I’ve seen a lot of these posts on instagram so I thought I should share here on picky! 

I like to keep my soothing products separate from actives so it’s organized for if my skin flares up 👀

Favorites (some you can see are loved) 
✨ The ordinary BHA+PHA Solution
✨ Isntree C-Niacin Ampoule (I’m just trying other vitamin c products)
✨ Skin1004 Centella Ampoule 
✨ Make P:rem Panthenol Essence 

What I’m trying
✨ Skin1004 Tone Brightening Capsule Ampoule 

Trying next
✨ Peach Slices Acne Exfoliating Toner

Skincare Collection So Far!

So I love using pimple patches. Really any brand is good, hydrocolloid patches or micro needle seem to work best. But I was wondering is there a possibility of over using them? 
I basically put one on as soon as I see a significant pimple, day or night time. Then if it doesn’t go away I’ll keep doing that daily. It usually only takes 2 days but with hormonal acne it’s a week. 
Does acne need to breath is essentially my question

Thanks!

Pimple Patches

I absolutely love this ampoule! It was my first k-beauty purchase so I’ve used it daily for a month and a half before reviewing (also because of vitamin c). I had a feeling I’d at least like it bc I’ve used sea buckthorn oil. 

✨First ingredient: sea buckthorn extract, which is super high in vitamin c. It’s actually one of the extracts with the highest concentrations of vitamin c! This is super useful for unwanted pigmentation. 
✨ Amazing texture: I mean, this is my first ampoule and real experience with Korean skincare long term. BUT it has a thin, watery gel consistency that glides on so smoothly. 
✨ I’ve already noticed some of my pigmentation lightening. I don’t have before pictures but it used to have a purple ish hue and now it just seems a little red. 

Overall: a nice moisturizing ampoule with vitamin c and niacinamide to apply daily! ❤️ Both have helped my skin barrier get healthy and avoid damage 

No complaints so far, I posted a full review with more details under the actual product. I just noticed discussions get more traction than reviews but I’d still like to help build almost a library of knowledge. Sorry I’m still sort of learning this community 🥰

Isntree C-Niacin Ampoule

I received this essence from #makep:rem and #gopicky in exchange for an honest review! I was so excited for this one bc it has simple ingredients, no fragrance and panthenol. 

🚨 Please keep in mind I have combo skin, and my skin barrier was recently compromised 🚨

Panthenol is vitamin B5, not to be confused with niacinamide. It’s more focused on moisturizing, healing wounds, and it’s slightly emollient. This essence came at the perfect time for me 🥰

Other ingredients: 
✨ Glycerin: moisturizing humectant 
✨ Ceramide NP: essential component of skin 
✨ Madecassoside: main component of Centella, which is an antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and aids in wound healing. 
✨ Chamomile: soothing and toning

Texture:
✨ Like a water based lotion. I’ve only tried one other essence, and this is on the thicker side. 
✨ Takes a few seconds to sink into the skin, so it leaves a bit of a tacky finish. I like this bc a moisturizer seems even more hydrating afterwards. Some people might not like this

Effect: 
✨ Wonderfully moisturizing! 😊 If I’m oily I’ve skipped moisturizer since I’m combo skin and this is slightly emollient like a lotion. I think the only issue is I’ve used too much. After day and night usage I seem to have some breakouts in places I usually don’t like my eyebrow and cheek area. The second picture shows this, as well as aggravated chin acne. The first pic shows the glowy-ness. 
✨ Wound healing: I had a hormonal chin pimple that got ripped off by accident 🤦‍♀️ then it got crusty. Now it’s in the healing stage of fading! After a week that’s awesome for me. 

I will 100% be purchasing this when I run out. It’s a good “calming” essence like the name says, and I believe it’s only around $20 USD.

Make P:rem Comfort Me Essence Review

I finally got my package from Stylevana with a bunch of goodies 😍I’ll try my best to not use them all at once. 

I tagged the products except the Round Lab Doko Clay Mask. That one wasn’t on Picky. I’ll have reviews coming in the next few months, especially the sunscreens.

Stylevana Box Opening!

Chime Bank

Stylevana

They lasted somewhat short. But when you think about how terrible nail polish looks once it starts chipping, it’s ok bc it skipped that step for the most part. I’m also happy I didn’t have to paint my nails in multiple layers and wait for each to dry, then still have tacky nails for what seems like forever. These were so easy to apply! I’m just not sure if they fit me 100% bc I have weirdly narrow nail beds but wide nails. Plus I don’t do my nails that often due to my job, but this was super fun! I’m going to apply the other set when I have somewhere fun to go. 

This breaks my typical format and made me try a nail product, which I haven’t done in years. That’s how easy it was to apply the Touch in sol nails. 
But I couldn’t give 5 stars bc they’re a bit expensive and I’m not sure if I’d purchase them again. I was able to try them thanks to Picky and Touch in Sol in exchange for an honest review. 

APPLICATION 
✨ Super easy instructions. As a run down, you file the nail, then wipe it with alcohol. The gel nail strips are pretty long, so you press them on then cut off the extra. Then you cure them for 60 seconds and file away the extra gel/fix the shape. 
✨ Tip: have the gel nail strip end exactly or as close to where your natural nail ends. On a few nails I had a corner of extra gel and it wouldn’t cure all the way. The next few days the extra gel was bending and wasn’t like a hard nail. 
✨  There’s 2 different shapes for the nail bed to get a more accurate fit. A more rounded narrow one and a more square one. My nail beds are kinda weird so I had to just make it work, but it’s good to have options.
✨ It’s that easy! It took me about 30 mins bc I applied one by one and the lamp seems like it only cures one nail at a time. 
 
WEAR
🚨Side note: I work at FedEx Office but I’m still moving a bunch of packages, so the nails went through more of a test than usual
✨ They lasted in pretty good condition (like the first pic) for about 5 days. 
✨ But on the 1st day there was a tiny chip on my thumb, and the 4th day a bigger chip on the other thumb as the other nails started to lift. 
✨ Somewhat short wear seems like it’s bc the strip stays kind of “gummy”. It almost feels like a silicone cap you’d put on cat nails 😂 
✨ VERY comfortable to wear. There were no sharp edges or even worse, a thick layer of acrylic you can see bulging above the nail. It didn’t interfere with any of my tasks either 

Nothing bad to say. 
Overall I’m very impressed with how the toner is working! It’s $10 compared to Paula’s Choice $32 similar product. This Peach Slices one is also available at American drugstores like CVS. I’ll have to use it more long term to speak on minimizing pore appearance, but if you need a toner for acne this is great! 

I love this Toner! I’ve tried Paula’s Choice 2% Exfoliating Liquid in the past and this is a similar dupe. The consistency and affect is the same for a BHA based product, the ingredients are just slightly different. At about $10 you can’t beat it! 

I N G R E D I E N T S 
✨ Chemical exfoliation: 2% salicylic acid, also lower amount of lactic and glycolic acid
✨ Hydrating: Arginine, Allantoin, Cucumber Fruit Water 
✨ Antioxidant + healing: Centella and Acerola extracts

It’s so hard to find an elegant formula that includes all 3 acids, isn’t drying, and doesn’t over exfoliate. The hydrating ingredients work wonderfully to prevent any burning or tightness  (even with me being somewhat sensitive to glycolic acid.) I think anyone can use this as acne prevention once a week. I use it for my combo acne prone skin about 2 or 3 times a week at night. It’s also gentle enough to use during day time (always remember 🌞 sunscreen)

T E X T U R E 
✨Just like the Paula’s Choice, it comes in a screw cap bottle. It’s a thin watery liquid that I pour into my hands and pat on. 
✨If applying like me: you do have to be mindful not to get it in your eyes since it’s so watery. 

E X P E R I E N C E
I get hormonal acne that takes forever to go away 😣 even The Ordinary Salicylic Solution wasn’t working for a bit. 
The two pictures where I have a chin flare up are 5 days apart! I’ve never had something help so fast on active acne. In my cheek area I experienced a bit of purging bc I had clogged pores, but that is slowly going away. 

🚨 I’m not sure how well the pump is going to work as I get toward the end of the bottle. It sits the wrong way for gravity to work with the pump and I’m probably going to cut it open which could introduce bacteria. 
🚨 It’s kind of expensive compared to other sunscreens, and it doesn’t have any expensive “wow” ingredient except centella or the SPF filters. 

However, I love the texture and it’s already lasted me a decent amount of time. I’m so picky about texture for SPF since I have combo skin and it’s summer here. I need something that’s like a moisturizer, but super light and easily absorbed, but not super shiny OR drying. I think I found another holy grail sunscreen!

Application
✨ Glides on so effortless and blends in so quickly! There’s no extra rubbing to blend it. 
✨ Freshly after applying on the skin it feels like after a sheet mask. So plump, bouncy, and glowy. Then it dries down to more of a satin finish with the same hydration. It takes probably 5-10 mins to dry down. 
✨ Doesn’t sting my eyes! ✨
✨ Pump applicator gives decent amount of product. I use 3 pumps for face and neck and use it like a moisturizer for my combo skin. 


Texture
✨ Some sunscreens leave a film that prevents absorption. This one applies like a dream! It’s very lightweight and non-greasy, and doesn’t leave a film on the skin. Once dried down I can’t feel it. 
✨ Thin and milky lotion. The texture reminds me a lot of the Make P:rem Panthenol Essence if you’ve tried that. 
✨ Creamy and smooth, almost with a cooling effect even tho I don’t refrigerate my products.  


Ingredients 
Skin1004 uses 4 different chemical filters, 3 being pretty photostable. So they don’t degrade as fast as you wear them in the sun. There’s one filter dedicated to UVA rays, one that’s broad spectrum and in total 3 protect against UVB rays. Because of this I’m pretty confident it offers good protection.
The rest of the ingredients are pretty similar to other Korean sunscreens: Niacinamide, various anti-inflammatory plant extracts, and 3 weights of hyaluronic acid being the main highlights. It’s mainly the texture and formula that stands out to me, centella is Skin1004’s signature ingredient and lots of people already love it. 

Thank you to Picky and Skin1004! I recieved the sunscreen in exchange for my honest review, and I’m loving it 😍 


Price
✨ $16.99 on stylevana and $19 on the Skin1004 website (which has a lot of options for countries). For 50ml, which is standard. 
🚨 That’s more on the high end for a Korean SPF. For example, Beauty of Joseon is around $10 on stylevana for the same standard 50ml. 

Only bad thing is I can’t see myself using this alone in the winter, which might not justify a purchase unless its summer. 
However this has saved my routine this summer 🌞 I was using the CeraVe cream but that’s wayy to heavy every night. Love this sleeping pack ❤️ 

I’m in love with this sleeping pack/moisturizer ❤️ During these humid summer days it’s amazing bc of its texture and how it dries down. 
I was given this product by Picky and Skin1004 in exchange for my honest review

Claims/Ingredients
 ✨ Special Hyalu-Cica: 3 different weights of hyaluronic acid along with Centella. Deeply hydrates 
✨ Nano Ceramide: Also helps hydrate tho it’s at the end of the ingredient list. Said to penetrate better. 
✨ Balance oil and tighten skin: Niacinamide, adenosine, and lots of anti-inflammatory plant extracts. 

I’m not so sure how topical melatonin works for “sleeping” skin. It’s a great concept, but I wonder if it’s even able to penetrate or reach the correct system. 

Application
✨ Watery gel that’s so lightweight but at the same time viscous. 
✨ Applies over top the skin then within 10 mins the skin soaks it up. Soooo hydrating, but not emollient like an oil or shea butter would be. That’s what makes it perfect for summer over top of some serums. 
✨ When dried down it feels less “wet”.  I would compare using the sleeping pack to slugging, but if it actually absorbed. 

Experience
✨ Hasn’t caused my combo skin to break out. (New moisturizers tend to do that) 
✨ Makes skin so plump and hydrated. I wake up with smooth and refreshed skin.
✨ Sometimes I use a moisturizer or a heavy essence underneath bc it’s not emollient. 
✨ I can’t use it every night bc it’s kind of luxurious feeling and I have combo skin. Sometimes I’ll thin out my regular moisturizer instead. 

When I first used this I had been using the moisturizer with no problem. Then all of a sudden my whole face was more red than usual (last pic). I found it’s best when used every few days, spaced out with the moisturizer, and layered with moisturizing toners. 
Honestly that’s a lot of work to make a product work for me. Plus it’s drying, it makes my skin feel tight. After all that I’d hope my acne would improve, but I’ve seen pretty much no change. 
Overall, I think this has the potential to be great if your skin is more oily than my combo skin. Or if your acne tends to be from bacteria instead of hormones, like mine. After just one month of use I’d say it’s good for prevention and inflammation 

This has been on my wishlist for ages bc I love approaching skincare in multiple ways: through acids, plant extracts, and new ingredients. This claims to help prevent and treat acne with tea tree water (very good it’s not the essential oil) in a non irritating and hydrating way. 

༶I༶n༶g༶r༶e༶d༶i༶e༶n༶t༶s༶
✨95% Tea tree extract: the more mild “cousin” to tea tree oil. It’s still strong and should be used with caution, but don’t think it’s 95% tea tree oil. 
✨Witch hazel: it’s awfully high on the ingredient list, but only has the potential to be 5% of the formula. I think this causes some of the drying effect. 

༶U༶s༶a༶g༶e༶/༶E༶x༶p༶e༶r༶i༶e༶n༶c༶e༶
✨I stopped using BHA and all acids
✨ I tried to use with caution, only trying 2 times a week at first. Then I gradually got up to about 5 times. 
🚨 See what was bad: When I first started using it, I was also using the matching moisturizer. And boy was my skin shocked by all the tea tree!
✨ I feel like I have to use it for a few months to see if it prevents breakouts. But I’ve noticed more breakouts 😣 my skin is sort of congested and BHA really seems to be the only thing to handle that. 
🚨 I only break out between my eyebrows when I’m congested and I’ve had a few new ones pop up. 
✨ My sebum is more balanced and I feel like other products absorb better afterwards. 

༶T༶e༶x༶t༶u༶r༶e༶
✨ Literally feels like water, but smells like tea tree 
✨ Very “liquidy” (as you can see in the video) so you have to be careful not to get it in your eyes. 
✨ The dispenser doesn’t grab that much product so that’s good for something you could overuse. 

༶P༶r༶i༶c༶e༶ ༶&༶ ༶A༶v༶a༶i༶l༶a༶b༶i༶l༶i༶t༶y༶
🚨 Around $27 USD on Stylevana for 50ml 
✨ Not horrible for an essence/serum. Especially since everyone is looking for a miracle product for acne. 
🚨 It doesn’t seem worth it for ME bc it didn’t stop acne at the source. 