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Clover

United States

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✧Acne Prone & Dry Skin✧
╚══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*══╝...

╔══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*══╗
✧Acne Prone & Dry Skin✧
╚══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*══╝
Been dealing with painful acne since my teens, and only in the past few years have I gotten it really under control. Not only is my acne mostly gone, but I've also been able to improve my PIH/PIE and my dry rough skin. Now I'm a skincare addict, however I've given myself a $30 limit for each product (there are a few exceptions as occasionally I buy something on sale for $30 or less when it's normally more). So feel free to explore my routine and liked products for affordable recommendations.
AND SUNSCREEN IS A MUST! I'm very fair and experience sun allergies when outside without protection for very long. The bumps are itchy and can be red and painful. They can take about two weeks to go away completely so I try to be very diligent about sun protection.
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Commonly disliked ingredients that DO NOT bother my skin:
• Fragrance (I don't go overboard and will still avoid it where I can)
• Astringents such as alcohol, witch hazel, or birch sap (when formulated into products)
• Citrus extracts (I do try to avoid citrus oils however)
• Tea tree oil (if formulated into a product it's fine, but I still try to avoid other essential oils)
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Commonly liked ingredients that DO bother my skin:
• Vitamin C (especially in higher percentages, it often stings)
• Glycolic acid (especially in higher percentages, often makes me red. I prefer PHAs or BHAs with less than 0.5% strength)
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How I personally rate and review products:
⭐️ Terrible! Who was this product even meant for? I cannot recommend that anybody use it.
⭐️⭐️ Absolutely did not work for me at all, but it might for some people. Still, I can’t say I recommend the product. I believe there's a better alternative out there.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s not awful and didn't do anything terrible to my skin, but I personally did not enjoy using the product or see many results. Although, I imagine it could work well for some people.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Product works, but there’s just something about it I wish was better or different.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazing! Product works very well and is enjoyable to use. I highly recommend!

Holy grails

Popular reviews

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%
Reviewed on Nov 14, 2023

Gotta give credit where credit is due
WOW… lot of people ganging up on this incredibly affordable/popular serum. I understand the criticisms, but personally I don’t believe the intensity is warranted. For so many people this was the...

Gotta give credit where credit is due
WOW… lot of people ganging up on this incredibly affordable/popular serum. I understand the criticisms, but personally I don’t believe the intensity is warranted. For so many people this was the start of their skincare journey; it certainly was mine! And because I had never used ingredients like niacinamide or zinc on my face before, of course I noticed an incredible improvement in regards to my acne and skin tone evenness. This is a good serum to start with. No, you don’t need 10% strength (2%-5% works well) and for some that 10% can be irritating. However most people can handle 10% just fine so it’s not something many need worry about. The formulation isn’t elegant and sometimes it gets frothy or pills when you try to rub this in— BUT this is $6! You can’t really beat The Ordinary’s prices, and for some people $6 is all they can afford to spend on skincare so this is a good affordable option.
If you already have effective products with niacinamide in your routine, you do not need to add this in because it won’t really do anything for you. But if you’re just washing your face with something like dish soap then of course this will make an incredible difference. You’ll probably move on from it eventually, but it’s an effective place to start. Wishing everyone the best on their skincare journey. <3

Like review
10 likes
Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner
Reviewed on Dec 19, 2023

Annoyed at the marketing
This isn’t a bad product, let me first start by saying that. Green tea can be wonderful for oily skin because it can help balance sebum production. But I bought this towards the beginning of my skin care journey...

Annoyed at the marketing
This isn’t a bad product, let me first start by saying that. Green tea can be wonderful for oily skin because it can help balance sebum production. But I bought this towards the beginning of my skin care journey when I wasn’t familiar with ingredients so I always had to take the brands word for it and/or just buy what was popular. This is marketed as HYDRATING and suited for sensitive, oily, and DRY skin. Sure, I guess if you have dry skin you can use it… but it won’t feel like it is doing anything. I used the whole bottle, questioning the entire time why I spent money on useless leaf water. If you have dry skin you don’t need this. Dry skin folks like me do not need to balance sebum production and this is nowhere near hydrating enough for my needs. (also, in my experience centella and/or heartleaf are way better soothing ingredients than green tea if that is your goal) For me, this product felt like a waste of money, although I will acknowledge it can be very helpful for others. I just wish that the listing I bought this from said something along the lines of “best suited for oily and combo skin”.

Light
Light Scent
Doesn't Work

Recent reviews

Farmacy Honey Halo Ultra-Hydrating Ceramide Moisturizer
Reviewed on Mar 16, 2024

I love this cream, but the price hurts my soul (and wallet).
I personally don’t like to spend more than $30 on a single product, so I suggest waiting for a sale or buying a smaller size (this product is offered in 4 sizes, with the 1.7...

I love this cream, but the price hurts my soul (and wallet).
I personally don’t like to spend more than $30 on a single product, so I suggest waiting for a sale or buying a smaller size (this product is offered in 4 sizes, with the 1.7 Fl Oz jar being the default at $48). This moisturizer just works so well for my dry skin. It’s not too heavy and it absorbs quickly, but my skin is still left feeling very moisturized and soft. I’ve even seen that it helps to calm my redness. There’s a slight sweet and honey-esque smell to this cream, but it doesn’t linger and disappears after application so it’s not overpowering, but if you are sensitive to fragrance just keep in mind that this product contains “aroma”, which is just another word for fragrance. I think a lot of people would enjoy this product, so if you are on the hunt for a good moisturizer I recommend checking this one out, but like I said before, I think waiting for a sale is the best time to pick this one up because it is a bit pricy in my opinion.

Expensive
Absorbs Well
Light Scent
Works Well
Peace Out Blemish Balm
Reviewed on Mar 7, 2024

I like the idea, but the execution could have been better…
Occasionally I enjoy a physical exfoliant, but finding a good one can be tricky. When I saw that Peace Out had one that used hydrogenated jojoba oil as its exfoliant and that it...

I like the idea, but the execution could have been better…
Occasionally I enjoy a physical exfoliant, but finding a good one can be tricky. When I saw that Peace Out had one that used hydrogenated jojoba oil as its exfoliant and that it was in a balm type formula I was intrigued as someone with dry acne prone skin. I like that it has ingredients like niacinamide and salicylic acid. It has got a good grit; the exfoliant is not too harsh or uneven (like fruit seeds/nut shells sometimes are) AND it’s not too gentle/ineffective like products that exfoliate by balling up on themselves like peeling gels (personal experience, no hate if peeling gels work for you). However, I do find that this product isn’t the easiest to spread and so it ends up dragging on the skin. This can be easily fixed by adding a little water or even an oil cleanser to the balm to help it glide across the skin easier. But it also leaves a very noticeable film on the skin. Again, this can be negated by using a second cleanse/water based cleanser after this to wash off that waxy feeling layer left behind. Having said that however, I don’t think this is a very good first cleanse anyway. Peace Out says themselves that this should not be used around the eyes, so although this can be used to remove face makeup/sunscreen, you’re gonna have to use something else to remove your eye makeup/sunscreen. This product can be a little bit of hassle to use, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It’s nice and since I only use it once in awhile the cons don’t bother me too much. But I don’t know if I’ll be repurchasing this once I finish it up. I might if I don’t find a better alternative, but in the end this is a product I can live with or without.

Heavy
No Scent