Lab Muffin Beauty Science.

"This is the European version, this was one of the sunscreens I bought when I was in Italy a while back and it was the one that I used the most while I was on holiday. I really like this because it isn't too glidey when I'm applying it. It is fragrance-free with very minimal smell. There is alcohol in it but to me it isn't really that obvious. The finish is satiny, it isn't as matte as I really expected for an oil control product but honestly I don't think any chemical sunscreens go really super matte but it does stay the same level of satiny for a really long time so I found that really impressive. In summer it is heavier than Asian sunscreens which is not really that surprising, it's a European sunscreen, but it is still really lightweight compared to most other European sunscreens. I found it really comfortable especially given that this is water resistant. I really enjoyed wearing this, it felt like it stayed in place really well despite all the oil and sweat and heat."

"It has an almost identical ingredient list to the Eucerin and is definitely meant to be a dupe, but they are manufactured in different countries. This is manufactured in Germany, so I would guess that they probably use some different ingredient suppliers, so they are not going to be completely identical. But if you miss the old invisible fluid, this is probably the next closest thing. It's fragrance-free, it's lightweight, it's non-greasy, and it is just really lovely and smooth to apply. It says it's anti-eye stinging, which was true in my experience. I found this a bit more matte and less oily than I expected, which was a really pleasant surprise. The downsides, which honestly aren't really much of a downside: there's a slight sunscreen smell and it is pretty runny. It is a fluid, but it's not ridiculous. It is still pretty manageable and doesn't make a massive mess. Also, the packaging is pretty neat. It is Omar approved. My husband Omar hates sunscreens that can explode in his bag, and the nozzle is really impressive compared to a whole bunch of sunscreens with similar nozzles. This nozzle just doesn't seem to be very messy. There is no sunscreen on the threads."

"It has a light cooling sort of sensation as you apply it. There is alcohol high on the ingredient list but I couldn't really smell much of the alcohol when I was applying it and I didn't feel any burning on my skin. It spreads really nicely and dries down quickly, but the flip side of that is that it does get a little bit tacky and hard to spread a bit faster if you go back and try to apply more on areas you've already covered. After it's dried down it's clear and a little bit glossy but it is a really thin comfortable layer. There's not like a greasy shine and that shine is easily covered up by a tiny any amount of powder. There is a bit of a pore filling effect and it feels really lightweight even though it is water resistant."

"This is a new entry on my list. It's probably the most popular Elta MD sunscreen. Elta MD is a brand that's sold in a lot of skin clinics. It's very lightweight and silky. It's meant to be good for sensitive skin, including skin prone to acne and rosacea, and it applies clear with no residue. I'm not entirely sure it would meet the broad spectrum requirements for Australia or the EU with its filters, but it is broad spectrum in the US. It's very wearable, so if you're not getting a lot of sun, this is a pretty good option."

"This is an Australian sunscreen that's their all-rounder product meant for all skin types. It's hydrating so it doubles up as a moisturizer but has a satin finish and works well as a primer under makeup. It has what they describe as a clean sort of scent and it has a bunch of antioxidants in it as well. It has my favorite type of sunscreen packaging, a pump top. They're just so handy and it makes it easy to remember how much you need to use. Ultraviolet sunscreens were developed by women who have a lot of experience making products for a multi-step routine, so their sunscreens tend to work well for morning routines where the sunscreen might need to be layered with other skincare and makeup products. The whole Ultraviolet line was purposely designed to play well with other products, so I think that's why they've gotten so popular."

"This is a very lightweight non-greasy sunscreen designed for sensitive skin and it's pretty much invisible after you apply it. It's fragrance free, absorbs easily into skin, doesn't clog pores, and sits nicely under makeup. It's just a comfortable daily sunscreen. It's also formulated to not sting eyes and that seems to be true for most people who have reviewed this. The packaging is also really nice with the liquid texture and small drop opening, which means there's less product wastage."

"Biore UV Watery Essence is another legacy product and I finally tried the 2025 version. Again, it's fantastic. The filters are the same as the 2023 one, which was in my last top sunscreens video, but there have been a few changes in the other ingredients. To me it's a little bit heavier, but not by very much. I had no eye sting, and I did have a little peeling at the edges, which I'm actually quite okay with because this is water resistant."

"This is a European sunscreen, and it is very lightweight for a European sunscreen, with a filter list that almost looks like a Korean sunscreen. It dries down super matte, I think it is probably the most mattifying sunscreen I have ever tried. It made my skin less shiny than it ever naturally is, and I didn't notice much shine returning for a full day, which is pretty impressive even in winter. It also makes the makeup I put on top more matte as well. There's no eye sting for me and no peeling issues. It has a UVA protection of over 30, which is really high, and it's 40 minutes water resistant, although I probably wouldn't recommend something this lightweight for swimming."

"This is one of my longtime favorite sunscreens, I first started reviewing it in 2023. It has a relatively unique formula for a Korean sunscreen, it doesn't have MBBT, one of the ingredients that gives a white cast, so if you've had trouble with that this is a good one to try. I personally found this pretty moisturizing but still pretty matte, it sits really nicely under makeup and I haven't had trouble with any of the makeup I've tried it under, which has been a lot. It's really lightweight and great for oily skin. It's not water resistant though, so I wouldn't recommend it if you're moving around or sweating a lot, and if you're getting a ton of sun exposure I'd recommend getting a sunscreen locally instead so you don't have to worry about shipping."

"This has pretty much zero fragrance. It has no white cast as well, and it dries with a sort of glowy skin smoothing finish. This finish was the thing that I found most unique and impressive about this sunscreen. It says it uses ultrafine priming particles to fill in fine lines and blur to create a smooth looking skin, and that's definitely what I noticed. It just made my skin look really nice and smooth and plump. I think this is fantastic, especially if you're not planning to use foundation on top, if you're planning to go makeup free. It is really hydrating, and I think this is probably from all the different types of hydrolysed collagen they have in this. They have a whole bunch of different ones. Another super interesting thing about this sunscreen for me is that it contains a retinoid. It is hydroxypinacolone retinoate or granactive retinoid. And it's really interesting to see it in a sunscreen. It's obviously there for this anti-aging formula. It also has microcooling capsules which are meant to be cooling on application. It also has a UV aging barrier, which is Round Lab's own ingredient mix containing arginine and quercetin. These are antioxidants that can soak up free radical damage, which UV does cause. This also has a bunch of clinical testing for the anti-aging claims. So for example, it's got reduced pore size after 4 weeks, which I think is pretty cool. With sunscreens, most of the time I'm just looking at texture, wearability, and UV protection. I usually just ignore the other added skincare benefits, but for this one, I think they're actually pretty cool."

"Their original sunscreen, that's the Relief Sun Rice and Probiotics. This is one of my favorite Korean sunscreens. You can probably tell from how dented and gross the tube is. I've raved about it so many times. I actually gave out little samples of this at my wedding. The overall concept is the same. They're both SPF 50 plus and PA with four pluses. They are both really lightweight and they use a lot of newer UV filters. The old formula was really good for me. It was really glowy, and I really enjoyed that."

"This is a chemical sunscreen with a lot of the new filters and I found that this is slightly heavier than some of the Korean sunscreens I've tried. It has a little bit of pilling if I rub, and this is pretty standard what I expect for a water-resistant sunscreen because they contain a bit more film formers, but it is still really nice and light. I found that it had a slight white cast when I first applied it, I'm guessing that's from the MBBT, but it goes away after it dries down on my skin. I can definitely see why this is so popular. One interesting thing is this is water, sweat, and sand resistant, which is relatively rare for a Korean sunscreen. It has been tested and it looks like it's to Korean standards, which is less than 50% loss of SPF after 40 minutes. Now as an Australian, I wouldn't trust it for sports or for swimming; we have 4-hour water-resistant sunscreens that stay at the labelled SPF, but I think it is probably longer wearing than the lightweight Korean sunscreens that have no testing."

"The OneSkin absorbs smoothly without the annoying white cast that store brand leaves [...] on my skin, which is super common with cheaper zinc oxide sunscreens. [...] If OneSkin have managed to make a mineral sunscreen that has less white cast than most other mineral sunscreens, possibly because they are using an SPF booster, that could make this rather expensive sunscreen worth it for some people, but it is only SPF 30, and white cast is usually not that big a problem for those."

"Round Lab is the version that's super popular in Korea. It's [...] very similar to the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen which has been my longtime favorite. [...] I would say that this is like a touch more moisturizing. It's glidey and moisturizing without being like sticky or greasy. In terms of white cast, if I apply this unevenly and let it dry, sometimes I will get a bit of a white streak but it blends out really easily. On some people with darker skin there is a slight white cast though that doesn't go away. [...] There's no alcohol in the sunscreens from this family and most of these also don't have fragrance."

"When you squeeze it out it is completely clear. This sort of formula is usually used in pore filling makeup primers and honestly I don't really like these formulas. I find them really hard to apply or rather they're kind of too easy to apply so they glide on really nicely but I can't get the full amount onto my face. [...] With these sorts of formulas it kind of feels like I'm spreading icing on my face and it feels like it's sitting on my skin in a really thick layer, sort of like I'm slugging and it's not sinking in and I'm just like moving it around endlessly. [...] These formulas use a lot of isododecane as the solvent which is volatile and so that evaporates as the sunscreen dries down. [...] There is like this sort of solventy smell but that goes away pretty quickly. One thing I do really appreciate about these silicone formulas is how matte they are when you put them on, [...] but on my skin at least it kind of feels like it just doesn't ever set properly. It feels like I have this film on my skin even though it does look matte. It just sort of feels greasier than it looks. I also feel like some of it comes off on my fingers when I brush against it even hours later. But if you have dry skin these do tend to do better and they have a really nice smoothing sort of makeup priming effect. So I can see why this is so popular [...] but it's just not really for me."

"This has a creme gel formula but it feels very different on the skin compared to those other cream gel sunscreens. It has a lot of makeup style pigment and effect particles in it, bismuth oxychloride, mica, titanium dioxide and iron oxides. I actually prefer the texture during application more than with the Unseen, it's a lot easier to get that full amount onto my face, but after it dries down it does feel very noticeable on my skin probably because of all those shimmer particles. The shimmer is just too much. If you use a sunscreen amount, when you use enough to get that full SPF 40 protection, it looks properly metallic. If you apply a really tiny bit, a primer amount, then it gives you a really beautiful glow, but not with the full amount. There's also this tint which dried kind of orange. I don't think this product is suited for people who are looking for a sunscreen. I would call this a primer with SPF, not a sunscreen."

"It has that clear formula, it's silicone, it is water free. It starts off with a slightly stronger solvent smell that goes away pretty quickly after you start rubbing it in. When you squeeze this out it has a slightly less smooth texture than the Unseen and it feels a little bit thicker and heavier on my skin, but honestly the difference is not that big. This is definitely worth a try if you think this sort of formula might work for your skin. It is really popular and it works well for some people. I just prefer products that are a bit lighter on the silicones and they're more of that cream gel moisturizer feeling rather than like a primer."

"I personally tend not to prefer mineral sunscreens but this is one of my favorite formulas so far. It's from Kolmar and I just feel like they really know how to make good sunscreens that people enjoy using. The finish is not very greasy, it's more of a hydrated finish and it is slightly slide-y so you can blend out any white streaks pretty easily. It has a cream gel consistency. It's got niacinamide and hyaluronic acid and I think that's what contributes to this being not too drying and not too greasy, it is just hydrating, which is pretty rare with mineral sunscreens. I love a good pump container with my sunscreens because I find them really nice and easy to dispense and you can easily work out how many pumps you need to use. For my face these would need three pumps and it would be three to six pumps probably for most people depending on the size of your face."

"This has zinc oxide 10% and no SPF boosters that I can see, so this should be a very safe option for people who have a lot of chemical sunscreen allergies. During application this gave me a ton of white cast but it did settle down surprisingly well after a bit. It does end up greasy and there were like little white flecks on my skin but overall I was really impressed by how well this went for an untinted mineral sunscreen with no boosters. It also has this cap which is pretty cool it changes color in UV which is kind of fun if you go into the sun. My partner did use this on a beach day and he absolutely literally hated it because it doesn't spread well and it was white and it kind of just drags on your skin it takes a lot of effort to spread. The final greasiness was quite a lot on my skin and although I was impressed by the lack of white cast or relative lack of white cast I wouldn't wear this again by choice it's just not good for my skin. It might be better if your skin is dry and again it is one of the few options for people out there where you don't have any SPF boosters at all. This was a little bit annoying to remove because it is water resistant and greasy but it wasn't too bad when I used a cleansing oil first."

"This one is pretty much the lightest version in that family. Some people do find that the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen is a bit heavy on their skin, but I actually kind of prefer that maybe because my skin has been quite dry lately. This one dries down to feel like almost nothing. It's still really hydrating but you just don't have that much of a skin feel. It's great if you want something super lightweight, if you have sensory issues, your skin is more on the oily side, or in hot and humid weather. It's slightly dewy and it comes in this really nice flat pump top tube which is handy for tucking into your handbag. In terms of the other active skincare ingredients it's got a whole bunch of plant extracts including centella and hyaluronic acid."

"I generally don't have a lot of luck with mineral sunscreens but people do always ask me for my recommendations, so this one is my favorite so far. I was actually pretty surprised by how nicely this applied on my skin. The white cast was a bit scary when I first put it on but on my skin it mostly went away after about ten minutes. There were a couple of little white patches left which I could easily just blend in. It was really easy to apply the right amount of this. I think the reason I like this so much for a mineral sunscreen is that it's got a more dewy slidy sort of finish than most mineral sunscreens, which kind of feel a bit like a thin clay mask or maybe like wood glue, and that sort of dry texture makes it really difficult to blend out any white patches. Because this is so gliding and slidy it made that really easy. I did find that this did settle a little bit into my pores after a few hours, not as much as other mineral sunscreens though, and I think that if I used a more hydrating toner underneath and I had makeup on top it would be a lot less noticeable."

"This launch was really exciting to me because it's an Asian style sunscreen that's actually approved in the US and stocked in Sephora so people in the US can actually go and try the sunscreen before buying it. The downside of a US sunscreen is that their sunscreen ingredient options are a bit needs improvement, so it was really great to see Glow Recipe take on this challenge of trying to make a US approved sunscreen that actually feels nice and lightweight. I really really wanted to like this but it did the one thing that is like a complete deal breaker for me, it peeled up on my skin pretty badly and the pilling was very visible, it was very like white and gray. This sunscreen does not peel on everyone, there are lots of people who love this but it does seem to peel up on a good portion of people. I tried so hard to make this work, I tried it on bare skin right after washing, I tried it after 15 minutes, after an hour. Then I saw on TikTok someone say that it worked on their skin after they moisturized it really well so I tried it over six different products with really different formulas and it didn't work. So by that point I was pretty depressed and I gave up. Every time I tried it it was fine when I first put it on but then after it's set, after maybe about five, ten minutes if I even brushed against it then it would pill and you could really really see those pills. I don't know if it's like my skin or the humidity here in Sydney or just some other curse, I'm sure there's some product out there that would stop this from pilling on me but I have not found it and I am too sad to keep going. I'm also the sort of person who puts on makeup right before leaving the house so if a sunscreen pills a lot then it is probably not going to work with my extreme lifestyle. Otherwise this is pretty nice, it's not really as lightweight as the Asian sunscreens I've been trying but considering that it does only use US filters I think they did really well. There was some white cast but not as much as I expected for an untinted sunscreen with 12% zinc oxide. It is a bit shiny but dewy skin is sort of part of Glow Recipe's brand and it is actually quite hydrating which is pretty impressive. I would recommend trying a sample on your own skin before buying the full tube because who it pills on seems to be a bit all over the place."

"This is pretty much exactly the same as the beauty of chosen sunscreen, they have really similar ingredient lists and I tested them side by side. I could not tell the difference between them in terms of texture, feel, how they apply and how they look on my skin. The differences are this has a minty scent that comes from rosemary essential oil and it looks green coming out of the tube. I originally thought this was giving a cooling effect because it does say cooling but then I tried the beauty of chosen one and it felt exactly the same going on, so I think it's just the water evaporating and maybe a bit of a psychological effect with that minty smell. I was also hoping that the green color would help neutralize some of the redness on my skin but it doesn't, I think it's just too faint to make any difference. The skincare actives in this have a sort of soothing calming theme, it has centella and licorice extract. I would just go for the beauty of chosen unless you're allergic to rice. The brand has a lot of claims that make me feel a bit skeptical. They go on about how the ingredients are EWG green grade which means they're rated safe on the EWG's very arbitrary made up scale. They say it's free from octanoxate but then they don't say what's so bad about octanoxate. They say it's free from silicones but then it has two silicones right there in the ingredients list. The silicones are probably a big reason why it feels so nice and it looks so good under makeup. They say it's blue light protection tested but they don't give any details about it, so it's been tested but did it do well in the test? I'm not really seeing anything in the ingredients list that's an obvious blue light protector. They also have this brand tagline that says they make non-chemical products which is obviously really silly because everything is chemicals, but especially silly because this clearly says it has organic UV filters but then on the website it says it's a chemical sunscreen."

"This is a chemical sunscreen with a relatively heavier texture compared to a lot of Korean sunscreens. It's super popular, has no white cast, no fragrance, and no alcohol, and it's recommended for dry and sensitive skin. Like the other two, it's SPF 50 plus and PA with four pluses and they have independent testing on their site to verify these ratings. This one has it from the Korean Institute of Dermatological Science. This is also approved as a whitening and anti-wrinkle functional cosmetic because it has that niacinamide and adenosine combo. On top of that, this also has eight types of hyaluronic acid, which is used in skincare as a humectant that grabs onto water and keeps it on and in your skin. There are a bunch of other skincare ingredients in this as well like astaxanthin, centella, and ceramide. The Isntree website recommends this for outdoor activities but it isn't officially water resistant so I don't think you should rely on this for like hardcore exercise, but I do think it is probably going to hold up better to movement and sweat compared to your average Korean sunscreen. It's also recommended for reapplication over makeup. It's also been tested for skin irritation and it passed with flying colors. I quite like the sunscreen even though it's recommended for sensitive and dry skin and my skin is oily."

"This has a very similar texture to the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen. The differences are mostly with the skincare ingredients as well as a light slightly floral fragrance that goes away pretty quickly after you apply it. It's been tested to be hypoallergenic and like the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen, it's formulated to work really well under makeup as an everyday commuter sunscreen. This one focuses on centella, which is great for soothing sensitive skin. I love using centella products when my skin is irritated and needs a bit of nourishment. This sun cream has ten thousand parts per million or one percent centella complex, which has seven different centella extracts and fermented yeast. It's meant to be soothing and hydrating. It also has niacinamide and adenosine, which makes this a whitening and anti-aging functional cosmetic in Korea on top of being a sunscreen."

"This sunscreen is really beautifully light on the skin, it's also unscented and it's not really siliconey. It works really well under makeup and there's zero white cast on my skin at least. It's also fine around my eyes with none of that eye stinging. The filters are octinoxate, avobenzone plus zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and tinosorb, and this is back up to holy grail status. I highly recommend it."

"I have raved about the Bioderma micellar water so many times it is hands down my favorite no rinse cleanser. Micellar waters have surfactants in them, these are the cleansing ingredients that you'll find in every cleansing product like shampoo body wash even dishwashing detergent, but there are a huge range of surfactants available. The innovation with these micellar waters was to find surfactants that clean well but they aren't irritating if you leave them on your skin. Some micellar waters don't do this well which is why a lot of people who have tried maybe one or two say you absolutely need to rinse micellar waters, but this one was actually designed for and tested on sensitive skin so this is really really gentle and works really well for most people. I found this so useful for evenings when I couldn't handle washing my face at a sink and dealing with all the water. It's also been really useful for washing my face when I'm trying to avoid a particular area like a few weeks ago I microbladed my brows and I had to kind of like paint around my brows. I went through another few bottles."

"Low pH cleansers are a selling point in Korean skincare because a lot of cleansers were really high pH for a long time. Despite the low pH, which is around 5.3, a lot of people, including me, still find this really drying. It might be because there aren't that many surfactants in this, so you're not getting that mixed micelle gentle effect. There's also no real hardcore humectants or moisturizers in the formula to try to replace what gets washed away. I think it is popular because it's COSRX, it's really easy to get in the U.S., and it is really budget-friendly, but I think it is worth it to pay a bit more to get a less drying cleanser. I have oily skin and getting a gentle cleanser has made a really big difference to how manageable the oil is. I'm going to put this in meh."

"This cleansing oil I really enjoy—it's really good value, it's really effective, and it's also fragrance-free but it smells neutral so it is really suitable for a wide range of people. I found that this removes eyeliner well, I don't get any icing or blurriness, and it has a nice pump which dispenses an amount that you actually want. My personal gripe with cleansing oils is just that getting them from my hand onto my face without anything dripping on the floor is a bit more difficult, and oils require a bit more effort to clean up than water-based products. But there aren't really any other downsides to this, it is just a solid recommendation. I'm going to put this up into Holy Grail."

"CeraVe Foaming Cleanser is my preferred CeraVe cleanser and it's good for oily skin. It's quite hydrating with a nice mix of gentle surfactants like cocoa betaine and sodium cocoa glycinate that aren't harsh or stripping, plus the standard moisturizing ingredients that CeraVe puts in their products—glycerin, ceramides, hyaluronic acid. However, I don't like the way it smells. It smells like really artificial chemicals, slightly plasticky. I do like it, it's just going to be bumped down to solid choice because I don't love it."

"Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser has been reformulated into a new version that is a bit of a marketing dream at the moment because it just has a whole bunch of ingredients that everyone likes and nothing that's too easy to pick on. They've taken out the SLS and the parabens and they have this really short ingredients list which a lot of people like because it's a little bit less intimidating. There are some trendy actives in this—panthenol and niacinamide, which are vitamin B5 and B3. There are some nice hydrating ingredients like glycerin and pantolactone. It's a really inoffensive formula and it's non-foaming so it's very similar to the CeraVe hydrating cleanser. I find it really inoffensive, it's fine, it's not like a joy to use but it's really good."

"The Beauty of Joseon Green Plum Refreshing Cleanser is a really lovely inoffensive cleanser and inoffensive is really what you want from a cleanser, you want it to clean well without messing up your skin so your skin is nicely prepared for the rest of your skincare routine. It foams really well but it doesn't dry out your skin. I would say that this is actually one of the most hydrating cleansers I've used. There was zero tightness on my skin after using this. There are a bunch of antioxidants in it which can potentially help reduce a bit of that cleansing irritation and it is slightly acidic to match your skin's natural pH. With a lot of foaming Korean cleansers you tend to get this really amazing fluffy dense foam but then they have a really high pH and that tends to help strip your skin and irritate it. If your skin is prone to dehydration, which my skin very much is, it does take a little bit more effort to get a fluffy lather with this compared to those more drying cleanser formulas, but I think it is really worth it. I am a huge fan of hydrating cleansers because it feels like you don't need to use as many hydrating products after cleansing. [...] This is a fragrance free cleanser so another really good option if your skin doesn't like fragrance."

"The ABIB acne foam cleanser is a gentle cleanser I've been really enjoying it forms a nice foam and it doesn't strip my skin which is great because so many acne cleansers are harsh. It has salicylic acid in it to help with acne it's been found to work well in cleansers and you can see some of those gentle cleanser formulation features here there's a mix of surfactants and a bunch of soothing and moisturizing ingredients including heartleaf and centella extracts. It's fragrance free apart from those plant extracts."

"This cleansing oil is designed to work on its own and when I tested it on some water resistant products I didn't need to use a second cleanser. This also worked really well for removing waterproof eyeliner, it didn't sting my eyes or leave them blurry, which sometimes happens with cleansing oils. I really like this pump bottle because the pump actually dispenses the right amount of product really easily. The things I don't really like about this product are really just personal preference things for me. I don't really like the scent, it's kind of lemony and citrus, and I also just prefer cleansing balms over cleansing oils because I find these a bit tricky to get onto my face without dripping. But if you're looking for a cleansing oil, especially one that you can use on your eyes or one that doesn't need to be followed up with a second cleanser, then I think this is a fantastic option."

"The Ordinary actually ran a clinical study to test the dry versus damp skin thing. They tested their 2% hyaluronic acid and B5 serum on dry and damp skin, and it worked around the same on both. Plus, it's not drier after using hyaluronic acid, but unsurprisingly, it works better if you also have a moisturizer on top, but also there's no difference there between wet and dry skin. The amounts of hyaluronic acid are going to be pretty low. If you have hyaluronic acid and thickeners in a product, they can form a film on your skin. And as that film dries, it can contract a little bit. It's sort of like the skin on soup. So that tightening feeling could feel like your skin is dry. But it's not like damp skin is bad. If you prefer using it on damp skin, that is fine. I think it does have a benefit in that when you have extra water, then you're increasing the amount of stuff that you have on your skin to spread. So it can be easier to spread it out."

"I've also been using the Peach and Lily Glass Skin Refining Serum. This is another serum that has lots of different types of hyaluronic acid including an acetylated one. It also has niacinamide and a bunch of centella ingredients. It is just a really gentle product. The founder of Peach and Lily has really sensitive skin so this was just to me a really safe product to throw into my routine. I'll usually use this on nights when my skin is irritated but I want something soothing and hydrating and more active."

"The texture doesn't run down your fingers when you're trying to put it on, but it isn't so thick that it feels syrupy and draggy. The finish is really hydrating and soothing, it's not shiny and it gives me enough of a moisturizing effect that I haven't really needed an extra moisturizer, though I'd guess it's probably not enough if you have dry skin. Ascorbic acid has always been really good for helping my pigment get more even and evening out my skin tone in general, and this has been working really well. The packaging is also really cool, it's this protective tube, and I think it's really the best type of packaging for protecting something from oxygen. Tubes can protect against oxygen if the plastic is chosen carefully and the seal is good. I have a tube of Melano CC that is two years old and it's still colorless, so I have really high hopes for this."

"This is a classic super hydrating hyaluronic acid toner or essence. This has lots of different forms of hyaluronic acid, and I find that in general products that have lots of different sizes of HA tend to give more well-rounded hydration at different depths of your upper layer of skin. It kind of gives longer-lasting hydration. This product has been a staple for a really long time in Reddit skincare communities. It's really inexpensive, it comes in a large bottle, and it's been around since like 2013. I'm going to put this into solid choice, though I think this is my bias against toners that don't do much except for hydrate. These days there are tons of toners that hydrate as well as doing other things."

"The Ordinary Niacinamide is a product that tends to be good for people who have acne and matches well with the skincare addiction demographic. However, it does tend to break some people out and some people become scared of niacinamide because of this. I would definitely recommend trying more products with niacinamide and not dismissing all products with niacinamide on the basis of this. I did that and then I realized my skin actually loves niacinamide, it just doesn't love this product. It wasn't bad, it was just meh. I think this one doesn't work for a big enough proportion of people."

"Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel has that lightweight gel texture that's really hydrating without feeling heavy and this is just amazing for oily skin. However, this product does have a little bit of a stronger fragrance than I prefer. American products in general tend to be a bit more heavily fragranced than Australian products and as far as I know it doesn't come in fragrance free."

"Matter of Fact claims their Vitamin C Serum has unmatched stability and that it's the most significant advancement in skincare in nearly two decades. However, their stability claims aren't backed up by the evidence. They tested against just three products, only one of which was in the same category as theirs, which doesn't tell you that your product is the best out of all the thousands of products out there. As a chemist, it seems incredibly unlikely that ascorbic acid dissolved in propane diol can compete with silicone-based products that have much better stability properties. The ascorbic acid in their formula will break down faster because propane diol is a humectant that absorbs water from the air, whereas silicone forms a waterproof layer that protects it. When I tested the bottles they sent me in December, they'd already started going much yellower than when I first got them, even though they were only a few months old. Their stability data comes from accelerated testing at high temperatures, which is an approximation that doesn't account for what happens at room temperature, and they hardly ever mention this caveat. The packaging is also a concern because most standard airless pumps aren't properly airtight, and given how easily the pump top came off, I'm not convinced this connection is tight enough to keep propane diol free from water and oxygen. So these claims of 16 to 24 month stability really aren't backed up by their testing."

"Clarins Double Serum is a really good example of a product where the concept stays the same but they keep adding ingredients and improving it. It's really just an anti-aging all-rounder, it visibly smooths wrinkles, reduces pores, firms skin, and evens out skin tone. My skin has been going through an unbelievably bad few months, and nothing really seemed to change until I added this. My skin looks so much more smooth and glowy, it's much softer and it's just way less angry. It has a moderate scent, the oil part is based on squalane so it's pretty light, and this one has been great in winter on my combination skin."

"This has 0.1% retinal in liposomes that protect the retinal from breaking down, combined with PDRN. I think it's really clever that they paired PDRN with retinal because retinal is sometimes irritating, so this formula can make it less harsh on skin, and that is exactly what I found. This is one of the most gentle retinal products I've tried. I had a little bit of skin peeling with it, which is standard for me with any retinoid, but it didn't feel irritating or stingy at all, my barrier just seemed really happy. It's unfragranced, lightweight and slightly creamy, in a handy pump bottle, doesn't smell like too much, and it does have some clinical testing behind it, mostly with elasticity and pores. Overall I really enjoyed this product, and it made me a lot more open to trying out other PDRN products."

"The Ordinary 10% has a texture like thick PVA glue and this is because azelaic acid is hard to formulate with. It isn't very soluble, so it's usually in a suspension. And I mean, you need a pretty high amount. Things that are lightweight are usually dissolved, so think sugar and water versus flour and water. So I kept giving up on using azelaic acid. And eventually, I just put it to the side."

"I tried Finacea, which is the 15% drug version, which has a pretty nice texture, but then it burnt the crap out of my skin. It's in an aluminium tube, and so every time I squeezed it, a bit too much came out, and I didn't want to waste it, so I would just put all of it on my face. Not the smartest because the prickling sensation would just keep me up. And then the peeling I got was actually worse than with tretinoin."

"They owned the patent from 2005 on this very proven combination. There have been copycats around for quite a while, but there was usually some kind of workaround to avoid patent infringement. Some people who are more sensitive to vitamin C found that the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic formula was much less irritating. SkinCeuticals was great, but pricey."

"This is one of my top recommendations for a vitamin C serum. It is just really really nice and it lasts so long. My first tube of this has now been open for over 18 months, which is more than a year and a half. I've kept it at room temperature, not in a fridge or anything, and there is brown stuff on the thread and also inside the cap, but it is still a really pale color. It is much less oxidized than newer formulas that I've tried."

"The Olay Super Serum is one of the serums that I feel like I could probably use on its own and my skin would stay really nice. The main focus of this is having niacinamide at a low pH which delivers it better into skin and it's got a bunch of other nice actives too. Some people pointed out that there is a night version with similar ingredients that is fragrance-free that might be worth trying although I haven't tried that yet."

"This isn't sticky but it does have that tacky hydrating texture. There's also two percent niacinamide and 0.5% salicylic acid, both of these are great at evening out skin tone, which is one of those components of glow. This serum ticks off a whole bunch of boxes for it: even skin tone, smoother skin, and hydration. This is just a really lovely product that I use on my face when I want my skin to look smooth and even the next day without having to risk any irritation. And it is one of the few products that I can use for that when my skin is irritated without having to worry about making it worse."

"Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 and it is a really great all-around ingredient. This serum is the one that actually made a big difference on my skin and it made me really try out other niacinamide products. I've seen other people say the same thing, that this one is just the one that works the best for them. The texture is really watery and light. It's a water-based formula and it's very easy to incorporate into your routine because it's so light. It layers nicely under everything else. You can use it morning or night. I tend to use this every few nights, and if my skin is particularly irritated, then sometimes I'll just use this and nothing else for a few nights, maybe also with a moisturizer."

"Their safety study just had two data points. Estrogen levels before and 12 weeks after using the cream. So, this doesn't actually tell us what happened in the middle. It could be really, really high. This is nowhere near enough to say this is safe. Normally, you need a ton more data. And a lot of people have said they've had side effects from Alloy's products. This shows it probably does absorb. Their cream is also compounded, which means estriol is mixed into each batch by a pharmacist. It's kind of like a controversial regulatory loophole in the US. Compounding is a lot less controlled than medications that you buy off the shelf. There's a lot more human error involved. So, there can be massive variations in how strong creams are. Mixing won't always be the same, and there's different base creams used. It's not really tested, so you don't really know how stable it is and how well it absorbs. Compounding is full of issues when it comes to hormones that they're quite difficult to compound. So, how much actually is active in the compounded product and how much is absorbed is really unknown. Even the order in which you add the ingredients can affect the final outcome for a compounded product. The problem is because we don't have any data, it's not any safer if you're getting it as a prescription or buying it without a prescription or using a product meant for one body part on another body part. We just don't have any good data to tell people how much is absorbed. Is this any kind of concern? We just don't know. It's really buyer beware."

"The Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream is pricey but it is my favorite moisturizer and I don't find I need to use very much of it. After I use it my skin just looks so nice in the morning. The star ingredient in this is called ginsenomics or compound K, extracted from ginseng. It's meant to restore collagen and hyaluronic acid and there is clinical testing with all of these really impressive effects on elasticity and wrinkles, but it is one of those proprietary ingredients that only AmorePacific will test and use. There are peer reviewed studies but it's always really hard to judge how reliable that sort of ingredient is because there just isn't enough info or independent verification. So with ingredients like this I treat them as sort of added extras. They're not like the core ingredients I have to use. There are a bunch of other ingredients in this. It's got retinol and there's a bunch of omega 6 derivatives that are really nice for reinforcing your skin barrier. But the main selling point is just my skin just looks so nice after I use it and I see a difference with just a tiny dab and it's also really non-irritating and it's rich without being too rich."

"This line is formulated with panthenol and madecassoside, which is from centella extract. People seem to have mixed experiences with this product—some people love it and swear by it, and some it just didn't really work well for. For me, I found that it didn't work as well as Cicapair for things like texture, appealing, and irritation. It feels like it kind of just sits on top of my skin and it doesn't really go down and hydrate as well as I would like. Some people with dry skin have complained that it wasn't as moisturizing as they hoped, but it does seem to work really well for people who have really easily irritated skin. I'm so sorry to the people who love it, but I'm going to put it to meh for people in general because I think there are moisturizers with much higher satisfaction rates. If you think this might work for you, I would definitely recommend trying out a sample."

"This has two of my product icks. First, it says seven-free right on the front of the tube, and I hate eight-free from clean beauty marketing because it's based on pseudoscience. The other ick is this has like little bursting beads in it—they're like white granules inside the product that kind of give the illusion of the product having concentrated ingredients. This product was reformulated at the end of 2021. There's a lot of mixed reviews on whether the old version or the new version are better. The moisturizing properties of this are quite similar to the Aestura Soon Jung barrier cream, but there's no panthenol on my decipher side, so it's not really as targeted for barrier repair. I found that this didn't really do enough to hydrate my skin—there's not much of an occlusive or humectant effect even though glycerin is near the top of the ingredient list. I found that I needed to really hydrate my skin underneath, and that could make sense because most Asian skincare routines would have that step, but it is a pretty bland product and it sinks into skin nicely. I think it's reasonably cheap, so I'm gonna put this into solid choice."

"I have personally never really had a good time with the standard super budget-friendly bulk moisturizers that a lot of people tend to recommend. I'm talking about things like cerave, cetaphil and qv. These tend to come in really big pump bottles or in really big tubs. They do work for a lot of people, so I'd recommend giving them a try, especially if you have drier skin or if you live in a cool dry climate. But for me these tend to feel a bit greasy. They feel like they're sitting on the surface of my skin and not really sinking in, and they clog my pores."

"I have personally never really had a good time with the standard super budget-friendly bulk moisturizers that a lot of people tend to recommend. I'm talking about things like cerave, cetaphil and qv. These tend to come in really big pump bottles or in really big tubs. They do work for a lot of people, so I'd recommend giving them a try, especially if you have drier skin or if you live in a cool dry climate. But for me these tend to feel a bit greasy. They feel like they're sitting on the surface of my skin and not really sinking in, and they clog my pores."

"This cream needs a different name honestly, because when I see the word cream I think heavy and maybe a bit oily, and this is totally not that. It's super lightweight in texture, and when it dries down it leaves a very slight film on my skin that makes it look smooth, almost like a glass skin effect. I found this really calming and hydrating, it was really nice in summer, and it makes a fantastic makeup base."

"This cream has a really interesting texture. It is a lightweight gel with brightening and soothing ingredients. The key ones are 10% panthenol, niacinamide, squalane, and bamboo extract. This is lightly hydrating and it forms a sort of film on skin that stays on really well and gives a glass skin sort of slightly shiny look. I'm actually wearing it right now under my makeup. It has no noticeable scent. I used this as a sleeping mask over my other products to lock them in and it worked really well. I could still feel this there in the morning. And I have seen a few people say that this clogged their pores. I personally didn't have an issue with this, but if you are prone to clogged pores, keep an eye out for that."

"This has a really nice gel cream texture that is a little bit on the heavier side for a gel. Going on it's really lightweight and hydrating and not at all greasy. I found that this is really good for prepping my skin under makeup and I'm actually wearing it under my makeup now. But for my dry skin in winter I found that I can just use a bit more and it still works really well. It features rice, brown ginseng, and niacinamide which are all great for hydrating skin. There's also some smoothing and brightening effects as well. If you're looking for a lightweight hydrating moisturizer, especially one that is fragrance-free, then this might be a really good option."

"This is a really thick cream with a mild eucalyptus scent. It's targeted for dry and sensitive skin so it's thicker and more emollient than a lot of the other products I've been trying, but it still doesn't feel greasy. I did have a flaky elbow that I just kept on ignoring and eventually I put this on it and it pretty much just stopped being flaky overnight, which I thought was incredibly impressive. I've been really impressed by the cream so far."

"Both products have a lot of snail markers in them and they're really hydrating and lightweight and a little goes a long way with these. However, the gooey snail texture was actually a deal breaker for me with the snail cream. I found it really hard to get a small amount out of the jar. It's also a bit liquidy so with my pathological lack of coordination it feels like it's always about to spill out of the jar. I also just really didn't like the scent of this product. It has this berry-ish cherry smell which I just have a particular aversion to and it's stronger than I like and so I couldn't really ignore it."

"The new one, I tried just the face stick, and you can see they have very different profiles. I think the width of the original stick did make this much faster to apply, but I think it is also partly the formula here. The texture is not great. It was very much like icing on cake or a thick layer of Vaseline. Good luck putting makeup on over this if you're wearing sunglasses. This is coming off. I didn't bother calculating the SPF before filling in the gaps because it is just so uneven, so it doesn't really mean much. You're probably getting the SPF I've got here on the parts you've covered and SPF 1 on the rest of your face."

"Genefique serum from Lancôme which contains vitamin CG. Vitamin CG is ascorbyl glucoside, it is ascorbic acid with a glucoside attached to it, and that is one of the ones where it's attached in a way that it doesn't turn into an antioxidant until it gets into your skin and an enzyme chops it off. So it is not going to work in these tests because apples just do not have the same enzymes as our skin."

"It's approved for truncal acne, so your chest and back, because it's safer. You can apply more of it on a larger surface area compared to if it was just approved for your face. It is a lot more potent, which is why it's at such a low concentration. Because it's new, there's only this one formulation. The brand name is called Aklief, and it's got a polymer in it that spreads out the active more evenly. It's also got allantoin, which is soothing."

"Tazarotene is a bit harder to find but there are still some interesting formulas. It's usually at 0.1% in a gel or cream, but there's also a foam formula which is pretty cool and there's the newer 0.045% lotion called Arazlo and it has a polymer in it that helps distribute the tazarotene and the hydrating ingredients in it more evenly on skin and help it get into skin. Impressively there is a manufacturer funded study where it was less irritating and more effective than a standard 0.1% tazarotene cream which is pretty cool."

"The Skinceuticals Silymarin CF is the one I like the most. This is like the classic C-Ferulic formula but it was designed for oily skin, so the vitamin E has been replaced with silymarin. The silymarin is less thick and oily compared to vitamin E, and it's meant to clog your pores less. One thing I really like about this is that it actually smells sort of like Caprico coffee lollies with a caramel coffee scent, which is a lot nicer than that classic hot dog water scent."

"Using this means that I can dry and style my hair at the same time. I usually let it air dry for maybe 45 minutes to an hour and then it takes me about 15 minutes to dry and curl my hair with this. I did this hair last night and then I slept with it in a ponytail and it is extremely extremely sweaty and humid today, so it's doing pretty well. This is my hair after 3 days in humid Sydney summer. And this again includes sleeping with it in just a ponytail. And usually, even if I do end up with messed up hair, I can usually refresh the curls really quickly, like less than 5 minutes. I mostly use the curl attachments, also the frizz flattening attachment. [...] It is also just really easy to use. The curl attachments are really nice because it's a lot easier than trying to consistently get similar size waves on both sides of my head with a hair straightener. It's also a lot smoother because styling it from damp to dry in the one step means that you get better shaping. It also doesn't need to be as hot as a straightener or a curling iron because it uses air and heat to dry, so it reduces the chance of bubble or popcorn hair."

"Heart leaf, or Houttuynia cordata, is a herb that's used in a lot of Asian food and like most plant extracts it is full of antioxidants. The main thing I saw this recommended for is cooling and calming and I feel like this 100% lives up to that. I found this a very lightly hydrating product. It's also meant to be good for gentle acne care. It's also got wintergreen leaf, allantoin, hyaluronic acid and trehalose, so these are mostly humectant moisturizers that hold on to water and keep your skin hydrated. The cotton pads have one side that's rough and one side that's smooth, so the rough side is meant to be gently exfoliating, it is very gentle. And then after you use it you can leave it with the smooth side down as sort of like a little targeted sheet mask. I found that the cotton pads are quite nice, like having that little gentle sheet mask. If you leave it on it does seem to work a lot better. The cooling effect does last for a good amount of time after taking it off. I found that it lasts for maybe 10 to 15 minutes."

"The KP Bump Eraser from First Aid Beauty is really densely loaded with pumice, has a toothpaste sort of texture, and is just really thick and really intense as a scrub. [...] I have a very low tolerance when it comes to beauty products, so this one is actually borderline too much for me. [...] My biggest tip here for KP is that you do need to really be consistent with exfoliating. You can't just try to overload yourself on one day and then hope that that will last for two weeks."

"The cleanser I'm currently using is the Bioderma Shower Oil. I really love this product. It's really gentle and it has tons of moisturizing ingredients in it. This does have a light fragrance, which is pretty unusual for a Bioderma product, but the reason for that is that this is really rich in lipids. Lipids are fatty substances they're in our skin and this is meant to replenish them. The ones that are especially good for our skin are unsaturated, but that also means that they go rancid pretty easily, so the light fragrance is just to cover up that smell."

"I was really excited about the Olay Retinol Body Wash. [...] I started using it a few times and it was really nice, but then I noticed that my skin was just getting a little bit itchy and I decided at that point to check the ingredients. [...] It had Mica in it, which I am allergic to. I wasn't sure it was that, but I didn't really want to risk it getting worse. [...] There are tons of good reviews on it from people like Esther the Melanin Chemist, and I really trust her."

"I've also started using the Paula's Choice Weightless Body Treatment with 2% BHA. BHA is salicylic acid, it's a chemical exfoliant. I found that this is a bit less sticky and it's easier to apply because it's a cream. [...] The product that is formulated for your body is easier to apply to your body. [...] If you don't have a whole bunch of liquid exfoliant lying around, then you might want to try this one because they are the same price but this one is twice the size."

"I'm generally not looking for something super active in a body wash. I didn't really notice any real changes in my skin while I was using it, except this is extremely gentle. It's not irritating and it is fragrance-free, which is kind of rare for body washes. It does have like a fragrance-free smell about it. And it is in a handy pump bottle, which I really liked. I really enjoyed this product."

"I went for the Necessary body wash because it is pretty much formulated like a face product. It has the utility packaging which is great, it has a screw top so the top doesn't come off and you don't drop it, making it very easy to use in the shower. This twisty top should be included in all products, I love this. It has a pretty nice unisex scent that is light, and it leaves your skin pretty moisturized, unlike bar soap. It has surfactants that are commonly found in face products and gentle ones at that, so it's actually fine to use on your face. On top of having nice gentle surfactants, this also has glycerin which is hydrating and niacinamide so we're sneaking some actives in as well, leaving your skin feeling hydrated and not tight."

"I've got oily skin and I get pimples on my back all the time and it's hard to reach, but this made a massive difference. It feels nice and I feel soft afterwards. I use it weekly as part of my routine. My one complaint is where's the twisty top, it would be nice to have that on here too since this is just a regular screw top. But I understand why they don't have the twisty top on this scrub since it contains particles like bamboo charcoal and pumice that might get stuck in the twisty mechanism."

"The Head and Shoulders Bare range might be a good option if you think you have an allergy because these have less ingredients. There's also ketoconazole in there, which is antifungal and it's in Nizoral. Climbazole is the weaker cosmetic version, and there are some malassezia species that are resistant to it, so if this isn't working for you maybe try one of the other actives."

"My hair also just really loves the Redken Acidic Perfecting Concentrate Leave-in Treatment. My hair loves this range, it's great for me. It is pricier. I tend to use like a much smaller blob, maybe like two Tic Tacs in size. This one just seems to spread a bit better as well. I personally find that if I use these ones on dry hair it kind of feels like I'm spreading it all around the outside of my hair and it's not like in the middle, but [...] this one just spreads really really nicely."

"My favorite towels for this are the Aquis towels. I've been using these same towels for about six years because they still work really well and I haven't tried that many other options. I did try some cheaper ones that I got at a hair expo but they just didn't work as well and they had that thing where they sort of clung to your fingers and just felt really icky. These microfiber towels have very small fibers so they have a large surface area and that means they can suck the water out of your hair much faster than a regular towel."

"My scalp gets dry and irritated from a lot of shampoos so I was pretty curious to see how this very simple formula would go for me. This turned out to be really good for my scalp, one of the better tolerated shampoos I've used. There isn't any fragrance in this, and I personally like a bit of fragrance in my hair products, but I know a lot of people want or need to avoid it. It's actually pretty hard to find fragrance-free hair products, so I'm really happy to see this available as an option."

"I was actually quite surprised by how well this worked on my hair. This conditioner detangled my hair really nicely when I was washing it and it felt nice for about a day, but by day two my hair started feeling a bit dry. I think this would have been fantastic for my hair before I bleached it, but now I need those extra damaged coating ingredients. So I would recommend trying this if your hair is not quite this level of damaged, if you want a conditioner that doesn't weigh your hair down, or if you want something fragrance-free. Again, there really aren't that many options for fragrance-free hair conditioners, so I'm really happy to see this as an option for people who want it."

"This is a vitamin C product with ascorbic acid. The main thing that is super cool about this is actually the packaging—the packaging is this really clever airtight dispenser that limits oxidation really effectively. Oxygen just cannot get into this thing. You actually have to squeeze this really hard for just like one drop to come out. I have a tube that I opened around probably January 2021 and now more than two years later, if you squeeze it the stuff that comes out is still completely colorless. This is marketed as an anti-acne product in Japan and has a bunch of ingredients like potassium glycerate, which is the active ingredient in licorice—it's anti-inflammatory—as well as isopropyl methylphenol, which is antibacterial. It has a delivery system that helps the ingredients go deeper. It has a really different texture from a lot of vitamin C products—it's got this sort of really thick draggy oil-like texture, but it does sink in pretty quick. I found this really non-irritating and it has a really light scent. On my skin it worked really well to even out skin tone. I think this is just a really cool and unique product. It is fantastic for people who don't use vitamin C that much and you need something that will last like a decade. So that is going into the holy grails."

"This has TECA, titrated extract of Centella asiatica, standardized so the actives are at consistent concentrations. The texture is really lightweight and watery, not sticky at all, and I generally can't stand things that are heavy or sticky on my skin during the day, but I found this nice to use during the day as well as at night. I didn't have to use a lot of it to get a soothing and hydrating effect, and that meant it stayed lightweight and I could layer it with a lot of other products."

"This has a bunch of emollients like ceramides to try to support the skin barrier. It has this sort of milky gooey texture that I find very hydrating and not too greasy. My skin is more on the oily side so I find that this works really well as a moisturizer instead of moisturizer. This is a really nice soothing product for when my skin is irritated. It's a nice supportive product even though it does have this sort of gooey texture after you put it on your skin, or on my skin at least it sinks in really nicely. It doesn't feel like sticky or anything. It's just very lightweight and very hydrating."

"It foams up slightly and rinses off really well, makes me feel like my skin's moisturized afterwards. It does clean the oil off and it foams really nicely but it's not stripping, it doesn't have really harsh surfactants in it. It foams up really nicely and that's because it's got two main surfactants, sodium cocoyl isethionate and sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, these are two surfactants that give a really nice luxurious dense foam. This gives the nice foam at a pH of about 5.5. It also has Centella, which is really non-irritating, and it also has a lot of glycerin which is why it leaves your skin feeling hydrated and not stripped."

"It's really handy when your skin is really dehydrated and your regular moisturiser isn't quite doing enough, so instead of trying to find a whole new moisturizer you can just add another hydrating product underneath and together they can hydrate enough. I found this super useful for applying to my skin right after cleansing, it stops my skin from drying out if I wait a bit too long before my other steps. This is super hydrating, it's got a lot of glycerin, it's also got hyaluronic acid, and it leaves a kind of plump hydrated feeling on my skin that is just shy of being tacky, and that is such a hard balance to get in a product like that, maximum plumpness but just not sticky. Although I can't guarantee that it will hit that spot for everyone else, it depends on how humid your environment is and your skin, but it does hit that spot for me. There is no extra oil in this either, so again just less stuff on your face. There are a lot of different types of ginseng extracts in this which have lots of antioxidants as well as niacinamide, so this is a really good way of adding niacinamide and antioxidants and ginseng to your routine without adding much weight or stickiness. The lack of oil is also awesome for when you need something in summer to just hydrate and soothe your skin but you can't handle any extra oil on your face. I use this as my hot weather moisturizing product at night a lot and just skip moisturizer. It is fragrance free and to me it smells like nothing."

"This is the one product that was on both the skincare addiction and the Asian beauty top twenty. Snail slime is exotic and it plays into this whole idea of mystical Asian skincare secrets, so it is a really kind of gimmicky product, although it actually works really well for a lot of people. It packs this really huge hydrating punch, which is really good for a glowy glass skin look. It also has a really fun sort of stringy texture and it trended on TikTok. COSRX is really budget-friendly and easy to find. I really love this product, it is super hydrating, and even though it does seem a bit gimmicky it has been a staple in a lot of people's skincare routines for a long time. It does break some people out with closed comedones, but otherwise it is really good. I'm going to put this up in holy grails."

"I found this essence incredibly hydrating, which is exactly what I expected. The texture is silky and hydrating, like a thick sort of water, not as thin as a toner but not as thick as a proper serum. It sinks into my skin really quickly and it isn't as tacky as I expected for something that hydrates so well. The most impressive effect I've seen on my skin with this is that it's been really good at smoothing out texture and giving me a glow overnight, almost like a chemical exfoliant sort of effect but without any irritational stinging. It was also really good at calming down reddish breakouts I had. It layers nicely under products too. It's also fragrance free and has a slightly sweet smell, and people with sensitive skin have generally said that their skin doesn't react to this. Overall I love this, it is going into my rotation."

"Medik8 Crystal Retinal is another product that I have loved for the longest time. I have loved this since I tried it 5 years ago, it was the product that really sold me on the idea of retinal. They have a whole bunch of different strengths so you can step up and step down, and even the 24 doesn't make me peel much at all. The base is also really moisturizing, and it has some carrot oil in it which has antioxidants."

"I also really like the Paula's Choice 0.3% Retinol and 2% Perfluorohexane. This is again another really good all-in-one product. Paula's Choice like to jam in all of the supporting ingredients into their products. This one has peptides, vitamin C, skin soothing ingredients, and antioxidants. I think if I wanted a really simple routine, I could even just use this every night."

"Like a lot of other Korean BHA products, this uses B10 salicylate because of regulations around salicylic acid, but it does just split up into salicylic acid and betaine once there's water around. This also has willow bark water, which is a natural source of salicin that gets converted into salicylic acid, and it has niacinamide, which is a really trendy ingredient. I personally didn't see much of a difference when I used this, probably because I use so much Paula's Choice two percent BHA. In general, I would recommend getting chemical exfoliants from Western brands because it is one of the categories that is really lacking in Asian skincare. I think this could be an option if you find Western products a bit too harsh, so I'm probably going to put this in meh."

"I've tried about six masks so far and this has become the mask that I reach for the most because it is really comfortable and it is the most user friendly for me. Compared to flexible masks it's easier to get the placement right with a hard mask. This one touches my chin and my cheeks a bit but nowhere near as much as a flexible mask. For me this mask is super comfortable. This is also the best mask I've tried so far for multitasking. I personally need to multitask when I'm doing red light treatments. It's the same weight as the flexible mask but it feels lighter because I think it doesn't flop around and it doesn't squish my head in as much. The controller is the best one I've tried so far. It has a belt clip. It also shows you how many minutes you have left and you can also pause your treatment. You can also see the charging progress. The inbuilt eye shield in this is really good at blocking out light."

"I've probably heard me rave about the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, and this is mostly I use it on my face. I use my fingers to apply it and I find that this just never runs out. Once I get to a low enough level and I feel like maybe it's a bit too dicey to use it on my face, I start using it on my body. [...] BHA is salicylic acid, it's a chemical exfoliant. [...] I've also mostly been using salicylic acid over alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid or lactic acid because it is summer here and alpha hydroxy acids have been found to make your skin more sensitive to the sun, and this happens even after you wash it off. It is a change to your actual skin. But salicylic acid in those same studies did not have this effect."

"This is a toner that's based on green tea and some other plant extracts. I tried this for about a week, which isn't really long enough to give it a thorough review. This is very lightly hydrating and there are reviews from people who have said that it helps reduce their oil over time. In general, I've personally found that green tea is a pretty underwhelming ingredient on my skin, and I think I'm just not that much of a toner person. I am a bit of a minimalist with my routine, so toners that don't give that much of a hydrating effect are pretty much one of the first products to go. It is really affordable though, so I'm gonna put it in meh for now."

"Propolis is really popular in Korean skincare—it's basically like the glue that they use to stick their hives together. It has a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and it's been investigated for wound healing. My impression of propolis for a long time was that it was mostly targeted at acne-prone skin, so I didn't try for ages. I've been converted though. Propolis has been really nice for smoothing out my skin without any sort of irritation. This toner is really light, a lot lighter than other propolis products like the Skin Food and Rich Essence. You can see all of the hydrating and soothing ingredients there—there's honey, glycerin, butane, hyaluronic acid, and panthenol. You do need to use a bit more product than like the Skin Food and Rich Essence, but this is really budget-friendly. I'm gonna put it into solid choice because I haven't really tried it for long enough, but I think there's a good chance once I try it for longer it's going to jump up into holy grail."

"The Ordinary Glycolic Acid Toner is seven percent, though it doesn't really feel like a seven percent glycolic acid product. I have mixed feelings on this because it's a bit strong and a lot of people end up over using this and then burning their skin. However, I think it is really good for people who want a stronger chemical exfoliant and it is such good value. It is a huge bottle. I've actually been using this on other parts of my body. I've been using it under my arms as a deodorant. Some people also use it on their scalp to exfoliate their scalp. This is a good product as long as you're using it properly and you're not drowning your face in it. I actually can't think of another chemical exfoliant that is this budget friendly and I think that is rare enough that it can go under Holy Grail."

"I just went off and ordered 2.5 benzoyl peroxide from acne.org. Acne.org is a website started by a guy who had bad acne and he made his own products because he just found them so difficult to find, and 2.5 benzoyl peroxide is like the cornerstone product. His version was really good, it was pretty cheap, it had a decent texture, and the only problem was that it took a while to ship to me. This worked quite well, but it did sort of dry the crap out of my face."

"The formula is very similar to the Beauty of Joseon Retinol Eye Cream, which has 2% liposomal retinol. So this one is like a stronger version. Both of these are designed to be eye creams and are mostly tested for fine lines around the eyes, but you can use them all over your face and you don't really need to use that much. This is a really good product if you are more experienced with retinoids or if your skin is just really not sensitive to them. If you're introducing a retinol to your routine, I'd highly recommend adding it to your routine slowly. For example, use it twice a week at night at first and then slowly ramp up. I'd also recommend using it on dry skin and using it with moisturizer and getting rid of any irritating products in your routine while you're starting on it. If your skin is a bit more sensitive or you're very new to retinoids, I'd recommend their other versions first. They have a 1% and a 2% which also use liposomal retinol. Another thing I really appreciate about this is that it has a nice nozzle that makes it very easy to control how much you're dispensing. This nozzle just makes it so easy to control how much actually gets dispensed. It really cuts down on the risk of having a super inflamed face 2 days after you've tried a retinol."

"I usually don't use eye creams because I wear contact lenses at night and if any product gets into my eyes it is a massive pain. I gave this one a go because it has a thicker texture and so I figured it probably wouldn't travel as much, and I was right. This does hydrate my under eye area pretty nicely without traveling into my eyes. This also has that niacinamide and adenosine combo that makes it a functional cosmetic. It also has marine extracts and peptides and that liposomal technology which should deliver that deeper into your skin. This does have a moderate scent but because you don't use very much product it's not super noticeable. It comes with a metal de-puffing massage stick and this is quite soothing. I prefer applying this cream by pressing it in with my fingers because the texture is a bit thick. I did find myself really enjoying this. I found myself reaching for it a lot more than I expected."

"The reason it is innovative is because this product sort of just ticks off a whole bunch of things I needed in an SPF lip product. The main thing that made a difference for me is actually just the fact it's in a doe foot applicator. I know I have kind of mixed feelings on this because it is kind of gross, like you are putting it on your lips and then dunking it back in, but it is preserved so it should be fine. It's just mentally a bit gross, I guess. But all of that is not an issue because it just makes it so much easier to reapply. It's so much less messy. It's really easy to just get it on your lips. You don't end up with sticky fingers, and that sticky finger issue is such a big issue when I'm at the beach. I just don't want sand all over my stuff. I want to be able to get the lip gloss onto my lips without touching it with my fingers without risking sand. It also just acts like a regular lip gloss. It smells really good. They've got four different flavors. I've tried watermelon, cherry, coconut, and those are all really nice. Their salted caramel, which I'm a bit more iffy on, it sort of has this coffee-ish caramel aroma."

"Petrolatum is the gold standard occlusive, it's really good at sealing water. [...] Your skin can get dried out and itchy and tight and this helps prevent that. On top of that, more hydrated skin can also let in some skincare ingredients a bit more easily into the skin, so this can also have an effect of helping your skincare ingredients penetrate a bit more deeply. [...] I do like this because it is a very cheap hack and a lot of people do have a jar of Vaseline lying around that they will never get to the bottom of, so it is something that I think most people can try without too much risk. [...] The downsides of this is first off your skin gets really sticky and your hair and cat fur."

"This foundation is pretty pigmented. It has pretty high coverage and it dries to give a satin sort of finish. The application isn't as easy as some others. It has a standard sponge with the big holes as the dispenser, so you do have to work it on a bit to get rid of the dots. The standout thing for me with this product, aside from the fact that they actually have a shade range, is how well it stays on skin and doesn't transfer very much. That 'mask fit' part is actually because they designed it to not smudge as much when you're wearing a mask. And they did clinical testing to substantiate this, which I think is just really cool."

"They have a patent on their cushion puff. [...] It feels a lot softer and more jellyish than the others I've tried. It moulds to my face with zero effort. The dispenser is also really bouncy and has a mesh cover. And together, these just make it really easy to apply evenly and blend. On me, it has buildable coverage and a nice glowy finish. But the downside, it has a ridiculously limited shade range. I think they launched with like three shades and recently they expanded to five. And I am the darkest shade which is Ginger. This is pretty standard for brands that are made for the East Asian market, but it is still ridiculous and it would be great if they could change this because otherwise this is just so great."