Michelle is a Sydney-based science educator who breaks down the chemistry behind serums and skincare formulations into plain language anyone can follow, helping people figure out which products are actually worth their money. Her videos and write-ups work through the science step by step rather than just landing on a verdict.
Why Are They A Guru?
She holds a chemistry PhD with doctoral research focused on the molecular behaviour of skincare formulations.
57Products
42 approved88% approval rate
6 skippedDoesn't pull punches
6 hot takesWhere they break from the pack
The hall of fame
Lab Muffin Beauty Science's top picks.
The products Lab Muffin Beauty Science has crowned best in their category, and brings up again and again.
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.
Another iconic product that's going to be a no is Tarte Shape Tape Concealer, but are we surprised? Because it's so thick, of course it's going to break you out.
"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 also have some azelaic acid serums with a nice texture. Azelaic acid is a bit of an annoying ingredient for me. There is some evidence that it's good for a whole bunch of things like acne, hyperpigmentation, even rosacea. And it is approved as a drug for some of these which is cool because most treatments for these are pretty irritating. But azelaic acid is a bit of a pain. The first product I tried was the Paula's Choice serum and that had an okay texture but it was pretty small."
"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."
"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."
"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."
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67%Guru Score
All 2 takes on Super Serum
Wedding skincare + Routine update
"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."
My Favourite Innovative Products of 2023
"The Olay Super Serum is the best new product I've tried in a really long time. For a serum that has actives like this I will start with my skin at its best, using my standard skincare routine for a few weeks, then I'll start using the new serum as the only active product while still using cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreens that I'm really familiar with so I know what they're going to do to my skin and can see any difference."
"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. This serum ticks off a whole bunch of boxes for glow: 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. 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."
"Glow by Ramon released this sunscreen stick with Beauty of Joseon around the time of my original video. I had no idea this was happening. He mentioned that he tweaked the formula to get more payout, and my testing does show that. This was actually the first stick where I managed to hit the labeled SPF, but to get there, it took about a minute and a half of swiping it on my face."
"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."
"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 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 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."
"This has a creme gel formula, but it feels very different on the skin compared to those other cream gel sunscreens because it has a lot of makeup style pigment and effect particles in it, that's the bismuth oxychloride, mica, titanium dioxide, and iron oxides listed in the ingredients. I actually prefer the texture of this during application, 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. And we need to talk about the shimmer because it is just too much. If you use a sunscreen amount, 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, and again I don't think this is an issue if you use a lot less, but sunscreen amounts, no, maybe it might work if you just happen to be that exact shade. I think this product is just better suited for people who are looking for a primer with some SPF protection and a glow rather than a sunscreen. So I wouldn't consider this a sunscreen really, I would call this a primer with SPF. I am really curious to know if anyone does like the Glow Screen when they're applying the right amount, I feel like a lot of people just aren't applying enough."
"When you start looking at things like dose, how much you're getting, how much UV, how much parabens, then you can start to see what does and doesn't make a difference, and of course this changes depending on your skin as well and your susceptibility to some. But there are very very few people in the world who are sun sensitive enough to have to wear sunscreen to bed. Wearing sunscreen definitely belongs on the top tier."
"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 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."
"The finish is not very greasy, it's more of a hydrated finish and it is slightly slidey so you can blend out any white streaks pretty easily. This has a cream gel consistency. 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. It's also got niacinamide, 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 always love a good pump container with my sunscreens. 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 ones I would need three pumps, and it would be three to six pumps probably for most people depending on the size of your face."
"I have already raved about the Relief Sun Rice + Probiotics so many times but I'm going to quickly run through it in case for those of you who are new to Beauty of Joseon. This is possibly the most raved about sunscreen online at the moment and it is my favorite sunscreen that I've tried so far. It is a Korean sunscreen that's not approved in other countries as far as I know. It is pretty lightweight but on the more moisturizing side which I have personally really appreciated. My skin is sort of oily combination but it has been drying out a bit because I've been using a lot more retinoids which are a bit drying and I've also had some hormonal changes thanks to dealing with endometriosis. The texture is really beautifully smooth and buttery. It's made by one of Korean's top sunscreen manufacturers. There is a tiny bit of white cast when I first apply it but it goes away once I leave it for about 10 minutes. The downside of the sunscreen is that because it is so popular there's been quite a few fakes floating around like on Amazon so if you are planning to buy this I highly recommend buying it from an official retailer like Stylo Korean."
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86%Guru Score
All 2 takes on Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF 50+ PA++++
The Worst Sunscreen Misinformation: 2026 Edition
"Beautiful sunscreen."
Best Affordable Skincare: Beauty of Joseon (AD)
"I have already raved about the Relief Sun Rice + Probiotics so many times but I'm going to quickly run through it in case for those of you who are new to Beauty of Joseon. This is possibly the most raved about sunscreen online at the moment and it is my favorite sunscreen that I've tried so far. It is a Korean sunscreen that's not approved in other countries as far as I know. It is pretty lightweight but on the more moisturizing side which I have personally really appreciated. My skin is sort of oily combination but it has been drying out a bit because I've been using a lot more retinoids which are a bit drying and I've also had some hormonal changes thanks to dealing with endometriosis. The texture is really beautifully smooth and buttery. It's made by one of Korean's top sunscreen manufacturers. There is a tiny bit of white cast when I first apply it but it goes away once I leave it for about 10 minutes. The downside of the sunscreen is that because it is so popular there's been quite a few fakes floating around like on Amazon so if you are planning to buy this I highly recommend buying it from an official retailer like Stylo Korean."
"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."
"I switched to Sensodyne toothpaste because my teeth hurt with cold stuff. And Sensodyne happens to not have SLS. And then I had a massive ulcer for the first time in ages when I went on holiday and I was just using free toothpaste samples. There are tons of toothpaste options without SLS. Now, if you have this problem, try switching."
"Head and Shoulders pioneered a lot of its use it works really well the main downside is that it's insoluble the tiny particles can make your hair feel a bit gritty"
"SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF has L-ascorbic acid, ferulic acid, and phloretin. SkinCeuticals works as you would expect. Vitamin C works so well not only because it's an antioxidant but also because ascorbic acid can interact with copper, it can grab onto it, and this is actually thought to be part of how it inhibits tyrosinase to reduce pigment."
"I blot it with a normal towel and then I squeeze and wrap it with an Aquis microfiber towel for about 5 minutes. I can't really leave this too long because it makes my fringe dry in a weird way."
"The stability from these rings also makes it really good for acne because it means you can layer it with benzoyl peroxide and you can also get it in a relatively simple combo formula which is called Epiduo."
"There are encapsulated versions like Retin-A Micro, which are usually gentler because they basically wrap up the tretinoin and then release it more slowly."
"It's actually so safe that it's been specifically approved for truncal acne, so like 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 is new there is 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."
"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."
"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."
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84%Guru Score
All 2 takes on Sensibio H2O Micellar Water
Wedding skincare + Routine update
"If I don't have makeup then I'll use the Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water with reusable cotton pads. If I have makeup then I'll rub a cleansing balm on my face and then wipe it off with a wet cotton cloth, and then follow up with the micellar water."
My Favourite Innovative Products of 2023
"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."
"I've seen so many people raving about this cleanser, and it's lived up to the hype. It is a really nice cleanser. It comes out quite firm and it forms a really nice dense lather and it didn't strip my skin much at all."
"The tub has this really handy flip top lid which is much nicer than a screw top when your hands are like oily and slippery. This is a really nice product and I think it is relatively unique."
"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."
"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."
✓Approved
78%Guru Score
All 2 takes on Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
Science-based body care hacks: KP, breakouts, dark marks
"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."
Wedding skincare + Routine update
"The Paula's Choice 2% BHA liquid it has just been one of my favorites for a long time. My skin just really loves it. It gives me a really lovely smooth glow, it keeps away closed comedones, and it makes my pores look smaller. My main criteria for these is that they are concentrated enough to work well in the shower, which this one is."
"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."
"The Sunday Riley Good Genes which is mostly lactic acid, my skin just really loves it. It gives me a really lovely smooth glow, it keeps away closed comedones, and it makes my pores look smaller."
"This is one of my favorite peeling gels I've tried. My big test of whether a peeling gel is good is whether or not it bunches up and gives enough scrubbing fibers when I use it in the shower when there's lots of extra water around. This one works really really well, but a lot of them don't and they turn kind of sad and watery, or they actually go kind of sticky and stick to all your little hairs. This one passes with flying colors. And it is fragrance free and it has minimal smell for a fragrance free product, which is rare for a peeling gel."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Selenium sulfide is orangey yellow and smells a bit like rubber, but it's very effective. Some people don't mind the smell, but my nose is super sensitive to sulfur, I worked with it a lot in the lab. To me, Selsun Blue's fragrance is just a bit too strong."
"The Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Conditioner seems to work better than the other ones on my hair. The conditioning is just more intense, it lasts longer, and I don't need to use quite as much product. But if your hair is less bleach damaged, then maybe the other ones will have a similar effect."
"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."
"Another iconic product that's going to be a no is Tarte Shape Tape Concealer, but are we surprised? Because it's so thick, of course it's going to break you out."
"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 pretty much zero fragrance and no white cast, and it dries with a sort of glowy skin smoothing finish. It uses ultrafine priming particles to fill in fine lines and blur to create 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. It contains a retinoid, 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 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. 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, but for this one, I think the added skincare benefits are actually pretty cool."
"I haven't used it with prescription retinoids yet, but I have used it with a very gentle vitamin A/C and that's been fine so far. So yeah, really excited about using this. I'm hoping to maybe graduate to a higher level soon. I don't think I really need to go that high, but maybe I'll try the 300 soon as well. But I think this is a really nice, safe starter product that's not too hard to incorporate into your routine, and I think it's really cool to have a product that is truly innovative."
"When you rub these spikes into your skin, they either exfoliate your skin and get rid of some of the dead skin layers, or they might stick into your skin and create micro channels. Both mean that ingredients can potentially get deeper more easily. Spicules are relatively new, so there are essentially two big questions: do they work, and are they actually safe? In my opinion, it looks like they are effective for smoothing out skin texture and making pores look smaller, those are the main things people have been raving about. But it's a bit harder to say how well they work for delivering ingredients deeper, since they're physical spikes, that's going to depend on how you use it, how hard you rub and for how long, also the specifics of the formula, like the shapes of the spicules, how many there are, and what the other active ingredients are. There aren't a lot of human studies and they're all very small sample sizes, but overall I think it's really promising. There's a research group in China led by Professor Ming Chen, they've looked at lots of really cool applications like delivering insulin and treating melanoma. These need to work much deeper than skincare, and generally the spicules are paired with other delivery systems like liposomes, but overall lots of potential. The other big question is safety. Dr Dray, in early 2024, said she was worried about foreign body granulomas. Basically the concern is spicules are made of silica, which is the same as glass or sand. In theory, if a spicule gets too deep, you could end up with a chunk in your skin that your body can't break down. Your immune system might then react, and you essentially end up with a really angry bump that can be difficult to treat, and this sort of thing can take years to show up."
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"I haven't used it with prescription retinoids yet, but I have used it with a very gentle vitamin A/C and that's been fine so far. So yeah, really excited about using this. I'm hoping to maybe graduate to a higher level soon. I don't think I really need to go that high, but maybe I'll try the 300 soon as well. But I think this is a really nice, safe starter product that's not too hard to incorporate into your routine, and I think it's really cool to have a product that is truly innovative."
"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."
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"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."
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"Because Vaseline doesn't have water it also shows pH 5 to 6, pretty much anything without water is going to show that. So yeah this test just doesn't mean anything, and even if you do have water pH only tells you about one tiny aspect of a product. The hydrogen ion concentration. Products are really complex, you can't really say if something is going to work or not just based on pH."
"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."
"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."
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