Dr. Vanita Rattan, doctor: 349 skincare products reviewed

Every review.

All 349 products Dr. Vanita Rattan has reviewed, grouped by product type. Click a product to see the full guru consensus.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Against the gurus

Type

Serums91 reviews

The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + Hyaluronic Acid

"In the evening when you're looking for tyrosinase inhibitors the budget option that I like is 2% alpha arbutin which you can buy from the ordinary followed by a niacinamide serum and then a ceramide based moisturizer."

✓Yay

79%Guru Score

Good Molecules Discoloration Correcting Serum

"If you're looking for mid-range option I like good molecules Discoloration Correcting Serum but also top it up with a ceramide moisturizer."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Plum Mandarin and Vitamin C 15% Serum Glow Boost

"In here they've gone in with the correct form of vitamin C, they've gone with ethyl ascorbic acid, so that's a derivative, it's not going to be irritating to the skin. They have, however, used mandarin peel extract, which is a sensitizer to the skin. And then they've gone in with kakadu plum, which breaks down too quickly, it's not a stable form of vitamin C. And then they've gone in with rose extract, which is also a skin sensitizer. This is not actually the greatest of products, it started off well, but I think I would give this a maximum 7 out of 10. I wouldn't use it on my own face."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Hyphen Golden Hour Glow Serum

"The effective ingredients in this formula are niacinamide and alpha arbutin, which I both love. The form of vitamin C that they market in here is kakadu plum. The problem with this is that it tends to break down before it's even hit the skin, it's not the most effective form of vitamin C, and it's actually not the most stable form of vitamin C, so it's not one that I would recommend. So this product I give about 5.5 out of 10."

✕Nay

76%Guru Score

Hyphen Advanced Depigmentation Serum

"It's got 3% tranexamic acid, 2% kojic acid, I do prefer kojic dipalmitate if I can choose, 5% pineapple extract, pineapple can be a little bit sensitizing. I do like that they've added in licorice extract and it's in the therapeutic index, but they haven't stabilized the kojic acid, that's something I would say. I do like the heavy packaging, I think Hyphen has probably one of the best packaging in India. [...] The smell's actually not bad. This is probably my favorite depigmentation serum so far in what we've looked at."

✓Yay

69%Guru Score

The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA

"A better option is The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% plus hyaluronic acid, and it's only about $9 on Amazon. Mandelic acid is a larger molecule than glycolic acid, it penetrates more slowly and it's far less inflammatory. Use it twice a week at night and never on the same evening as retinol."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Eadem Milk Marvel Dark Spot Serum

"This formula uses niacinamide just under 3%, a strong licorice base, and two forms of very gentle vitamin C including 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, which is non-irritating, unlike L-ascorbic acid. [...] You get anti-inflammatory effects from magnolia bark, enzymatic exfoliation from pineapple and papaya, [...] and a phytosterol system that supports the barrier. On pigmentation it's a softer, gentler pathway, not aggressive, though the [...] licorice root is at a lower dose. [...] It's genuinely naife safe and truly fragrance-free. The packaging is a dropper, adequate but [...] an airless pump would have been preferred to keep the vitamin C stable. At $48, it works, but it's slow and safe."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

"The good news is it is skin safe: no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. It's got a bit of a funky smell, but that's fine, it is what the ingredient is. It's got 15% ascorbic acid, so that's pure vitamin C, and again, too strong for skin of color. It's not in an airless pump. And honestly, the price to make this product is about £2 and they're selling it for £165, so I don't really like that massive mismatch. It's not warranted. It's a hard no."

✕Nay

77%Guru Score

CeraVe Skin Renewing Vitamin C Serum

"This is £30, actually quite expensive for CeraVe, for 30 mls. It's very cute packaging. It comes out like a very light emulsion, which means it's got a water phase and a fat phase, and that's why it comes out like a very thin cream. Bit of a strange smell. [...] The positives in this product are that of course it's got ceramides. We lack ceramides for skin of color, so I love that CeraVe is going to use ceramides, that's what I love about the brand. The negatives, unfortunately, is this has got 10% L-ascorbic acid, which I don't love for us to be using every morning, it's too much, and it's not in an airless pump. And the sixth ingredient they've put in here is denatured alcohol. I really expected better from you, CeraVe. I'm sorry, this one's a definite no."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum

"It's got licorice root extract, a beautiful tyrosinase inhibitor. It's got ferment, which is a conditioner for our skin. It's in an airless pump. The only downside is that it's 15% L-ascorbic acid. Out of all of the vitamin C acids, the L-ascorbic acid is my favorite one by far. And if they'd literally picked any other form of vitamin C, I would love this product, but they've gone for the gold standard for Caucasian skin, L-ascorbic acid. It's just not the best for skin of color. So, unfortunately, it's a no for me if you have skin of color, but if you have Caucasian skin, this is the best by far."

~Mixed

70%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Guava Vitamin C Dark Spot Brightening Treatment Serum

"The fifth ingredient here is tetrahexyl decanoate. Well done. The sixth ingredient in here is tranexamic acid which is a lovely tyrosinase inhibitor. And they've added in 3-O ethyl ascorbic acid. So even though it's not in an airless pump, I actually really like the formula. It's £40. So it's not cheap, but what I would say is for this formula to be more effective, it should be in an airless pump. But actually, I quite like the formula."

✓Yay

69%Guru Score

The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2%

"The negatives are that it's got coconut alkanes, which is why it's coming out quite oily. I don't think this is going to be ideal for people with acne. No other antioxidants in this product and it's not in an airless pump. It's fragrance free, which I love, and it's NAF safe, meaning no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. But for me, I'd say it's not really worth your time or your money. Even though it's not that expensive, it's one that I'd avoid."

✕Nay

75%Guru Score

Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% Vitamin C Brightening Serum

"This one is an absolute disaster in a bottle"

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

Paula's Choice C15 Super Booster

"They've also gone for a stable glucoside, so that's working the epidermis more. It's naive safe, no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. And there are other antioxidants in this product, which is brilliant. It's an airless pump. Brilliant. And it's got glycerin in it, too. So, a humectant. So, it's done a lot right. I think the only downside for me probably is the high price point. So, it's £61 for 30 mls. But, if you can afford it, it's a wonderful, wonderful vitamin C. Definitely doctor approved."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Dr Sam's Flawless Vitamin C NAD+ Serum

"It comes out as an emulsion, which means there's water phase and fat phase in here. It's got the actual smell of the ingredients, so that's good. So this is £64. So it is expensive. The positives are it's got tetrahexile deoloscorulbate, a schoolberg gluccoside and ectoin. Remember I told you about ectoin? I love it. It's brilliant if you got dry skin. And of course packaging is great. The downside is there's actually not much else in here. I would say I really like the formula. I really like the packaging, but it is expensive. If you can afford it, get it. But if you can't, we've spoken about other ones in this video that are more affordable."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

The INKEY List Vitamin C Serum

"This is how you know it's got an airless pump at the bottom. There are two little dots at the bottom. So, well done. This comes out as a light serum, colorless, absorbs quite nicely into the skin. The other positive is it's got 15% ascorbyl glucoside, which I love. It's a beautiful derivative vitamin C. It's got vitamin E. They put nothing in here to strengthen the skin barrier or to increase cell turnover. But I actually really like this as a simple cheap vitamin C. So if you're thinking about starting vitamin C and you've never done it before, this is a really good place to start. You don't get additional benefits, but you are getting what you pay for, which is better than I can say for a lot of the products I'm looking at right now."

✓Yay

71%Guru Score

Garnier Vitamin C 3.5% Anti Dark Spot Serum

"This product is actually a disaster. There are no positives with this product. They've added in alcohol, DH alcohol. It's got tiny percentage vitamin C, like a fraction of a percent. It's got fragrance and it's not in an airless pump. This one's a disaster. This one is definitely not worth your time and money."

✕Nay

52%Guru Score

First Aid Beauty 10% Vitamin C Brightening Serum

"A beautiful formula. They've added [3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid], colloidal oatmeal, which is great if you've got dry, inflamed eczema skin, licorice root extract, a powerful tyrosinase inhibitor for hyperpigmentation, and it's in an airless pump. I really, really like this product. Definitely purchase this product if you've never tried vitamin C before."

✓Yay

73%Guru Score

Obagi Professional C Serum

"Unfortunately, this one is probably the most disappointing of the lot so far."

✕Nay

74%Guru Score

L'Oreal Vitamin C

"It's the L'Oreal Vitamin C. The positives of this product are actually the price point is at £16, but it's in a pipette. It's 12% ascorbic acid, plus they added in denatured alcohol and fragrance. So unfortunately that product is a hardener."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum

"So the positives are it's got sodium ascorbate phosphate which is great. The downside, which is a really big downside, is that it's got fragrance, alcohol, citrol, lemonene, linoleol, not in an airless pump. So this product, the truth is it's a disaster. It needs to be completely reformulated. New packaging. This is a no."

✕Nay

58%Guru Score

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel with Hyaluronic Acid

"It's non-comedogenic. It's good for acne-prone skin. So I will say go buy it. I don't say that lightly. My standards are very high for skin of color. I'm very careful with what I tell you to buy. And actually, this one is very good for our skin."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Cream

"This is very lightweight, much lighter than the other cream. Blends easily into the skin. I don't even think you're going to like the fragrance on this, to be honest. Let's have a look at what's actually in this product. This is actually the worst product of the entire line. There are no actives in this product. It's just a highly fragranced moisturizer, other than the green tea, which is very basic. There's nothing else in here. There's nothing else to say. This is the worst moisturizer I've come across in a very long time."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

The Ordinary Squalane

"The Ordinary Squalane, which is fragrance-free. I like it as a pre-wash oil. You need a light, scalp safe, fragrance-free oil that prevents the water from overswelling the strand. Apply this for about 10 minutes before your wash."

✓Yay

87%Guru Score

Biossance 100% Squalane Oil

"I also like Biossance Squalane Oil."

✓Yay

73%Guru Score

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%

"The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5% is a fragrance-free formula diluted into a carrier that you can use a couple of times a week. It's an antioxidant that's key because of the oxidative stress on the scalp."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Omega Plus Recovery Complex Serum

"I also like Paula's Choice Omega Plus Recovery Complex Serum, which is fragrance-free."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Clinical Discoloration Repair Serum

"The last product I like is Paula's Choice Clinical Discoloration Repair Serum. So this is niacinamide safe. It does contain tranexamic acid. It is £46 so it is an expensive product. Paula's Choice generally is a little bit more on the expensive side. And again, I love the product. I love the packaging."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Murad Rapid Dark Spot Correcting Serum

"This is $78. It is not nave safe. It contains a fragrance plus lemonine. The fifth ingredient here is [niacinamide]. The 10th ingredient here is a schoolbar gloss um a score gluccoside and the 11th ingredient is hexapeptide. So basically 10th and 11th ingredient are really pretty low percentages. It's essentially a nyinomide serum. I'm not impressed with this product for $78. Just buy the ordinary nyinomide."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Niacinamide Dark Spot Serum

"The second ingredient here is niacinamide, so it's a healthy percentage. The 11th ingredient here is licorice root extract, so a very low percentage and probably used just for marketing. Essentially, it's a niacinamide serum. It's okay. It's not great and it's $42. So again, I would say purchase just the niacinamide serum from The Ordinary."

~Mixed

77%Guru Score

The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%

"The Ordinary does a really good azelaic acid. What you would do is you do your face wash, your exfoliator, your azelaic acid in the evening and then go in with your moisturizer. That will basically just help with any red marks left behind but also keep all the acne at bay. [...] I haven't had a new pimple or any brand new spot on my face. [...] It's literally kept it under control."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

COSRX 23% Ascorbic Acid Pure Vitamin C Serum

"This is 23% ascorbic acid pure. This is too high and too irritating for daily use. They put in sodium hyaluronate which is your humectant but there's no other actives in this product. For me this is one to avoid for skin of color. As beautiful as the box is and how strong it is, this is not something that you should be wearing everyday, especially if you've got skin of color or Indian skin and you're in India. This is not the one."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum

"If you put that for skin of color and then you go out into the sun, this is a disaster for us, especially under the harsh UV rays. Plus, you got pollution you're dealing with and dust. This is not the product for you. This is not one that I would use or one that I would recommend."

✕Nay

61%Guru Score

Minimalist Vitamin C Vitamin E Ferulic Acid 16% Serum

"Very interesting formula. It's actually very simple formula. It's non-irritating. However, the directions are wrong on this product. The directions say you can use it AM and PM. That's a mistake. Ferulic acid is an acid and it exfoliates the skin. So you certainly do not want to be doing this morning and night. This is a PM product because the ferulic acid only very lightly penetrates easily into the skin. It's got the classic kind of chemical smell, you know, it's because it's a fragrance-free brand and I love it. I would say this is definitely a derm-approved product."

~Mixed

79%Guru Score

Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil

"Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula is one of those popular ones that contains essential oils. I know they smell like a five-star spa, but essential oils in leave-on products are sneaky triggers for PIH, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Essential oils are an irritant. They're allergens. And when that happens, inflammation takes place. And when inflammation takes place, hyperpigmentation can take place. Why would you even risk it?"

✕Nay

59%Guru Score

The INKEY List Tranexamic Acid Night Treatment

"If you want to start off with tranexamic acid, you can use it with The Ordinary or with The INKEY List. They've got a very good one. You can even layer alpha arbutin and tranexamic acid."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil

"Some of the popular ones for example Sunday Riley Luna or the Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula or Tatchy Dewy Skin Cream or Glow Recipe Pineapple Sea Bright Serum. These all contain essential oils. Now, I know they smell like a five-star spa, but essential oils and leave on products are sneaky triggers for PIH, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Don't forget, skin of color have fewer ceramides, so skin barrier damage is easier for us. Now, essential oils are an irritant. They're allergens. And when that happens, inflammation takes place. And when inflammation takes place, hyperpigmentation can take place. Why would you even risk it?"

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster

"I love Paula's Choice Azelaic Acid Booster 10%. It's got salicylic acid as well which helps to unclog the pore."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Faded Serum

"Faded is got alpha arbutin, triexemic acid and kic dalate. Three beautiful tyrosinase inhibitors that I love. It's £25."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Medicube Age-R Booster Pro

"Out of all of the products from Medicube, the one that I would recommend is actually this one."

✓Yay

72%Guru Score

Medicube Triple Collagen Serum

"Unfortunately this one is not made for skin of color. It's a hard no."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Medicube Collagen Glow Booster Serum

"They've put ceramides and peptides in here to replace what's missing, and they've added elastin too. You're probably looking at elastin going, 'Oh, it's going to improve elasticity', no, it's just a humectant, same as collagen, same as glycerin. But then they went and added fragrance, which is such a disaster, because they'd done so well on everything else with this product. That was completely unnecessary. [...] It's got that pearl-like finish, actually, I haven't seen that on many skincare products, and I [...] do love the rose color they have. [...] It comes out clear and it's quite gooey on the skin."

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

BYOMA Phyto-Mucin Hydrate + Plump Glow Serum

"It's got solvents, then it's got glycerin, which I love, your water magnet. Then it's got peptides, so that is they're like basically like chemical messengers between cells to help rejuvenate skin cells. It's got panthenol, which is anti-inflammatory, plus ceramides. And ceramides are key if you have a damaged skin barrier. So I actually love this product. Bioma, you've done an outstanding job. I love it."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

BYOMA Barrier Repair Treatment

"This is an outstanding product. I really love this product. Ectoin is an extremely light ingredient, it basically helps protect the skin from pollution and stress, and gives some protection from light as well. It helps soothe the skin and repair the skin barrier, so it's a beautiful ingredient for skin of color. They've put in ceramides, which of course skin of color is lacking, and I love that they've done that, and they've put in anti-inflammatories. If you have dry skin as well, you might want to purchase this product too. So very, very happy for the teens and tweens to buy this one."

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

BYOMA Hydrating Recovery Oil

"I'm surprised you guys made this, BYOMA. It's not something I would expect for a teenager to be using. It's called a Hydrating Recovery Oil. A lot of kids are using the wrong products and they've got a damaged skin barrier, sensitive, dry, flaking, and anything burns the skin, so they made this recovery oil to try and fix the situation. I would actually say go in with a ceramide heavy moisturizer rather than this. I love that it's non-comedogenic oils, I love that it contains ceramides, they've got sunflower seed oil, macadamia seed oil, jojoba seed oil and squalane, beautiful ingredients, but not really for teenagers to be honest. If you're going through menopause and you've got your nice fatty ceramide peptide moisturizer on, you might want to top up with this recovery oil on top in order to seal it in, because when you go through menopause the estrogen goes down, your skin barrier is less intact, and you have more transepidermal water loss."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

BYOMA Clarifying Serum

"For teenagers who maybe want a little bit of brightening, I'm happy for you to use this maybe once or twice a week."

~Mixed

74%Guru Score

Minimalist Tranexamic Acid 3% Serum

"I use uh transexemic acid from Minimalist."

✓Yay

71%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops

"You get that glow as soon as you can see with the glow on the skin with the light on the skin. [...] I would find this very suffocating actually to wear all day long. [...] The positives are it's got niacinamide, which is a fantastic ingredient, it's great if you have oily skin, it's also great if you have dry skin. [...] They also put glycerin in, which is good, it's hydrating, although this doesn't feel that hydrating. It sort of feels like it's sitting on the skin a little bit sticky. And it's expensive at £33 for 40 ml. I would argue there are dupes that probably penetrate better and easier into the skin, melt into the skin a bit better, glide on easier, and aren't so sticky to the skin."

~Mixed

68%Guru Score

Bio-Oil Bio-Oil

"I actually made a video on Bio Oil years ago. Bio Oil is the number one product right now for stretch marks. And when I made the video, I was shocked to learn that it contained vitamin A, retinyl palmitate. It's a blanket no when it comes to vitamin A during pregnancy, just like it's a blanket no on using Botox during pregnancy. [...] When I looked into it, it was loaded with fragrance. It contained vitamin A and it didn't contain any collagen stimulating actives."

✕Nay

45%Guru Score

The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + Hyaluronic Acid Serum

"I like the multipeptide plus hyaluronic acid"

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C Plus Glutathione Clinical Serum

"Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C. So that is this tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. This means it's non-irritating, really good for sensitive skin to brighten the skin."

✓Yay

79%Guru Score

Vany Cream Vitamin C Serum with Ceramides

"The next product I love is [Vanicream] Vitamin C Tetrahexar Decolosculorbate. This works very well for sensitive skin."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Numbuzin No.3 Skin Softening Serum

"The main ingredient here is niacinamide to brighten the skin, plus it's fragrance free. So this smell is coming actually from the actives. The only downside of this is they put in glycerol stearate SE which is three out of five on the comedogenic scale. So I say if you have oily acne prone skin avoid this product. But I think this is a conditioning product. It's a conditioner. So yes it's going to work if you have rough skin or dry skin. It is going to nourish the skin. You are going to love it. It's not going to do anything for pigmentation and fine lines but it's not making that claim."

~Mixed

65%Guru Score

Numbuzin No.3 Vitamin Concentrated Serum

"I actually really love this formula. They've got niacinamide as the third ingredient, probably about 5%. The fourth ingredient is panthenol, so it's your anti-inflammatory. The fifth ingredient is tranexamic acid, a lovely tyrosinase inhibitor for pigmentation. There's a fraction of a percent of vitamin C, and to be honest, this is not an airless pump, so vitamin C is unlikely to work. I actually really like this product for early pigmentation marks."

✓Yay

87%Guru Score

Numbuzin 5+ Vitamin Niacinamide Concentrated Pads

"It's not going to help with pigmentation. And considering that is the claim of this thing, right? It's brightening antioxidant. It's not. It's going to dull your skin. This product should be called how to dull your skin as quickly as possible. Plus irritation from the actual exfoliating daily with a pad, which we should never be doing. So, for me, this is a hard hard no."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Facial Oil

"They added lingula oil. This is such a disaster. And the only reason I tell you to wear a facial oil is if you post menopause and your skin is very dry or you have like eczema prone skin in which case both sets of skin are sensitive. You cannot afford to be applying irritants to the skin. So this is an absolute disaster. No one should be buying those products especially those people who need a facial oil. So, this one is a hard no."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice 10% High Hyaluronic Acid Cream

"It's a moisturizer with extracts and ferment. But the big mistake they made was they added denatured alcohol. And if this is meant for sensitive skin, which it says literally for sensitive skin, this is a disaster. It's such a basic error. I don't even understand what they were doing. So, if you're sensitive skin, guys, please avoid this product."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Acid Serum

"So it's another hard no for free"

✕Nay

61%Guru Score

Innisfree Green Tea Enzyme Vitamin C Brightening Serum

"They've gone in for 30% ethos scoring acid beautiful vitamin C and it's a ingredients so you're looking at a good 2 to 3% this in the therapeutic index again great percentage. I would say I love this formula but I hate the packaging and if Innisfree put this into an Airless pump I would recommend it for you but as it is as it stands as beautiful as the packaging is this is not one I would use for my face or recommend to my global skin of color family."

✕Nay

69%Guru Score

Minimalist Multipeptide 10% Facial Anti-Aging Serum

"This is a doct to the approved product"

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Minimalist Alpha Arbutin 2% Face Serum

"This Alpha Arbutin 2% has got aloe vera juice which I like as the first ingredient, it's coming out quite gloopy probably for that reason. Third ingredient in here is Alpha Arbutin which makes sense, and there's actually nothing else in this product. This is a naif safe product with no other actives. It blends nicely into the skin, definitely worth buying as your first stop for dark marks."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Minimalist Niacinamide 10% Serum

"Why would you waste time putting niacinamide on as one of your two vital layers instead of just putting it into your moisturizer? Unfortunately this one is not Dr V approved. I totally miss this one guys. I'm going to tell you go and buy the 5% not the 10%. But I would also say have a look at the rest of your skincare. If it contains niacinamide then you don't need to do this."

✕Nay

78%Guru Score

Minimalist 10% HA Serum

"For these reasons I'm out. No, seriously guys, avoid this product. Not approved."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Minimalist 100% Squalane Oil

"Everyone should have a squalane if they have dry skin. This is such a lovely gift to give. It should be the last step of your nighttime skincare routine. I'm even happy for you to massage this into your scalp if you have a dry flaky irritated scalp. It's just a product that we should all have. For me, this one is Dr V approved."

✓Yay

78%Guru Score

Anua Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Dark Spot Correcting Serum

"One little serum is not really going to cut it when it comes to pigmentation for skin of color but it's a good start. So for me this is Dr V approved."

✓Yay

77%Guru Score

Anua Peach 70% Niacinamide Serum

"Ultimately it's a 5% niacinamide serum that's fragranced and there are better 5% niacinamide serums unfortunately out there. Unfortunately this is another one that is not approved."

✕Nay

58%Guru Score

Dermaco Niacinamide Radiant Serum 5%

"It's water, 5% niacinamide, alpha arbutin, excellent for your pigmentation. It's got your emollients and preservatives and it's safe, so no denat alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. That's actually quite good for brightening the skin, and the niacinamide is at the right level. I'd say it's slightly better than the other one just because it's at 5% rather than 10%, but a lot of the other actives are very similar. I have a collaboration with the Dermaco, with the whole Renew range, so I love these guys. This is such a good product that it's hard to say anything other than that."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Eucerin Radiant Tone Dual Serum with Thiamidol

"They've got alcohol plus their patented Tyro inhibitor and that's how they're selling it by selling it as has a patented ingredient but actually it's not going to be any more effective than the other tyro inhibitors we have over the counter and they've only using one of them. I mean I'm happy for you to try it but actually it is probably going to lead to drying of the skin and premature aging so I personally wouldn't."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Wishtrend Mandelic Acid 5% Skin Prep Water

"Wishtrend mandelic acid if you have more sensitive skin"

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Timeless 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum

"I can actually feel this tingling on my hand which is not good and you should not go outside if your face is tingling. So I'd say this is a good price point and the packaging is beautiful and they've got it right, and I would say if Timeless if you created the same product but with a different form of vitamin C, maybe mix two vitamin C's together, I would 100% do a full video just for you because it meant that you made it for my skin and color family. But as it stands this product is a No."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Serum

"It's got a bunch of hyaluronic acid which is good for us, they've also put in here turmeric which is anti-inflammatory, and another interesting ingredient is ginseng root extract which we use a lot in Korean skincare and it has many anti-inflammatory benefits and anti-aging benefits. So I would actually recommend this product. It does have a strong smell to it but the ingredients are effective, it's in the correct packaging, it's an air-safe product, not going to irritate the skin, it's anti-inflammatory. He's been quite interesting with his additional ingredients in the formula so he's come out of the box a little bit, so I like that. The only downside of this product is the price. Eighty-one dollars is in my book very expensive, but if you can afford the budget then this is one that I like."

✓Yay

72%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide

"It's got 2% Alpha arbutin plus some niacinamide and humectant properties so it does what it says but you're not really going to get much hyperpigmentation benefit. I'm happy for you to use this as your first line cheap product for improving skin tone, you're not going to get much for severe hyperpigmentation that's been there for a while."

~Mixed

82%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Light On Serum: Centella + Vitamin C

"Vitamin C is one of the beautiful ingredients we can use, but on its own it's really not going to do much for us. The third ingredient in here is obviously glycerin, and I think the only product mistake they made with this product is that they added citrus peel extract, which actually can be quite irritating. Other than that, this is actually a lovely vitamin C serum. You can use this in the morning after you cleanse. It's got a skin neutral pH. I love it except for the citrus peel extract, which is why I wouldn't give this a high rating and I probably wouldn't use it myself."

~Mixed

81%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Calming Serum: Green Tea + Panthenol

"This particular product I absolutely love and I'm happy for you to go and take on holiday with you"

✓Yay

79%Guru Score

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

"This product has said that it's going to help with tired eyes, so people are going to look at that and think they're not just buying a moisturizer, they're buying something for at least faded dark circles or for mild dark circles. But actually there's nothing in here for this. This is essentially just a yellow moisturizer and actually quite an expensive one at that. Yes it is nav safe, it's not going to irritate the skin, but it can be quite comedogenic for people with oily acne prone skin and you just not do much for the skin to be honest. You don't get a high rating from me."

✕Nay

77%Guru Score

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 5%

"You want to opt for gentle chemical exfoliants like 5% lactic acid or 10% mandelic acid. The Ordinary do both. I really would avoid glycolic acid completely when it comes to skin of color because it has a tiny molecular weight and because it has such a small molecule it can fly through the skin and can burn the skin."

✓Yay

91%Guru Score

The Ordinary Balancing & Clarifying Serum

"With this you're going to see lots of hydration but not enough tyrosines to help with hyperpigmentation of the skin of color, maybe a little bit of improvement on skin tone evenness. You're going to see an improved skin barrier but nothing in here really to improve congestion. However, I like it as a hydrating mildly brightening serum. It's good to know there are better options on the market for this price, for example from the ordinary itself it's got salicylic acid plus alpha arbutin which are going to give you better results."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + Hyaluronic Acid

"I do like this one from The Ordinary so I like lactic acid and I also like the mandelic acid but in addition to really make it special you want to have 7% humectant in it too that will then give you hydration at the same time as exfoliation."

✓Yay

88%Guru Score

The Ordinary Virgin Marula Oil

"Both squalene or marula oil you can buy from The Ordinary they're not that expensive and it's just a great last step your skin will thank you the following day."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum

"It is refreshing, I can't lie, but you are going to smell like a vegetable market at the end of this and that is something that you should be aware of. The positives are it has got glycerin in it, it's just not as much as I'd like. It's got ceramides in it but I would say not enough. My skin is not enjoying it. And then it's got oats in it which is anti-inflammatory, which okay fair enough, I can actually feel the cooling effect on the skin. The negatives of this are the fragrance, and it cost £26 for 150 mls."

✕Nay

70%Guru Score

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

"The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is a no-brainer. For 93 pounds, I expect more than just niacinamide, and The Ordinary delivers that at a fraction of the price with actual tyrosine inhibitors in the formula, whereas the competitor product doesn't have them at all."

✓Yay

70%Guru Score

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5

"The Ordinary is the clear winner here."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

The Ordinary Ethylated Ascorbic Acid 15% Solution

"The Ordinary is the winner again."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

La Mer Concentrate Serum

"This is basically a moisturizer with essential oils, eucalyptus which is a skin sensitizer, plus fragrance and denatured alcohol, so this is another one to avoid."

✕Nay

56%Guru Score

The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum

"Looking into The Ordinary Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, [...] this is very expensive for The Ordinary range, they're almost breaking three of the five and ten single actives with this particular product. [...] It is expensive for The Ordinary but it does actually make sense if you do a deep dive into the ingredients. Fifth ingredient here is niacinamide which is good because it means it's in that 2 to 5% range which is what we're looking for. They've got imoan and humant in this, so the soothers in this product are babassu which I love, it's got galactaric glucoside, it's got zingiber root extract too, so three different soothers, plus they've added phospholipids which is a skin identical ingredient, especially if you strip the skin of fats it's good to reload with fats. I like that this product is NPA safe as well, meaning no denatured alcohol which dries the skin, no fragrance which can lead to contact dermatitis and no essential oils which can sensitize the skin."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster for Firming, Smoothing Skin

"If your main issue is anti-aging then the day you've exfoliated I'm happy for you to use the peptide booster to stimulate collagen"

✓Yay

69%Guru Score

Foxtale Vitamin C Serum

"You're getting the quick brightening which you would get with lactic acid or mandelic acid, it's not because of vitamin C effect. Plus this product has fragrance, so it's a bad idea to make an exfoliator with an irritant together. The skin will brighten because of exfoliation, but if you use this daily it may lead to skin barrier damage and the fragrance can lead to contact dermatitis. So for me, this is a no."

✕Nay

61%Guru Score

BYOMA Hydrating Serum

"The Hydrating Serum, the second ingredient is glycerin, the fourth ingredient is squalane which I love as well. It's an occlusive but it's nourishing to the skin. It's my favorite oil. I would recommend it even as a facial oil. Then it's got ceramides and it's knave safe as well. So I do like it. It's good to repair the skin barrier with this. So for example if you've over exfoliated the skin or you're in an environment which is very harsh on the skin, then repairing the skin barrier is something that you would want to do, and I'd recommend this serum to help you."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

BYOMA Brightening Serum

"I think this is fine for Caucasian skin but really I really wouldn't waste your money on this particular product it's not going to be very effective and if you have hyperpigmentation definitely don't waste your money"

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

The INKEY List Lactic Acid 10%

"I like the inky-less lactic acid"

✓Yay

68%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Advanced Antioxidant Serum

"Paula's Choice I really like the antioxidant serum"

✓Yay

78%Guru Score

Moisturizers53 reviews

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

"The fragrance-free moisturizers I like for you are the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream because it contains ceramides."

✓Yay

87%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer

"I like the La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair, and they're all under $25."

✓Yay

88%Guru Score

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer

"I like the Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer. It's fragrance-free."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Cream

"The products I like are the CeraVe hydrating cleanser and the La Roche-Posay Toleriane. Both are safe daily choices for black skin."

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

Topicals Faded Brightening & Clearing Gel

"This formula contains niacinamide in the low to mid 3% range, tranexamic acid around 2 to 3%, alpha arbutin, kojic acid dipalmitate, and a solid glycerin base, plus additional ingredients like glutathione, azelaic acid, licorice extract, and melatonin at token levels. Kojic acid dipalmitate is a more stable but less potent derivative, which is a defensible choice. This is a multi-path pigmentation formula: niacinamide blocks pigment transfer, tranexamic acid interrupts the inflammation pathway, alpha arbutin suppresses melanin production, and kojic dipalmitate does something similar. It passes the naife safe check, with no fragrance, essential oils, or denatured alcohol. The packaging is a tube, adequate though an airless pump would have been preferred. At $38 it is on the more expensive side, but it's worth it. This is a well-formulated product with a well-chosen active stack and it works."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

AmLactin Daily Moisturizing Lotion 12%

"I like AmLactin Moisturizing Body Lotion. It's got lactic acid plus a ceramide barrier repair all-in-one product. You can use this two to three times per week."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Facetheory Super Gel Oil-Free Moisturizer

"If you have oily, acne prone skin, opt for gel-based moisturizers like super gel from Face Theory"

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Krave Beauty Oat So Simple Water Cream

"With this one, I'd say it's also non-comedogenic. I love so many moisturizers out there say that they're non-comedic and then you go through the ingredients list and there are comedogens in there. This is not one of them. In fact, she hasn't even advertised this as non-comedogenic, but it is non-comedogenic. So, I like it. Even if you have oily skin, this is good for you."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Purito Centella Unscented Recovery Cream

"For me, this is not Dr. V approved."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

CeraVe SA Cream for Rough and Bumpy Skin

"Just any time you see alcohol as a solvent in the top sort of 10 ingredients in a product list, I would run away in the opposite direction. The damage actually continues even after you've worn it, even after you've washed it off. The damage doesn't end when you put alcohol on the skin. It really does damage your skin barrier. So it's a shame. I would avoid it. They could have very easily sidestepped it and used glycol instead."

✕Nay

83%Guru Score

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA

"NMF plus hyaluronic acid is written as HA. So that's great for eczema prone skin. When you have eczema, you've already got less NMF than the normal population and that's one of the reasons that the skin barrier is compromised. So that's a fantastic product, especially if you have eczema."

✓Yay

69%Guru Score

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream

"The next ingredient on the ingredients list is glycerol steroid se. This is highly comedic. So that means avoid if you have acne prone skin or if you have oily skin. All the good actives cheekily they added at less than 1%. Which means they're not even in the therapeutic index which means this is a marketing ploy. So for example they got tetropeptides, ascorbic acid, tocopherol and allantoin. Allantoin is your anti-inflammatory but these are all less than 1% so unlikely to get any benefit from these to be honest. Plus they went and added fragrances to the Magic Cream. I just feel like if you're doing this step by step and you do this for years, it may lead to issues of the skin."

✕Nay

57%Guru Score

Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion

"The positive here is they actually have a lot of good emollients. They've got glycerin, they've got hydrogenated poly isobutene, they've got pacia oil, they've got dimethicone, panthenol. They've used water as the solvent, which is good. So no alcohol, there's no fragrance. They're doing very well. [...] Very gentle, non-comedogenic. I would say buy this for the body. They've got the basics right. After all the brands that I've reviewed who've got the basics wrong, when I see someone who actually gets the basics right, I'm like, 'Yay, go buy it.' Definitely this one is fine. This is going to suit your skin. You're going to have no issues."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Sunday Riley ICE Ceramide Moisturizing Cream

"I actually really like this product. The positives are it's got squalane and glycerin in it, which are fantastic emollients. It's got three different ceramides in it: NP, EOP, and AP. So it's a very hydrating product. The only one thing, little tiny thing I'd say, it's got an ingredient called Chondrus crispus in it, which is about five out of ten on the comedogenic scale. So maybe I might avoid this if you've got oily, acne-prone skin. The other thing to note is it has a lot of root extracts. Now, majority of root extracts are very good, but there's actually not much clinical data when it comes to root extracts. So that's why I'm always a little bit cautious. The reason being, we don't really know how you're going to react. And if you have quite sensitive skin and you don't know what you're allergic to, it might be something that you would want to avoid. So always patch test it behind your ear."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

Avène Tolerance Extreme Cream

"I love Avène Tolerance Extreme Cream. I love it. It's very hydrating. It's non-comedogenic. No fragrance, no alcohol, no essential oils. This one is a keeper."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

BYOMA Moisturizing Gel Cream

"Bioma Moisturizing Gel Cream has got ceramides and niacinamide in it. It's a light moisturizer, it's in cute packaging, and actually teens love it, so that's one as a parent I would purchase. [...] If you had to pick between Bioma and Bubbles, I'd probably pick Bioma."

✓Yay

77%Guru Score

CeraVe Oil Control Gel Creme

"I don't actually like that product."

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

Bubble Level Up Balancing Gel Moisturizer

"It's got niacinamide in it. Nothing else. If you had to pick between Bioma and Bubbles, I'd probably pick Bioma, but Bubbles is good, too."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Anua Peach 77% Niacinamide Enriched Cream

"They did one huge mistake and that is that they added fragrance which was completely unnecessary and if they hadn't I would have recommended this for people with sensitive oily acne prone skin however this is not going to work for someone with dry skin anyway and the fragrance in it means that you're not going to wear it if you have oily acne prone skin cuz you already have inflamed skin. So for me unfortunately this product is also a no."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream

"I love Vanicream, it's fragrance-free. It's very effective, very hydrating to the skin."

✓Yay

88%Guru Score

Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

"Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream contains essential oils. Now, I know they smell like a five-star spa, but essential oils in leave on products are sneaky triggers for PIH, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. [...] Essential oils are an irritant. They're allergens. And when that happens, inflammation takes place. And when inflammation takes place, hyperpigmentation can take place. Why would you even risk it?"

✕Nay

81%Guru Score

Ambi Skincare Fade Cream with Hydroquinone

"Things like Ambi Fade or over-the-counter products with hydroquinone you really just should avoid."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Bioderma Sebium Gel Moussant

"This is a sebium gel cleanser, and it's essentially just a hydrating wash with fragrance in it. No actives for acne. And in my opinion, not really worth the money. I would never recommend something with fragrance in it anyway. So this one's a no from me."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream

"You really need to avoid fragrance in all your skin care. [...] For skin of color please avoid this product."

✕Nay

50%Guru Score

Purito Deep Sea Pure Water Cream

"It doesn't have much olusives. The seventh ingredient in here is niacinamide, so that's where the strength barrier effect is coming from. [...] Everything else in this product is a fraction of a percent, but it is a NAF safe product, meaning no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, and no essential oils. This is very important for skin of color because we can't afford any irritation to our skin. So, I'd say this is a hydrating moisturizer. It's NAF safe. It's very light. I don't like the packaging. It would be better if it was in an airless pump from a hygiene perspective, but I would give this a nice 8 out of 10 because it does what it says. They haven't given you outrageous claims which they haven't matched. They've matched quite reasonable claims."

~Mixed

80%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Soothing Cream

"This is not a 20% centella. The way the ingredient list works is that when an ingredient is right at the bottom you're looking at a fraction of a percent. And what they tend to do is they say oh it's a 20% solution meaning water plus this centella at a fraction of a percent, and then they call it 20% centella. And that's what I don't like. I don't like miscommunication. I like you to be really clear about what is in the product and what is not in the product. And the thing is because it's literally called Centella, you are thinking and hoping that centella is the main active in this product. Because it's basically got stem cells, centella, allantoin, panthenol, these all anti-inflammatories, plus of course niacinamide and glycerin. So actually quite similar actives to what they put in here. I think what's really important is that you're clear about what you put in the product and whatever the hero ingredient really is is the thing that's on the packaging and not to overhype something that's a very low percentage. Some other downsides with this particular product is they put in lavingula flour oil which is a disaster. It's a fragrance. It's such a shame."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Mixsoon Bean Cream

"This is a basic moisturizer with emollients and ferment which I love. But they added irritants. They added bergamot fruit oil and they added lavender oil. These are both irritants. They're essential oils. Essential oils smell great. They might make you feel good. They even reduce your cortisol levels because now you're calm. But essential oils are fragrant. And when that happens it removes water with it. And skin of color we have less water in our skin. We have less ceramides in our skin. Our skin is drier and duller. It's the opposite of what we should be doing. This is the same reason I do not want you wearing denatured alcohol in your skincare. On top of that is a skin sensitizer. So please, I know the very expensive, the luxury 100, 200, 300 dollar creams contain those ingredients. They are bad for skin of color. Please avoid."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Minimalist Ceramide Moisturizer 3% for Dry Skin

"It's got glycerin which is your humectant, then babassu which is your anti-inflammatory, then it's got petrolatum which is your occlusive and I love petrolatum. A lot of people are against petrolatum for the wrong reasons, they don't fully understand the science of petrolatum but it's very good for our skin. It's got a variety of ceramides which is normal. This is a safe product and I would definitely recommend it."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Minimalist Sepicalm Moisturizer with Oat Extract

"This is an anti-inflammatory moisturizer and it's really good for rosacea or dry skin. It's got squalan oil, which is a beautiful ingredient, and then it's got glycerin so your water magnet. It's slightly thicker than the ceramide cream. This one is Dr V approved."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

SkinBetter Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream

"They really could have done that and they haven't. They failed very badly. It's probably the worst product we've seen so far today and the most expensive."

✕Nay

82%Guru Score

La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizing Cream

"The ingredients, the irritants they put into here is your eucalyptus, your lemon, your janol linol hydroxy citronellol and citrol, those are all different types of fragrance. The problem is with these sort of long words that you might not be familiar with, you might not know it's fragrance that you're putting on your skin. You might just think these are good ingredients but actually if you ever see these words in any of your ingredients list, [...] avoid using that product. And to be honest, when you open it, the second you smell it, you'll know that they've put in the irritants into the product. On top of this, they put in denatured alcohol. Why would you do that? Denatured alcohol is drying. It has a low boiling point, that means the second you put it on your skin it evaporates, but what it's also doing is taking away water from the top layer of skin with it. And if you have mature skin, your skin is already drier, it's already duller. The worst thing you want to do now is to make it even drier. [...] Our moisturizer should be safe meaning no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, and no essential oils. It should also have a high ceramide ratio because we have less ceramides in our skin, that's what holds water in the top layer of skin."

✕Nay

48%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream

"It's quite a light moisturizer and doesn't have much actives. The seventh ingredient in here is niacinamide, so that's where the strength barrier effect is coming from. It's a naif safe product, meaning no denat alcohol, no fragrance, and no essential oils. This is very important for skin of color because we can't afford any irritation to our skin. I'd say this is a hydrating moisturizer, it's naif safe, it's very light. I don't like the packaging; it would be better if it was an airless pump from a hygiene perspective. But I would give this a nice eight out of ten because it does what it says. They haven't given you outrageous claims which they haven't matched; they've matched quite reasonable claims."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Red Bean Water Gel

"You will see some benefit with fine lines but this really is best for sensitive skin. You're not really going to see any drastic improvement though. I'd give this particular product a five out of ten. It is safe, it's fine for sensitive skin, but they gave you so many claims and actually didn't really match up to be honest with the ingredients in the particular product."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Paula's Choice C5 Super Boost Vitamin C Moisturizer

"The fifth ingredient here is vitamin C and they've got a glucoside and three O ethoxy scorbic acid, two of my favorite vitamin C forms. Plus they use hexapeptide 8, so that's your peptides, plus bacillus ferment which is fantastic for the health of the skin. I would say this is a decent formula and really my favorite for mild brightening so far. It will help with mild dark circles or very fine lines. Typically skin of color however needs tyrosinase inhibitors to work, but my favorite so far."

~Mixed

68%Guru Score

CeraVe Eye Repair Cream

"It doesn't have any tyrosine inhibitors in this for dark circles, and it also has no collagen stimulators for fine lines. I'm only giving it three out of ten because it's got ceramides in it, because it's got niacinamide in it, and because it's fragrance-safe, meaning it's got no alcohol, no fragrance, and no essential oils, so it's not going to make the skin worse around the eye areas. But it's really going to do nothing for your dark circles or your fine lines. I just don't like it when brands make claims but don't put the ingredients in to back up those claims."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Augustinus Bader Rich Cream

"They added in myel alcohol which is irritating plus ketogenic, so I would avoid this if you have acne-prone skin or sensitive skin which can occur pre or post menopause. Plus a retinol percent is quite low at 0.6%, and this is meant to be the hero ingredient that you assume you're buying enough of at this price point. I mean it feels lovely on the skin and there is no irritation, which is what you'd expect at 0.6% retinol."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

"Mario Badescu Drying Lotion is a disaster."

✕Nay

53%Guru Score

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + Beta Glucan Lightweight Formula

"With beta glucan it's more of a gel consistency so it works well if you have oily acne prone skin. I personally love moisturizers that have actives in them because it means it's giving you more than just moisturization."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + Phytoceramides

"From The Ordinary, there are two that I love. The one with the phytoceramides are great actually if you have dry skin. So as you can see it has a higher fat content. It works very well for mature skin."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

The INKEY List Omega Water Cream

"This is the Omega Water from the INKEY List. So you can see there are more fats in this product. It really does turn to water, it's a really good title, very light on the skin. I do like this product, it does feel quite cooling to the skin, but it might not be hydrating enough if I'm honest. If you are finding your skin getting a bit drier, you're not actually getting much more hydration, maybe 10% more hydration on the inside."

~Mixed

75%Guru Score

Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator

"The first thing that confuses me is they want to go with a more fat-based product but then they put in dimethicone, which is fine, it's a silicone, then they put glycerin, a very basic humectant, fine. But there are no actives in this product. There is nothing in this product that's going to help with your fine lines, help you with sebum production. No vitamins, no minerals. It's just a very basic, beautiful moisturizer, but it's not going to give you any protection. In fact, I would say right now my skin is starting to feel a bit tight, and the reason is the water is evaporating from the skin very rapidly. It doesn't have enough fat in this, and that's why it's coming out with that gel consistency. If you want to keep hydration in the skin, you want a high fat content in your moisturizer, so it should feel thicker, not gel-like."

✕Nay

74%Guru Score

CetaPhil Moisturizing Cream

"I like Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream. This is basically water, glycerin, petrolatum, and it's niacinamide safe."

✓Yay

79%Guru Score

Minimalist 5% Marula Oil Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin F

"The second ingredient here is marula oil which I love, even if you're looking for a nice facial oil, especially post-menopause, marula oil is one that I would recommend. Plus it's got glycerin, fats, and petrolatum, and it's name safe."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Bioderma Atoderm Ultra Nourishing Cream

"I like Bioderma Atoderm Ultra Nourishing face and body daily cream. The second ingredient here is paraffinum liquidum which is very hydrating to the skin, third is glycerin which I love, and it's non-comedogenic safe."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer

"Follow this up with your Bubble Slam Dunk Hydrating Moisturizer"

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

BYOMA Moisturizing Rich Cream

"I have dry skin I like the BYOMA Moisturizing Rich Cream and when it comes to sheet masks be very careful which ones you choose the really cute ones tend to have fragrance in them and actually tend to be irritating to your skin."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Gel-Cream

"The second one is bioma moisturizing gel cream this has got camid and nicomide in it it's a light moisturizer it's in cute packaging and actually teens love it"

✓Yay

91%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream

"This particular product got water, which is fine, glycerin, which is fine, sodium lauryl sulfate, which is fine. The 11th ingredient here is niacinamide, so it looks like it's at less than 1%, but this is the ingredient that's all over their marketing. So I'd assume that it would be at the therapeutic index, which tends to be 2 to 5%, is what we recommend. It is a safe product. It's okay, it's just not great. As expensive as it is for what it is, so for me it's just a no. The other important thing to look for is a cost benefit analysis. So if you have a decent product but it's coming in at £100, then it's not going to be worth it. It's not something I'm going to recommend for you. I'm going to recommend something that's cheaper because that's what it's worth."

✕Nay

88%Guru Score

Eucerin UreaRepair Plus 10% Urea Lotion

"The next product is Eucerin Urea Repair. This is water, urea 5%, and it's soap-free, so I do like this for dry skin. It's got no other bells and whistles, no other actives in it, but it's good for dry skin or eczema-prone skin."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer

"Aveeno Calm + Restore has glycerin and oats in it. Oats are anti-inflammatory and it's also great for eczema."

✓Yay

90%Guru Score

CeraVe Daily Facial Moisturizing Lotion

"The second ingredient has glycerin, which I love because it's a humectant that holds water on the top of the skin. Plus it's got ceramides, which is excellent. It's a good hydrator, but you should know there are no other actives in this product, so it is a hydrating moisturizer and that's it. There's nothing in it that stimulates collagen or helps with anything like keratosis or open pores or ingrown hairs or anything else. So just to know, this is a nice basic moisturizer."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion

"Ceramides are so important for skin of color because we have less ceramides in our skin anyway, and those are the fats that retain water, so we actually do need ceramides in our moisturizer daily to get the maximum glow and to create the maximum healing environment for the skin. I routinely cycle this, and if I don't use it I could really feel a difference on myself. [...] I really love how it's lightweight. [...] I'm actually got a bit of oily skin too, but this really is beautiful because I also use retinol and prescription strength, so I find that I need something that really keeps me hydrated and gives me the glow at the same time. You can sometimes peel with the retinol, and [...] this is beautiful. It's really lightweight and just so nice."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

"This is one that I like, it's Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. It's literally the only product I like from this entire brand. [...] I mean, I was looking at Kiehl's the other day, it's the only one. It's fragrance free, it doesn't have all the alcohol and all the rest of it. This is one I like, and you can see it's fatty, so that's the kind of thing that you want to look for. You want to go for one with a consistency like this or more."

✓Yay

90%Guru Score

Cleansers35 reviews

CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser

"A better option is a gentle hydrating cleanser. CeraVe hydrating cleanser is around $16 at CVS, and I'd follow it up by a humectant serum before your moisturizer. Try this for two weeks before you reach for anything labeled oil control. It's a safe daily choice for black skin."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser

"As this is a wash-off product, it's fine that it's a second ingredient. The third ingredient here is cocamidopropyl and it's a mild surfactant as well. So, I like the fact that both are quite gentle for the skin. There's also lots of moisturizers and emollients in this product. So, here we've got glycerin, ceramides, we've got hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid. So, I love this product. There's nothing in it that's going to irritate your skin. It's great for acne skin. It's got no fragrance, no essential oils, no alcohol. It's got no irritants, nothing that's going to sensitize your skin. It's a fantastic product for acne-prone skin. And actually it's very good for teen acne. So, when you're at about 13, 14, 15 years old and you're still quite young and you don't want to be applying some of the harsher products, this would be a very good cleanser for that age group as well."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

"It's really got a very short ingredients list. It's literally got water. It's got hexylene glycol, which is a surfactant. It's got poloxamer 184, which is also a surfactant. And it's got glycerin in it, which is a humectant. So that just basically holds water in the top layer of skin. So it's a very basic ingredients list, which I love. There's no alcohol, no essential oils, and no fragrance. So this for me is a definite yes. Definitely worth buying. And nothing in this is going to irritate your skin. [...] It's a very gentle way for me to remove my makeup. So I definitely recommend the Micellar Cleansing Water."

✓Yay

66%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Moisture Barrier Cleanser

"It is refreshing. I can't lie. But you are going to smell like a vegetable market at the end of this and that is something that you should be aware of. I've just washed it off and my skin feels really tight. That's not how your skin should ever feel after you've washed it. You need far more glycerin. The positives are it has got glycerin in it. It's just not as much as I'd like. It's got ceramides in it, but I would say not enough. My skin is not enjoying it. And then it's got oats in it, which is anti-inflammatory. The negatives of this are the fragrance. Fragrance plus it costs £26 for 150 mils."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Eucerin Gentle Hydrating Cleanser

"It doesn't have any humectants in it. So it's probably not going to be that hydrating. It's just not going to be that harsh. I'd like to retract that statement because they were a hydrating cleanser. I would say it's a gentle cleanser, not a Gentle Hydrating Cleanser. It doesn't have fragrance in it though, and I would personally buy this product. There probably are better products out there that have got humectants in them, but it's okay. [...] If you have dry skin, it's better to go with the micellar gel wash than this."

~Mixed

73%Guru Score

CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser

"I'm absolutely loving CeraVe and I recommend it actually in a lot of my videos for skin of color."

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash

"I just assumed that this would be a good product for oily acne-prone skin, but again it had fragrance in it, had menthol in it, had glycolic acid in it. So menthol is a sensitizer to the skin, fragrance is your number one cause of contact dermatitis and it's a co-sensitizer. This is a thing that there are 4,000 different fragrances and you don't know how your skin is going to react and you get delayed reaction. What's going to happen after years? I mean, menthol is just it just should not be in skin care either. Especially, imagine your acne oily-prone skin which is already inflamed, it's got free fatty acids that are going berserk in your skin, irritating your skin, leading to pigmentation and red marks and then you go and put menthol on it which is a sensitizer. It's just not a good idea."

✕Nay

61%Guru Score

CetaPhil Oily Skin Cleanser

"They went and added seven fragrances. [...] Fragrance is the number one cause of contact dermatitis. It is a co-sensitizer. So, after years of wearing it, you can start getting reactions. And then reactions also to the other ingredients in that particular product. I know it's a wash-off cuz it's a cleanser, but it's just unnecessary. It's got amyl cinnamal in it. It's got benzyl benzoate in it. It's got citronellol. It's got geraniol. It's got linalool. It's got parfum. Like they literally it's like a whole puff perfume shop in this one product. [...] The product's not going to smell bad with all the ingredients that they've actually chosen. It's just actually just pandering to consumers."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

The INKEY List 2% Salicylic Acid Cleanser

"Go for a simple salicylic acid face wash like The INKEY List"

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Anua Heartleaf Plus Vitamin E Pore Control Cleansing Oil

"K Beauty is iconic for the double cleanse. Number one cleansing oil in K Beauty is the Anua Heartleaf Plus Vitamin E Pore Control Cleansing Oil. This is the cleansing oil that draws all the sebum out, the white dots. I love it. It helps to also break up makeup and sunscreen. Clean after doing it for about 60 seconds. That's a good amount of time. Wash it off completely, then go in with a water-based cleanser."

✓Yay

62%Guru Score

Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Foam

"This is the best one for pores, pour deep cleanser. I love this, gets into all it helps to remove any extra grime and dirt on the skin. Heartleaf powder creates really dense, dense bubbles like the ones you see on my face right now. Dense bubbles are able to foam into your pores. [...] It makes my skin feel really clean. The main ingredient is heartleaf. It's perfect for those with sensitive skin."

✓Yay

77%Guru Score

Minimalist Oat 6% Gentle Cleanser

"I'd say this is really good for dry skin, but this is not going to remove your makeup. The surfactants are too gentle. It's probably not going to remove layers of sunscreen either. So this is really more if you have a damaged skin barrier, sensitive skin, rosacea, then you would pick up this cleanser. And this one is Dr. B approved."

✓Yay

78%Guru Score

Minimalist Neem and Salicylic Acid Face Wash

"This is great for oily skin. There's no irritants in it. It is fragrance-free. And the third ingredient here is glycerin. So it's hydrating and that's the number one problem when it comes to salicylic acid. It can overly dry the skin if you don't have enough of a humectant in the formula. So your humectant is the water magnet. And here they've used glycerin. So I like it."

✓Yay

88%Guru Score

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser

"The Vanicream is brilliant. It's very hydrating, good for eczema. It doesn't have any other tyrosinase inhibitors to brighten the skin, but it's good if you have very dry skin."

✓Yay

92%Guru Score

BYOMA Melting Balm Cleanser

"It's got myristic acid, which is three out of five on the comedogenic scale. You want to avoid this if you have oily, acne prone skin. And the problem is this whole range has been made for teens and tweens who, guess what, tend to have more oily acne prone skin. So this isn't making much sense. The positives of this product is it's got niacinamide and ceramides. So what I would say is I actually really love this product if you have very dry skin or if you have eczema. But if you have oily, acne prone skin and you're a teenager, then this is one to avoid."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Numbuzin Easy Peasy Cleansing Oil

"There are much better oils. In fact, I've just done a video today. Today we did Mixoon and Skin 104. Those are both Korean brands and both have other products that I would recommend. So for this oil, it's a hard no."

✕Nay

74%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel

"This is nave safe. No den alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. It's the bare minimum for skin of color and it's hydrating. So I really like this product and I would recommend it. It's even good for your teenage kids who are trying to get into skincare. [...] It's a really cute product and it's one that I would be okay with my daughter using and she's 11 years old."

✓Yay

73%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Deep Cleansing Oil

"I've been really enjoying this cleanser. One of my personal favorite oil cleansers. I highly recommend this one. [...] I love this packaging. Beautiful. It's got little seed on here. This is one thing Korean do so well is the reiology of the product and the packaging."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Light Cleansing Oil

"For me, this is an absolute no. A product like this is going to lead to more pigmentation, which is what's going to happen for a large percentage of our community."

✕Nay

76%Guru Score

Skin1004 Pore Minimizing Deep Cleansing Foam

"I don't know who formulated this but this was a different formulator to whoever formulated the rest of the range. This product is adult disaster. This product just please just avoid."

✕Nay

57%Guru Score

MIXSOON Bean Cleansing Oil

"It is highly comedogenic, it is something that you do not want to use if you have oily acne prone skin, avoid this product. The seventh ingredient in here is fragrance. That's really high up. That means that there's really nothing beneficial more than 1% and fragrance is not good for us. With this there's no benefits and it's all downside. So even though it's super viral and it looks cool and it's very affordable, it's something I would tell you to stay clear of."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Minimalist Aquaporin Cleanser

"For normal to dry skin, it's got water, then glycerin, then glycerol glucoside, which is your humectant so it holds water in the top layer of skin. It's also got D-panthenol in it too, which is also another humectant, and it's got sodium lauryl methylate, which is a very gentle surfactant and works very well for dry skin. It's got anti-inflammatories in here too, so I actually really like this formula for normal to dry skin."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

"I start off with the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil that helps to just break up a lot. I'd say probably about 60 to 70% of the oil on my face. So then I'd wash that off and then I would go in with another cleanser."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Radiance Cleansing Balm

"It is very hydrating and beautiful for the skin, your skin is actually going to love it, but if you're like me and you wear dark eyeliner, this is not going to work because you can't keep tugging at the skin to remove the eyeliner. It doesn't have enough emollient in it to be honest in order to basically grab the dirt and make it easy to wash away. I had to go wash my hands just about got it off, but it just won't touch my makeup."

✕Nay

77%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Cleansing Oil

"The other thing with this is it is very pungent, so even though there's no fragrance in this particular product, there's a lot of different oils in here and one of them, an essential oil, is giving off a very strong smell. I really wouldn't recommend this if you have dry skin, even if it's inflamed. I wouldn't recommend it if you have oily skin because it could be comedogenic. For me, unfortunately, this is a bit of a fail."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser

"This is a mild soap free cleanser, it's really good for sensitive skin. It's an anionic surfactant, which is interesting because it basically means it's a negative charge ionic factant. They're able to lift dirt and suspend dirt and debris better. Plus it's got glycerin in it which makes it very hydrating to the skin. I would say this is a lovely hydrating cleanser for sensitive skin and I give it a lovely seven out of 10."

~Mixed

80%Guru Score

CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser with 4% Benzoyl Peroxide

"If you have cystic acne or severe acne, use benzoyl peroxide because how it works is it kills the acne bacteria with oxygen. So for you this is a game changer."

✓Yay

76%Guru Score

CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser

"The ingredients are actually really simple: it's water, glycerin, cetyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, and ceramides. A very simple, gentle hydrating formula. It's actually feeling very soothing to the skin. I'm under a lot of lights right now and I feel like it's calming my skin. I like it. I would use this. [...] I actually really love that. [...] My water content has gone up to 92%, which I'm very happy about. [...] I love this hydrating cleanser. It's actually better than the cream to foam."

~Mixed

78%Guru Score

CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser

"The ingredients here are water, glycerin, which is a hydrating ingredient, plus surfactants. Interestingly enough, the ninth ingredient on here is actually the first oil in this entire formula, at about one to two percent of this oil cleanser. That's the reason they're able to turn an oil into foam. So you're not going to find much hydration with this, and I would even say the foaming is drying the skin out a little bit. In my experience, oddly enough, considering the CeraVe Hydrating Foaming Oil Cleanser literally says it's for normal to very dry skin, I wouldn't recommend this one for dry, eczema prone skin."

✕Nay

80%Guru Score

The INKEY List Squalane Cleanser

"It does have a bit of a funny smell, quite strong, but it's salicylic acid and it's fragrance free so it's not going to irritate the skin. This isn't going to foam because of salicylic acid, so you don't get that kind of lathery feel that you're going to find with your normal cleansers, but it gets into the pores and it unclogs the pores."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser

"I actually love this cleanser, comes out a little bit kind of creamy jelly, it's actually really hydrating to the skin. [...] No smell, I would say maybe very very mild smell but it's fragrance free."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Elmus Pro Collagen Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm

"I don't think this did a very good job of removing my makeup. I actually left quite a lot of makeup on my face. The ingredients start off with sweet almond oil which is comedogenic for some people, so if you have oily acne prone skin please avoid this product. It's got glycerin in it which is good, it's a humectant, but the downside of this product is insane. It's got lavender oil, coconut oil which again is comedogenic, pelargonium flour, eucalyptus oil, geranium, lemon, and fragrance. They just loaded the boat. Three to four percent of the population get contact dermatitis down to fragrance, so why would you load the product with the thing that people become irritated by? It's purely a marketing gimmick. You smell it and you feel like you're dancing under a rainbow and that's what they're betting on."

✕Nay

79%Guru Score

BYOMA Milky Jelly Cleanser

"In the AM, I love the BYOMA Milky Jelly Cleanser. It's got ceramides in it, it's got glycerin, and it's anti-inflammatory."

✓Yay

70%Guru Score

Simple Micellar Gel Wash

"The simple Micellar Gel Wash is only £3.33 versus Cetaphil which is £7."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Hydrating Cleanser

"I really like this cleanser. The number one mistake people make is that they strip their skin, they over wash their skin or they use cleansers with surfactants that are too harsh, so this is very important, especially for aging skin that is already dry and looking dull, is choosing the right cleanser."

✓Yay

79%Guru Score

Sunscreen28 reviews

Anua Heartleaf Silky Moisture Sun Cream

"It's got zinc as the second ingredient, which I love, plus hutinia extract, an antioxidant and soother, and butylene glycol and glycerin quite high up, which means it's going to be very hydrating. Up until this point I love this product, but then they added citrus oil and linalool oil, these are both irritants and it was a mistake. It's feeling lovely, moisturizing into the skin, you can literally wear this as a moisturizer, but they really made a mistake, it really stinks. That's a mistake because you do not want to go out into UV rays with this on the skin, because of the higher chances of irritation which can lead to hyperpigmentation in my skin of color family. Unfortunately, Heartleaf, this gets a four out of 10."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

AXIS-Y Complete No Stress Physical Sunscreen SPF 50+

"It starts off with water, then silicones, which gives you a smooth feel, and the third ingredient is zinc with titanium dioxide as the fourth, so it's tough to get SPF 50 with these percentages, but it is possible. I really like this packaging. The niacinamide is at about 2%, which I love, and it also contains adenosine, which boosts production of collagen and elastin so it keeps the skin firm and elastic. This is non-comedogenic, non-irritating, and decent when it comes to a white cast. I would give this a good 7 out of 10."

✓Yay

64%Guru Score

Benton Skin Fit Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 PA4+

"At twenty dollars it's very well priced, and the second ingredient is zinc oxide, at 17%, though I'm really not sure whether they're just finding cheaper zinc in Korea. The third ingredient is silicone, then emollient, and the eleventh ingredient is niacinamide, which I love. But the thirteenth ingredient is witch hazel and rosemary leaf oil, which is very bad, witch hazel leads to generation of free radicals in the skin which damages collagen and leads to premature aging. The smell of this is really very strong, this is a mistake for skin of color. I'm sorry, Benton, you get a two out of 10."

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Tower 28 SunnyDays SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen Foundation

"It's got non-nano zinc oxide. It's got the National Eczema Association seal. No fragrance, no alcohol, no comedogens. And it also contains anti-inflammatory botanical. For me, the final verdict is this the gold standard for acne foundations for skin of color right now."

✓Yay

64%Guru Score

Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Mineral Sunscreen

"Neutrogena Sheer Zinc. It's the OG of mineral sunscreens. It's the one that I wore before I even made our own. I've actually made so many videos with Neutrogena Sheer Zinc. It leaves you a white cast on your face. But if you're running in the sun and you are sweating like crazy, that is the one that you want to wear. So it doesn't matter that you look white because if you get melasma, you don't care. You just want to protect your skin. So I really like that product."

✓Yay

59%Guru Score

BYOMA Ultra Light Face Fluid SPF 30

"I did another video on Bioma. They've got a SPF 30. I was so excited as a moisturizing gel SPF 30. Brilliant, right? But then they put in lactic acid into the actual formula. So you're using an AHA, taking off the top layer of skin and then allowing UV to hit the skin. It makes no sense. So please avoid this."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Nivea SPF 50 Japanese Sunscreen

"I'm actually using a Japanese sunscreen. It's Nivea. It's SPF 50 but only PA3 plus. That's fine. As long as you like it and it's like a gel formula as well. I don't mind as long as it doesn't make me oily cuz I'm already very naturally oily."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

BYOMA Moisturizing Gel Sunscreen SPF 30

"A big mistake they made with this product is they put in lactic acid, which is an exfoliating AHA. So imagine every day you're taking off the top layer of skin but then also UV is hitting the skin. This is a big mistake for us. In addition, there's no tyrosinase inhibitors in here. So if you have dull skin or hyperpigmentation from scars or from acne, there's nothing in here that's going to help you with that. So I don't really like this as an SPF 30."

✕Nay

62%Guru Score

Numbuzin No.1 Clear Filter Sun Essence SPF50+ PA++++

"So, actually, I quite like this if I had to pick a chemical sunscreen, but I'm always going to pick mineral over chemical for skin of color."

✓Yay

88%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airy Fit Daily Sunscreen SPF 50

"Nice packaging. It's got in with the pump pen. It's quite, it's not too much of white cast. I think that's very nice actually. Nice formula. Here they've used ethylhexyl trioxane which is not an FDA approved chemical filter. There's no fragrance in this which I like. But to be honest, I'm not going to approve this until we have further testing on this particular filter. In a few years when we have more data then I'm going to come back and review this especially with these new chemical filters because chemical filters do tend to enter the bloodstream. I am more cautious and I'm always going to recommend a mineral SPF over a chemical SPF."

~Mixed

82%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Bamboo Daily Soothing Sunshield SPF50+ PA++++

"This is a chemical filter. Again, they've gone for one that's not FDA approved. They've gone for diethylamino hydroxybenzyl benzoate. Again, we need to wait a few years actually to get more data on this to see how it's going to affect my skin of color family. So, for me, I'm just like just go with things that have been used for decades and we have a lot of data on versus newer filters, which might be nice, but it's like it's just unnecessary, you know, for me. I'm going to say let's just wait a little bit before I tell you about this one."

~Mixed

78%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF 50+ PA++++

"But yeah, I'm always going to tell you to wear a mineral sunscreen over chemical sunscreen."

✕Nay

90%Guru Score

Minimalist Sunscreen SPF 50

"I really thought they would have done a thinner one considering it is India and India is very hot. It blends quite nicely actually, no white cast. But they did the same mistake as KY did with her sunscreen to put octinoxate in this, which is a chemical filter and it's one that I don't like because it enters the bloodstream. So for me this is just a hard no. I always say go for mineral sunscreen because that is your zinc oxide, 100% mineral sunscreen, because it doesn't enter the bloodstream, right? It sits on the skin. It is used during pregnancy for this reason. It doesn't enter breast milk, it doesn't go into your urine."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Hyphen All I Need Sunscreen SPF 50 PA4+

"I have very high standards and I am quite strict when it comes to sunscreen. As much as I really want to love this product, it's not one that you would want to wear for a long period of time. It's not one you're going to want to wear or give to your kids either. According to the Environmental Working Group, this wouldn't even be an FDA approved product. So for me, unfortunately, this is not a Dr V approved product."

✕Nay

58%Guru Score

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

"It absorbs UVA rays with a peak absorption of 354 NM but don't forget the UV VA range extends to 400 NM. This is not an FDA approved sunscreen agent in the US, and just on that basis alone, because for skin of color we need maximum protection, I probably wouldn't recommend this product even though it blends beautifully into the skin. It is a naif safe product so there's no alcohol, no fragrance and no essential oils, but I would want better protection from the UVA range. I'm actually quite surprised to be honest because this is saying PA4 pluses when we're not getting maximum protection from UVA rays. So yeah, this one's a bit of a disappointment."

✕Nay

92%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Moist Sun Serum SPF 50+ PA++++

"It looks beautiful, it rubs in very easily, there's no white cast. But this product is a zero out of 10. Why would you put in an irritant into a sunscreen when you're about to go out and have harsh UV smack you in the face?"

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

Heart Leaf Calming Moisture Sunscreen

"Unfortunately heart leaf this gets a four out of 10"

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Cetaphil Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 50

"It has such low percentage zinc oxide. [...] There's no great actives in this product. I would rate this product quite low because I'm not happy with the amount of filters in it. [...] I'd probably give this only a 3 out of 10."

✕Nay

77%Guru Score

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30

"I love the ingredients list on it it has titanium dioxide at 9% zinc oxide at 7% plus water and glycerin it has a very low percentage niacinamide which is fine looks at about less than 1% and ceramides the downside is it's incredibly white on skin of color so even though on the ingredients side I would give this a healthy seven or eight out of 10 for the white cast alone it would drop significantly because I didn't really make it with skin of color in mind [...] it's okay but very white and hard to rub in."

~Mixed

76%Guru Score

Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Face Shield Flex SPF 50

"Colorescience tinted mineral sunscreen, how many times have I recommended this product? I used to recommend it all the time and use it myself, but they reduced the amount of zinc oxide down to 12%. I don't understand why, and I really don't know how they're now hitting SPF 50 with a reduced zinc oxide. So it's a shame, Colorescience, because actually so many of us love the finish of this product."

✕Nay

83%Guru Score

Clinique Mineral Sunscreen Fluid for Face SPF 50

"I'm not sure how they're achieving SPF50 with 6.3% titanium dioxide and 4% zinc oxide. Usually we need about 17% to even hope for a pass in the strict testing houses. Plus it's got lth 4 in it, which is five out of five on the comedogenic scale. It has no other good actives in it either. And it costs $20 for 30ml. So for me this is going to be a minus 4 out of 10."

✕Nay

60%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Sunscreen SPF 60

"It's popular, it's recommended by a lot of dermatologists, it's the La Roche-Posay Anthelios. It's 36 pounds for 300ml, so it's actually a really good price, but the sixth ingredient here is denatured alcohol, and so it is drying to the skin. Plus it's a chemical sunscreen, which is fine, it's just not my favorite. I tend to recommend mineral over chemical, because it doesn't enter the bloodstream like chemical does. Chemical sunscreens do go into your urine, into your breast milk, which is why we recommend if you're pregnant make sure you're wearing mineral sunscreens, and also my children, I make sure I'm putting mineral on them. But actually if you had to pick between mineral and chemical, if wearing an SPF 50 is the most important thing, so if all you can get your hands on is chemical, then wear it, because that's more important than anything else. You want to make sure you're minimizing chances of skin cancer, premature aging, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation."

~Mixed

77%Guru Score

Supergoop Play Everyday Lotion SPF 50

"It's a chemical sunscreen, which is fine, but it does contain irritants in it. It's got orange peel oil, lemon peel oil, plus fragrance, so this again is a no. I have no idea why they've added these ingredients in it. If you're coming from the perspective of trying to create a sunscreen with minimal irritation, maximum hydration, this doesn't make sense to do this. I really don't know what the thinking is here."

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Tinted Mineral Light Fluid Sunscreen SPF 50

"This has been highly recommended by so many dermatologists; it's pretty much the go-to for every dermatologist. People are probably not going to be happy with me talking about this, but I'm going to. La Roche-Posay Anthelios: the second ingredient is denatured alcohol, which means it's at a very high percentage. There are no other actives in this product that are going to give you any additional benefits to the skin. It is a chemical sunscreen, which is fine if that was the only thing worth it. The only plus point of this product is that it is fragrance free. For me, this is another note, especially for the price point."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Eucerin Oil Control Dry Touch SPF 50+

"The Eucerin SPF 50 oil control matte finish, the reason you're getting a matte finish is because the second ingredient here is denatured alcohol and I really don't like this ingredient. It's a bit of a trick really putting it in because you get that instant matte finish. You're getting that instant feeling, people are buying it because they are addicted to that instant quick matte feeling, which I fully understand, but I don't like what it does to the skin. You don't see what's happening to the skin because you don't see free radicals being generated. For this one I would again side step."

✕Nay

70%Guru Score

Garnier Ambre Solaire Super UV SPF 50

"The second ingredient here is glycerin which is brilliant, however it does contain denatured alcohol and fragrance again, no other good actives, plus it's a chemical sunscreen, so for me this is a hard no."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Bondi Sands SPF 50 Fragrance Free Sunscreen Lotion

"Make sure you look for that particular product because there were other ones on the market that are not fragrance free from Bondi Sands. It is a chemical sunscreen and there are no other actives in it to help with any other skin care concerns. It is a simple product, no DNA alcohol. It is knife safe, it's not going to prematurely age the skin. Yeah, it's a decent SPF 50 for the body."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Altruist SPF 50

"It's a chemical sunscreen. The sixth ingredient here is glycerin, it is fragrance free. There's no other actives to improve the skin, but I like it as a simple chemical sunscreen."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Retinoids27 reviews

The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane

"It's fragrance-free, no denatured alcohol, which I love, plus they try to protect the retinol with the darker glass. However, it is still a dropper, and that is still a problem when it comes to retinol. This is 0.5% retinol, which actually isn't even allowed in the UK anymore, 0.3% is the maximum, so I recommend if you want to go with The Ordinary, go with their 0.2%. They add in tomato fruit extract, a lycopene-rich antioxidant, and rosemary leaf extract with rosmarinic acid, which helps stabilize the formula. What lets it down is the packaging. Heat accelerates retinol degradation significantly, and being in a warm climate like India isn't really going to be suitable for this, and most of us don't have time to keep it in the fridge. So for India, I think this product is just a no. I love The Ordinary for so many other products, but this isn't going to be one of them. This one unfortunately gets a three out of 10."

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

Deconstruct Retinol 0.2% + Peptides Serum

"This is 0.2% retinol plus 1% peptide serum. I like that they've gone in with the correct percentage of retinol, it's safe for a beginner to use. They also add in Rosa damascena flower water as a second ingredient at a significant concentration, which contains phenyl ethyl alcohol and other volatile fragrance compounds, so there's a sensitization risk and retinol disrupts the barrier. On the positive side, this naturally forms a phospholipid bilayer that encapsulates the retinol and protects it. They also used copper gluconate, which supports collagen cross-linking, a fantastic ingredient if anti-aging is one of your concerns. What I love about the formula is the encapsulated retinol at the correct percentage, what I don't love is that it's not in an airless pump and it's got a quite sensitizing, irritating second ingredient. They really should have gone in with more of an anti-inflammatory base, and if they'd done that it would have scored a solid eight out of 10. But unfortunately, the way it's standing right now, I'd maybe give it a 5.5 out of 10, maybe six if I'm feeling generous."

~Mixed

77%Guru Score

Foxtale Retinol 0.15% Serum

"Here we've got encapsulated retinol, it's the correct form, and it's protected from degradation because it's in an airless pump and no light can get through it. They added in Poloxamer 235 in the encapsulate, which forms a polymeric shell around the retinol molecules, protecting them from oxygen degradation and providing controlled release. They also added EGCG, a specific active phenol from green tea that reduces retinol associated inflammation and helps support skin tolerance. One of the downsides is that it contains an allergen-free fragrance, and fragrance in a retinoid product is inflammatory and unnecessary. If they made this fragrance-free, I would rate it as an 8.5 out of 10, but because of the fragrance, even though it's allergen-free, it still can be sensitizing. I can't really responsibly recommend a retinol with fragrance in it, so for that reason, I would downgrade this to a five out of 10."

~Mixed

77%Guru Score

Minimalist 0.3% Retinol Serum

"This contains coenzyme Q10 and bakuchiol at 1%, and they've got retinol at the correct percentage of 0.3%. It's a fragrance-free formula, which I love, there's no essential oils, and it's dye-free. There's no water and no fragrance, it's an anhydrous retinol formula. I would have given it an 8.5 out of 10, but the packaging has really let it down because it's still a pipette, which means it's not going to be stable for a long period of time. Coming in with one or two actives is okay, but it's just not going to shift the needle when it comes to any form of uneven skin tone, patchiness, or hyperpigmentation. So it's decent, I would give it about a six out of 10, but it could be better."

~Mixed

78%Guru Score

Plum 1% Retinol Face Serum with Bakuchiol

"This is the most disappointing formula from this whole video. It's coming with retinol palmitate, not retinol, but they've marketed it as 1% retinol, and that's misinformation. Retinol palmitate is one step removed, it has to be converted to retinol, and it's one of the weakest forms of vitamin A. They add in an apple stem cell extract, but the clinical evidence on actual cosmetic formulas in human skin is thin. They did add in bakuchiol oil, which is a genuine ingredient, but it's after the preservative system in the ingredient list, so it's almost certainly less than 1%. I really don't like this formula. This is a 3.5 out of 10."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 Night Moisturizer

"They put in laurith 4 which is five out of five on the comedogenic scale and five out of five on the irritency scale which is again very odd because why would you do that with retinol. They also put in DMDM hydroin which is a formaldehyde releasing preservative which I really don't like for anyone. Actually I have no idea why they chose this one. So overall, I'm not loving this formula."

✕Nay

70%Guru Score

The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion

"This is the Granactive Retinoid 2%. And in here, it's airless packaging. It's a new form of vitamin A. It's actually good for more sensitive skin. It doesn't have as much data behind it as retinol. Of course, retinol has been around for a lot longer, but it is one that I would recommend, probably over the other two because of the packaging. I think they did a really good job with this product."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Foxtail Retinol Night Serum 0.15%

"0.15% retinol. Very happy with that percentage. Very simple formula. There's actually no other actives in here. The negatives are the inky list is wrong. Whenever you see ands like this on an ingredients list, it's wrong. What they've done here is they basically given you a recipe. This is incorrect because now you don't actually know if they've gone over, like for example, how much fats was in the product over the legal amount. You won't know unless you actually add it up."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Pilgrim Retinol Hyaluronic Acid

"The negatives in here is the fragrance and the packaging. So, as much as they kind of got some bits right, for me, overall it's a no."

✕Nay

62%Guru Score

The Ordinary Retinol 0.2% in Squalane

"If you buy it in a jar, like for example from the ordinary, you actually don't know how effective it is because retinol is an antioxidant, it oxidizes in oxygen."

✕Nay

79%Guru Score

Minimalist Granactive Retinoid 2%

"So this one is Dr V approved"

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Anua Retinol 0.3% Plus Niacinamide

"Unfortunately this is not doly approved"

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

The Ordinary Retinal 0.2% Emulsion

"The Ordinary is 0.2% retinaldehyde which is excellent. Very good price point at $20. It's got babassu oil in it so that's your anti-inflammatory but really not much else. It is a beautiful formula and I would recommend it. It's actually very similar to the Geek & Gorgeous in terms of very basic formula and non-irritating. Both are great for sensitive skin."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Geek & Gorgeous A-Game Retinol 10

"Vitamin A is very drying to the skin, so this has glycerin which is excellent, allantoin which is your anti-inflammatory which is excellent, plus panthenol. This is really made for sensitive skin. There's no other actives in this, but I really love this actually for people who are looking to treat their fine lines but maybe have a damaged skin barrier or have just recovered from a damaged skin barrier. Not much smell either. Well done Geek & Gorgeous."

✓Yay

90%Guru Score

Medik8 Crystal Retinal 10

"You can smell it and this is not good. You do not want fragrance in with any form of vitamin A on the skin. It's just asking for trouble. It's bad for Caucasian skin but it's very bad for skin of color."

✕Nay

70%Guru Score

Aesop 0.1% Retinaldehyde Intensive Cream

"This is $73, which is pretty expensive. On the plus side, this is naif safe, no alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils, which is good for skin of color. In terms of ingredients, it's literally water as the first ingredient, then emollients. There's no other actives in this other than 0.1% retinaldehyde plus peptide, so it's a very simple formula. I do like the formula, it's just very expensive for what it is."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Minimalist 0.6% Anti-Aging Retinol

"Simple formula but rather than going up to 0.6% retinol I'd rather you jumped to retin-a. It even feels very similar, actually is peeling a little bit but that might happen. The smell's not too bad but for me this is too strong for my skin, my color family."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6

"I was very excited about this. It's got three ethyl ascorbic acid plus tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, but they added coumarin, which is a fragrance and an irritant with retinol, such a mistake. On top of that, when I investigated further, it only contained 0.3% retinol. I think they just had first-mover advantage. They were one of the first in the industry to use retinaldehyde, which is why they did so well with it, but I just think that the market's caught up. We've got better products at better prices and this is just a little bit out of date. It penetrates nicely, it's just not worth it now."

✕Nay

84%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment with Peptides and Vitamin C

"It's a thumbs up"

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Kiehl's Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum

"This is going to be very hydrating. The next ingredient is niacinamide, which is a lovely combination because it strengthens the skin barrier, which is exactly what you want to do when you're using an irritating ingredient. Plus, they added adenosine, which is anti-inflammatory. I actually don't like a lot of products from Kiehl's, but they got it right with this particular product. I would say it's great for beginners to intermediate, but it is quite expensive at £72."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

RoC Retinol Capsules

"They've corrected the problems in the capsules with 1% retinol in an airless, very interesting packaging. They've also added ceramides to counter any irritation. It has a [...] silky smooth finish on the skin. It is great for beginners for anti-aging and for texture improvement."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream

"The positives are that they're nanoparticle safe, it's in airless packaging, it's got niacinamide and glycerin plus tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, my favorite form of vitamin C, plus peptides. The negatives however is that the retinol is at 1% which is just too harsh for skin of color and will be banned and off the shelf in the EU by November 2025. It's important to know that skin of color hyperpigments quicker from any form of inflammation than Caucasian skin, which is why we can't afford to irritate the skin. As I always say, one scratch, one bite, or one burn and we hyperpigment."

✕Nay

55%Guru Score

RoC Retinol Deep Wrinkle Serum

"It added fragrance and irritant it's a big mistake"

✕Nay

65%Guru Score

Murad Retinal

"My impression is this price tag is very unfair and it's just not worth your money"

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Differin Adapalene Gel 0.1%

"Differin Gel 0.1% adapalene vitamin A, it's nav safe. I like it. You can use it after your leave-on exfoliator. This is also one that I would definitely recommend. You can also top this with a nice light..."

✓Yay

91%Guru Score

Geek & Gorgeous A-Game Retinol 5

"I like it. It's retinaldehyde plus allantoin, which is anti-inflammatory, and it's pH safe at a pH of six, which I like."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Paula's Choice 0.3% Retinol and 2% Bakuchiol Treatment

"I've gone for Paula's Choice so this one is yellow like Dr B says so you know it's your retinol it's 0.3 percent and it's got your vitamin C peptides love peptides and it's not vitamin A weight but it's like the pregnancy safe one."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Toners20 reviews

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution

"One of my patients with melasma tried an over-the-counter high percentage glycolic acid. When The Ordinary came out with their 7% glycolic acid, I'm sure many of you have seen the burns and the horror stories that happened. She then went on to get IPL, which triggered more pigmentation, so that product was part of what made her situation worse."

✕Nay

76%Guru Score

Pixi Glow Tonic

"I don't mind this as a wash off product. Maybe one to two times at night a week, but I certainly wouldn't leave it on all night every night. Definitely not for skin of color. [...] You get instant results when you use glycolic acid because you take away the top layer of skin, any pigmented cells come off and you think this product is fantastic. But that's a temporary solution. Exfoliating the top layer of skin gives you temporary results. You actually need to treat the melanocytes in the skin. The second thing is you need to think about the long-term consequences of wearing alcohol on the skin, which comes from the witch hazel. So that can lead to premature aging, which you can't see it taking place. It's just happening under your skin. And [...] with the glycolic acid, you may be fine 99 times and it's that 100th time that you burn with it. That's why I'm not a fan of glycolic acid. I feel like there should be 0% burns when skin of color applies any product to their face. There should never be a risk of burns or a risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation."

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

PURITO Centella Green Level Calming Toner

"The first product is the Centella Green Level Calming Toner. The positives: it's moisturizing and anti-inflammatory. It has centella asiatica, butylene glycol, sodium hyaluronate, panthenol, glycerin, and aloe. These are all fantastic ingredients, great for skin of color. The negatives, however: they added witch hazel, which is often distilled in alcohol. Not all the time, but often. When you do that, you're incorporating alcohol into your skincare. Alcohol over a long period of time does damage the skin. It leads to premature aging, which is the exact opposite of what all of us want. So I just avoid any alcohol and witch hazel in your skincare. They also added citrus fruit oil, which is a volatile fragrant oil, and that tends to sensitize the skin, something you want to avoid. They added kanga odorata, which can also be a skin sensitizer. And they've also got rose oil, which is fragrant and sensitizes the skin. Don't forget rose oil is different from rose hip oil. Rose hip oil is good for your skin. Rose oil you want to avoid. It's really confusing because on the packaging it says "artificial fragrance free." That's the confusion because you would think there's no fragrance in this, but they've added essential oils for the fragrance, and the essential oils are very irritating and you don't really want to incorporate them on skin of color. This is a classic thing that happens where the marketing doesn't add up to what the ingredient list says."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

COSRX Hydrium Watery Toner

"It says it's got 100% Centella asiatica. This is just not true. [...] The first ingredient in here is water. You're looking at 99% water in this product. Then it's got butylene glycol, then it's got 1,2-hexanediol, and then the fourth ingredient in here is Centella. So you're looking at a fraction of a percent of Centella, maybe 1% in this entire thing. And then calling it 100% Centella asiatica, I don't like it because you're being [...] misled. I really don't like that for my skin of color family. [...] But having said this, it's a naysafe product and it's actually a lovely product if you're looking for something that is just hydrating and soothing to the skin. If you have a damaged skin barrier, I'm happy for you to use this. Are you going to get any brightening effects with it? No. Is it going to help with texture? No. Is it going to help with fine lines? No. But [...] it is naysafe and it's going to be good if you have a dehydrated barrier."

✕Nay

77%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore-Tight Toner

"It's actually a bit sickening the smell, it's just too much. It's just too much. Can you imagine layering this on top of each other over and over all day long? It does feel refreshing, no irritation, it is actually an enjoyable experience just because of how light it feels. But I don't know why they've gone to town with this fragrance on this thing."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

COSRX Centella Water Alcohol-Free Toner

"It's such a lovely product if you're looking for something that is just hydrating and soothing to the skin. If you have a damaged skin barrier, I'm happy for you to use this. Are you going to get any brightening effects with it? No. Is it going to help with texture? No. Is it going to help with fine lines? No. But I'm still approving this product because it is safe and it's going to be good if you have a dehydrated barrier."

~Mixed

76%Guru Score

COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Toner

"This one is doctor approved for those specific conditions"

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Numbuzin No.4 Pore Zero Peeling Toner Pad

"The third ingredient is ethanol. Third ingredient is alcohol. I just don't understand why. You want to do the quick dry feel, but the downside of this is so enormous. It makes no sense. I can actually taste the alcohol. This is horrendous. Plus fragrance. And they've actually put in PHA. I love PHA as a very gentle exfoliator, but why on earth would you then put that in with alcohol and fragrance? Are you trying to irritate skin of color and make the worst product possible?"

✕Nay

59%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Toner

"The ingredients are water, betaine, which is a humectant, glycerin, another water magnet, propanediol, another water magnet, then rice extract and ferment. I love both of these. We get a little bit of alpha arbutin with the ferment. It's hydrating and conditioning. I would say you're not going to get much in terms of hyperpigmentation brightening. Having a fraction of percent of alpha arbutin isn't going to do much, but it is a NA safe product. I'm happy for you to wear this if you have dry, dehydrated skin, flaky skin, sensitive skin, rosacea, all of those skin types are going to benefit from this toner. This one is doctor approved for those specific conditions. It comes out very light on the skin."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Skin1004 Centella Toning Toner

"Even though PHA gluconolactone is a light chemical exfoliator, it's still a chemical exfoliator. And for skin of color, we should not be exfoliating our skins every day. This is too much for us. And what will happen is over time you might actually see brightness initially but over time your skin will become drier and duller. This was not made for skin of color. So this is not a Dr. V approved product. However, for Caucasian skin or like just skin that people not watching my channel probably this product is actually going to be really great for them. This is going to be really great for Korean skin. What I would say with this product, if you really want to use it, and I do like it, is use it two nights a week maximum, and use it at night time, not daytime."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Minimalist Glycolic Acid Toner 8%

"So this is 8% glycolic acid and there's really nothing else in here. I would say for this particular product it's okay for you to use this say on the body but please avoid this on the face. This is not for our faces. It's coming out very liquidy. Maximum if you want to use it on your elbows and knees that's fine, wash it off quickly, make sure it's not in a hot shower, but really save your money. This is not Dr Fe approved."

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

Minimalist PHA Toner

"I'm happy for you to use this one to two times a week as a mild chemical exfoliator but please do not use the directions on this packaging and using morning and night. This is not really a toner I think they're just misbranded and mislabeled this unintentionally but for skin of color it's just something that I wouldn't recommend."

✕Nay

67%Guru Score

Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing Toner

"This is a Dr V approved product"

✓Yay

87%Guru Score

Anua Peach 77% Niacinamide Essence Toner

"This is essentially a niacinamide toner, but with a mistake. They added fragrance, so this could have been excellent as a niacinamide toner, but they added an acid that you don't wear during the day and they added fragrance which you don't wear at all, which is such a shame because this is so beautiful. You can see that this would have done really well on social media, but I think it needs a bit of tweaking for skin of color."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Anua BHA 2% Gentle Exfoliating Toner

"As it stands it's a"

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

The Ordinary Saccharomyces Ferment 30% Milky Toner

"If you want a drug store product I love the ordinary milky toner. [...] With this you are going to get a brightening effect but the problem is that it may irritate the skin over a period of time. I don't think it'll happen straight away it may well happen a year or two later. [...] So I'm just throwing that out there because if you do want to purchase it I actually fully understand but just be aware that if you start to notice any irritation stop buying the product."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Glow Replenishing Rice Milk Toner

"It's got glycerin as a humectant, then rice extract which I love because of the ferulic acid in it, plus coptis japonica root extract which is a soother and an antioxidant, and kaolin which is a naturally occurring oil absorbing clay mineral, but I'd say it's only a fraction of a percent so you're going to get a little bit of benefit without it feeling too drying. So it's not really going to control oil as much as it claims, but it is going to soothe the skin and is anti-inflammatory because it's got green tea extract and panthenol. I would give this product a five out of 10 as ingredients don't really match up to the claims, but it is nav safe and it will soothe inflamed skin."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Toner AHA + BHA

"There's a very distinctive reaction that happens when you put an AHA with salicylic acid. I certainly wouldn't recommend this product to my skin of color family. It gets a 2 out of 10."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Paula's Choice Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner

"I like their Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner, it's got hyaluronic acid in it, green tea extract, lots of skin restorers and antioxidants so it's not going to dry your skin. The biggest mistake you make with toners is using one with denatured alcohol in it so it gives you that quick dry feeling but at the same time your basically water is evaporated from your skin too, so that dries your skin again. This is the opposite of what we're trying to achieve, so make sure your products are knife safe, no denatured alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

CeraVe Hydrating Toner

"I like CeraVe once very good, it's got glycerin plus ceramides in it. You want to look for ceramides and you want to look for humectants."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Other15 reviews

Hero Cosmetics Hydrocolloid Patches

"If you have a spot, leave it alone and treat it topically, and you can top a spot treatment with a hydrocolloid pimple patch such as from Hero Cosmetics to stop you from touching it. It's under $15 and it's safer for black skin than picking every single time."

✓Yay

86%Guru Score

La Roche-Posay Lift Active C10

"This product costs £45. The positives are nothing. The negatives are that it's got 12% ascorbic acid, which is a worst for skin of color. The fourth ingredient in here is denatured alcohol. That's why you're getting a very quick dry feel. Denatured alcohol leads to premature aging because it generates free radicals in the skin, the exact opposite of what the vitamin C is trying to do. So this is ridiculous. They also add in fragrance and that's what that beautiful smell is. If something's smelling lovely, it's a problem for our skin because 3 to 4% of the population gets contact dermatitis from fragrance. And for skin of color that can lead to hyperpigmentation. My entire channel is dedicated to skin of color, so I'm always going to err on the side of caution. Because if you think about it, we get about a million views a day. So for me, 3 to 4% of the population watching my channel, that's tens of thousands of people getting contact dermatitis from a product. So for me, this product is a disaster."

✕Nay

58%Guru Score

Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Creme Soft Creme

"This product would be one to avoid. It is packed with hydrants so it's got alba oil, it's got glycerin, it's got acetyl glucosamine and hexopeptides. It's also got 16 extracts in this product which are skin conditioners. So those are all the positives. The negative, however, they put fragrance in it. And for that reason, I'm not a fan of fragrance for skin of color."

✕Nay

69%Guru Score

Silicone Scar sheets

"Go to the medical aisle, I'm in Super, but it literally could be anywhere, and you want to look for these Silicone Scar Sheets. Fly these before bed and they smooth out wrinkles, they boost collagen, they heal the skin, and they keep hydration in overnight, which basically makes your skin look juicy and youthful. Under a tenner, they're reusable, and they're stopping me from booking into Botox."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

SkinCeuticals Discoloration Defense

"The one thing I like about this product is that it's nave safe. The first ingredient here is water, then butene glycol. These are basically solvents. The third ingredient here is niacinamide. So it's a healthy dose of niacinamide which is good. Sixth ingredient here is tranexamic acid. And then the ninth ingredient, so very very low percentage is kojic acid. I would just say these are very low percentage actives for skin of color. It's basically niacinamide plus tranexamic acid. But for $98, I expect a lot more than that. Honestly, there are many products out there, discoloration serums with niacinamide plus tranexamic acid at less than $10. So $98 is honestly marketing, branding, and paying people to do ads about this particular product. If you understand formulas, you just would never purchase this product."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

The INKEY List Alpha Arbutin 2%

"So for example, if you want to start off cheap, start off with the inky list or the ordinary for alpha arbit."

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

Medicube Zero Pore Pad

"As a fourth ingredient here, lactic acid is going to be at a high percentage. So that means you're exfoliating your skin daily with an AHA. That's a mistake. Then the fifth ingredient in here is ethanol. That's alcohol. So now you're exfoliating the skin and you're adding in alcohol, which dries the skin, by the way. Doesn't moisturize the skin. This is a really terrible product. And I feel like because of the alcohol, you get a sensation of tightening happening as water evaporates from the skin. And that's what makes you think it's tightening your pores. So, it's a bit of a con to be honest. It's not tightening the pores. There's no salicylic acid in this, which is what helps with pore tightening. There's no collagen boosters in here, which is what would help with pore tightening. So, this one is a bit of a con, and it's one that I would tell you to avoid."

✕Nay

55%Guru Score

Vichy Mineral 89 Prebiotic Recovery and Defense Concentrate

"A serum I like for pregnancy that's totally safe and if you're just looking for sort of a glow and a boost is Vichy Mineral 89 Prebiotic Recovery and Defense Concentrate. This is fragrance-free and it gives you sort of glow and that plump if that's what you're looking for."

✓Yay

77%Guru Score

Numbuzin Collagen 73% Pudding

"What it does do is it's a humectant. Holds water in the top layer of skin. It's got glycerin, another humectant. So that's why it's so hydrating. It's got niacinamide and they use acetyl hexapeptide. So that's for fine lines. Downside of this, you guessed it, fragrance. And so this could have been a nice niacinamide peptide moisturizer. Instead, this is not one that I would recommend for skin of color. In addition, the hydrate and plump is coming just from the humectants. So you find humectants really in a lot of moisturizers. All moisturizers in fact contain humectants. If you want additional humectant in your skin, then you would purchase a serum that was say a hyaluronic acid serum in order to get that additional benefit. But for me, this one unfortunately is a no."

✕Nay

60%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Pore Minimizing Capsule Ampule

"So in here they've basically got an anti-inflammatory formula. They've used Centella, aloe, panthenol, and peptides. I love this actually to repair a damaged skin barrier. I don't think it's going to do much for the pores."

~Mixed

70%Guru Score

Anua Heartleaf 77% Clear Pad

"So for this reason this product is in WR"

✕Nay

52%Guru Score

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex

"This is a very hydrating serum. It's not doing a huge amount for wrinkles or for hyperpigmentation or any sort of skin condition, it's more of a conditioner of the skin, if you like. You can get similar results from the ordinary or from Vichy's hyaluronic acid."

~Mixed

65%Guru Score

Proactiv Solution (Three-Step System)

"Number five is proactive solution"

✕Nay

60%Guru Score

The Ordinary Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12%

"The one I would recommend is Ascorbyl Glucoside 12% so this is less irritating than ascorbic acid which is important for hyperpigmentation because we're trying not to trigger any more hyperpigmentation"

✓Yay

72%Guru Score

Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection

"I really like Colorescience SPF 50. It's a tinted sunscreen. It's ideally mineral because it's zinc oxide which is anti-inflammatory, and it has to be reef safe with no other irritants in the product."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

Mists & Essences14 reviews

COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

"I like this product. [...] I'm a cosmetic formulator myself, and I know how much love and care has to go into every formula and the thought process, so when I see products that I would purchase myself and I would tell you to go and purchase, I am actually very grateful. [...] The first ingredient is snail secretion filtrate, and the first ingredient means it has the highest percentage. This snail secretion mucus that everyone's raving about, all over Korean skincare, actually comes from the garden snail, Cornu aspersum, and it's [...] the secretion it releases when it's stressed. Snail secretion has got proteoglycans in it, glycoproteins, enzymes, glucosaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid, and copper peptides. This is all fantastic because this is what your skin needs, this is food for your skin. As soon as I finished researching COSRX and doing my in-depth investigation, I went and purchased it myself."

✓Yay

78%Guru Score

COSRX Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence

"I've actually never really been a fan of essence until I saw this product and the ingredients in it. The moisturizers they've got are panthenol, glycerin, butylene glycol, sodium hyaluronate, but it's also got galactomyces ferment filtrate as one of the top ingredients. And the second ingredient in this product is niacinamide, which I love, love, love. Anyone with skin of color should really be wearing this ingredient because it pretty much solves the majority of our skincare conditions right from pigmentation through to acne. It's one of those magical ingredients that I would highly recommend."

✓Yay

70%Guru Score

Mixsoon Bean Essence

"If you're a K beauty lover then there's one product I really like and it is nourishing to the skin and you get some brightening effect with it as well and this is the Bean Essence from Mixsoon."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

Numbuzin NAD+ PDRN Essence

"This is a product that you must avoid."

✕Nay

61%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Botanical 2GF Ampoule

"But this is also not going to stimulate collagen. I think what they're doing is they're thinking if I just plump up the skin enough with enough humectants, I'll just sort of even out the skin a bit and hopefully help a little bit with the wrinkles. But actually, this is not doing what it needs to do if you truly want to stimulate collagen. If you have wrinkles and you are trying to stimulate collagen, the key actives you want are retinol 0.1%, retinaldehyde 0.1%, you want your vitamin C, ideally tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, and then maybe some antioxidants like coenzyme Q10. This is kind of like just the bare basics of what you need in a formula."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Essence

"It's got rice extract, which I love as a conditioner. They've got aloe, which is anti-inflammatory. They've got ginseng, which is anti-inflammatory, good for anti-aging. They have some ferment, which is also good. But they've gone in with denatured alcohol and [...] fragrance. So this is not a naive safe product and it's not one I'd recommend for you or your children. What a shame because it could have been so good."

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Bamboo Mist

"It starts off so well. It starts off with water, glycerin, betane, propendial. So very hydrating, but then they thought, 'No, we're giving them too much hydration. We're going to go in with denatured alcohol at this point and strip out all that hydration.' Then they put in bergamot fruit oil. They put in lindula oil, mentha, linol, lemonene, citronella, and geraniol. These are all disasters. Disaster. Disaster. Disaster. Disaster. Disaster. What a waste of a product. What a waste of money and your skin is going to be so upset with you. Avoid."

✕Nay

57%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule

"Of course, water first and glycerin second, which I love, love, love. That means high percentage of glycerin and then glycol. Propylene glycol is also a humectant and then centella extract. So again like I said it's high up on the ingredient list which I like and the good thing about this is that it's fragrance free. So I love love love this. This is a fantastic product. Definitely worth your money. I would even recommend this for something that they haven't thought about and that is an irritated inflamed scalp. If you have an inflamed scalp and you are constantly itching and scratching it, this is something that's going to soothe the scalp and it's light enough that it's not going to lead to any greasiness of the hair, but it's going to penetrate into the skin and just give you some relief. So, if you have an itchy, inflamed scalp, this is going to work really nicely for you. And I would tell you to wear it every night."

✓Yay

82%Guru Score

Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule Foam

"I love this product. This is fragrance free as well. I would say this is a lovely cleanser if you have dry, damaged skin barrier."

✓Yay

74%Guru Score

MIXSOON Centella Asiatica Essence

"No alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. I actually like it, especially if you want something a bit gloopy, but it's got nothing else in it. It feels a little bit sticky on the skin, which is nice because there's a bit of grip and you can put your moisturizer on top. No smell, which I love. I'm really happy for you to use this product. There are no antioxidants in it, so I'm even happy with the packaging. This is going to be good for you if you have a dry, damaged skin barrier, but you're not really going to get any other benefits. The thing about centella asiatica, I love it. I formulate with it, I put it in most of my products, I buy it by the 50 kg drums in my lab. But it's an ingredient that you put in with everything else. I like it working synergistically with tyrosinase inhibitors for skin of color so that you get brightening as well as soothing simultaneously. Korean formulas generally are very simple. They're really just about texture, calming the skin, and hydrating the skin, and if you have large pores and oily, acne-prone skin that means you need more actives in your skincare. But it's nice when you're young, and it's something I'm happy for your teen kids to even put on their skin."

✓Yay

70%Guru Score

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence

"SK-II is the only luxury product that I even like and I recommend it and I've used it myself. [...] With this you are going to get a brightening effect."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng Essence Water

"This boosts skin hydration, diminishes rough texture, and helps fade uneven skin tone. The smell is quite strong from this particular ingredient. The second ingredient is butylene glycol, followed by glycerin, another humectant, and the fifth ingredient is niacinamide to strengthen the skin barrier. This product doesn't have any other actives but it does what it says it will: renourish the skin. For me, this is one I'm happy for you to use. This one's Dr V approved."

✓Yay

68%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Ginseng and Snail Essence

"I would give this particular product 6 out of 10 because it's a beautiful formula it's nonirritating but it's probably not the most effective for hyperpigmentation and wrinkles"

~Mixed

74%Guru Score

BYOMA Balancing Face Mist

"I do like the BYOMA Balancing Face Mist"

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Eye Care12 reviews

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

"Some of the products I love are The Ordinary Caffeine at 5%. Caffeine is one of those mitochondrial activators that helps address hair thinning by increasing ATP and supporting the growth phase of hair follicles, leading to stronger hair strands and reducing shedding."

✓Yay

77%Guru Score

Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Bakuchiol Eye Cream

"This product only has bucha and niacinamide, they've called it a retinol alternative, so yes you can wear this during pregnancy but it's not going to do anything much for the eyes. It's like a moisturizer, it's like wearing a bucha moisturizer or a niacinamide moisturizer. It's just not worth it."

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal

"It's got glycerin as the third ingredient, so that softens the skin, and then we've got niacinamide as the eighth ingredient. It's a bit tingly on the skin, which is surprising, plus it's got 0.2% retinaldehyde, which is pretty low to be honest. You might see a little improvement with fine lines but really nothing drastic. I like it in that it's naif safe, it pretty much does what it says, it's good for sensitive skin. You're not going to see much improvement with your fine lines because the percentage of retinaldehyde is only 0.2%, but I would give it a 6 out of 10."

~Mixed

95%Guru Score

RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream

"It's going to help with the puffiness but it's not going to help with your dark circles or wrinkles because there aren't any tyrosine inhibitors in here at all and the only thing that's going to help with fine lines are the peptides and generally peptides work best in conjunction with other collagen stimulators. I'm only going to give this product a three out of 10 because it only helps with the puffiness, a third of the claims. It does penetrate nicely and quickly into the skin but you're not getting much for this one."

✕Nay

83%Guru Score

Olay Retinol 24 Eye Cream

"It doesn't do much for dark circles, especially for skin of color as ours are very stubborn. There aren't any other actives in this product. It does contain lath 4, which is an irritating emulsifier. I'm not sure why they did that. Plus it's got DMDM hydantoin as a preservative, this is a synthetic preservative and it releases formaldehyde, which is an irritant, making this actually a disaster product. This is something I actually really wouldn't recommend for any of you. It's a shame because actually the retinol is very good, and so far we really haven't seen vitamin A in the eye creams that are meant to help with fine lines and dark circles when surely this is meant to be the first ingredient we should be looking for. I think you just need to reformulate this. And while you're at it, if you're going to put retinol in a product, don't put it in a jar. Put it in an airless pump because it's an antioxidant and oxidizes in oxygen."

✕Nay

66%Guru Score

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Eye Cream

"So far it's the only product that even has retinol at the correct percentage that is Navy safe, that's non-irritating. And for that reason I'm going to have to give it a 5 out of 10, which is actually pretty decent. But having said that, there's air around the tube, there's air in this tube, you don't know how much of this product is even working."

~Mixed

71%Guru Score

CeraVe Eye Cream with Peptides

"We've got ceramides and peptides at a fraction of a percent, then they've put in isopropyl myristate, which is comedogenic, so don't use this product if you have oily, acne-prone skin or you're prone to milia. However, there really is nothing in here for dark circles. Please don't tell me your peptide moisturizer is going to do anything for dark circles. So again, you're only going to get three out of ten. CeraVe, such a shame, honestly, because CeraVe's serums are pretty terrible. Their moisturizers, however, fantastic. They're fantastic for skin of color. We have less ceramides in our skin, and if anyone's going to get the moisturizers right, it should be CeraVe. But when it comes to serums, I feel like we really don't have any skin of color formulators on the board."

✕Nay

60%Guru Score

Face Facts Ceramide Eye Cream

"It has ceramides in it which I love because with skin of color we have less ceramides in our skin so they've done well with this. Plus they put in oat extract which is anti-inflammatory and I love this specifically for eczema. So I would say this product is good if you have very dry skin around the eye area. It's not going to do much for dark circles, there's no tyrosine inhibitors in this particular product. I would give this product a 6 out of 10. It's very cheap, it's good for eczema or dry skin around the eye areas, but it has no tyrosine inhibitors and nothing to inhibit for puffiness either."

~Mixed

74%Guru Score

Minimalist Vitamin K Retinal 0.1% Eye Cream

"They've got caffeine in it, caffeine has limited efficacy but you tend to put it into an eye cream. It's also got retinal and peptides but at low percentages which I would expect as well. So this product is going to be good for fine lines but not very good for dark circles. [...] When they did the clinical studies that said 19% saw a reduction after 8 weeks, I'm not surprised at such a low number because honestly when it comes to dark circles in skin of color you need high strength tyrosine inhibitors and high percentages in combination, a cocktail of them, and there's not really enough in this product to be honest to see much difference in your dark circles. You're going to see a little bit mainly because the humectant factors of the glycerin water will separate those skin cells so light reflects more easily but it's not going to do much about the hyperactive melanocyte which is spitting out excess melanin under the skin. That's a safe product, no D alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils so I do like it. I would prefer it if it was in an airless pump because antioxidants tend to have higher efficacy when there's no oxygen around the ingredients but for the price it is worth it. It is something I would recommend."

~Mixed

78%Guru Score

The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream

"Caffeine on its own isn't going to do much. This is expensive, so this is the upgrade when all the drugstore products don't work. This has been formulated for skin of color. [...] This is really the upgrade if you have dark circles, puffy eyes, fine lines, and have skin of color and the cheaper products don't work you have an option, but this is expensive. It's around 34 dollars for 10 mls, so you know, not something that you would go for first, but you have an option."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

The INKEY List Retinol Eye Cream

"The Inkey List Retinol Eye Cream, it's basically a moisturizer plus retinol. I like it but it would be better if it was an airless pump."

~Mixed

68%Guru Score

Versed Smooth Landing Advanced Retinoid Eye Balm

"It's got fats first, which means it's going to hold water and prevent transepidermal water loss. It's got vitamin A, but it's not an airless pump, which means you don't really know how effective the vitamin A is going to be. However, it is Na Safed, meaning no denat alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. And I do like it, and it's only twelve pounds, so this is one that actually is decent."

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Masks & Peels11 reviews

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant

"It gets into each pore to minimize sebum production. So that's excellent. The only thing I'd say to you, which differs from the website, is wear this only at night time for skin of color. I would never want you to exfoliate and then go out into the sun where you have a barrage of free radicals on the skin thank you to the UV which is not good for our skin. But I absolutely love this product and I would buy this product if this was my main concern which is oily skin."

✓Yay

89%Guru Score

COSRX BHA Blackhead Power Liquid 4%

"I actually really like this product. The first ingredient is Salix Alba bark water, which is a great anti-inflammatory. It has great moisturizers in it too, so it's got butylene glycol, panthenol, and arginine. Butylene glycol is quite good because it's a solvent but it also helps the other ingredients penetrate deeper into the skin. [...] It has 4% salicylate betaine. In Korea, they're not actually allowed to put in high percentages of salicylic acid, so what they do is they combine betaine, which is a moisturizer, with salicylic acid. The combination of 4% of this is similar efficacy to 2% salicylic acid. The fourth ingredient is niacinamide, which is one of my favorite ingredients and it's great for skin of color. It [...] helps to reduce hyperpigmentation and helps to reduce your sebum levels."

✓Yay

69%Guru Score

Numbuzin No.6 Deep Sleep Mask

"Make sure you do your skincare 2 hours before bed to make sure this doesn't come off on your sheets. So in here we've got a bunch of humectants plus niacinamide and it's fragrance-free. I love it. This is a Navesafe product. Highly recommend it. If you're going through menopause, your skin is feeling really tight and dry, put this on. If you've got a damaged skin barrier after your moisturizer, put this on. I really like this. Well done. 10 out of 10 on this product."

✓Yay

68%Guru Score

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

"I also like Paula's Choice 6% mandelic plus 2% lactic, so that's 8% but of gentle AHAs. They're great for skin of color and the trick is to remove enough dead skin cells to see young, juicy, glowing skin. You want to make sure you're getting hydration into the top layer, so you want humectant in the actual chemical exfoliator, and ideally want gentle tyrosine inhibitors that can go deep into the skin and can help to calm down the melanocytes, the cells producing the pigment melanin. You want all this to happen but in a very anti-inflammatory way."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Minimalist 10% AHA + 2% BHA Face Exfoliating Serum

"This one is not Dr V approved. The next product is their AHA BHA pH product. I thought I had it but I don't have it. 25% AHAs, the second ingredient is glycolic acid, the third ingredient is lactic acid. That's actually worse than this product by the way, so that is the other product to absolutely avoid."

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Minimalist 10% Vitamin C Face Serum with PHA

"I think that was a mistake that the serums really should have been in airless pumps. I think they would have done better just in terms of efficacy of product. So I would say if you want to use this product I'm happy for you to use it, I can't vouch for how effective the vitamin C is going to be, but it is a nav safe product. I like the form of vitamin C that's been used. I do like the fact they've used gluconolactone, but it means that you should not be using this in the mornings and certainly not daily either. So for that reason I am going to say it's Dr V kind of approved but you can do better."

~Mixed

78%Guru Score

Anua Heartleaf LHA Peeling Gel

"The packaging and you never combine the two especially for acne prone sensitive skin which is already broken right you already every time you have pimple it's a damaged Skin Barrier you have inflammation and you've broken skin literally broken skin and now you put this on your face this is a problem and a mistake should never have been made"

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Ground Rice and Honey Glow Mask

"It will help with minimizing pores and also help with oil absorption, so if you have very oily skin or combination skin, you're going to like this. It's also got honey in it, and that's what's allowing it to stick to the skin so well, which is a very soothing ingredient. Plus it has glycerin, so that's holding water in the top layer of skin. I actually really like this product and highly recommend it. I would give this a 7.5 out of 10, especially if you have oily, acne-prone skin and you just want to treat yourself once a week. I think this is something that would benefit you, but also if you have mature skin with large pores, I think you'll also benefit from this."

✓Yay

97%Guru Score

Beauty of Joseon Apricot Blossom Peeling Gel

"It has glycerin so it is going to be hydrating, but I can feel actual physical beads, which is not a good idea with an enzyme peel. You never mix the two together. The fourth ingredient in here is denatured alcohol, which is not an ingredient that should ever be on our skin, plus it added fragrance, which is an absolute disaster. This product is one of the worst we've seen today. It gets zero out of 10."

✕Nay

63%Guru Score

Glow Recipe Strawberry Smooth BHA and AHA Salicylic Serum

"The strongest smell out of all of the Glow Recipe products is probably to mask that particular smell. I mean they've done a good job, I can't smell that pungent smell, but I would never put fragrance in with acids. For me that is a big problem because acids are already likely to be irritating the skin. Add that with the chance of getting contact dermatitis, and anyone with skin of color, because I'm a cosmetic formulator for skin of color, I would never recommend this combination. The cost is 39 pounds for 30 mls. I mean that's insane, that's almost a pound per mil."

✕Nay

70%Guru Score

The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution

"The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution is a viral product all over TikTok that is a disaster for pretin skin. It can burn the skin and lead to hyperpigmentation, and that can then sit on the skin for decades."

✕Nay

58%Guru Score

Acne8 reviews

Deconstruct Salicylic Acid and Niacinamide

"It's basically niacinamide as the second ingredient, third ingredient is alpha arbutin probably at 2%, then it's glycerin. Alpha arbutin is your tyrosinase inhibitor, that's the ingredient that's going to be working in here, glycerin is hydrating, and that's basically it, it's the most simple formula, just 2% alpha arbutin, 5% niacinamide. This is not going to clear your pigmentation in Indian skin, but if you have like uneven tone and it's not bothering you too much, this is something that you might add into your morning or evening routine, that's fine, but it's not something that's going to help you with more stubborn pigmentation. As this formula is fragrance-free, there's no oxidants in this, so that's why it's okay for it to be in a pump that lets in air, just make sure it's not touching your skin. I give this a probably about 7.5 to 8 out of 10. It's okay. It's fine. And it's just not wildly effective."

~Mixed

76%Guru Score

Vichy Normaderm SOS Acne Rescue Spot Corrector

"I would tell you to avoid Vichy Normaderm. It's got perfume in it. This product actually had a lot right with it. They just went wrong with the perfume step. That's the one thing that if they just removed that, it would have been a great product."

~Mixed

80%Guru Score

The INKEY List Succinic Acid Acne Treatment

"The Inkey List has got a very good succinic acid."

✓Yay

73%Guru Score

The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution

"I also like the 2% salicylic acid from the ordinary. So 2% salicylic acid will basically just help to unclog the pore and it just keeps doing it. So you can't really stop using salicylic acid if you have oily acne prone skin because what happens with your pore is it will continue to fill up and every time it fills up you're likely to have a breakout."

✓Yay

84%Guru Score

Minimalist 2% Salicylic Acid Serum

"This I love love love and this is an example of when you copy and it goes right. Paula's Choice came up with this idea of a 2% leave-on salicylic acid [...] instead of just washing off the salicylic acid, and [...] it worked so well that virtually every brand came with their own version of 2%."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

"Moving on to the Acne Pimple Master Patch from COSRX, I like this because it's got multiple different sizes. Generally speaking these are going to be a little bit redundant, no one's going to have spots quite so tiny on this side, they're going to be slightly larger on this side, but we've got nine here. It's not as thick actually as the Mighty Patch, it doesn't give you that splitting of the plastic, so it's forcing you to have to bend the plastic and almost try and peel it off, and this means it's going to be slightly trickier, you might get a little bit more creasing of the actual patch itself and you might have to touch a bit more of it. I put it on, I would say it's definitely thinner, slightly more discreet, I'd say still obvious."

~Mixed

75%Guru Score

Mighty Patch Original Hydrocolloid Acne Pimple Patches

"This one is quite thick but it doesn't mean it's going to last longer. It's going to be more durable and there's less creasing happening when I'm putting my finger down. Ideally with hydro patches you want to be wearing them for 6 to 8 hours, but to get best results you want to be wearing them for 24 hours. If you're at school or at work you might not want to walk around with these, so this is why we're doing the test to see which is the most discreet."

✓Yay

86%Guru Score

Acne.org Benzoyl Peroxide Gel

"Your treatment would be your Benzoyl Peroxide Gel. Make sure it's fragrance free. I like Acne.org as a brand."

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

Foundation8 reviews

Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Foundation

"It contains denatured alcohol at a concentration that disrupts the barrier and increases transepidermal water loss, which then drives inflammation, which then leads to PIH, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, meaning darkening. Heavy silicones may also trap sebum in follicle-sensitive skin. It contains high-quality actives and an exceptional 51-shade range, but the problem with the foundation is it has been formulated for complexion performance, not acne safety. The final verdict is I can't recommend this for daily wear on acne-prone skin of color skin."

✕Nay

82%Guru Score

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation

"I was traumatized after I read the ingredients list on this because I've been using it for years, and it's actually very bad for aging skin as well. It's got isopropyl myristate, comedogenic four or five out of five, so very high up. They've added fragrance. It's got a stunning finish, but clinically it's problematic. The final verdict is it's high risk for breakouts and PIH in acne-prone skin of color. Avoid."

✕Nay

69%Guru Score

NARS Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation

"It contains fragrance. The finish is beautiful. It's got good pigment coverage, but the fragrance creates cumulative inflammatory input in skin of color. Gorgeous formula, but not acne-safe."

✕Nay

75%Guru Score

Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

"It contains fragrance. It's got a heavy silicone base, excellent coverage, questionable for daily acne wear. Final verdict, short-term coverage, possible long-term acne cost. Avoid."

✕Nay

78%Guru Score

Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation

"The target here is clearly acne, aimed at people with oily skin. What they did is they put denatured alcohol as a fifth ingredient, very high up, and [...] denatured alcohol is a big problem for acne-prone skin, it actually encourages more sebum production. On the positive side, it's got good blurring powders and a strong shade range, and it's fragrance-free, which is unusual. [...] My verdict on this is that they've put performance ahead of formulas that are safe for acne, so it's not one that I'm going to recommend for you."

✕Nay

72%Guru Score

Tarte Shape Tape Foundation

"This has got ethylhexyl palmitate. They've added in fragrance. It's excellent in terms of shade range with 58 shades. Final verdict, outstanding shade range but wrong for acne."

✕Nay

55%Guru Score

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Longwear Matte Foundation

"A couple that do actually seem to be okay is the Estée Lauder Double Wear."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

The Ordinary Serum Foundation

"A couple that do actually seem to be okay is one is the Estee Lauder Double Wear and the other one is the ordinary both of them are non-comedogenic and contain no fragrance"

✓Yay

60%Guru Score

Lip8 reviews

Topicals Slick Salve Glossy Lip Balm

"This is a standard emollient lip balm with castor oil, shea butter, and vitamin E, but there are no tyrosinase inhibitors in the formula and no SPF, even though the lips are often the first part of the body to tan and black lips hyperpigment from sun exposure and chronic inflammation. A lip product targeting black skin should contain at least SPF 30 or pigment modulating actives, and this doesn't. At $16, Aquaphor does the same job. It wasn't really made with black skin in mind."

✕Nay

74%Guru Score

MIXSOON Vegan Melting Lip Balm

"This is the Vegan Melting Lip Balm. We've got propylene glycol dicaprylate which is basically a synthetic ingredient that's used like a silicone replacement. It gives you that sort of smooth luxury feeling. It's also got a high reflective quality which I think would even work as your highlighter on your cheekbones as well as on your lips. So you get that shine and it's full of emollients which are basically your skin conditioners. And it's fragrance safe, no alcohol, no fragrance, no essential oils. You can pop this on at night time as a sleep mask, especially if you're getting chapped lips or angular cheilitis. Put it on your lips and around the lips as well, especially if you're getting darkening around the lip area. Pop this on when you wash your face, put your moisturizer on, then put this on as a last step on your lips and around the lip area. It's going to help brighten around the lip area because saliva has amulets in it that eat carbohydrates including skin cells, which can lead to irritation around the lip area."

✓Yay

81%Guru Score

Minimalist L-Ascorbic Acid 8% Lip Treatment with Vitamin E and Glycerine

"So I've got glycerin, then it's got petrolatum, then it's got emollient which I like, so there's conditioners and emollients, but the point is the 8% ascorbic acid, that is an exfoliator and it's just too harsh. You certainly should not be wearing this during the day and then going out into the sun. This is a big mistake. You will see immediate brightening and then you're going to see rapid darkening of the lips because you're triggering your melanocytes. Big, big problem. You should instead only be wearing SPF 50 when you go out on your lips. Yeah, this is a mistake. Big mistake. Don't buy. Avoid."

✕Nay

69%Guru Score

Hyphen Vitamin Infused Peptide Lip Balm

"When you're formulating for lip products for skin of color, you have to be very, very careful. You do not do a copy-paste situation of what's happening in the west. What you can get away with on Caucasian skin, you cannot get away with for skin of color. We have to be more careful. We have to avoid all fragrance in our lip products and all irritant in our lip products, and for this reason, this product is a no."

✕Nay

56%Guru Score

Vaseline Lip Therapy Original

"When it comes to their lip balms I love the original Vaseline not the flowery one. the epidermis is very thin on your lips that's the top layer of skin now if you put something on there that is sensitizer to the skin or leads to any sort of contact dermatitis on your skin skin on your lips where you are constantly licking and eating and irritants are touching the lips actually become damaged much faster than anywhere else on your face and so you have to be a lot more careful with that area so please just buy the original Vaseline"

✓Yay

80%Guru Score

Vaseline Rosy Lip Therapy

"Please just buy the original Vaseline"

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

The Ordinary Squalane + Amino Acids Lip Balm

"I like it for your cuticles if you want something a little bit less greasy as you go around touching things"

~Mixed

62%Guru Score

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

"I think initially you're going to love this product when you put it on but actually it's going to be shortlived. Your lips are going to feel really dry and you're just not going to get the benefits. It just sits on the lips, it's not penetrating into the lips. That's what you want: humectants that are going to pull the hydration into the lips, which you're not really getting with this product. This is probably one of the worst products I've tried today."

✕Nay

73%Guru Score

Haircare6 reviews

CeraVe Anti-Dandruff Shampoo with Zinc Pyrithione

"Again, it's fragrance-free. It contains ceramides. Not much else for hair growth, but it's affordable"

✓Yay

85%Guru Score

Vanicream Free and Clear Hair Shampoo

"If you want to go with something that's cheaper, that's non-irritating to the scalp that's going to protect the scalp barrier, go with this product."

✓Yay

71%Guru Score

The INKEY List Caffeine Stimulating Scalp Treatment

"The inky list does a caffeine stimulating treatment as well."

✓Yay

75%Guru Score

The Ordinary Hair Care Shampoo

"I'm using the Ordinary shampoo and conditioner, but I do find that the shampoo does feel quite stripping. I feel like I need something that's a bit more hydrating. There is nothing in here that's hydrating. It's just a very basic, literally a very basic cleanser. You've got your sodium laurith sulfate, which they're saying is at 4%. So that's actually quite a gentle surfactant, but that's basically all that's here. Polysorbate is what creates some micelles around dirt to wash it away. Xanthan gum is a thickener and then tocopherol acetate we use a fraction of a percent. So you basically know this is what is more than a percent and there is nothing in here that's a humectant or that's going to hydrate the scalp and what can happen is flaking of the scalp if you don't have humectants in your shampoo."

✕Nay

62%Guru Score

Rogaine Minoxidil 5% Foam

"Rogaine is the brand name and this helps to stimulate hair growth. Clinical studies show that 5% topical minoxidil is very effective with approximately 40% of women experiencing significant hair regrowth. Minoxidil is applied directly to the scalp usually twice a day. It's important to be patient as it can take about four months or more to see changes. Minoxidil is supposed to increase blood flow to the hair follicle promoting hair growth and keeping it in its natural growth phase. The side effects are quite common: you can get scalp irritation, and if that happens when you're itching your scalp you're likely to get more hair loss. It can also lead to a dry scalp, which is annoying because the more irritated scalp the less strong the hair strands are. Often the side effects are just mild and tend to resolve themselves with continued use. Start slow and low and work your way up is the best way."

✓Yay

86%Guru Score

K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask

"The second ingredient is denatured alcohol, so it's drying the hair. They have got conditioning agents, it has got hydrolyzed wheat which does help to repair protein, but you have to look at preventing first. You don't want to make the situation worse and then try and cover it up with other good ingredients. This formula just doesn't make any sense to me. I think what they were trying to do is almost give that quick dry feeling to the hair to make you feel like the ingredients have penetrated into the shaft, but it's a mistake."

✕Nay

82%Guru Score

Body & Tan4 reviews

Vaseline Intensive Care Cocoa Radiant Body Oil

"A particular issue with this product is that they've got broma cacao seed butter which is four out of five on the comedogenic scale, which means it's more likely to lead to breakouts. So I would definitely avoid this product if you've got oily acne prone skin. And then it's also got perfume and coumarin in it, which are both fragrances. And as you all know, fragrance is the number one cause of contact dermatitis. It doesn't often happen straight away; it often happens over years of use and you have a delayed reaction. And fragrance is a co-sensitizer, so it sensitizes you to other ingredients in that product that you weren't originally sensitive to, so then you have issues with other products."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Bioderma Atoderm Shower Oil

"So this is for normal or sensitive skin, £14 for 1,000 mls, so it's actually very cheap. It's basically just water, gentle surfactant, very low percentage, and I said my I not in the therapeutic index, plus perfume. For me this is one to avoid, even though it's very cheap. It's better to go for a fragrance-free cheap version."

✕Nay

75%Guru Score

Aveeno Skin Relief Oat Body Wash

"The Aveeno Skin Relief Oat Body Wash is more expensive, it's £10 for 500 mls. It's got glycerin plus cocamidopropyl betaine, which is fine, but it's also got oats extract which means it's anti-inflammatory, so this is good for sensitive skin."

✓Yay

86%Guru Score

Q&A Vitamin A C and E Cleansing Shower Oil

"This is basically water, glycerin, and I can't actually see vitamin A or C in the ingredient list, which is odd because that's in the title of the product, plus a ton of fragrance. So this is one to avoid."

✕Nay

68%Guru Score

Balms & Ointments2 reviews

Vaseline Original Healing Jelly

"So, what you want to do is you want to go in with an occlusive. So, something like Vaseline, obviously fragrance-free, because don't forget you have a damaged skin barrier and you really want to be reapplying throughout the day. [...] Keep a Vaseline in your pocket and ensure it's fragrance-free."

✓Yay

86%Guru Score

CeraVe Healing Ointment

"CeraVe's got a very good ointment if you need something a bit thicker."

✓Yay

92%Guru Score

Concealer2 reviews

Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer

"The Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer literally only contains hyaluronic acid plus niacinamide, which really should be in your moisturizer anyway. There's nothing in any concealers to actually repair the skin, even the so-called hybrid concealers."

✕Nay

64%Guru Score

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Dark Spot Concealer and Serum

"The Charlotte Tilbury beautiful skin radiant concealer It Cosmetics byby dark spot concealer and serum say slip radiant all over concealer the L'Oreal Paris true matte eye cream in a concealer are all hybrids but literally only contain hyon acid plus nicomide which really should be in your moisturizer anyway"

✕Nay

60%Guru Score

Tech2 reviews

CurrentBody LED Light Therapy Mask Series 1

"The first one I looked at was actually this one, the CurrentBody is 299 with 132 bulbs. I'd say it's actually quite comfortable to wear and it gives you a 10-minute timer."

~Mixed

89%Guru Score

Omnilux Face Contour Red Light Therapy Mask

"The Omnilux Contour Face again with 132 bulbs, but it cost £350, so £50 extra."

~Mixed

75%Guru Score

Ingredients1 review

Allies of Skin Retinaldehyde

"They don't disclose percentage of retin aldhy so we don't actually know how effective this product is"

✕Nay

71%Guru Score

Powder & Setting1 review

Monistat Chafing Relief Powder-Gel

"For friction PIH, add a Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel every morning. It's a silicone-based barrier. It physically blocks friction all day long."

✓Yay

83%Guru Score

Supplements1 review

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides with Amino Acids, Iron and Protein

"The next one I like is Vital Proteins, it's the same 12 grams but no other vitamins."

~Mixed

67%Guru Score

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