Skincare stash decrease project – winter update 9

While I’m preparing my 2021 inventory post for skincare stash decrease project, like the one I posted in February last year, I would like to share with you my winter empties.

If you follow my blog, you might have noticed that I didn’t write about emptied products since November 2020. So, this is my first seasonal empties overview (I did something similar for August and September).

This will be a long one, so I thank you in advance for your patience and attention. This is my winter full of empties 🙂

DHC Deep cleansing oil – Although this oil is thicker than the cleansing oils I normally use, I still like it. It glides nicely on the skin while breaking down efficiently the spf, makeup, dirt. It emulsifies nicely and rinses off completely without leaving a greasy residue. The only issue I have with this cleansing oil is the fact that it blurs my sight when used for removing the eye makeup. I still think this is great cleansing oil and I will probably repurchase it.

Pixi Double cleanse x Caroline Hirons – This is really quite an impressive cleanser. It is very practical since both components needed for double cleansing are in the same packaging, which makes it very travel-friendly (not that I travelled a lot lately LOL). The first cleansing phase is the balm which is excellent, melts perfectly on the skin, is extremely effective in removing makeup, dirt, spf and washes of easily and neatly without blurring the sight. The second phase of cleansing is the cream that has such a pleasant texture, doesn’t foam too much and feels nice on the skin. Once it is removed, the skin feels so soft and smooth. The only downside of this cleanser is the price / quantity ratio. Although it is travel friendly being in the same packaging, you get less product that you would normally get if you would buy the cleansers separately. And honestly it is not that affordable since it costs 24 GBP. I used this cleanser along with my other ones, otherwise I would have probably emptied this long time ago. I’m really glad I tried this, but I do not think I will repurchase.

Oskia Renaissance cleansing gel – I got this gel cleanser in one on my Advent calendars. It is nice cleansing gel that doesn’t foam too much or dry the skin and it is still effective as a second cleanser or as the morning cleanser. It has a nice, jelly texture that is a bit on thicker side. It spreads nicely, feels really pleasant on the skin. It has that distinctive Oskia scent to it (just like Oskia Renaissance mask). I like it this cleanser and I will probably repurchase it once my stash is decreased.

Drunk Elephant Beste No 9 jelly cleanser – Unlike Oskia’s cleanser, I wasn’t quite impressed with this cleanser (which goes for almost all Drunk Elephant products). Once this cleanser is washed off, my skin would feel really tight and it felt like it was drying me out, which does not happen to me too often. On the bright side, I only had a small tube and went through it rather quickly. I would not purchase a full size product.

Neogen Dermalogy Green Tea Real fresh cleansing stick – I finally emptied this cleansing stick which lasted for a really, but really long time. I didn’t use it every single day, since I like to switch between the cleansers and so to say stir my cleansing routine every now and then. This is a decent second cleanser that feels comfortable on the skin, it is not drying even if its ph-factor is rather high (if I remember well). It doesn’t foam to much, it is effective in removing the traces of first cleanser and everything else that might remain after the first cleansing step. It is very travel-friendly since there is no possibility of product leakage. I did experience slight eye burning, but not always. The thing that bothered me is actually its soapy smell that had a certain psychological effect on me in the sense that it made me think that it could dry my skin, although in reality it is not drying at all (I know, I’m a bit crazy). I used it as a second cleanser, but also as my morning cleanser if I exaggerated with my routine the previous night. All in all, this is a decent cleanser, but I don’t think I would repurchase.

Versed Just breathe clarifying serum – This niacianamide serum was the first Versed product I tried. It is watery and thus it has a perfect texture for my routines. I’m aware that I repeated this sentence for too many times, but I really appreciate the watery texture when speaking of niacinamide serums, since I use them as first step of my night routine. Actually it is so watery, you could think it is a toner. Besides the texture I really liked, I also like the serum itself since it is not sticky and it doesn’t have any side effects (redness, stinging). It is absorbed nicely and I could continue quickly with the rest of my routine. I have purchased now some Kbeauty serums, as well as niacinamide from Good Molecules, but I will definitely repurchase this one.

Medik8 C-tetra serum – This is an excellent vitamin C serum with texture I’m actually not used to have with this kind of serums. It has a wonderful texture of a dry oil which makes the skin velvety. It is absorbed rapidly. It is very comfortable to use and causes no reactions like redness, tightening feeling, stinging, and at the same time, it gives freshness, natural shine and brightens the skin. Since it is nicely absorbed, it works well with the rest of my routine. It is packed in a dark brown bottle which prevents the penetration of light and thus protects the product. I emptied this bottle within 3 months and it didn’t go bad, it kept the same texture, colour and the scent. I will definitely repurchase and I would like to try other Medik8 vitamin C serums.

Garden of Wisdom C Deep vitamin C serum – This is good serum containing vitamin C. Just like my previous serum mentioned above (Medik8 C-tetra), it is also an oil based serum, but this one from GoW takes quite a while to sink in the skin. Because of that, it wasn’t convenient for my morning skin routines when I was in a hurry. I had no reactions what so ever to it, no redness, no itching, no stinging, anything. Taking into account that it really took a while to absorb, it made me simplify my morning routine, so I ended up using only this serum and sunscreen and actually this wasn’t a bad combo at all. The skin looks fresh and brightened. Just like other GoW serums I tried (niacinamide one), it really has a lousy packaging which “spits” the content. The only good thing with this packaging is that it is almost opaque and thus prevents the sun / light to degrade the serum. I don’t think I will repurchase.

Hylamide SubQ Skin – This is great cocktail serum. I call it cocktail, because, besides copper peptides, it contains 5 sorts of hyaluronic acid and some other nice and beneficial ingredients. It is lightweight serum which is nicely absorbed and not sticky. I was using it in both of my routines, in the morning and in the evening. It smooths the skin, it plumps it, gives it a certain volume and makes it softer. I can highly recommend this serum to all of those who didn’t get along well with The Ordinary Buffet or Buffet with copper peptides, since the formulation of this serum is much more elegant and the feeling it provides is more comfortable from what you get from those 2 serums. Hylamide is definitely one step up from The Ordinary. I have already bought a backup bottle.

The Ordinary Hyaluronic acid + B5 – I introduced this HA serum in my routine at the same time I introduced Nuface mini device and I used it exclusively in that part of the routine. This serum is jelly like, I was applying it on the watery toners and on top of it, I was putting the combo of aloe gel (Holika Holika) and Nuface primer. When I emptied this bottle, I noticed that it was actually this serum that was causing the goopines and stickiness and it was not aloe gel or Nuface primer. Aside the stickiness, otherwise it is nice product containing hyaluronic acid to which my skin usually reacts nicely. The skin feels fuller, plumper and very hydrated. I think that I will not repurchase this hyaluronic acid serum because of the stickiness.

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5% – This is the usual The Ordinary formulation that relies mostly on 1 skincare ingredient. This serum has a dark red color which is not the result of some artificial colorant since it comes from the ingredient itself. It does stain my skin a bit, but once it is absorbed this stain disappears. This product is oily, but it sinks in really fast. At the beginning, I was using it sporadically, but once I started to apply it often, I went through this 15ml bottle very fast although little goes a long way and it only takes 2-3 drops to treat whole face. Besides the fact this is an antioxidant, I was attracted to this product by the claims that it revives the vitamin C that oxidized. I cannot confirm or dispute this claim since I didn’t test it for those purposes. At the beginning, I was using it on the days when I was not applying my vitamin C serum, and then, towards the bottom of the bottle, I started to use simultaneously with it. Unlike other TO anti-oxidants (like EUK134), this one is really a “no-brainer” since it has no conflicts with other ingredients and it is really easy to incorporate it in the routine. Once absorbed, it really worked well under my bb cream or foundation. As far as the results go, I consider this more like an inner skin support rather than something that would demonstrate some results that can be noticed visually. I will now open EUK134, but I will definitely repurchase Pycnogenol.

Purito Centella Green level unscented spf50 – I think this is one of the most unpopular and most mentioned sunscreens during past months. I managed to empty this tube on the exact same day the drama about the results of its spf emerged. Although I liked to use this sunscreen during the winter since it is nicely absorbed and cosmetically really elegant, I will not repurchase it due to the fact that its spf might be 19 instead of 50 declared. I did not use it during the summer, but my sister had an issue with it while we were on the beach. Although she reapplied it often and in sufficient quantity, her forehead suffered a sun burn. I felt guilty since she had used my sunscreen. At the same time, I used Anessa’s milk with spf50 and I had no issues what so ever.

Klairs Soft Airy uv essence – Until the drama mentioned above, this Klairs spf was my favourite sunscreen. I like how it is absorbed and how it feels on the skin, I like the finish, the fact that it has no cast and leave no greasy residue. However, ever since I read that the same laboratory that formulated Purito, also created this sunscreen, I have lots of doubts and I’m constantly wondering if my skin is well protected, if I will get burned (although I didn’t experience any of these issues). I still have one tube in my stash, but I will leave it for next autumn/winter and will use other sunscreens like Anessa, Supergoop, etc.

Klavuu White pearlsation ideal backstage cream spf30 – This was a small tube with really long name and it looks like the most complicated product name I have ever come across. This is thick, tinted sunscreen. It has a pinkish hue to it and it looks more like the lightest Asian bb cream, than like a sunscreen. It is spread nicely, but it leaves a white cast that doesn’t disappear very quickly. It does have a tone-up effect that evens a skin, but also gives it a nice dewy look. It feels comfortable on the skin. However, because of the white cast, I didn’t like it at the beginning, but once I got used to this cast, I became fond of it and loved the polished and evened look that this pinkish cream left.

Easydew DW-EGF premium cream – Although this is a small 15ml tube, it lasted for quite a while, because I used it on and off. I wasn’t using it during summer since it is was a bit heavy for my taste although it is not as greasy as other moisturizers you could have in mind when speaking of heavy moisturizers. It has a thick texture, but still not too thick, it doesn’t feel moisturizing at all, so I suppose this is why I didn’t use it during the summer. It is nourishing and it sinks nicely in the skin. I was using it in my night routine and in the morning my skin felt really nourished, looked and felt elastic and it had a nice, healthy shine. As its name says, it contains EGF (Epidermal growth factor) which apparently has some benefits like reducing visible signs of aging, speeding up of healing processes in the skin, stimulating the cell turnover, etc. Since I used it on and off, I couldn’t confirm those claims and that’s why I would buy a bigger size and use it during the longer period to investigate some of those claims.

Haruharu Wonder honey green aqua – I’m so happy I finally got rid of this terrible moisturizer. It is one of the worst Kbeauty items I have tried so far and trust me, I have tried plenty. It is gel like moisturizer which sinks nicely into the skin. When I bought it, I thought this would probably be a perfect summer time moisturizer. It is not moisturizing enough, not even during the summer. When I used it as last step of my night skincare routine, I had to get up during the night to put an additional layer of something on it, since my skin felt terribly dry and tight. It is heavily scented and smells like whole bottle of citrusy oils was poured into the tube. Since I do not like to throw the skincare away, I used it as a hand cream, but it is not good enough even for the hands. I will definitely not buy it ever again.

Atrue Spring green tea watery calming cream – If only I had access to this moisturizer now, I would buy it immediately despite the big stash of moisturizers I currently have. This is a great moisturizer!! It sinks in nicely and fast and has lightweight texture. Despite this light and fluffy texture which provides such deep hydration, it is also so surprisingly nourishing. I was using it throughout the summer, but since in its case, a little really goes a longway, I elongated the use throughout autumn and winter and I found it equally good and effective as it was in the summer. The skin was plump, hydrated, replenished. I love it and I’m so sad that I cannot buy it for the moment.

The Inkey List Retinol eye cream – This eye cream was one of my big discoveries for 2020. And I forgot to include it in the post about my skincare in 2020. Although the packaging says that it targets the age 25+ (and I’ve obviously passed that number a long, long time ago), it still works on my 40+ eye area. Before I purchased it, I read some bad reviews which said that they had issues with texture and that the oil was separating from emulsion, but I had none of this issues. This eye cream is lightweight, sinks in nicely. I didn’t feel any tingling or burning or anything that may be caused by use of retinol. A little goes a long way and this small tube lasted for 5 months with regular application each night. My eye area is polished and smooth, without any wrinkles. And on top of all, it is cheap. For the moment, I’m using other eye cream, but I will definitely go back to this little jewel.

Lixirskin Vitamin C paste – I love this quick-shot face mask. When I used it for the first time, I was completely mesmerized by its effect on my skin. My skin looked shinny, radiant, evened and extremely brightened and it felt so smooth. The application is easy since the mask spreads even and nicely and you need only 2-3 minutes before you washed it off. This first impression, the shine and radiance, diminished a bit with further masking, but it is still an excellent face mask. The only negative thing with this mask is its funky scent which is a bit strange and unpleasant, but eventually I got used to it. I have bought now another vitamin C mask, but I will definitely repurchase this Lixirskin mask.

Peter Thomas Roth Rose stem cell bio repair mask – I honestly do not know is it me or those PTR masks, but I see no benefit what so ever from these rather expensive masks. The result I got from this one is similar to what I would get if I put the ordinary aloe gel. It hydrates and that’s about it.

Cosrx Low ph BHA overnight mask – This is a very good sleeping mask, it is rather thick and nourishing, but it is still easily spread. It locks nicely the routine, I feel like it pushes in the layers I have previously put and thus helps their absorption. I must say that, from all sleeping masks I have tried so far, this one left my skin the smoothest and softest in the morning. I guess this softness is the result of the BHA which can be found in small percentage in its inci list (I think it has 0,2% of BHA in it). This is small percentage for its “regular” tasks and claims (and of course this sleeping mask is not marketed as an acid), but it probably still contains enough to make my skin so soft. I think I will not repurchase again since it seems to me that it was discontinued meanwhile.

Stay tuned since next week I will do the stash inventory post for my 2021 stash decrease project.

Till next time stay healthy and beautiful!