I’m both proud of and slightly horrified by the number of products — mostly skincare — that I’ve used up since early spring. I’ve been slowly downsizing the excessive products that I own — not that I haven’t broken down and purchased a few more than I needed — and here are my thoughts. I’ve actually gone through so much body care and general skin care in recent months, especially dealing with horrifically angry skin from wearing a mask, increased hand washing and the like. Let’s get to it, or rather to the first part of my empty products to be reviewed…

Cerave Hydrating Cleanser ($17.99 CDN | 355 mL)

This is a great gentle soap-free cleanser for skin that is dry, undergoing sensitizing treatments or is just prone to irritation. This was a saviour when I was reacclimatizing to using Differin and experiencing irritation from wearing a mask. It’s fragrance-free and contains ceramides, glycerin and hyaluronic acid. The texture is a thicker gel that never foams and feels quite soothing on the skin. It’s a forever repurchase for me and I’m happy to see that it’s now available in a larger size as well.

Paula’s Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser ($18 US | 198 mL)

Despite normally being the kind of girl whose face feels tight at the very thought of a gel cleanser, I loved this one. It contains a number of gentler surfactants but no soap of sulfates, goes onto dry skin as a soothing gel and later emulsifies into a frothy milk. It feels refreshing without being anything resembling drying with soothing ingredients like amino acids, green tea, liquorice root and fatty acids. I will be repurchasing. It also doesn’t sting my eyes and actually removes makeup pretty well, whilst being a ‘skin’ cleanser.

Laneige Bright Renew Original Serum ($59 CDN | 40 mL)

Sadly, Laneige appears to have phased out this milky serum when they kind of rebranded their brightening line. It contains squalane, niacinamde, green tea, liquorice root and beta glucan and offered lightweight hydration when patted into the skin. It contains ingredients that I found helped my skin remain bright and radiant, fade hyper-pigmentation and added a dose of anxtioxidants. The Laneige Bright Dew Original Essence seems to be the replacement, although it’s a bit more expensive and appears to have the niacinamide replaced with ethyl ascorbic acid.

Kate Somerville DeliKate Recovery Serum ($110 CDN | 30 mL)

This was the perfect type of serum for me to incorporate over the last four or so months when my skin was freaking out from the mask wearing and when I decided to reintroduce a prescription retinoid into my routine perhaps a little too quickly and hastily. I really enjoyed it but it was quite expensive and I want to explore other options. If I came across it on a good sale, however, I would buy. This is a soothing, calming and barrier repairing milky serum, loaded with glycerin, ceramides, nourishing plant oils, antioxidants and anti-irritants. I appreciate that the bottle is opaque and thus the antioxidants will remain stable after being exposed to light.

Paula’s Choice Resist Advanced Smoothing Treatment 10% AHA ($37 US | 30 mL)

I finished up my second bottle of this AHA-serum hybrid a few days ago and happily moved onto my third bottle — in the new slightly improved packaging as well. It’s not cheap but I don’t mind spending on such a sophisticated formula and I often find good sales from Paula’s Choice. It contains a 10% blend of glycolic acid, lactic acid, malic acid and tartaric acid, along with 0.5% of salicylic acid to keep pores clear and congestion at bay. The serum has a slightly milky water-gel texture and along with the alpha hydroxy acids, contains peptides, ceramides, liquorice root extract, green tea extract, oat bran extract, chamomile and allantoin. I tend to use it up to a few times a week in the place of my usual chemical exfoliant and serum. Also the packaging keeps the antioxidants and replenishing ingredients stable and protected from light. It’s an effective AHA that’s easy to tolerate, in a nutshell. It pleasantly doesn’t ever sting my skin, despite containing glycolic acid.

The Ordinary “B” Oil ($9.20 CDN | 30 mL)

For years, I’ve loved using a few drops of an oil blend — preferably one formulated without essential oils or other irritants — in the treatment stage as a skin soother, to add additional antioxidant protection and to sandwich in moisture and comfort. This is a medium weight oil blend that follows that criteria and is housed in appropriate packaging. It contains squalane, the antioxidant, bisabolol, marula, argan, baobab, patula, brazil nut, inca inchi, rosehip and borage oil, and an interesting amount of a micro-algae. I would consider buying again after I’m finished with the oils I currently am using. It was very soothing and anti-inflammatory.

Sunday Riley Juno Antioxidant + Superfood Face Oil ($95 CDN | 35 mL)

When I wasn’t using the above mentioned facial oil, I happily used this classic essential-oil-free oil blend. It’s an investment buy for me but I found myself buying yet again for the third time, when I found this oil on another good sale. It smells like a good Greek salad dressing in the best way and contains a mixture of omega-rich and antioxidant-rich oils including blackberry seed oil, blueberry seed oil, grapeseed oil, cranberry seed oil, meadow foam seed oil and cumin seed oil. Afterwards, my inflammation goes way down, my skin glows and retains hydration.

Bioderma Sensibio AR ($25.90 CDN | 40 mL)

This was a really good moisturizer with a minimal ingredients list that was replenishing and soothing. It contains glycerin, mineral oil, probiotic ingredients, liquorice root extract, allantoin and green tea. It never burned or stung on my reactive skin, even when it’s quite irritated. It’s fragrance-free and has a minimal but effective ingredient list that definitely targets dryness, dehydration and inflammation. It was effective without being heavy in the slightest. I don’t plan on repurchasing soon but I wouldn’t be opposed to using again.

Kate Somerville Goat Milk Moisturizing Cream ($84 CDN | 50 mL)

This was an item I actually chose from Fabfitfun to receive and I didn’t realize that I was a fan of it until I chose to receive it again. This packaging looks a little different than the airless jars because it’s your traditional jar with limited edition packaging composed of 25% plastic ocean waste. It’s a nice soothing runny cream that I got along well with and would think even those with a more combination or acne-prone skin would enjoy. It’s almost fragrance-free — there’s a plant extract or two that contain fragrance — and feels comforting and lightweight on the skin. It contains soothing lactose and goat’s milk which have humectant properties, boost barrier function with the fat molecules they contain and combat inflammation and redness. It also features witch hazel flower water which has antioxidant activity — but can be slightly irritating when used in higher concentrations — and antioxidant-rich plant oils. I would prefer it housed in the airless jar but regardless, I enjoyed it, particularly on my sensitive neck and chest.

Paula’s Choice Resist Skin-Restoring Moisturizer SPF 50 ($33 US | 60 mL)

This is a fantastic moisturizer with antioxidants, soothing ingredients and barrier-repairing ingredients that also contains SPF 50 sunscreen with chemical filters. What I love is the hydrating lotion vehicle and that my sensitive and reactive skin can actually tolerate the chemical actives without experiencing irritation. I repurchased as an everyday sunscreen-moisturizer hybrid, even though the sunscreen actives aren’t the most photostable; it’s a joy to apply and you don’t have to worry about a cast or any sort of clinging to dry patches. It contains shea butter, allantoin, niacinamide, liquorice root and oat extracts which I think help my skin tolerate the chemical actives. This was so good that was cut in half and used to the last drop so it didn’t appear in the picture.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask ($33 CDN | 75 mL)

I’ve been using and loving this hydrating mask for years, despite the fact the ingredients list does not particularly thrill me. It’s always contained a bunch of fragrance, potentially irritating plant extracts and citrus peel oils galore. It’s actually been reformulated so it has niacinamide but also has some drying alcohol towards the middle of the list but the fragrance, citrus oils and plant extracts remain. What I love about this mask is that it has a pleasant creamy thicker texture that feels soothing on the skin and sinks in, leaving long-lasting hydration. I have repurchased it before but I think I’ll try something else first. Also, I dumbly forgot to photograph this one!

Have you finished anything as of late?

Maggie, x.