One Year of Skincare – Reviews of the products I tried

(1 out of 6)

I started skincare about a year ago and here are my reviews of the products I tried.

**Skin:** late 20’s, combination with oily t-zone, normal cheeks. My T-zone is prone to CCs/pimples/whiteheads and cheeks are prone to being sensitive/easily overexfoliated/burning/stinging

**Climate:** humid winters, mild summers.

**Skin concerns:** occasional pimples, whiteheads, PIE, balancing adapalene (0.1%) use

**Goals/expectations and disclaimers**: I just want to preface these reviews with my goals and expectations of skincare because they may or may not align with yours and to give some context as to what I look for and expect out of products. As with any review, please take them with a grain of salt! Please note I have only been in my skincare journey for only a year and I still feel like a noob when it comes to skincare as I don’t have a bunch of experience with trying different products.

1. I want my skin to be healthy, not perfect. I’m not aiming for glass skin or looking to erase my pores. I have sebaceous filaments but I’m not aiming to get rid of them since they come back the next day pretty much 😆 having pores and sebaceous filaments are normal part of the skin anatomy so I don’t feel the need to focus on them for me personally.

2. Balancing wanting to have fun/trying different products/ingredients with having sensitive and reactive skin. The AB world is of shinies and I have to balance the urge to try the shinies with my skin sensitivities. I think sticking to a simpler routine helps me cut down on the reactions.

3. Avoiding fragrance and essential oils – I personally don’t want to increase my risk of developing allergic contact dermatitis to those ingredients as I have eczema (mainly hands but I’m starting to suspect the other parts of my body are starting to as well…). All the products reviews most people would consider fragrance-free

4. My main active ingredient is adapalene 0.1%, a retinoid product which is available OTC where I live. It is no doubt the main worker for my skin concern and does it well. The drawback is handling the side effects of this ingredient such as irritation, skin flaking etc., which is where the AB products step in (not only to bring some fun to the routine 😆) but also keep my barrier healthy to mitigate some of these symptoms

5. I will note whether a product broke me out on my T-zone as it is clog prone, but I try not to let it dictate my review of the product itself. My personal reaction to the product is going to vary from someone else’s experiences so I don’t think it’s fair to knock a product if it didn’t work for my skin, as what is pore-clogging for one person will be completely different from another. There are definitely other people’s favorites in this list that my skin did not like, and I’m sure some of my favorites have messed some people’s skin up.

**Other:** I am on OCP. Allergic to dust and many tree and grass pollens so I have learned to stay away from products with many different plant extracts. 🫠

**Current Routine:**
AM- water, RL dokdo toner, isntree green tea emulsion, isntree yam cream (cheeks), Anessa Perfect UV Mild Milk
PM – cow brand oil cleanser, RL dokdo toner, isntree green tea emulsion, isntree yam cream (cheeks), adapalene (every 3 days currently) or vaseline