whole line from them is just very simple, straightforward, minimalistic ingredient lists that are all thoughtful and complimentary. This one also I think is fragrance free and it just sits nicely on the skin, it feels great. It delivers. It's a little more expensive, but I think it's a pretty comprehensive glycolic acid product. It's actually delivering more than just glycolic acid. So a little bit pricier, but it's got glycolic acid, niacinamide, and tranexamic acid, which has been shown to help with pigmentation and maybe even help a little bit with redness as well. Pretty comprehensive product to add to your routine."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum

"I like this a lot more than I wanted to. I kind of wanted to hate this formula coming in because it was going viral and it was pink and it's a barrier support product. I do actually feel after using it for a long period of time that my skin did feel more calm, less red, less irritated than it had prior. I felt like it layered really well with my other skincare products whether I was using it at night or in the morning. It was easy to integrate into my routine because it doesn't really conflict with any other products that I was using. I don't think it's a necessary skincare product, especially if you have a moisturizer that's going to already bring in a lot of these ingredients, but it's definitely approved. I like the product a lot. They put the coloring in to grab your attention but they followed it up with a functionally great formula. The Ordinary nailed it with this one."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid + Peptide Cream

"I'm a huge fan of the SkinFix Barrier+ Triple Lipid + Peptide Cream, but it's not amenable to the summer, at least not for my skin. I'm more of a combination skin, and for me personally it's too heavy for the summer. Sometimes I'll use it at night if my skin barrier is irritated, but the triple lipid cream is just too thick. It's too thick."

~Mixed

85%approval rating

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic Acid

"Lactic acids are moisturizing and exfoliating at the same time, which is really important when you're aging because your skin becomes more dry. You can get the one from The Ordinary which is going to be relatively affordable."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

Biosons Copper Peptide

"The Biosons Copper Peptide, this product is like a little light blue, phenomenal product. It's a hyaluronic acid plus copper peptide. It makes me angry that it's so good, to be honest. It would be great for maturing skin because it brings the hydration of hyaluronic acid plus those antioxidant and collagen building effects of copper peptides to it."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

Remedy Healthy Aging Serum

"Remedy Healthy Aging Serum is at a 0.5% concentration. I don't consider it to be like a retinol serum just because it's got retinaldehyde plus peptides plus alpha hydroxy acids plus the antioxidants, but technically it does have retinaldehyde in it at effective concentrations and so could fall into the category of retinaldehyde serums even though it's a more comprehensive approach to aging skin. It's hard to pigeonhole any Remedy product into the one active ingredient because they're so comprehensive. I would say that's more of an aging product for anyone who is aging than just a straightup retinol product."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 8 takes on Healthy Aging Serum

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"Remedy Healthy Aging Serum is a phenomenal retinaldehyde product. We have retinaldehyde, glycolic, arjgerylene, furic acid, and metatricxel all in one formula that really targets everything. And it also has that beautiful retinaldehyde color to it. I love this product. The repurchase rate is extremely high. People really really like this product."

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"The nightly treatment I use is Remedy Healthy Aging Serum. The reason why I use it is because it has just everything you need for aging. It's retinaldehyde, resveratrol, glycolic acid, argireline, matrixyl, all the peptides, all the exfoliants, all the retinaldehyde. It comes out in this beautiful kind of lime yellow color because of the retinaldehyde that's in it. This basically has everything that you need in one formula for aging skin. I have a little bit of drier skin and my main goals are to target fine lines, wrinkles and texture, and the retinaldehyde in this does the trick. I just kind of stick with this. It's a bit simpler for me."

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"If I'm really being honest, I would really just have my Remedy Healthy Aging Serum or my script to Xerotene, which I currently alternate and a bedazzled Vaseline. And that would really truly be my morning shed."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"Remedy Healthy Aging is our newest product. This is the product that I use every night and the feedback on this product has been absolutely incredible. My mom uses this, my wife uses this. It has retinol plus retinaldehyde, argireline, matrixyl, those are two peptides that help with aging skin, glycolic acid and lactic acid, niacinamide, ceramides, retinol fumaric acid and other combinations like ubiquinone of antioxidants. So antioxidants, exfoliants, retinoids all in one product."

RETINOL UGLIES: TIPS TO AVOID IRRITATION, PURGING, AND SIDE EFFECTS

"Remedy for Healthy Aging has retinaldehyde. The Remedy products have been transformative and are a new staple for me. I've mapped out my face with a machine a year and a half apart, and with retinoin and Remedy as core staples in my routine, the results show dark spots down, pores down, fine lines down."

Wrinkles? Texture? Sun Damage? Aging Skin? Remedy for Healthy Aging is HERE!

"This product is super stacked with powerful actives. You have your retinol and retinaldehyde, which is a dual retinoid, so you have your encapsulated retinol and then you have retinaldehyde which is one step closer to retinoic acid. This is going to be helping with your fine lines and wrinkles through various mechanisms, it's supporting collagen and elastin, and it's also increasing your skin cell turnover so it's going to help quite a bit with texture. Then you have your lactic and glycolic acid which are exfoliants, so they're going to improve texture and they also send signals into your dermis to support collagen and elastin. On top of that they help your peptides penetrate deeper into the skin. You have your argireline and it has trouble getting deeper into the skin, and by adding these exfoliants we're helping it increase its penetration so that it can perform what it needs to perform. The Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, this one mimics the botox effect so it works on the SNARE complex and is thought to decrease muscle movement."

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"Remedy for Healthy Aging uses a combination of retinaldehyde, peptides, and exfoliating acids to really target the different signs of aging."

Anua Azelaic Acid 10% Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum

"What I like about it is most azelaic acid serums are quite gritty and this one is not gritty, which is really nice. So it's a really nice 10% azelaic acid. Azelaic acid I like for multiple reasons. One, it's pregnancy safe and very few products are pregnancy safe in general. The second thing is that it is great for acne prone skin but it's also great for post-inflammatory dark marks. So that's another incredible thing about it. Now the interesting thing about this is it does have a little bit of a higher pH, meaning it's about six. The pH of this product, and since azelaic acid is an organic acid, it means that its hydrogen ions have already been given up at this point, and so therefore there's a question on whether or not you're going to get the full benefit of azelaic acid. Generally the pH is preferred to be around a five, five and a half, and this one is around six."

✓Approved

70%approval rating

All 3 takes on Azelaic Acid 10% Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum

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BEST DEALS ON THE LAST DAY OF AMAZON PRIME DAY

"It's a solid product. It's 10% azelaic acid, very well solubilized. My only complaint with this one is it does have propylene glycol in it. They use propylene glycol to solubilize this ingredient because azelaic acid is a very gritty crystal. The ordinary used to have a really gritty azelaic acid product and that's because the product is hard to solubilize, and so Anua used propylene glycol to really solubilize the crystals. But it can be an allergen in some people. The issue is it's very difficult to solubilize it otherwise. I really like the one from Anua."

Building A Morning Skincare Routine for Every Skin Concern!

"Anua has one that's phenomenal that we've talked about in the past."

Biossance Copper Peptide Serum

"Biossance's copper peptide is just a beautiful peptide product. It's still might be my favorite of all of them. It's such a good, beautiful product. It's like a hyaluronic acid serum plus your copper peptides. Lower concentration of copper peptides, which is not as blue like something that has high concentration of copper peptides would be, but it's more of a lighter blue. Just lower concentration, but just such an elegant, beautiful formula."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 3 takes on Copper Peptide Serum

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Saturday Skincare Live!

"This is their Copper Peptide Serum and I'm so happy my name is on this product. I love these products so much."

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"I'll say the Biossance Copper Peptide Serum. I love it, I use it probably as often as any supporting cast ingredient product. It has hyaluronic acid, so it's like serving as your hyaluronic acid and glycerin hydrating serum, but it also has the additional benefits of copper peptides. It's that beautiful blue serum. I actually love this product a ton, so definitely a top product, definitely a sleeper hit."

Remedy Dark Spot Serum

"Remedy for dark spots is one of people's favorite products with tons of incredible before and afters. If you have dark spots, discoloration, post-inflammatory dark spots, dark spots from acne, dark spots from the sun, this really is the go-to product. We have retinol, niacinamide, kic acid, glutathione, everything that really helps with dark spots. The challenge is people will only use it for two weeks and they won't use sunscreen with it. You have to use it for four to eight weeks. You have to wear sunscreen in the morning because anytime you're treating dark spots and you continue to get inflammation from the sun, it really sets you backwards. It really has everything in it. If this doesn't work, then go see your dermatologist because this is really the best thing that we have available over the counter to treat dark spots."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

All 9 takes on Dark Spot Serum

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"Remedy for dark spots has the most ingredients. If you're looking for the most comprehensive product, remedy for dark spots has the most ingredients."

Dark Spots? Large Pores? Dry Lips? REMEDY BY DR. SHAH IS FINALLY HERE!

"This product is super stacked for dark spots. I thought about the three causes at the molecular level that's happening with dark spots and I picked very select ingredients to target all three steps, very effective from the formation to the transfer to the deposition in order to really eliminate dark spots. We put a high concentration of glutathione in this product, and glutathione releases sulfur so it smells like rotten eggs. We have a stabilized glutathione which was a nightmare that took four or five revisions just to stabilize the glutathione so that it was odorless. Now we have this sort of odorless product, but it smells like science. It's not a bad smell, it's not a good smell, it's a neutral smell. I've tried to think of what I would want to add to this and the only one I'm like maybe prescription hydroquinone, but then of course practically this is an over-the-counter product. It's ridiculously complete. For dark spots or if you want a complete dark spot product, I think this is successful."

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Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"Remedy for Dark Spots is a combination of retinol, mandelic acid, kojic acid, glutathione, tranexamic acid, niacinamide, carnosine, acetyl glucosamine, and even a little bit of THD ascorbate vitamin C all combined in one product to really treat the root cause of dark spots and discoloration and really promote an even brighter skin tone."

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"You don't have the option for refills, it doesn't come auto-delivered. You have enough to get you through a 3-month or certain month window and then you're forced to take a break, and after a pause you can re-up after a period of time. What I'm thinking of doing is pairing hydroquinone and Remedy Dark Spot Serum so you don't have to think about it. It's like a built-in model where you use hydroquinone for a set period of time and then you get to transition automatically to Remedy Dark Spot Serum and then it brings you back to hydroquinone so you can have continued therapy with no lapse in your care but with built-in breaks. These two products actually pair incredibly well for each other. In fact, I argue you may not find a more dynamic combination for dark spots."

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"Remedy for dark spots has retinol. It's completely worth it, it's the thing that's transformed my skin the most."

Wrinkles? Texture? Sun Damage? Aging Skin? Remedy for Healthy Aging is HERE!

"If there's one thing that I can improve today and what I'm going to focus on is going to be my dark spots, then I would say get the dark spot product because the dark spot product has a lot of overlapping ingredients with the Aging product but it has more tyrosinase inhibitors. It has more ingredients that are targeted specifically at pigment creation, formation, and removal. This is the product that's going to really do the best at doing that."

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"Remedy for dark spots is one of our bestselling products and the results that we've seen over the last year have been absolutely incredible. The before and afters that you submit through reviews have completely blown my mind. Plus, the clinical studies which we continue to do on our product continue to outperform anything that I've seen in the past. When it comes to dark spots, it really needs to be incorporated into a routine. Use this product at night after cleansing and then moisturize. And if you're treating dark spots, you need to wear sunscreen, preferably a tinted sunscreen, especially if you're someone who's really prone to dark spots and melasma."

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"You can use Remedy Dark Spot Serum five nights a week with tretinoin two nights a week, or you could flip it depending on which ingredient you want to focus on more. Tons of people that are using Remedy are already using tretinoin, so it's a super good combination to use together."

Remedy Pore Size Serum

"Remedy Pore Size Serum is retinol plus salicylic acid 1% encapsulated and niacinamide. So it really is more of an all-in-one treatment for larger pores, sebaceous filaments and blackheads. If you get occasional breakouts, I would go with Remedy for Pore Size."

✓Approved

92%approval rating

All 2 takes on Pore Size Serum

Dark Spots? Large Pores? Dry Lips? REMEDY BY DR. SHAH IS FINALLY HERE!

"This is targeting your specific skincare concern with salicylic acid, niacinamide, green tea, and perlite. I'm obsessed with the functionality of how this works on oil glands. This will decrease oil production with salicylic acid, which will gently exfoliate, decrease oil production again with green tea and niacinamide, and absorb oil with perlite. I'm optimistic that this is going to be an extremely helpful product. We've talked about this in our pores and sebaceous filament videos about what was effective for these things. You can use this product all over the face. Because it has retinol, niacinamide, and salicylic acid, it's going to treat a lot of different things. It's going to have texture benefits and even anti-aging benefits."

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Cleansers33 reviews

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser

"I really like Vanicream products, especially for those who have sensitive skin. I think they're super trustworthy."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

All 4 takes on Gentle Facial Cleanser

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"I actually like Vanicream quite a bit. So big fan of Vanicream. And you got some good deals right now on Vanicream. So this is time to stock up."

The ULTIMATE Budget Friendly Anti-Aging Skincare Routine

"Vanicream has a very simple ingredient list that's not going to have common allergens in it. You can really trust Vanicream to be there when it comes to a very simple ingredient list. Overall, very reliable brand when it comes to sensitive skin. Vanicream probably going to be a recurring recommendation for me."

Skin QnA

"If you have very sensitive skin or eczema skin and you're looking for a cleanser, I highly recommend Vanicream. It's one of the most stringent ingredient lists out there, it's very inexpensive, and it'll take you far."

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"I really like Vanicream products, especially for those who have sensitive skin. I think they're super trustworthy."

La Roche-Posay Gentle Foaming Moisturizing Wash

"I do love the La Roche-Posay gentle moisturizing hydrating foaming wash. It's one of their newer ones, very balanced for sensitive skin. It's part of their AP line, which is one of my favorite lines of all time."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 2 takes on Gentle Foaming Moisturizing Wash

The ULTIMATE Budget Friendly Anti-Aging Skincare Routine

"My cleanser is the La Roche-Posay Gentle Foaming Moisturizing Wash. The reason I went with this cleanser is it's a lot of bang for your buck. The volume is tremendous, the price is extremely good, and the quality is outstanding. This one is like the balance, the common ground that'll marry either sensitive skin to normal combination skin, and so I feel like this would be able to be utilized by most people. I have tried using the La Roche-Posay face wash for body wash and I actually do it regularly now. It's extremely effective and extremely gentle for your skin. This is one of my favorite cleansers of all time. At 13.5 oz for closer to $20, it's going to last you a really long time. You could use it on the body and the face."

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Remedy Cleanser

"Remedy follows very similar formulation principles when it comes to cleansers as well. So, cleansers from Remedy, cleansers from Vanicream are good options."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

Prequel Non-Drying Glycerin Cleanser

"I've tried a few things like their cleanser is quite nice."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

All 2 takes on Non-Drying Glycerin Cleanser

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"I've tried a few things like their cleanser is quite nice."

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"The Prequel cleanser is mostly glycerin, which is a very unique experience compared to most cleansers, but it is actually quite hydrating once it washes off the skin."

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng cleansing oil

"I've been really liking the oil cleanser from Beauty of Joseon. Right now lately it has been my favorite cleanser. It's the Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Cleansing Oil for waterproof makeup removal. It has a really tea-like smell in it, which actually smells like tea, which is kind of nice. But if you don't like the way tea smells, you might not like it."

✓Approved

79%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser

"The La Roche-Posay one I feel like is a bit silkier. It leaves me a little bit more hydrated and so when comparing those and again this is coming from someone with a perspective of normal to dry skin. If you have oily skin, you may prefer that more oil removing properties that the other one has, but because of the surfactant system and the way that it's formulated, I do feel like it leaves you a little bit more dry where the La Roche-Posay one leaves you a little bit more hydrated with a little bit of a silkier finish. So, as far as texture and performance, I personally prefer the La Roche-Posay one."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

All 5 takes on Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser

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"The Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser, this product is the one that comes in a clear blue bottle, it's a large bottle, it's going to last you a long time. I find that it leaves my skin clean without overly drying my skin. This product is a tremendous cleanser from La Roche-Posay that is definitely one of my all-time favorite cleansers."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

"I like a foaming cleanser just in general so a really good option is La Roche-Posay's Toleriane Cleanser. I use this actually in my office, I've used it for years at this point, I find it very helpful."

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"The La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser has niacinamide in it. I would not think that your rinse-off niacinamide is complete and would have an effect enough to replace niacinamide in any of your leave-on steps. So if you're doing it in your cleanser, I would still say you might benefit from a leave-on product and again that could be in a toner, essence, serum, lotion, cream, ointment, or sunscreen. One of those derivatives of niacinamide would be sufficient."

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"I use it on my face but also because I use it as a body wash. It's gentle, lather is excellent. It's big, like that's the thing with La Roche-Posay with their body care in particular you're going to get a large volume. This face wash, with their washes too, big volume, good amount for your money."

Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil

"The first hack that we have here is to use a cleansing oil to dissolve some of the sebaceous filaments that have built up into your pores. And a good option here is the one from Anua."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

"Clinique makes a really good one, but still it's hard to hold a flame to the pharmacy one which just works so well."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

All 3 takes on Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm

Saturday Skincare Live!

"Clinique's is in a big purple container for a cleansing balm. I use that a lot, it's huge, it's great. It's very gentle, I think it's fragrance free. I love the Clinique cleansing balm. It's probably in my top three cleansing balms, something I use a ton of and need more of at any given point."

Weekend Live QnA

"The Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is a lifesaver."

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"Clinique makes a really good one, but still it's hard to hold a flame to the pharmacy one which just works so well."

Minimalist Oat extract cleanser

"I do like oat cleansers in general for people with sensitive skin, dry skin, irritated skin. This one aesthetically really was good. It does have a different feel than the rest of the cleanser lineup. It's not as much of a foam, it is just kind of a rich lather that sits on your skin, but it does not feel like you're just rubbing lotion on your skin. It still feels like cleanser. It leaves you feeling hydrated and soothes your skin barrier. So somebody who has sensitive skin, somebody who has drier skin, this is the one that I would choose from the Minimalist."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

Minimalist Aquaporin Cleanser

"The Minimalist Aquaporin Cleanser has more of that glycerin slip and leaves behind that little bit of that glycerin feel. Glycerin is known to actually increase aquaporin expression, and as you increase aquaporin expression, you're able to bring more water into the skin, so it is a hydrating cleanser. It does have hyaluronic acid, it does have betaine, all the products are fragrance-free, and I think it's a good gentle cleanser that leaves behind a little bit of a hydrating finish. Is it rocking the world? No, probably not."

~Mixed

76%approval rating

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser

"This one has 2% salicylic acid and tends to be a little bit more drying on the skin, and it really does target acne. If you have acne and oily skin, I'd go with this 2% acne control cleanser. It has ceramides, and both of CeraVe's acne cleansers are actually good for acne, but this one has a higher concentration of salicylic acid than their other SA cleanser option."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser

"The foaming cleanser is probably one of their best selling cleansers and it's really made more for oily skin so it has more of a foaming effect than the cream to foam cleanser. It is a little bit more stripping so if you have oily skin I would go with the foam cleanser."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

All 2 takes on Foaming Facial Cleanser

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"I do feel that the one from CeraVe is a little bit more drying for me as someone with combination to dry skin and so I feel a little bit more tighter when I use this product afterwards. If you have oily skin, you may prefer that more oil removing properties that the CeraVe one has, but because of the surfactant system and the way that it's formulated, I do feel like it leaves you a little bit more dry."

CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser

"I think there is no better compromise in a cleanser out there than the cream to foam cleanser. It's gentle but it's effective and it has like a very nice lather but it's not an irritating lather, it's like a hydrating lather. Huge fan of this, this is now like one of my all-time favorite cleansers I've ever tried. I use this consistently, if I see this on a shelf I'll probably go out of my way to use it even if it's like 11:00 a.m. on a Monday I might wash my face again just to use this cleanser. So it's outstanding. This is my favorite regular cleanser from CeraVe. It's good for pretty much every skin type, you could use it on the face, you could use it on the body, and it uses this special blend of amino acids to create the surfactant effect. What's nice about this is that this product does not contain cocamidopropyl betaine, and cocamidopropyl betaine is the second most common pediatric allergen nowadays and you'll see it in a lot of sensitive skin cleansers but it doesn't have that in the CeraVe products, so it's kind of nice that you know it really is made for sensitive skin in mind."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

All 4 takes on Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser

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"The cave hydrating cream to foam cleanser as well as a popular one for me."

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"Whatever cleanser is certainly fine here. Let's say you use the CeraVe Cream-to-Foam Cleanser."

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"The CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser is a great cleanser for normal skin. It's super balanced and gentle. I love a lather so it's still carries a lather, it's excellent. I get the little minis and take them out for vacation. It's a consistent cleanser, decent at removing makeup and sunscreen, though it doesn't qualify as your double cleanse."

Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel

"The Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel is an extremely gentle cleanser that feels rich and great on dry or irritated skin. It has oat kernel extract, hyaluronic acid, squalane, aloe, and green tea, that's a nice top line of ingredients for a cleanser. It's extremely soothing and doesn't strip. One of my favorite cleansers that I've been using very regularly over the last few months."

✓Approved

71%approval rating

Do Skincare Baptism Cleanser

"They just recently came out with a cleanser called Baptism that came in both a fragranced and a fragrance-free form. The fragrance form is actually really quite nice, but I like the fact that there's also an option for people who have sensitive skin and want that fragrance-free option."

✓Approved

66%approval rating

Necessaire Body Wash

"I really like the Necessaire body wash because for the sensitive skin person it's great. That's like that's the thing they're looking for because body soaps can really mess up the skin otherwise."

✓Approved

68%approval rating

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

"I like the DHC cleansing oil."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Kate Somerville Sulfur Cleanser

"You have the Kate Somerville Sulfur Cleanser, which is kind of classic. This ingredient can be wonderful for especially rosacea, the acne form of rosacea in particular. Sulfur, if you're developing rosacea, is a really, really excellent ingredient. In some cases it's over-promising, under-delivering, people are swearing that it can eliminate pores, but there's no evidence that sulfur eliminates pores by any means. Great for rosacea, incredible ingredient for rosacea."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

Olay Retinol body wash

"I'm pretty low on them. Here's why I have very good reason for my especially the retinoid family in a wash. There are studies on multiple different types of retinoids and the idea of short contact therapy. When it comes to the setting of washing your face, it's like a minimum of 30 seconds, an average of like three to five minutes per short contact therapy for your wash. So unless you're actually putting that wash on, lathering it up, keeping it on at a good constant concentration for I'd say three to five minutes, I think the absorption is quite questionable and so the benefits are fairly negligible. Beyond that, I think just let your wash be a wash and let your actives be your actives. I don't see a big purpose for the retinoid wash, the retinol wash. I just don't see much utility in those whatsoever."

✕Skip

64%approval rating

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water

"Bioderma, I've tried theirs. There's so many good options. They're not that expensive. They have micellar water that's perfectly fine. I like that as well, budget friendly."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

All 2 takes on Sensibio H2O Micellar Water

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"Bioderma, I've tried theirs. There's so many good options. They're not that expensive. They have micellar water that's perfectly fine. I like that as well, budget friendly."

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"Low pH, great for your skin. Niacinamide, so great for your skin for acne, blemishes, dark spots, barrier. Super straightforward, simple, fragrance-free, so that one is also outstanding. Bioderma obviously makes one of the best micellar waters out there."

Versed Day Dissolve Cleansing Balm

"The Versed has a cleansing balm in a pink container. I don't love that one as much as their green balm, but it certainly works. Both of these are very gentle and I think they're fragrance free."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

CeraVe Micellar Cleansing Water

"CeraVe has a micellar water that's perfectly fine. I like that as well, budget friendly."

✓Approved

68%approval rating

All 2 takes on Micellar Cleansing Water

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"CeraVe has a micellar water that's perfectly fine. I like that as well, budget friendly."

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"CeraVe Micellar Cleansing Water is low pH, great for your skin, has niacinamide which is great for your skin for acne, blemishes, dark spots, barrier support. It's super straightforward, simple, and fragrance-free, so that one is also outstanding."

La Roche-Posay Micellar Water

"I've gone through the La Roche-Posay micellar water quite a few times those big bottles. I think there are some amazing micellar waters out there."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

All 2 takes on Micellar Water

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"I've gone through the La Roche-Posay micellar water quite a few times those big bottles. I think there are some amazing micellar waters out there."

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"The one that I've used most consistently for a long period of time was the La Roche-Posay Micellar Water. Like, as always, good volume, good bang for your buck, pretty simple product."

La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Gentle Foaming Cleansing Oil

"I'm pretty darn obsessed with this cleansing oil right now. It really is the only cleanser I've used for probably the last month and I just don't want to move on from it. It's the perfect balance between a hydrating cleanser and it still has a decent amount of lather to it, so I don't feel like it leaves me greasy or oily at all. It's functionally very effective. It's interesting because it doesn't have a strong robust skin oil as the core component, but it is just an oil-based cleanser with surfactants, and anecdotally it's outstanding for drier skin. I feel like this one doesn't feel like your prototypical cleansing oil, and maybe that's why it's going to have a chance, because I'm not the biggest fan of a real creamy cleansing oil where you feel it too much."

✓Approved

89%approval rating

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

"For cleansing, definitely don't overthink it. You just want a gentle cleanser in this step. Your results with hyperpigmentation and dark spots is going to occur with the heavy-hitting actives, the treatment steps of your skincare routine. So for this gentle cleanser, Cetaphil, Neutrogena, we'll put some here. Otherwise, don't overthink this step."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

All 2 takes on Gentle Skin Cleanser

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"Cetaphil has one [gentle hydrating cleanser]. Cleansers are always going to be the most irritating part of your skincare routine because they are removing dirt and debris from your skin at the same time they can be disrupting to your skin barriers, so you want to look for gentle cleansers."

Neutrogena Cleanser

✓Approved

76%approval rating

CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser

"Cleansers are always going to be the most irritating part of your skincare routine because they are removing dirt and debris from your skin at the same time they can be disrupting to your skin barriers, so you want to look for gentle cleansers. Gentle hydrating cleansers tend to be good in this category. CeraVe has one."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 5 takes on Hydrating Facial Cleanser

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"CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser is made for dry skin, doesn't foam at all, great for dry skin. Personally I don't like it because it feels like I'm rubbing lotion on my face, but if you have dry skin you might like that experience because it's not going to be as stripping as some of the other cleansers. My wife has extremely sensitive skin and this lives everywhere. I absolutely hate that it lives everywhere because it's always near empty. I hate the way it feels, but if you have dry skin you probably will love it because it's going to be great for your skin."

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"Something like the CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, something like the Cetaphil hydrating gentle skin cleanser, all of these are just going to bring hydration into the skin and not strip away some of your natural oils which, like we said, have decreased with time."

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"I hate the way that product feels on my skin. It feels like I'm rubbing lotion on my skin with no foam. It's not something that I enjoy."

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"The CeraVe hydrating cleanser is very gentle. It does not strip your skin, it leaves it hydrated. There's no lather almost whatsoever with it. I personally don't like it, but a lot of my patients benefit from it. If you have sensitive skin, dry skin at baseline, you might love it. We've gone through empty upon empty of that."

Vanicream Cream Cleanser

"Vanicream Cream Cleanser is a gentle hydrating cleanser that's good in this category for people who have abnormal reactions to products. Cleansers are always going to be the most irritating part of your skincare routine because they are removing dirt and debris from your skin at the same time they can be disrupting to your skin barriers, so you want to look for gentle cleansers."

✓Approved

77%approval rating

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

"Garnier has a micellar water so you don't need to break the bank here. It's low pH, great for your skin, has niacinamide so great for your skin for acne, blemishes, dark spots, barrier. Super straightforward, simple, fragrance-free."

✓Approved

64%approval rating

CeraVe Makeup Removing Cleanser Balm

"I tried the CeraVe Cleansing Balm and for me cleansing balms come down to efficacy, do they do the job of removing things well, and I thought it fell short compared to the Pharmacy Green Clean cleansing balm."

✕Skip

57%approval rating

CeraVe Acne Control Cleanser

"If you have acne and you have more comedonal acne, then the CeraVe Acne Control Cleanser with 2% salicylic acid is probably the option I would go with. It has 2% salicylic acid, whereas their SA cleanser has around 0.5% salicylic acid in an undisclosed amount."

✓Approved

79%approval rating

Bubble Fresh Start Gel Cleanser

"It has a hydration component but also has lavender flour water and lavender and spearmint, which can be irritating for a lot of people. It gives you that kind of cooling sensation, but it can also be irritating to the skin. Although this is fragrance-free, those are technically essential oils and for some people could end up irritating them. Overall, it's a good affordable basic cleanser, but it's definitely not on my best of Bubble list. It's a cleanser and it will serviceably cleanse."

✕Skip

61%approval rating

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash

"The hero product here was Neutrogena for like ever, with that orange pump top bottle. It still is pretty effective, but it's fragranced and I think that we've made a lot of advances in skincare since then, so it's probably not the best product out there. I actually don't like the smell of the Neutrogena one even though it's the one that I use growing up. It just maybe reminds me of childhood and kind of like that Proactiv smell bothers me."

~Mixed

62%approval rating

Moisturizers29 reviews

Real Actives Do More Barrier Boosting Moisturizer

"I loved this moisturizer personally and I think the aesthetics of the whole line are great. It does have a slight scent to it. I think overall they really did a great job with the formula. I think it's hydrating and how it plays with your skin, especially if it's acne prone. This is a really nice from a tactile perspective, a nice moisturizer. It's somewhere between a gel and a cream. Maybe you can call it a gel cream, maybe a lotion. Absorbs really nice. Isn't greasy at all. The shea butter base is something that I personally like a lot."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion

"The Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion is just empty upon empty upon empty. So good."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

All 2 takes on Intensive Repair Lotion

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"The Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion is just empty upon empty upon empty. So good."

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"This is used for intensive repair. It has alpha hydroxy, lactic and urea. It's both an exfoliating moisturizer, which is perfect for the hands and the feet because you want both hydration and exfoliation. You layer it and then slap on an occlusive glove or occlusive sock overnight. Once it's in, you are slugging that exfoliation and hydration together. It's great for reviving dry, cracked hands and feet."

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

"I still reach for the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. I think it's a really nice moisturizer for normal skin, someone entry level into skincare that's looking for a moisturizer that is just going to be good for all skin tones, every all skin type. The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream is still a hero for me. It keeps you super hydrated and dewy without being very heavy. So it really is just such a balanced moisturizer. If you're drier, it will leave you with moisture. If you're oilier, it won't leave you with that feeling that you don't like where you feel oily. The texture is incredible. It's a little bit more expensive, especially for a facial moisturizer, but it's one of the first ones in that budget price point."

✓Approved

87%approval rating

Cosrx Advanced Snail 92 All in One Cream

"It's thick, but it's not so thick you have to push it. It spreads really easily. It melts into your skin. It has still a kind of a lighter body despite being so rich. Snail mucin as an ingredient we know is incredibly beneficial for the skin. And I actually love how it sits on the skin. It's a lighter weight moisturizer, but it really brings a ton of just deep, deep hydration. It's light, non-greasy. If you have oily skin, you'll still like it. If you have combination skin, you'll still like it. But the amount of hydration it adds and the way it sets, perfect. The way that it plays with the skin is just really unlike anything else. And it keeps you super hydrated and dewy without being very heavy. If you're drier, it will leave you with moisture. If you're oilier, it won't leave you with that feeling that you don't like where you feel oily. So it really is just such a balanced moisturizer."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream

"The gel cream is that lighter weight moisturizer that's going to blend well with your skin if you have oily skin. So, my recommendation is to get the Neutrogena Hydroboost gel cream if you have oily skin. The texture, I would say there's probably no other moisturizer I hear more from just from my nurses and patients that they just try this and they love it. Because of the body, the way it just sits on your skin, if you have oily skin, you'll like how this feels. Such a nice moisturizer. I feel like in the world of dupes, there's been almost no brand that's been able to dupe this formula. It really is just such a nice formula."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

All 2 takes on Hydro Boost Gel Cream

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"This product really leans towards the lightweight side. It lives in the glycerin hyaluronic acid world. It's actually grown on me over a period of time. I tried the fragrance one first which was a mistake I didn't like the fragrance, but the fragrance free version of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream is outstanding. A texture unworldly, otherworldly lightweight for anyone hot, humid, or with oily skin this is for you. And it's also pretty budget friendly, like this is not that expensive compared to some of the other moisturizers. I'm like glowing I've got layers upon layers of hydration."

Eucerin Advanced Repair Lotion

"There's another one from Eucerin that I'm absolutely obsessed with. This is a frequently repurchased one for me and I buy them in bulk. I buy like three or four at a time because it really is just that incredible. The body of it is very thick. It's very rich hydration. It leaves like this protective feeling on it. It's not greasy though, not tacky. And also has some exfoliating acids in it, too. Takes a little bit effort to rub this one in."

✓Approved

89%approval rating

Eucerin Eczema Relief Cream

"Eucerin Eczema Relief is like one of the best moisturizers and they'll last you a super long time. It's such a nice thick, rich moisturizer. These I really, really like."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

All 2 takes on Eczema Relief Cream

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"Eucerin Eczema Relief is like one of the best moisturizers and they'll last you a super long time. It's such a nice thick, rich moisturizer. These I really, really like."

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"Eucerin Eczema Relief Cream has been really a game changer for my daughter who has really dry skin. I tried so many different products, and this really works well with anybody who has dry skin, whether an adult or a baby. I use this on my daughter, but sometimes I use this on myself. It really is a thick moisturizer."

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer

"Vanic Cream makes really nice products for sensitive skin. This moisturizer is great for sensitive skin. It's not as thick as the remedy rich cream moisturizer and not as lightweight as the remedy gel moisturizer. So, it's somewhere in between the two."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Balm AP+M

"La Roche-Posay Lipikar Balm AP+M is a good option that comes in a huge size. It can be a little thick for people's faces, but if you have really dry skin, I think you will actually quite like this one a lot. It's one that you'll really enjoy if you have more mature dry skin."

✓Approved

92%approval rating

All 2 takes on Lipikar Balm AP+M

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Weekend Live QnA

"La Roche-Posay lip balm, what I like about that is minimalistic, extremely hydrating. It's a bit of a thicker base. I feel like the wax esters are particularly prominent. That's a top tier one."

CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion

"CeraVe PM is a PM moisturizer but there's no reason you can't use that during the morning. It's got niacinamide, it's a lightweight gel moisturizer that could be used morning or night."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

All 5 takes on PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion

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"CeraVe PM is a little bit heavier, it's a little bit thicker than the lightweight gel but it also is going to give you that gel appearance."

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"If you're just looking for a straightforward moisturizer, I think this is a wonderful option. CeraVe is always the case, just really great for your skin barrier. This also has niacinamide in it, so it's just kind of a well-rounded basic moisturizer. Really simple, it's kind of lightweight, it's going to counterbalance any irritation you're getting from your active ingredients in the previous steps. Interestingly, this one did not irritate my skin at all. Really straightforward simple product, good option."

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"CeraVe PM is a really nice lightweight gel moisturizer."

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"If you have oily skin use CeraVe PM. At this point you just want to protect and hydrate your skin because your nighttime skin care routine when you're treating dark spots is going to be potentially very irritating and so you just don't want to aggravate the skin with your moisturizer. The goal is to stop irritation so you can be more consistent and have better results with your active ingredients."

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"CeraVe PM is a PM moisturizer but there's no reason you can't use that during the morning. It's got niacinamide, it's a lightweight gel moisturizer that could be used morning or night."

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

"I recommend the moisturizing cream a lot. It's just generally recommendable, most people kind of like how it feels and it's very safe for all skin types."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

All 5 takes on Moisturizing Cream

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"I recommend the moisturizing cream a lot. It's just generally recommendable, most people kind of like how it feels and it's very safe for all skin types."

Skin QnA

"If your skin barrier gets damaged and everything hurts, I highly recommend switching to ointments. The petrolatum ointment base is very soothing and is not irritating for a compromised barrier. I see it in patients and I see it in myself, it's very consistent. Switching your moisturizer to an ointment base that's based out of petrolatum can help. The CeraVe healing ointment is great."

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"This is 71% petrolatum so it's got that Vaseline in it it also has shea butter um and other ingredients in it that are kind of hydrating and it has those lipids in it that are going to make your skin softer over time"

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"For cleansing definitely don't overthink it you just want a gentle cleanser in this step your results with hyperpigmentation in dark spots is going to occur with the heavy-hitting actives the treatment steps of your skincare routine and so for this gentle cleanser cavey Cetaphil Neutrogena"

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"CeraVe is probably the best formulated skincare line for sensitive skin. They have the most strict ingredient guidelines when formulating products and they tend to be a safe bet. I don't think I found a CeraVe product that I don't like for sensitive skin."

CeraVe Healing Ointment

"I recommend the ointment a lot in the clinic because we see a lot of really damaged skin so that ointment gets recommended a ton for just starters."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

All 4 takes on Healing Ointment

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"I recommend the ointment a lot in the clinic because we see a lot of really damaged skin so that ointment gets recommended a ton for just starters."

Skin QnA

"Switching your moisturizer to an ointment base that's based out of petroleum can help. The CeraVe Healing Ointment is great. They actually did some nice studies on that post wound. The petrolatum ointment base is very soothing and is not irritating for a compromised barrier. I see it in patients, I see it in myself, it's very consistent."

Saturday Skincare Live!

"It is super thick and a little goes a long way, but it is also super bland. I was at the point where my skin barrier was pretty irritated. I was using some of my favorites even like La Roche-Posay triple moisturizing cream, their double repair facial moisturizing cream, and some healing ointment, and even those were kind of burny and stingy, but this was not. So this has become a staple in my repair skincare routine now. I have just been wildly impressed with that product."

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"One thing that I really like for when people feel really tight and really dry I like to suggest using a CeraVe Healing Ointment. You want your fragrance-free things, you want things that are not going to irritate the skin at all, and that's what you're going to do the night when you get home and then for a few days after that."

CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion

"When it comes to a body moisturizer, I actually like the experience of their intensive moisturizing lotion the best between the regular lotion and the regular cream. The regular lotion and cream dry down a little bit better, but I kind of like that lipid slip that stays around a little bit longer. It feels a little bit greasier, like a more oily afterfeel with more slip, but I like that feeling when I'm moisturizing the body. It feels more like the lip barrier than any of the other products from CeraVe."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

All 2 takes on Daily Moisturizing Lotion

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Skin QnA

"Even a great lotion like the CeraVe lotions can irritate and burn your skin even the Vanicream lotion, an extremely minimalistic lotion, can burn the heck out of my skin once my skin barrier is already compromised. So with that, I highly recommend switching to ointments. The vehicle matters tremendously. The petrolatum ointment base, something about it just is very soothing and is not irritating for a compromised barrier."

CeraVe Intensive Moisturizing Lotion with Urea

"When it comes to a body moisturizer, I actually like the experience of their Intensive Moisturizing Lotion the best between the regular lotion and the regular cream. I kind of like that lipid slip that stays around a little bit longer. It feels a little bit greasier, I would say some people would describe it as maybe a little bit more oily after feel, more of a slip, but I like that feeling when I'm moisturizing the body. It feels more like the lip barrier than any of the other products from CeraVe. It does have 5% urea in it which is going to have multiple benefits, but if you want a strong exfoliating benefit you really need to see 10% or greater."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

SkinBetter Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream

"If we're looking at something that's expensive but probably still worth the money, I would say it would be AlphaRet from SkinBetter Science. This is what would be medical grade skincare personified, this would be the definition of that category if it existed. AlphaRet is still a great product."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

All 5 takes on AlphaRet Overnight Cream

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"SkinBetter Science AlphaRet is a very well formulated product with enough science to justify it being called medical grade. That product is unique, it's innovative, it's novel, it combines multiple things. I'm a big fan of that product."

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"It works really well. It's just expensive, you know. It's got your retinol and your lactic acid and your antioxidants. But it's a good product. It's just really expensive."

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"This is from SkinBetter Science. The reason why I'm going to shout it out is because right now I'm telling you to take a retinoid and cycle it with glycolic acid. With the SkinBetter Science product, it's actually a retinol attached to a lactic acid that when it enters the skin it releases the retinol and the lactic acid plus it has glycolic acid in it, so it basically eliminates the need to cycle the routine. So it's one product that you would use in your night routine for that pro-aging normal skin: cleanse, apply the SkinBetter Science AlphaRet, and then moisturize."

Viral Skincare Tested: SkinBetter Science AlphaRet | Doctorly Reviews

"It's a retinol ester. They combined lactic acid and retinol in one ingredient and put it in one formula stable, and then once it gets on top of the skin the body actually goes through a hydrolysis process that breaks it down into these two separate molecules and it does it in a time-released fashion so you're delivering that lactic acid and that retinol in a gentle way. This is the intrigue, this is the mystery of AlphaRet because they take what was don't use these ingredients together and they said no, you can do that, which you can, but this is the preferred way you do it with a very deliberate formulation. They've shown that it's stable. It's a very unique mechanism. And beyond that there's also vitamin C in there, so this is like that list of ingredients that you'll see a million TikTok videos on: don't use A and C together. And this is oh, here's A and C and they're together and they do it well. I love that. Even though it's kind of on the pricier side, you also have almost like a three-in-one product. It's got this very interesting ingredient, plus it also has glycolic acid, another alpha hydroxy acid, and it also has the peptides that make up Matrixyl 3000, and it has many other ones."

Paula's Choice Barrier Repair Advanced Moisturizer

"This is their barrier repair advanced moisturizer and this has many different types of ceramides in it and also some peptides in it so incorporating some of that new peptide technology but it's kind of like a midweight cream I would describe it as going a little bit more towards a heavier cream and for somebody who has like more of that combination skin more of that dry skin than he does this is going to be like my preferred range of moisturizer from them I just really like something that's a little bit heavier something that when I wake up like my skin feels hydrated. I think this is really just a wonderful thicker moisturizer. I think all of these though really do an amazing job because Paula's Choice is fragrance free because they have like a pretty stringent ingredient list like they're the thing I don't like a lot of times is a moisturizer that also has irritating ingredients because it's just like completely counteracting the whole purpose of protecting and repairing a skin barrier."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

Eucerin Intensive Repair Cream

"This is one of the best body moisturizers for dry to very dry skin that I found. I use it every single day now and I have created more empties of this bottle than anything else this year. It has exfoliating ingredients, I think it has lactic acid and urea, and the low concentrations so they kind of just help. But it's a real thick moisturizer that doesn't leave you greasy. It has a very similar sensation in terms of how well it hugs your skin and hydrates, it's got that similar thickness, but I think it elevates it a little bit with the light exfoliators in there. This is definitely one of the best of the year in the drugstore."

✓Approved

89%approval rating

Cetaphil Healing Ointment

"This one here from Cetaphil is their Healing Ointment. This is 71% petrolatum so it's got that Vaseline in it, it also has shea butter and other ingredients in it that are kind of hydrating and it has those lipids in it that are going to make your skin softer over time."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on Healing Ointment

Skin QnA

"The petrolatum ointment base something about it just is very soothing and is not irritating for a compromised barrier. I see it in patients, I see it in myself, it's very consistent. Switching your moisturizer to an ointment base that's based out of petrolatum can help. The Cetaphil Healing Ointment is great. They actually did some nice studies on that post wound."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

Cerx All-in-One Snail Cream

"The all-in-one snail cream from Cerx is very hydrating. Snail mucin has so much evidence on healing skin and sensitive skin. It's like a great foil for irritation, even for eczema and atopic dermatitis."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Glossier Balm Dotcom

"The Glossier Balm Dotcom, it's a balm, it's thick like wall paste. Those are extremely gentle options that really just saved my skin."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Moisturizer

"La Roche-Posay Toleriane matte moisturizer, another really good moisturizer gel-like moisturizer for the summer."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

All 2 takes on Toleriane Double Repair Matte Moisturizer

2023's BEST Products For Acne | Doctorly Reviews

"If you don't want a dedicated acne moisturizer and you lean a little bit more oily and you want something a little more gel moisturizer for acne, I'm a huge fan of the La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Moisturizer. This is a great product, a gel moisturizer that's really quite effective for people with oily skin. If you have oily skin and you don't want to moisturize, this is the product that's going to actually make you less greasy. You feel like you actually took a moisturizer off your face because of its oil control and its lightweight nature. It's outstanding."

Summer Skincare and Life Goals, Tips, and Hacks!

"La Roche-Posay Toleriane matte moisturizer, another really good moisturizer gel-like moisturizer for the summer."

Glossier After Balm

"When you try new things sometimes your skin barrier gets pretty irritated. I was using some of my favorites, even La Roche Posay triple moisturizing cream, their double repair facial moisturizing cream, CeraVe healing ointment, and even those were kind of burny and stingy, but this was not. So this has become a staple in my repair skincare routine now. I have just been wildly impressed with that product."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5

"This is definitely part of the best of list from La Roche-Posay. This product is phenomenal. It also adds that dimethicone into the moisturizer. It's a little bit of a heavier balm, which gives it more healing properties than some of the other products. These are products I generally recommend in the office to people in real life, and this is for the person who's struggling with sensitive irritated skin barrier. They're looking for a recovery balm. This is where that lives."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

All 2 takes on Cicaplast Baume B5

Major Announcement + How to Treat Stretch Marks like a Dermatologist

"La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 has dimethicone in it, it also has centella in it, and it's also super hydrating, and so these ingredients together are going to give you the best bet at keeping your skin hydrated during that stretching process to try to prevent those stretch marks."

Product We LOVE and HATE from La Roche-Posay | Doctorly Reviews

Neutrogena Hydro Boost body gel cream

"I really like the Neutrogena Hydro Boost body gel cream. This product is dimethicone, hyaluronic acid, and it's a really thick moisturizer, and something I've actually recommended to a lot of my friends and family who have gotten pregnant."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer

"The Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer feels like a heavier cream. This one I personally prefer because I like heavier moisturizers. If you have drier skin, this is something that's going to be for you."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

e.l.f. Holy Hydration Face Cream

"I have one this is I don't know my fourth fifth time talking about it this month elf Holy Hydration, obsessed with this product. It's interesting, the texture is dynamite. It matches very closely those very fine, more like middle higher-end facial moisturizers that you can find. Texturally I just think it delivers. It has hydrating ingredients, it has peptides, and for the price point it just nails it for me. It's been something I've been obsessed with for a little bit here. I'll probably get bored with it but right now I love it, it's so good."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer

"La Roche-Posay is one of my favorite moisturizers for dry skin. Their Lipikar line is phenomenal, the Toleriane line is phenomenal as well. So trying any of those products is going to be awesome for your night routine."

✓Approved

87%approval rating

Eucerin Advanced repair cream

"For the body you can add in something like the Eucerin Advanced Repair Cream. This is super nice, super friendly, budget friendly, and it also has natural moisturizing factors and ceramides which would play exactly how you would want with maturing skin."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

Remedy Barrier Repairing Rich Cream Moisturizer

"It has four different types of ceramides and one type of ceramide that actually stimulates the endogenous production of your own ceramides. We have shea butter, grape seed oil, and jojoba oil, and all of these phenomenal ingredients in the product, but really it's how they came together into this beautiful formula that I'm super proud of. This is the most experiential product where your skin will feel soft and supple the day that you use it and for days afterwards. It is the product that I personally can't get enough of. I use all my samples up. There is an actual step up and experience when it comes to moisturizers if you invest more in these, and this is a pretty incredible compromise where you get the functional aspect but you get the aesthetic aspect that you may not otherwise be able to reach for. Functionally, tons of hydration, protection for your skin from the dry environment, and it rebuilds your skin. It's going to be incredible."

✓Approved

87%approval rating

Other27 reviews

Glow Recipe Glow Recipe

"There are some brands that are maybe more fun like Glow Recipe for example because they enjoy the process and the experience of doing skincare."

✓Approved

68%approval rating

Vaseline Original Healing Jelly

"I use it on my lips when I'm not using remedy for dry lips. I use it under my eyes sometimes if my under eye skin is dry. I use them on my hands when my hands are dry and I actually use it on my daughter quite frequently cuz her skin is always dry. We use this as a family collectively and there's so many different uses for this product. Love Vaseline. It's an absolute killer."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

All 5 takes on Original Healing Jelly

5 Slugging Hacks for MAXIMUM Hydration | Doctorly Guide

"By layering petrolatum or Vaseline, it's 99% occlusive, meaning it locks in 99% of water, preventing that water loss. The other downside, other than it being potentially irritating if you lock in active ingredients, it's just messy. Even done properly, a thin layer of Vaseline, occluding your moisturizer, still will leave your pillow case unusable for the next day."

7 Skincare Products We Can't Live Without | Dermatologist Favorites

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"I truly believe that Vaseline is one of the greatest products and petrolatum being one of the greatest ingredients of all time. It's incredibly safe, it's inert. A lot of times it's triple refined so that there's no hydrocarbons. A lot of people are worried about the fact that since it's refined from petroleum that there could be risk of that, but they refine it so that there's no hydrocarbons that are damaging to the skin. It's one of the safest, most inert things that you could ever use. It doesn't cause barrier issues. It's actually one of the most effective occlusive moisturizers, if not the most effective occlusive moisturizer. It prevents 99% of transepidermal water loss. It doesn't have lipids in it or oils that can really seep between your cells, so it doesn't have the ceramides, it doesn't have anything that's going to be penetrating into the skin, but it's locking everything in."

Weekend Live QnA

"If you just want to use Vaseline, you can't go wrong there. I do like lip slugging though. If you're going to use Vaseline, even after the shower, slug over just the damp lips from the shower or using some moisturizing ingredient on the lips first."

8 Vaseline Hacks That Will Change Your Life | Dermatologist Tips

"A lot of people think it's not going to allow wounds to heal because it's not letting your skin breathe enough, but it's been shown in multiple studies to aid in wound healing and make your wounds heal faster. I tell this to patients all the time, I do a lot of surgeries on skin cancers. The most dramatic difference, even at one to two weeks, is based off whether or not you keep it covered and goopy. It is tremendous in terms of healing, and it also helps prevent secondary infections. It's been studied multiple times compared to topical antibiotics and shown to be as equivalent or as beneficial at preventing infections as antibiotics. After any injury, making sure you clean the wound, or after any surgery, applying Vaseline for like 2 to 3 weeks gooped up is the number one thing you can do for any wound. This also includes burns, after the next day or so, applying Vaseline-based products to even a burn wound is the best way to heal it. One of the most common concerns, especially on the face, is that it's comedogenic, but there's been studies to show that it is not comedogenic, it is not pore clogging, it's not likely to cause acne."

VT Reedle Shot 100

"I'm not a huge fan of it. I think there are better ways to get better penetration of ingredients into the skin and I just don't like the sensation of it. Plus I don't know what happens with those needles over time. Even though you probably will see some exfoliating benefits of it, to me it's no different than using an apricot scrub on the face. Both are going to exfoliate the skin in an uneven way. I'm just not a huge fan of it."

✕Skip

64%approval rating

ZO Skin Health ZO Skin Health

"I think Zo, for example, is a brand that I don't think is worth it because I don't think they really have any really interesting formulas. There's nothing special about these formulas and you can find much more worthwhile products over the counter for a much lower price point."

✕Skip

64%approval rating

Morpheus8 Morpheus8

"Morpheus8 is uncomfortable. You do have to go through topical numbing prior to this procedure. In the patients that we tested it on, there's a lot more pain with Morpheus8 compared to other devices. One of the interesting things is that Morpheus8 has less needles in the tips and the diameter of those needles are bigger. So the needles are bigger in Morpheus8, which is a little more painful when you have a bigger needle penetrating the skin. Morpheus8 can get down to eight millimeters of depth with a certain hand piece and that's going to target fat layers usually on the body. The hand piece that we use on the face goes down to four millimeters in depth. But you don't really want to be four millimeters in depth on the face anyway."

~Mixed

63%approval rating

Inner Glow Age Defense Vitamins

"Inner Glow Age Defense Vitamins has the polypodium in the leaf format which is phenomenal plus green tea plus so many other things turmeric which I'm a huge fan of, resveratrol which some of the data is mixed on but a lot of people take resveratrol as it is so it has a lot of other powerful antioxidants. The dermatologist that created it has great skin as well so I am a big fan. This is a really good interesting combination of ingredients."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

Crest Whitening Strips

"Big fan of the white strips to be honest. I think they work incredibly well."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Apostrophe Apostrophe

"Apostrophe is being discontinued, it is closing down. It's a way for you to get tretinoin and retinoid online. This is a company that we've all been recommending for a long time. If you've been using Apostrophe and you're using it to treat your acne, which is what I recommended for years, I worked with Apostrophe for years and I'm personally shocked to see this kind of fall through, completely unexpected."

✕Skip

65%approval rating

Rogaine Minoxidil 5% Foam

"I still always recommend the 5% minoxidil preferably the foam. This is tested for androgenetic alopecia but because of the way that it works by prolonging the anagen phase and by increasing blood flow to the scalp it probably will help to some extent with telogen effluvium. If you have androgenetic alopecia, it is a long-term commitment. It's not going to send you way back, it's going to just kind of reset your hair loss. If you stop using it, you'll lose the benefit. If you have telogen effluvium you probably can get away with stopping this and not having to use it forever because telogen effluvium is a self-resolving condition. Androgenetic alopecia is a permanent problem where the underlying cause never goes away, so it is a long-term maintenance requirement. This directly helps the anagen phase, the growth phase of your hair cycle. It is probably the most direct treatment from a physiological standpoint and what is going to help your postpartum hair loss out of anything."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

All 3 takes on Minoxidil 5% Foam

Hair Loss After Pregnancy? How to Treat it Like a Dermatologist

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"Minoxidil 5% foam would be my choice as a starting point. I would do minoxidil foam first and then seek out prescription options if needed."

"NEW" Cure for Hair loss | Doctorly Reviews ORAL MINOXIDIL

"Rogaine, the topical form of minoxidil, is the only over-the-counter product approved for hair loss. It was developed after oral minoxidil was discovered to cause hair growth as a side effect in hypertension studies, which led researchers to create a topical version for treating hair loss."

Viviscal Viviscal

"Viviscal uses an amino Amar complex which does not have this Sal petto in it which makes it a much safer option. It passed my three tiered checklist for what I want out of a supplement. Neutral has more studies in general than Viviscal, but in this particular subset of people in the postpartum period Viviscal, because of the ingredient profile, comes out as the winner."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2

"This is one of the best moisturizers that's ever been created. This blend of moisturizing ingredients is very similar to what we see in the natural skin barrier. There is a ratio of fatty acids to cholesterol that we normally see in the skin, and this product is meant to replicate the natural healthy skin barrier. It's quite expensive though, and you don't get much for that, you get 1.6 fluid ounces and the product's over $100. The trouble with this product is that it would have been perfect had they not added fragrances to it. If they had just made this a fragrance-free product, I would say it's one of the better products out there. My two qualms with it are the price point for a moisturizer, and the fact that you took this great blend of restorative lipids and mixed it in with fragrances. Moisturizers are there to help heal dry and damaged skin, that's vulnerable skin, that's their job. So when you add something like fragrance to it, that's problematic."

~Mixed

77%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo

"I love La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo, the US version. It's really great for closed comedones because it's got both benzoyl peroxide and lipohydroxy acid, which are both comedolytic."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

All 4 takes on Effaclar Duo

The World's Most Dangerous Pimple Pop

"One of our favorite products is the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo which has both benzoyl peroxide and lipohydroxy acid in it. These are the type of products you want to look for to actually spot treat acne."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"I love La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo, the US version. It's really great for closed comedones because it's got both benzoyl peroxide and lipohydroxy acid, which are both comedolytic."

2023's BEST Products For Acne | Doctorly Reviews

"La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo has the active ingredients of benzoyl peroxide and lipohydroxy acid. It's a spot treatment but it can be used all over the face on any acne prone skin. You just put a thin layer and it's great as a reactive treatment to help those pimples that pop up. Conversely, if you actually use it on acne prone skin it is a prophylactic treatment to help prevent acne from popping up. Effaclar Duo combines both salicylic acid, very similar to lipohydroxy acid, with your benzoyl peroxide, going to be incredible for that inflammatory type of acne. We actually have it as our number one spot treatment in the video we did reviewing spot treatments for acne, incredible product. Certainly can be used all over the face. Maybe irritating for some people, so people with some drier skin type can be a little bit irritating with both of these ingredients together."

Product We LOVE and HATE from La Roche-Posay | Doctorly Reviews

"If you have acne and you're looking to spot treat, this is a hero combination hero product for you. It has benzoyl peroxide plus lipohydroxy acid in it, and that combination is incredible, especially for spot treating acne. You can certainly use it all over the face, but again it could be irritating for a lot of people, so especially as a spot treatment, it's one of the phenomenal products from La Roche-Posay."

Curology Curology

"You can definitely use tretinoin if you've never used retinol before. I would ease into it and start with the lowest dose, which is 0.25% retinol. You can get it written by your dermatologist in the office or you could go to Curology. If you're new to retinol, I would go with the 0.25% retinol because it's the starter retinol. This one also has a lot of calming and soothing ingredients in it to really calm an irritated barrier in someone who is using tretinoin for the first time."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

Galderma Epiduo

"Epiduo is great for acne it can be drying absolutely. You just need a good moisturizer."

~Mixed

76%approval rating

Hyaluronic acid Filler

"Hyaluronic acid filler, not quite so high. Perhaps I don't think it's going to provide the long lasting benefits. In short term I don't know it's going to do anything for you."

✕Skip

61%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Anthelios

"Bondi Sands and La Roche-Posay sunscreens would be a really good combo. There are so many good sunscreens out right now, whether it's mineral, American, European, Korean. I've probably got four or five pure non-tinted mineral sunscreens that blend well, and they're non-nano zinc. I'm quite happy with how sunscreen has evolved over the last years."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Products

"The only thing maybe it's the thermal water, some people love it some people hate it but most people love it so maybe you're just not reacting well to it. I don't like the serums from La Roche-Posay."

~Mixed

67%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Serums

"I don't like the serums from La Roche-Posay."

✕Skip

57%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water

"You don't need it, it does feel nice to spray, and if you're especially somebody who likes to spray water before you apply your hyaluronic acid, this is something that can give you that added boost. You don't need it, but if you're extra you might like it, extra in the summer. I love it, I love doing like a thermal spring water spray and then like a hyaluronic acid drippy and then like a lightweight moisturizer, like if I'm in Arizona or Colorado somewhere horribly dry and barren, that will save my skin."

~Mixed

75%approval rating

Medik8 Super C Ferulic

"It's got a pretty full ingredient list in terms of just supporting cast, but what I really like is it has a lot of different types of vitamin C. The combination of vitamin Cs is unnecessary, it's a little bit eccentric, but there's a reason, they each bring something a little bit unique texturally. It has niacinamide, it has arbutin, it has turmeric, it has ferulic acid, it has ascorbic acid, ascorbyl glucoside. I love the texture, I think the price point's good. I've gone through a few bottles of it this year alone, so that's one of my current favorite vitamin C serums."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint

"Neutri foil I was very sorry I almost ate the mic very skeptical of supplements they did their research they use evidence-based ingredients"

✓Approved

65%approval rating

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex

"The Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum is the poster child for this ingredient. They're the ones that pretty much did all the studies on this ingredient showing that it helps to calm and soothe the skin. It's fragrance-free and I actually loved it when I used it. The biggest pitfall of this product is that it's super expensive, it's closer to that $100 range, so for me it's hard for me to always recommend it, but it actually is a really nice product with actually a lot of data. They have a patented peptide that's part of this formula, and it does have this beta of ferment extract that's been shown to be helpful for people with sensitive skin."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

SkinCeuticals Discoloration Defense

"I personally get very irritated from this product. I always get like irritation redness and even sometimes acne like lesions. It's a low pH so I don't know what the issue is it's causing this."

✓Approved

71%approval rating

All 2 takes on Discoloration Defense

"Medical Grade" Skincare | Doctorly Investigates

"I personally get very irritated from this product. I always get like irritation redness and even sometimes acne like lesions. It's a low pH so I don't know what the issue is it's causing this."

Best And Worst Of Skinceuticals

"This is a great serum, I'm not saying it's not, but it has aged a bit. I used to recommend this quite a bit when I first started residency. It is pricey, over $100 for a dark spot corrective serum. Now we have products that target all of the steps in comprehensive ways of preventing pigment production, preventing the transfer, and removing and exfoliating the existing pigment. There are things that exist now that have comparable or better results at a much lower price point than this one."

Elastin Regenerating Skin Nectar

"I actually did use it post-procedurally, the Elastin regenerating skin nectar. I was like, oh, this has been studied post-operatively, post-procedurally, let me try it out. I loved it. I know it is expensive, you don't need it, but I like you can't simply just use your moisturizer or CeraVe healing ointment. But you want your fragrance-free things, you want things that are not going to irritate the skin at all, and that's what you're going to do the night when you get home and then for a few days after that."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%

"Another good option here for peptides is acetyl hexapeptide-8, or Argireline as it's more commonly known. This one can work to mimic some of Botox's properties, certainly not to the same extent, and then it may have some benefits of its own. You can find it as a solo ingredient. There are some fairly affordable products with that, The Ordinary housing Argireline product."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

Remedy For Dark Circles

"This formula targets all three pathways that contribute to dark circles and it also helps with that puffiness due to the edema or the fluid buildup that's inside of the tissues. The results from our studies have been absolutely phenomenal with this product. I was personally blown away and when I showed it to my brother, he was so blown away that he didn't even think it was an after photo and he immediately asked to take the only eye treatment that I had left in my house. If you're consistent with time, you should notice an immediate improvement in puffiness due to edema and the dark circles should start to fade over time. That collagen support should help the skin become translucent over the course of 8, 9, and 10 weeks. When it comes to texture, it is very luxurious. It's a gel cream consistency, but it does have that buttery finish, and it layers perfectly under makeup. We actually asked people in our study if it layered well under makeup, and 100% said that it would layer well with their makeup and not cause any peeling. You can be safe to apply makeup under this, and it's not going to cause any creasing. I'm personally very excited about this product."

✓Approved

92%approval rating

Remedy Skincare Line

"We now have a total of six products we started out just with three so we've grown incredibly fast started out in March and now we're all the way out here in November it's been truly an amazing year our team has grown."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Sunscreen26 reviews

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF 50+ PA++++

"This is the daytime sunscreen by Beauty of Joseon. And this is actually available at Sephora. And this is using American filters. So it's got benzene and homosalate, octinoxate. It still blends really nicely because they're still applying that same philosophy around that experiential skincare that you get from any Korean brand. So, still a phenomenal sunscreen. Maybe not as elegant or maybe Dr. Maxwell doesn't love it as much, but it's still really nice."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

All 2 takes on Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF 50+ PA++++

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"I like the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen a lot, actually."

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airy Fit Daily Sunscreen SPF 50

"Haruharu sunscreen, this is one of my favorites. I discovered this sunscreen and I just used it throughout the year, and I repurchased it. I took it on every single vacation. Haruharu is not getting enough hype with all the Korean brands blowing up, but their sunscreen and a lot of their products are actually really phenomenal. It blends incredibly well with the skin. This is a fully Korean sunscreen, so you're going to get that elegance. It just might be a little bit more difficult to purchase."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 3 takes on Black Rice Moisture Airy Fit Daily Sunscreen SPF 50

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"I saw the Haruharu Wonder sunscreen. That's a sunscreen that I can definitely stand by and tell you that if you use it, you really will like that one quite a bit."

The Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

"The Haruharu Wonder if you're looking for a Korean sunscreen that's lightweight that's dewy that's going to be great for the summer this is a really good option."

Neutrogena Collagen Bank Moisturizer SPF 30

"Neutrogena Collagen Bank couples sunscreen with micronized peptides, micropeptides that are shown to absorb better and be more effective. They have internal studies that show when somebody is using these products over time, that peptide actually helps with the elasticity of the skin. They show it by how fast skin recoils from smiling or frowning or raising your eyebrows actually recoils faster over time, which I think is really fascinating. That peptide is really nice for aging skin."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on Collagen Bank Moisturizer SPF 30

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

2025 BEST SUNSCREENS OF THE YEAR | DOCTORLY REVIEWS

"The studies that they've actually done to show that it improves the elasticity, recoil of the skin are actually quite phenomenal. They show internal videos of how quickly the skin recoils after using it compared to people who don't use the Collagen Bank, which is very interesting. It is a phenomenal product for somebody who's looking for a moisturizer sunscreen duo with something that's going to do a little bit more. And in this case, it's that peptide. So you're going to get that protection with a very elegant chemical sunscreen that blends really well with the skin, and a really good new addition to the armamentarium from Neutrogena."

EltaMD UV Daily Tinted

"The UV daily tinted would be a great product for dark spots. It has niacinamide in it and is hyaluronic acid based, so it's a little bit more hydrating. It actually gives you more of that dewy look. It's a hybrid sunscreen, so it has both chemical and mineral filters. It's tinted and you also have alphabutin, niacinamide, and licorice root, so it's treating and preventing in one formula. It's a bit pricey at $88, which can be prohibitively expensive for many people, but their formulation and delivery is extremely good."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

All 2 takes on UV Daily Tinted

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

Top Sunscreens, How Tariffs Affect Skincare, and Trump Goes After Big Pharma | Doctorly Unhinged

"UV daily tinted is exactly the same as UV Clear but more dewy and it doesn't have the niacinamide in it. In exchange for that they do more of a hyaluronic acid hydration angle with this one. So instead of oil control they go more hydration, which is really what I should have been going for. If you're looking for a UV Clear alternative and you find the UV Clear one a little bit on the more drying mattifying side, I think this is a really good option."

Super Goop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40

"I'm a big fan of the Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen. Yeah, this is like amazing."

✓Approved

71%approval rating

All 4 takes on Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

"Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen is a silicone-based sunscreen that initially feels oily when you put it on, but it sets in a mattifying way. It sits almost like a primer on the skin, and because of the silicone, the way it reflects light makes it mattifying. When you run your finger over the skin, it does feel oily, but it doesn't look oily in my opinion. So I think this is a good mattifying option."

PART 2: 2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"I'm a big fan of the Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen. Yeah, this is like amazing."

2025 BEST SUNSCREENS OF THE YEAR | DOCTORLY REVIEWS

"Super Goop is the company who started clear sunscreens, so they're the goat. They reformulated their original Unseen this year, and I still really, really like it. If you're somebody who uses Unseen, you're still going to love that product. It's still phenomenal. Super Goop Unseen has that thick, greasy quality, almost borderline ointment in a sense, so if you've ever felt like it's a little too heavy or leaves you a little too dewy, you might want to explore other options. But if that works for you, it's still a great product."

Best Sunscreens of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2024

"My bougie version for the chemical sunscreen is an OG: it is your Super Goop Unseen Sunscreen. The reason is this sunscreen starts out invisible and it stays invisible. It feels hydrating. It is invisible, it feels good when you put it on, it sits and sets nicely. As the original OG, it will certainly blend with all skin types. I think this deserves a continued mention because of that fact."

DRMTLGY Universal Tinted Moisturizer SPF 46

"I love their universal tinted moisturizer. It's a beautiful moisturizer."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

All 3 takes on Universal Tinted Moisturizer SPF 46

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS | DOCTORLY DEALS

"I used it again recently and it really is a phenomenal sunscreen. It leaves you with such a nice dewy glow. Great if you have hyperpigmentation. So if you're somebody who's using remedy for dark spots, I highly recommend using a tinted sunscreen and I really think that you'll like this one. The hybrid one is really my favorite. Over the course of probably four or five years I've been strongly recommending this brand, and this one has stood the test of time, especially in the demographic of probably 20 to 50 year old women. This is so many people's no makeup makeup look. If you're looking for that, this is a perfect option for you."

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"I love their universal tinted moisturizer. It's a beautiful moisturizer."

BEST and WORST DRMTLGY Products | Doctorly Reviews

"This is a top seller ultimately, but just blends super well with the skin. It's a tinted sunscreen, and I love a tinted sunscreen, especially for those who are prone to hyperpigmentation. It gives you some cosmetic benefit, but the truth is when it comes to sunscreen, the only thing that I care about is whether it's going to be cosmetically elegant and does it meet the SPF rating of its intended goal. For me, this blends super well, blends in super nice. My wife uses this as a foundation dupe. She has a fairly complicated skincare routine, and she layers her skincare with it. It works exceptionally well for her, and for easily 3 years this has been her everyday foundation dupe and replacement."

Anua ZeroCast Moisturizing Finish Sunscreen

"I actually like that sunscreen a lot. I'm a big fan of that sunscreen from Anua. I actually like Anua as a brand quite a bit."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

Vacation Classic Whip SPF 30

"You're going to have to wear more than you would normally wear of your regular sunscreens, get a nice thick layer. It smells phenomenally. If you have eczema or you are sensitive to fragrances, not for you, but if you love an experience, I would have to say this is 10 out of 10 on experience. My first outing with the sunscreen I hated it because I used it before surfing and I found that this sunscreen was extremely irritating when it got in my eyes. So if you're going to be running, sweating, maybe in the water and active, not a sensitive skin, sensitive eyeball sunscreen, not gentle at all. But from the experience standpoint, this will probably elevate your beach trip. It will probably create some nostalgia to go along with whatever adventure you're having. Love this sunscreen."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

EltaMD UV Skin Recovery SPF 50

"This is a really, really nice sunscreen. The color correction is actually very mild. Don't expect a strong color correction, but it feels really good on the skin. I really enjoy it. So if you feel like you get too much correction with like a Dr. Jart's, if it leaves you looking ashy or a little gray slated, this might be the one for you. But for those of us who have rosacea or sensitive skin with dilated blood vessels, this spectrum is really going to do two things for you: protect your skin and also decrease that kind of hue."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Vacation Sunscreen

"Vacation is actually a very nice one. It's actually the most affordable option at $26 for 1.7 ounces. Now, the clear sunscreens are usually more expensive to formulate, so it is nice to get one at this price point."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46

"I've been a huge fan of UV Clear for a very long time and I've always liked it. It's one of the first sunscreens I used pretty consistently. It's got 5% niacinamide in it and it's really good for that oily acne prone skin."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

All 2 takes on UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46

The ULTIMATE Normal & Combination Skincare Routine | Doctorly Routines

"EltaMD UV Clear sunscreen is a great product, really is great for pretty much all skin types. It's got the addition of niacinamide in it, just a great product. A little bit on the pricier side but definitely gets the job done."

Top Sunscreens, How Tariffs Affect Skincare, and Trump Goes After Big Pharma | Doctorly Unhinged

CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30

"The am facial moisturizing lotion SPF 30 is a hybrid sunscreen so it has zinc oxide and it also has your chemical sunscreens like homosalate, meradimate, octanoate, octocrylene. It's a great starter sunscreen because a lot of patients just wanted something hydrating that would also protect them from the sun. Many people use this as a starter sunscreen and it gets them through the day perfectly sufficient. For most people this is a great option just to start your skincare routine, protect your skin, hydrate all in one. It's tough to blend in some ways, not in the sense that it doesn't blend with most skin types, but it's not something that's going to melt into your skin right away. It's something you have to work a little bit more into your skin, which people don't necessarily love, especially with so many more elegant sunscreens coming out. This is a great starter sunscreen, a sunscreen I love and recommend to my patients all the time."

✓Approved

74%approval rating

CeraVe Ultra Light Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30

"It's a pure chemical sunscreen. It blends well with three essential ceramides and hyaluronic acid. Yes, it's hydrating, yes it's moisturizing, yes it's your moisturizing SPF, pretty easy to wear for I would say absolutely anyone. It's a good sunscreen."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 50

"Their AM SPF 50 is a new launch from CeraVe. It's a mixed chemical and mineral sunscreen. I actually find it easier to blend than the 30. The SPF 50 feels nice and aesthetically feels good. It blends a little easier, so I think as time moves forward this might become the go-to for people's starter sunscreens."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

"The hydrating mineral sunscreen SPF 50, I've worn this quite a bit and it just struggles to blend with darker skin tones. It's very casty. I would classify this as unwearable. This is a criminal release from CeraVe. Unless you have the lightest skin tones or you really don't care about a white cast, you will otherwise hate this sunscreen. It's a pure mineral, it's like a paste. It just doesn't blend really well at all and it'll sit on your face kind of just all white. You can't tell how it doesn't essentially blend very well with my skin."

✕Skip

55%approval rating

Paula's Choice Sunscreen

"Paula's Choice, amazing brand, incredible brand. It's a good opportunity to get your 25% off. If you're using the BHA liquid exfoliant and need a reup, you're using their vitamin C and need a reup, their sunscreen you need a reup, good opportunity to get your 25% off."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Moist Sun Serum SPF 50

"This is the Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Moist Sun Serum. I like it. It wasn't irritating at all."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

La Roche-Posay UV Mune 400

"La Roche-Posay UV Mune has this ingredient, Amiloxate, which is a name we learned about it in medical school, no one knows it by that name, but this ingredient has great UVA protection. The European sunscreens are incredible, incredibly aesthetic. European ones have great elegance."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

All 2 takes on UV Mune 400

Skin QnA

Our MOST FREQUENTLY REPURCHASED Products of the Year | Dermatologist Favorites

"I ran out of the La Roche-Posay UV Mune 400 product, which is a product that's only available in Europe. I hate that, that makes me so mad. I've asked some of these brands at all store in Europe, I'm like please send me your European sunscreens, like I want to try them, I want the filters."

Bondi Sands SPF 50 Sunscreen

"Bondi Sands and L'Oréal Posay sunscreens would be a really good combo actually."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

Heliocare Sunscreen

"Polypodium Leucotomos has probably the best evidence for preventing damage from the Sun and additionally there's a couple things, so Heliocare with the Cornerstone ones, then there's a sun supplement. I think they're working on their concentrations which is good. Topically you just want to go all out so you want to be using sunscreen consistently reapplying probably at least every two hours, even more frequently than what the label says."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Super Goop Glow Screen SPF 40

"My wife's most frequently reused sunscreen by far is still the Super Goop Glow Screen sunscreen. She buys that all the time."

✓Approved

69%approval rating

Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA++++

"It's the most liquidy sunscreen I've ever tried because it doesn't have that tack, and it's harder to apply. Normally I apply two finger lengths, but you can't do that with this. You almost have to apply it into your hand and dab it onto the face, so my application technique doesn't work very well. It also has a relatively strong fragrance, almost like a fresh kind of fragrance. I didn't hate this product, but I really didn't love it the way that everyone else had loved it. The spray version grips pretty well actually, the spray grips more than the lotion. The reason I say that is because a way that people go wrong with sprays is they don't rub it in. It's weird that it grips so much for a spray. The smell is subjective, but I think it's nice."

~Mixed

80%approval rating

Trader Joe's Daily Facial Sunscreen SPF 40

"It's fragrance free, blends super well with the skin, so this is something that a lot of people are gonna like, and it's only $14, which is pretty incredible, that's a really really good price for a sunscreen like this."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Sunscreen SPF 50 PA++++

"I fell in love with this. It's absolutely beautiful. You often times can't tell what brand this comes from when you try to find it on the shelf. But it's the Round Lab sunscreen and it's absolutely incredible. Now, they do have an American version and a Korean version. The American version is actually available at Target. But the Korean version, which is available from Yes Style, is the one with the Korean filters. They're similar, but I will say that the American one is slightly heavier than the Korean version."

✓Approved

85%approval rating

Purito Deep Sea Pure Water Sunscreen

"This sunscreen actually brings to the table a mix of US and Korean sunscreen filters to achieve things that really are hard to obtain otherwise which is water resistance. Interestingly too, this one does tout a bit of oil control, sebum control. So those of you or me with like normal to oily or normal to combination skin, this might do a lot of different things beyond just sun protection for you. And I always find that the stick, well, it depends on what the base is of the stick, but I do actually find that they give more of a dry down, but has more of like an oil finish actually, believe it or not. Even though they're touting like oil controlling ingredients, it gives you a bit of an oil finish like a skin oil almost."

~Mixed

85%approval rating

EltaMD UV Daily

"EltaMD is a dermlod brand that started in the derm offices. They do tons of clinical studies on their product and they really have a high standard. The EltaMD UV Daily doesn't have niacinamide and has hyaluronic acid and it gives you that nice dewy finish which I absolutely love because you're already getting your niacinamide in the remedy for dark spot product at night. So use remedy for dark spots at night. Use EltaMD UV Daily in the morning and that's your entire dark spot routine."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Retinoids14 reviews

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Retinol Moisturizer

"The Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair is a fond one for me. It's the first retinol product I ever used. Even though the concentration is not disclosed, it is effective. They have a lot of studies backing it up. This retinol is paired with a lot of hydrating ingredients, so it offsets irritation, especially for someone who's just starting a retinol. I think this is a perfect pick. They have some really fascinating internal studies that show its retinol activity on the skin and actually having increased retinol activity acting in your skin compared to other moisturizers that have retinol in it. So they really have a lot of good science behind their products."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 2 takes on Rapid Wrinkle Repair Retinol Moisturizer

Derm Compares Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 vs Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair vs RoC Retinol Correxion

"The first retinoid I ever used was the Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair, and I'm sentimental in that way, but that's also where I learned a lesson that my expectations need to be tempered. I thought it would be like a wrinkle eliminator, pore eliminator, but I was very disappointed even after perhaps using a full jar. That said, I would lean towards the Neutrogena one just because of the internal studies that I've seen. When I see a study like that, you think to yourself, okay, I can count on this working."

Best Moisturizers of the Year | Doctorly Favorites of 2025

Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 Night Moisturizer

"I would go with the Olay one because it's got the more interesting ingredient combination, the niacinamide, the peptide. Biased by the internal studies and the fact that it's kind of like a derm favorite with a lot of studies, I would say that I agree with that assessment."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

RoC Retinol Correxion Max Hydration Cream

"The thinnest product, meaning the most lightweight formula, is the RoC Retinol Correxion Max Hydration Cream. It gives you a little bit of a shimmer, a little dewy glow moment just for a second before it absorbs really nicely into the skin. It has this silky hydrated dry down."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

Differin Adapalene Gel 0.1%

"Still a great product. Still a great product for blackheads."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 2 takes on Adapalene Gel 0.1%

2025 BEST BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY SKINCARE AND DEVICE DEALS LIVE

"Still a great product. Still a great product for blackheads."

Ultimate GUIDE to Treating Back and Body acne | Doctorly Routines

"you could take some Differin gel or a dappling, smear it onto one of these little spatula back buddies and then just put it on your back there. I find this to be like an impractical thing to do, but if you really wanted to do it, if you really wanted to avoid oral medications, I think that there's probably some benefit in doing that."

CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum

"I like the resurfacing Retinol Serum better. It has other supporting ingredients like licorice root and niacinamide, and it's a really good starter retinol for somebody who's looking to start a retinol that wants something that's going to be gentle on the skin but it's also going to be effective. It's going to help with texture, it'll help with discoloration, and it will help with anti-aging benefits and large pores. The product has encapsulated retinol so it's more stable, you can in theory use it in the daytime, it plays better with other ingredients, better dispersion, less irritation, better absorption, plus licorice plus niacinamide. If you want to start a retinol and you have sensitive skin, for aging changes whether it's dark spots, fine lines, or texture, I think this is a great starting point. I still recommend it all the time for people looking to start retinol."

✓Approved

91%approval rating

All 6 takes on Resurfacing Retinol Serum

Products We HATE and LOVE from CeraVe | Doctorly Reviews

The ULTIMATE Budget Friendly Anti-Aging Skincare Routine

"It's got ceramides in it, that dimethicone base so it's going to be reparative as well, niacinamide in it, licorice root in it, of course it's got its retinol. I believe this is an encapsulated retinol at a .1% concentration, plus your hyaluronic acid in it. This is going to be one of those products that has quite a bit in it and it has that MVE technology that's going to keep your skin hydrated. Overall this is a winning product. This is not an advanced retinol, but for somebody who just simply wants clear skin, healthy skin over time, this is a really good starting point."

The ULTIMATE Normal & Combination Skincare Routine | Doctorly Routines

"I like it because we're talking about mostly maintaining and preventing photo aging and this is very budget friendly. It also has multiple ingredients so it has your retinol, your jack of all trades niacinamide, and then licorice for the third component, and then like all CeraVe products it has ceramides in it as well. I think it delivers as a very comprehensive retinol product. It's a great product, it's even good as a starter retinol for people that are first getting into retinol, affordable, widely available. I've used it for a long time, didn't have any irritation with it, and it's quite effective."

Saturday Skincare Live!

"One of my favorites is still the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol. It's just so budget friendly. It's kind of the OG of a skinimalist product because it's inexpensive. It's a retinol that also has some ingredients to help with really just most aging concerns, uneven tone, dark spots, etc. While it's probably not the most effective and aesthetically it's good but not like lights out, I wouldn't take the time to talk about how good it feels. The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol is still one of my favorites."

The ULTIMATE Routine for Large Pores and Sebaceous Filaments | Doctorly Routines

"You can use a retinol at night, something like the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum. They pioneered retinol so they are the OGs in that category. Using a retinol is going to do a lot of the work and so I do think it's foundational to your nighttime skincare routine if you're trying to minimize the appearance of pores."

The ULTIMATE Routine for Dark Spots | Doctorly Hyperpigmentation and Melasma Guide

"The CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum here is like one of my favorites, it's budget friendly, it uses encapsulated slow release retinol, it's not expensive, and it keeps it very simple because it's like one product you just use this at night Monday through Saturday."

Paula's Choice CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment

"They have a 1% retinol that's going to be your intermediate, somebody who's a little bit used to it, wants something that's gentle but still effective."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

All 3 takes on CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment

Products We LOVE and HATE From Paula's Choice | Doctorly Reviews

"They have a 1% retinol that's going to be your intermediate, somebody who's a little bit used to it, wants something that's gentle but still effective."

The ULTIMATE Normal & Combination Skincare Routine | Doctorly Routines

"Paula's Choice CLINICAL 1% Retinol Treatment contains 1% retinol which is a super high concentration of retinol over the counter. It also has THD ascorbate vitamin C which is one of the better forms of vitamin C, allantoin which is calming and soothing, licorice root, and several forms of different peptides that help to support the skin barrier. It's that high concentration of retinol that's going to be really effective for anti-aging in general and just maintaining a healthy skin barrier. I've used this one for a long period of time and had a lot of good success with it personally, so I absolutely love this one."

Saturday Skincare Live!

"Paula's Choice retinol, that's a great one too."

A313 Vitamin A Pommade

"I don't really see a good reason why using this product anymore. In the past when retinol wasn't as widely available or as stable as it is today, then there could be a reason to use this type of product, but I think now there are products that are way more available, way more effective, and you can really expect to see results with. I actually do not like this product. I tried it for a while and didn't love it. A313, I don't need it. I personally don't want it."

✕Skip

61%approval rating

All 2 takes on Vitamin A Pommade

Weekend SkinCare Live!

"This retinoid is full of retinal esters. These retinal esters are not effective. There's so many studies showing retinal esters have no significant effect on the skin, and yet this is a cult favorite, like the castor oil of retinoids. There's a deep love for it, an obsession over it, but it doesn't do what you think it does. I've been to France, this is where I bought it in France. I tried the product on paper beforehand and it didn't work. Aesthetically I don't enjoy it either. So I just don't understand how that continues to get so much love."

Skincare That You DON'T NEED (But Might Want)

The Ordinary Retinol

"It's inexpensive and it's a retinol that also has some ingredients to help with really just most aging concerns, uneven tone, dark spots, etc. While it's probably not the most effective and aesthetically it's good but not lights out, The Ordinary Retinol is still one of my favorite products. It's been extremely good for gentle sensitive skin."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

Gold Bond Age Renew Retinol Overnight Body and Face Lotion

"The Gold Bond has a retinol that has become kind of popular, at least better known. It's a body retinol, very inexpensive, and another good option."

✓Approved

86%approval rating

Necessaire Body Retinol

"One of my favorite products is still the Necessaire Body Retinol. It combines your retinol and your exfoliating acid into a pretty decent size product, and I think it is probably still one of the most complete products out there for tone on the body. It's something I recommend in the office all the time, but because it's kind of expensive I do always caveat it with, well, what's your budget-friendly alternative."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

SkinCeuticals Retinol

"I love it, it's been extremely good for gentle sensitive skin. That has actually been a game changer in my household for retinol products."

✓Approved

66%approval rating

Versed Gentle Retinol Serum

"The Versed Gentle Retinol Serum, that is a good one too. I love these products that use retinol consistently."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum

"Something like the rock retinol they pioneered retinol so they are the ogs in that category"

✓Approved

62%approval rating

La Roche-Posay Adapalene Gel

"Adapalene gel is a phenomenal acne ingredient. It's probably the most powerful acne ingredient you can find over the counter. It's incredible for those open and closed comedones and it's going to really improve the texture of your skin, short of getting a prescription medication from your dermatologist. This is definitely on the best list, but I don't think that it is superior to any of the other options out there, so if you can find it for a good price I highly recommend it. The over-the-counter version is 0.1% adapalene, which is a lower concentration than the prescription strength 3% version that exists."

✓Approved

89%approval rating

Masks & Peels11 reviews

Medicube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask

"Collagen doesn't get into the skin, but it's actually a nice, great moisturizer. I actually really enjoyed this experience. I found it quite moisturizing. And if you need something really visual for your morning shed, this would be a good option. I do hate trying to get it out of the beard and hairline. That's my knock on that one."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant

"This is a great product, great for people with oily skin, great for people with blemish prone skin, and it's their most viral product, most purchased product. If you're going to try any product from Paula's Choice, I always think this is a good starter product for you."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 2 takes on Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant

Products We LOVE and HATE From Paula's Choice | Doctorly Reviews

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"Paula's Choice is an amazing brand, an incredible brand. If you're using the BHA liquid exfoliant and you need a reup, this is a good opportunity to get 25% off. They do 25% off pretty frequently throughout the year, so it's not one of those things where you have to rush to buy it."

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 6% Mandelic Acid + 2% Lactic Acid Liquid Exfoliant

"Mandelic acid is one of the larger size alpha hydroxy acids, so because it's a larger size it doesn't penetrate as deeply into the skin, and so it's usually my preferred exfoliant for people with sensitive skin. Mandelic acid is really a great ingredient for people who want to exfoliate but also have sensitive skin. Then you add lactic acid which is slightly moisturizing, and you put it in a time-released formula, and this is really a great product for people who have sensitive skin but want to exfoliate."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

Medic Cube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask

"I like it because I think the ingredients are good and I think it's going to deliver on its intended purpose. If you wear it overnight it's not going to be messy and it's not going to mess up your pillow. It doesn't have any irritating ingredients like the bubble mask does. You don't need it, but you might want it, especially this winter when your skin is dry and chapped."

~Mixed

75%approval rating

The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution

"You have things like the Ordinary peeling solution that you could potentially use on these. They are higher strength exfoliants but you would still only want to leave those on for 15 minutes maximum and then definitely wash them off. You don't want to leave them on all day or anything like that."

✓Approved

61%approval rating

Bubble Overnight Hydrating Sleep Mask

"The overnight hydrating mask, I don't think it's maybe necessary for anyone. If you just pick the three that we went through before based on your skin type, that's probably where you're going to have the most success."

✕Skip

63%approval rating

DRMTLGY Exfoliating Body Lotion

"The Dermatology Exfoliating Body Lotion is a 12% lotion for your body like this is excellent, it's just a very straightforward product. This is going to help resurface your skin like it's a very rich moisturizer. Overall very simple minimalistic goal oriented formula. In this you have ceramides which are going to provide a backbone of support for your skin barrier along with multiple other hydrating helpful ingredients. Texturally it's great, volume is great, very thoughtful. I love this product."

✓Approved

Notverified

DRMTLGY Pumpkin Enzyme Mask

"It's experiential skin care but there's just like nothing like it. It's not a new product, every fall this one product comes back to me. It's like a fall candle for your face. If you enjoy that sort of thing, if you don't have sensitive skin, you don't have eczema, I'm a big fan of this product. Ingredient wise it makes sense, but you're going into this knowing that it's for the experience plus some functional skin care, and the fragrance is just a part of that."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

Remedy KP Exfoliating Body Scrub

"I would recommend using this up to two times a week in the shower. That's basically how I've been using it. And what I've noticed is that not only does it improve the texture immediately of the skin on my body, but I've also noticed that my hands are a lot smoother. They're like baby soft afterwards. This will do double duty on elbows, knees, legs, hands as well. I will say, if you do this and you do the Remedy for body bumps leave-on lotion, maybe you get a little irritation, you do it less frequently. Maybe you can do it more frequently, but just tailor this to your skin type. Everyone has different degrees of sensitive skin. Whatever you can be consistent with is how you're going to get the best results."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Remedy KP Exfoliating Body Moisturizer

"Remedy KP Exfoliating Body Moisturizer has lactic acid, urea, and retinol. Use it in the shower, rinse it off. I would recommend using this up to two times a week in the shower. What I've noticed when I use it is that not only does it improve the texture immediately of the skin on my body, but I've also noticed that my hands are a lot smoother. They're like baby soft afterwards. This will do double duty on elbows, knees, legs, hands as well. You may find that if you do this and get a little irritation, you do it less frequently. Maybe you can do it more frequently, but just tailor this to your skin type. Everyone has different degrees of sensitive skin. Whatever you can be consistent with is how you're going to get the best results."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

L'Oreal Bright Reveal Dark Spot Exfoliant Peel

"This is my favorite part of the peel. It's very gentle, so I put it on specifically for this purpose. I find this peel extremely gentle. There's a very nice cooling sensation afterwards, and I love how my skin feels for the next two hours after I use this peel. Because of all the thought and science I know they put into creating a gentle formulation with a lot of efficacy, this one does great for me. The whole point of this is that it does great results while still being gentle. I came up with the phrase 'gentle enough for the beginner but strong enough for the experienced exfoliator,' and I still think that's true with this peel. This is one of the highest strength exfoliants that you're going to get available over the counter anywhere, pretty much. This is a really heavy hitting product and this is really as close to an in-office chemical peel as you're going to get at home."

✓Approved

66%approval rating

Tech8 reviews

Omnilux Contour Face

"The Omnilux mask is FDA cleared, it's a soft flexible material that lies flat and you wrap it around your face, and it also has a handle that you attach with a remote. It's a nice mask and you're going to see results with that red light. If you have a smaller face and want something that's more malleable and moldable that gets a bit more coverage, the Omnilux mask is great for that."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

All 5 takes on Contour Face

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"Omnilux is one of those malleable masks that kind of conforms to the general shape of your head, but it can be very comfortable and it's data driven. Definitely a trusted brand. I do like wearing that one as well. I'm not a big fan of the cord thing, but that's a nuance. It's a good giftable item, and I think it's definitely something you can get for yourself, get for a friend, family member, and it'll work for your skin."

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"Consistent use of the LED mask is actually what makes a big difference. Whether you get one from Omnilux or Current Body or there's a new one from Shark Beauty or you get the one that we love from Cure, just using that consistently is going to help you see results. Specifically when we're talking about anti-aging, we're usually talking about red light and infrared light, and it stimulates that collagen production by stimulating those fibroblasts. By doing that your skin will be healthier for longer, but you do have to be consistent. It is a technology that we do believe in."

Skin QnA

"Omnilux face mask, it's good. There are a lot of good LED masks out there. I would never spend more than $500 on a mask, never spend more than $1,000 certainly, and I would never spend less than $100 at this point. Quality does matter. This one has blue in it, which is good. I actually do like a mask that has blue and red, especially for younger individuals, because although red light is great, if you can switch between blue and red I think it's even better because for breakouts blue light is much more effective and I like the freedom to do that."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"This is not really it's not really a great deal um the deals are really better if you buy more so you would have to buy two devices from omnilux to really benefit from the sale"

Cure LED mask

"It's wireless, so you can just put it on your face and wrap it around your head. If you have a smaller face and want the portability and mobility element, then I think Cure is better. And if you want the blue light feature, specifically if you have acne, then I would recommend the Cure one."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

All 5 takes on LED mask

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"Consistent use of the LED mask is actually what makes a big difference. We've always been big proponents of the Cure mask. We've been big fans of the technology in general, so whether you get one from Omnilux or Current Body or there's a new one from Shark Beauty or you get the one that we love from Cure, just using that consistently is we're going to see results. Specifically when we're talking about anti-aging, we're usually talking about red light and infrared light, and it stimulates that collagen production by stimulating those fibroblasts, and by doing that your skin will be healthier for longer. But you do have to be consistent. It is a technology that we do believe in."

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"You see us rocking the LED masks all the time. It's a brand that we love."

Black Friday Deals and Skincare Q&A

"Cure is is $80 cheaper than it normally is on their website so they are truly 20 20% off um so that's lower than you'll normally find the Cure mask"

Neck and Decolletage Skincare - How to Treat Tech Neck Lines and Sun Damage

"This is one from Cure, they make the mask we love. It's just a nice simple product you wear it around your neck for a short period of time throughout the day. LED is a form of photobiomodulation where you're using visible light to stimulate collagen and rejuvenate the skin. The benefit is it's extremely gentle. There's really no limitation for a person to use this type of device, it just takes a few minutes a day. There's really no downside to something like this except for the cost, but unlike your skincare products it's a onetime investment. That LED light targets fibroblasts to increase collagen production and will have those anti-aging benefits. Especially if you get tech neck, which is the lines in the neck or wrinkling that you see through the chest, LED is really good at-home treatment for this. You do have to be consistent, pretty much with anything to see good results, but especially with LED you need to be using this at least three times a week for at least three minutes a day, sometimes for ten minutes a day, especially on the neck."

CurrentBody Skin LED Light Therapy Mask

"Current Body has an LED mask that covers the entire face. It's soft and malleable and has a cord. They also have this chin extension that's really nice to really just cup your face underneath the skin. Current Body is definitely a reputable brand."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 2 takes on Skin LED Light Therapy Mask

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"Consistent use of the LED mask is actually what makes a big difference. We've always been big proponents of the technology in general, so whether you get one from Omnilux or CurrentBody or there's a new one from Shark Beauty, just using that consistently is going to show results. Specifically when talking about anti-aging, we're usually talking about red light and infrared light, and it stimulates collagen production by stimulating fibroblasts. By doing that, your skin will be healthier for longer, but you do have to be consistent. It is a technology that we do believe in."

Cure Micro infusion targeted patches

"These are targeted patches that with the micro cones on them are able to deliver ingredients deeper into the skin. The penetration into the skin is one of the biggest barriers to your ingredients actually working. And so if you need to deliver something that's difficult to get into the skin, a really good way to deliver it is through these microprint patches. Cure has some and they have really thoughtful ingredients, especially for around the eyes, things like retinol that are able to be delivered deeper into the skin. They pull off in a really cool way. These ones are blue, which are quite visual, and they will have some benefits while still looking ridiculous."

✓Approved

83%approval rating

All 2 takes on Micro infusion targeted patches

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"I love the Cure Micro Infusion Targeted Patches. The whole concept is these little needles break the skin barrier to increase absorption in a sterile, clean way, but they contain very thoughtful caffeine, copper peptides, niacinamide, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, allantoin, retinol which is like your ideal retinoid for the skin around the eyes, and of course green tea and then hexapeptide 8. It's just loaded. What's really exciting to me about this ingredient list is specifically the copper tripeptide. I'm a big fan of copper peptides, but really exciting is acetyl hexapeptide 8, also known as argireline, so argireline is a Botox-like peptide. I have actually noticed that it really does help with fine lines by basically stopping that muscle contraction. And so to have this in a very targeted patch, especially around the eyes where most people will notice their first wrinkles around their eyes, is genius."

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Microcurrent Device

"It is causing muscle contraction and stimulating those muscles and potentially bringing back your muscle contraction in that area. Now if somebody has something like Bell's palsy where they lose the ability to contract one side of the face, this could stimulate the muscles, get them back into high gear and try to recover maybe a little bit quicker. I could see the logic there and maybe there's some studies or anecdote surrounding that. But beyond that, this is not a good treatment for getting rid of wrinkles ultimately."

✕Skip

53%approval rating

Solawave LED Wand

"Red light is really beneficial for anti-aging, but from a practicality standpoint, if you're trying to get exposed to at least three to 10 minutes of red light in that frequency, it's going to take you a very very long time to get that much exposure through this little wand. It'll take you pretty much all day. It's like good technology with a bad application. It's extremely impractical to get three to five minutes spot by spot by spot for your whole face, and then you kind of miss out on the red light benefits altogether. That said, I do think it could be helpful for lymphatic drainage to help depuff in the morning. Do I think those have permanent benefits to the skin? No. But similar to gua sha, it is going to help move fluid and help depuff at least temporarily. If you're somebody who wakes up really puffy, you could want to go through these motions that push things along the lymphatics. This has the added benefit of vibration and red light, so not only are you pushing fluid around but you're maybe having some additional benefits with it. If you're somebody who does gua sha or anything that is moving lymphatics, this may be a good tool to deliver that. Otherwise, this is a no for me."

✕Skip

69%approval rating

iRestore Laser Hair Growth Helmet

"The iRestore headlight device for hair loss, that's legitimate. The thing about red light for hair loss that's interesting is it's been around a lot longer than the public realizes. For anyone who has ever seen someone go through hair restoration surgery within the last probably 20 years, they've been using red light and red light laser devices. Your hair helmet has to have lasers to be adequately powered, not just LED lights. The iRestore one is legitimate, it's good."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

Cure Micro Infusion System

"The one we've talked about the most and certainly have backed most solidly is the Cure Micro Infusion System. And that's because this uses a sterile head single use and it's also with very deliberate length needles. So the risk of infection, the risk of irritation, the risk of damage to your skin from the needling is much much much lower than with something like a traditional derma roller. This is one of the most thoughtful uses of micro infusion because by creating these tiny breaks in the skin, it can increase the penetration of these ingredients. If you're going to do it at home, please learn how to do this properly. That means cleansing the skin before, spraying it with a hypochlorous acid spray, allowing it to dry, micro stamping, and then allowing that infusion to seep into the skin, and then afterwards just simply moisturizing. Don't use a needle tip over and over again. You just don't want to introduce infection or irritation."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

All 3 takes on Micro Infusion System

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"The Cure micro infusion device I think has really made headways here and the reason why we put this in the Innovation category is because I was very against any type of stamping at home and I do think that Cure, of course having conversations with them to improve these devices constantly, but I do think that they are pushing the limits towards making this more acceptable at home for me and to me that's an innovation. You have the micro infusion device which I do think and I've always held the position that it does help ingredients penetrate better into the skin by poking holes in the stratum corneum, by creating that small amount of trauma to the skin it does help the support and boost your collagen production. So there's definitely benefits to microneedling. We see it in the office. There's definitely benefits to increasing penetration of your skincare products. The concern is always like how do you do it safely and they really have pushed the limits to make it safer. So one, you have the sterile needle tips so each one comes in the sterile packaging, the same type of packaging that we get our medical devices in in the office, individually tear you use them. This is the cleanest way that you're going to get needles into the skin."

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"I think it's safe and I think it's effective. I think the reason why we love this so much is because we used to do it in clinic and we couldn't go as frequent as we would like to actually see the benefits, and that's why I think the solution works well because you can do it more frequently at a very cost effective rate. If you do it once a year you can see a huge difference in skin."

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Haircare7 reviews

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer

"I think probably like the goat of hair dryers would have to be the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer. This is a really good deal for the hair dryer currently at $399, 27% off for Black Friday, and it appears to be a lower price than it's been on sale for, not even on Prime Day."

✓Approved

84%approval rating

Dyson Airwrap

"The Dyson Airwrap, you get the hair dryer setting, which is kind of nice. So you get more features, you get more bang for your buck than just buying like an expensive hair dryer. I actually have both, so I kind of know, but I think the Airwrap you'll get more utility out of it."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

Minimalist Hair Density Serum

"Their hair density serum has kxel renil and caill and then a few other ingredients as well. This would be a good compliment if you're someone who really wants to go all out for hair growth and you're looking for an over-the-counter blend to complement hero ingredients like minoxidil or Rogaine. This would be great. There are some studies showing it can be beneficial, some studies comparing it to minoxidil. It's one of those things where you're not studying it against minoxidil to show you use it instead of it. The thought process should be you should use it with it. So a nice compliment for an over-the-counter hair growth, hair density serum."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

Nutrafol Hair Growth Supplement

"Nutrafol is definitely one you've seen more for, but because of the inclusion of an ingredient called saw palmetto in their Syneren complex, this is generally thought to be unsafe during both pregnancy and breastfeeding. The risk in pregnancy is much stronger because it inhibits DHT and that would inhibit hormones and fetal development. Breastfeeding, the risk of absorption and passing on is probably a lot less, but it's still probably something you should avoid. Nutrafol does have more studies in general, but because of the ingredient profile, it comes out as less ideal in the postpartum period."

~Mixed

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on Hair Growth Supplement

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"There were two products that really stood out that were pretty evidence-based to me that I feel like did everything you could ask for from using evidence-based ingredients to using good formulations to doing their own clinical studies to prove that they worked. I think the research is there."

CeraVe Anti-Dandruff Shampoo with Zinc Pyrithione

"I'm super excited to know that CeraVe has something that's going to be gentle for the scalp and gentle for the skin and gentle for the hair both regular non-medicated cleansers and dandruff cleansers and dandruff conditioners which is also very unique."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Neral Shampoo

"I use the shampoo as a body wash to try to prevent it from coming back. I am somebody who's actually prone to Tinea Versicolor, so I am on this maintenance routine about once a week. When I'm doing my dandruff routine where I'm actually treating my dandruff, I take that dandruff shampoo, usually Neral. I massage it onto my body, I leave it on for 2 to 3 minutes before I wash it off, and that keeps my Tinea Versicolor from coming back."

✓Approved

72%approval rating

Nioxin Shampoo

"I find it better than any clarifying shampoo that's available on the market by far. I think people underappreciate salicylic acid in hair care and scalp care. For me, the shampoo I run out of most, and I actually do rotate shampoos very frequently, it's probably the Nioxin shampoo. I've been using that this year. It's the shampoo I repurchase most frequently. It's been leaving me a little bit more residue lately, but it could just be a water quality issue."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

Acne4 reviews

Starface Pimple Patches

"She uses some pimple patches. We like pimple patches. I've always been a big fan, ever since I've been introduced to them to hydrocolloid pimple patches. Those ones are from Starface. They're a little bit of decoration on your face. They're great."

✓Approved

62%approval rating

Cetaphil Gentle Clear Mattifying Acne Moisturizer

"I love their mattifying acne moisturizer. It's really good, one of the best mattifying moisturizers, especially for those with acne-prone skin that I know of. It anchors on ceramides and the skin barrier, which are both good. It's not a product the brand really tries to push or advertise for, and people aren't really talking about it much, but it's definitely worth trying."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Differin Salicylic Acid Spray

"You can use the salicylic acid spray, which is like a new invention over the past maybe two years. You just spray it on and it really helps get an active ingredient onto an area that's hard to reach, and it covers most of that body surface area easily. They're fragrance free, so good by me. I think they're going to have the efficacy that you're looking for."

✓Approved

73%approval rating

All 2 takes on Salicylic Acid Spray

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"Differin is one that I've used and it's fine. You can spray this on the arms, you can spray this on the back. I really don't like it when people spray things in the face and then breathe them in, not a huge fan of that, but you can spray it all over the body. You can also use the salicylic acid sprays for those hard to hit areas."

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Remedy Pimple patches

"I actually use those every now and then they seem to work pretty well and they keep you from itching and picking at them. You get 36 pimple patches for $7.50 right now, it's actually a pretty good deal."

✓Approved

77%approval rating

Body & Tan4 reviews

Necessaire Deodorant Gel

"Something like the Necessaire Deodorant, this one has alpha hydroxy acids in it. It's also fragrance-free. Now if you have very sensitive armpits this could be irritating because what you're doing is you're including that acid underneath the skin, but these are formulated so that they can be for those sensitive skin areas."

✓Approved

79%approval rating

Vanicream Deodorant

"Vanicream is a really good option. It's an aluminum-based deodorant, it's fragrance-free, and it's really just going to block those sweat glands."

✓Approved

80%approval rating

Remedy For body bumps

"Remedy for Body Bumps also has urea, one of those functional ingredients paired with a lot of other ingredients with complementary benefits. It has 10% urea in that formula. It's more of a comprehensive product targeted towards more textured treatments on the body as we age and even dry cracked heels, but more comprehensive formula while still incorporating urea."

✓Approved

88%approval rating

All 2 takes on For body bumps

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Keratosis Pilaris? Crepey Skin? New Product Alert from Remedy Science 🚨

"I'm super excited this is for body care. This is essentially formulated for keratosis pilaris but it does so much more. I am so passionate about this product. This product, when we talk about all the products from Remedy, everything is super stacked like we're taking multiple ingredients to solve a singular or many problems. The idea for this product really surrounded keratosis pilaris, which are those scaly red, sometimes pigmented bumps on the arms, on the legs, and sometimes even on the face. They're often associated with eczema, so you really need to use something that is not only exfoliating but also hydrating and can get rid of some of the redness and dark spots that are left behind around the follicles. It's a full body cream. It is very soft, blends, hydrates easily. I do an arm hair test with body products. If it blends and doesn't cling and cake to the arm hair, it's very successful. That is very successful."

Cure Shower filter

"I personally have this in my house. So, we're super excited to show this to you and the special deal that they're having."

✓Approved

Notverified

All 2 takes on Shower filter

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"I personally have this in my house. So, we're super excited to show this to you and the special deal that they're having."

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"The water filter now has much improved practical utility. You get to flip the faucet around so you could treat it like a drinking fountain if you wanted to, which I found terrific. Everything from Cure is not only functional and innovative but there's that extra layer of thought in the product development. The shower filters are actually pretty sick, I've showered with that many times now and I can't wait to install mine."

Eye Care3 reviews

Biossance Marine Algae Eye Cream

"I still also like their marine algae eye cream. I quite haven't found anything that I like as much as their eye cream."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

All 5 takes on Marine Algae Eye Cream

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"I still also like their marine algae eye cream. I quite haven't found anything that I like as much as their eye cream."

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"Biossance is still my number one favorite eye cream. Marine Algae, I just think it's incredible."

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"My still my go-to eye cream is still the Biossance Marine Algae Eye Cream. It's a little thicker, so if you're on the really milia prone side I would be very cautious of that. It has those marine algae complexes in it and those algae complexes make a huge difference for creepy skin underneath the eye."

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"I love that one if you haven't had a chance to try it this would be a really good time to try it. Love that one."

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"The Biossance Marine Algae Eye Cream is an incredible eye cream that has stood the test of time for me. It's thick, moisturizing, and does for some reason help with my under eyes. I don't know why I love it, but it works. The marine algae in this, I don't know what it is about this because there's no ingredient in this that really should be having the effect that it's having for me, but it does. It has peptides which are super gentle, great in an eye product. The peptides here help grow collagen long term and have numerous benefits."

RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream

"The RoC retinol eye cream, I'm bothered that I like that one so much because this is a brand that's not super transparent with the concentration encapsulation, so I love it. It's been extremely good for gentle sensitive skin, which I don't really have, but my wife does and she's been tolerating it fine. So that has actually been a game changer in my household for retinol products."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

DRMTLGY Brightening Eye Masks

"On paper it should be on one of the best lists because it's got caffeine which helps with puffiness around the eyes and peptides that really help with anti-aging collagen and barrier around the eyes. But I'm not a huge fan of disposable eye masks like this one specifically that just sit on top of the skin. I like the eye masks more that have the little micro needles in them because at least they have the added benefit of increasing the penetration of your products, whereas this is just going to sit on top of your skin like a serum and maybe the elusiveness of it would give it a little bit more penetration but it's really not going to be much better than just any topical eye cream that you have, which then won't have that disposable component to it. The other reason is Dr Maxfield and I both tried these and we both somehow got irritated by them even though they don't have any really common allergens or irritating ingredients in them. It looks good on paper, it has your caffeine, it has your peptides, it minimizes any potential allergens and irritants, but the irritation was a real issue for us."

✕Skip

65%approval rating

Lip3 reviews

Aquaphor Lip Repair

"From a functionality standpoint it actually works incredibly well, the problem is it does have those potential allergies in it. Aquaphor is one of the most moisturizing products available on the market and because it has that petroleum base it's going to be incredibly reparative to the lips."

~Mixed

64%approval rating

The Inkey List Tripeptide Plumping Lip Balm

"The Inkey List has that Plumping Lip Balm that sits with those peptides, but I much prefer that to anything else, like menthol and camphor, which are more harsh. I really hate to see those in a lip balm, even more than in skincare. I hate menthol and camphor lip balms. Those are certainly a worse option than hyaluronic acid for plumping."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

Remedy Lip Balm

"My go-to ends up always being Remedy for dry lips because it's just not decoration for the lips. Any type of lip product, like I pretty much can't go any without it on me, like I start to get frantic."

✓Approved

67%approval rating

All 3 takes on Lip Balm

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"This just feels nourished. I will say all the products that we've created and I've had friends and family and testers testing these products for the past year, this is the product that I get phone calls on. People text me and they go, I need more Remedy for my lips, which to me sounds really cool. This is the product I've gotten the most refill requests on because people love the way that it makes their lips feel. This is a product that I don't go anywhere without at this point, mainly because there's nothing worse than having dry lips for me, especially when you're on camera and you're thinking about your lips being dry the whole time."

Weekend Live QnA

"Remedy for lips, what I like about that is it is also minimalistic, very hypoallergenic, extremely extremely hydrating and nourishing. It's got a little bit of a lighter vehicle so if you don't like the feeling of like a wax protective layer you would probably prefer remedy for lips."

Procedures3 reviews

Botox Botox

"Botox is heavily demonized but it is a miracle injection because it does so much more than just treat fine lines and wrinkles. It was initially developed for blepharospasm where people were getting contraction of the eye and then people noticed that it got rid of the wrinkles and that's how it became a cosmetic injection. It stops the release of acetylcholine and by doing that it also helps stop you from sweating and it also has other benefits like stopping muscle contraction for people who get tension headaches. It's good for people with bladder spasms and so it really is truly a miracle injection. It gets a bad rap because it's botulism toxin and people think toxin like why would you inject a toxin into the body but it's very safe and in batches that are not contaminated we've never really seen any negative or widespread consequences of using it. Botox is probably the greatest ingredient ever made because of the demonization of it. Everything is like Botox in the bottle, everything is your Botox alternative and none of them deliver."

✓Approved

65%approval rating

All 2 takes on Botox

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"Since doing Botox, it's changed the way that my wrinkles form. And I don't like that as much. I think that I would have started lasers and retinols earlier so that I had a higher quality of skin for longer so that I could actually prolong the need for Botox. I would focus on more skin treatments first so I could prolong the need for Botox."

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Dysport Dysport

"All of these brands that utilize botulinum toxin, they are effective. You will get what you pay for in terms of results. Nothing mimics the effects, and as far as safety, it's really extremely safe compared to most other procedures."

✓Approved

75%approval rating

Juvederm Juvederm

"Except for Discord and Jubo to be clear they are botulin toxins"

✓Approved

71%approval rating

Toners3 reviews

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution

"This Ordinary Glycolic Acid solution is a really great product, it's incredibly affordable, it's a good concentration of glycolic acid to accomplish quite a few things. That being said, keratosis pilaris is 50% of the time associated with eczema-like conditions, so dry skin, sensitive skin, irritated skin, and glycolic acid, especially at that pH that you find in that formula, is going to really irritate the skin barrier in somebody who has keratosis pilaris, especially when overlapped with something like eczema. The glycolic acid does exfoliate and it can be helpful for textured skin, so it could be helpful for KP if you are someone who has eczema, which will be a lot of people who have KP, then this might not be the best ingredient for you, or this might not simply be the best product for you. There are other glycolic acid products that either have a lower concentration or a more moisturizing base that might be a better option for sensitive skin."

~Mixed

64%approval rating

All 2 takes on Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution

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"The Ordinary glycolic acid is a good start. When we're talking about single ingredient acids, The Ordinary you can always find an affordable option."

ISNTREE Green Tea Toner

"I love these green tea toners I really do recommend these in the office to patients too. Love the green tea toner to start off your routine if you have oily skin. These feel good, they're functional, they're great."

✓Approved

81%approval rating

COSRX Hydrium Watery Toner

"The can make mermaid skin gel or skin uvf one it's another amazing Korean option it just sits nicely Blends invisibly feels like your Skin's naked but it's not"

✓Approved

76%approval rating

Mists & Essences2 reviews

Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray

"Tower 28 is sort of the leaders in the category and they remain that way. This one also has salicylic acid and some other skincare goodies in it. I see Dr. Maxvi kind of take this with him everywhere he goes. I actually really like it as a really non-drying hand sanitizer. The practical utility of it cannot be overstated."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

"Snail mucin is although thought to be gimmicky, snail mucin has been studied in the setting of sensitive skin that being atopic dermatitis and eczema and also in the reparative skin sector for wound healing so I actually think snail mucin is a very reasonable ingredient post procedure if you so feel inclined."

✓Approved

82%approval rating

Fragrance1 review

Remedy For dandruff

"This does help keep my dandruff under control. I also use it as a face wash. If you ever feel like you get dry skin in your ears, behind your ears, along your nose and your beard, you also can use it as a face wash. You can use it as a body wash. Let it wash your feet. This has so many benefits beyond just the simple dandruff shampoo. And for me leaves my hair feeling extremely clean. Often times now at the end of the day I'm like extremely grungy and I just want to feel very clean and this just leaves my scalp and hair feeling like clean clean. So I love that feeling. Extremely unique product. I personally don't use it every day. I use it twice a week when I'm rotating it with my other shampoo. And so you can use it less often, especially if you're using it for dandruff and for hair density support like I am."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

All 3 takes on For dandruff

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"I'll just use Remedy for Dandruff in my hair, find my ears to get this in your ears, your beard, and it really does a great job of keeping it at bay. With Remedy for Dandruff, we formulated it to be like a scalp health product. So it's not formulated like shampoo, but it's not formulated like a traditional shampoo. So no fragrances, no irritating surfactants, no common preservative allergens. And so it is really kind of scalp and skin friendly in that way. So if you're looking for something that has these ingredients but isn't going to be just made for hair, which some of those products are really not great for the skin, that is definitely a product there."

Dandruff? Seborrheic dermatitis? Flaky scalp? MEET REMEDY FOR DANDRUFF!

"The applicator tip is the unique feature, this is both my most favorite and least favorite thing about this product. The reason I like it is because a dandruff shampoo's main goal is to get the product to the scalp and when you have just a traditional shampoo you're going to lose a lot of that product into and on the hair before it actually gets to where it needs to go. The tip helps it get there to be more effective. The reason I don't like the applicator tip is because it's kind of hard to push out. But I will say you don't need nearly as much product with this than I do with other shampoos. A little bit of this comes out as a gel, like a thick gel, and the lather is really nice. The quality of the hair is a question too. This was not nearly as drying as I thought it would be. Dandruff shampoos can be drying, but this I'd say is kind of middle of the road, and for the strength and the efficacy I would have accepted a much more drying version of this."

Supplements1 review

Heliocare Polypodium Leucotomos Supplement

"Polypodium leucotomos has probably the best evidence for preventing damage from the Sun. It's in Heliocare with the cornerstone ones."

✓Approved

78%approval rating

Tools1 review

Clean Skin Club Clean Towels

"I love these things. Paper towels feel rough as a pine cone compared to these Clean Skin Club towels. I ran out of these on one of my counters and I grabbed a paper towel and I used it and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this feels horrible compared to a clean skin club towel.' And they're made of bamboo. So there is a lot of eco thought that goes into these. Even though they are a little wasteful, they're actually much more sustainable than anything else you would use, including paper towels."

✓Approved

76%approval rating

All 4 takes on Clean Towels

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"When you first told me about these, I was pretty resistant to this concept of using a paper towel on your face. But the more practical this has become for me, as somebody who just has to do so many loads of laundry for a new daughter, I don't have time to be washing my towels all the time. Having a clean towel on your countertop in a box that's soft, that's much softer than a regular paper towel. There is a waste that occurs here, and that's one of the things that I don't like about these paper towels is that it is wasteful in some ways. However, the practicality and the fact that I'm using a new clean towel every single time when I wash my face is really nice. All of our towels are white, so if my wife is wearing makeup or I'm using a tinted sunscreen, sometimes those white towels don't wipe wash off completely and they end up stained on that towel. It is kind of nice to get to use a clean towel every time and make sure you're not damaging your towels from whatever else is on your face. There is some practicality to this that for some reason has become like a guilty pleasure of mine. They go so far as far as I think is reasonably possible to minimize waste and to support the environment."

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"I had my initial gut reaction that this was unnecessary, like wasteful. But I had them, used them, and I was like, it's impossible to go back. The reason these are like what we like these for is every single use is obviously clean. It's fresh. The material can be made of different things including bamboo, but it's relatively eco-friendly. And then it just feels like fabric. This is not like rough. It is the softest thing you'll put on your skin. And it's also very clean. So I think for someone who has a little bit of an expendable budget or if you feel like this would fit into your lifestyle, I think this will do right by you and you'll be very happy with how this plays with your skin. The quality is just so good. And once you kind of get into this, it's kind of hard to go back."

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"Clean Skin Club towels, I love these and I know that I get flack because of how much I love them but I keep coming back to them. My nurses like to steal them from my products. There's a day-to-day utility with these and a practical application that just really makes it an extraordinary product. You'll find yourself using way more than you thought you would. The technology in these towels is actually quite nice. They're biodegradable towels so they're a little bit better for the environment even though they are disposable. They have the bamboo ones and then they have the regular cellulose ones but ultimately it feels really nice on the skin. There's utility at home for you to use a different towel every day."

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