You hear it often enough, that your skin will get better if you stop wearing makeup. Throughout covid lockdown, I have maybe worn makeup only once in 2 or 3 months throughout this year. BUT my skin did not get better from my break from makeup. I used to get dolled up daily, and I loved layering on a thick coat of everything. I never did see a correlation between it and my skin's condition though. What about y'all?

Did Your Skin Improve From A Makeup Break?

What do you do on a regular basis aside from applying creams/gels/masks to your face in the name of caring for your skin? I have a friend who blots her face by gently pressing a tissue to her T-zone instead of using blotting paper because those soak up too much oil and actually drives excess sebum production in the long run.

For me it is:
- Using a humidifier at night when I sleep
- Using a freshly laundered face towel to cover my pillow every night
- Wiping down my headphones and phone with antibacterial wipes daily cause they touch my face a lot in a day
- When I brush my teeth, I gently run my toothbrush across my lips to exfoliate dead skin

Indirect Skincare Routine

Saw suspicious activity while browsing the discussions. To have more than 20 upvotes on a comment posted half an hour ago and having a similar amount of referrals under them... Me thinks someone created 20+ accounts to cash in some coins. Not only that, she can vote herself best comment or review to get a leg up for those MVP awards. Hmm. And it doesn't seem to be against any Picky rules as far as I can tell. Thoughts?

Hacked The System

Totally made my Sunday to see this from team Picky on my Facebook feed this morning 🤣 DAVID IS A MOOD.

I LOVE SCHITT'$ CREEK!!

I have been thinking of changing my sunscreen to a kbeauty brand product but it seems like all the most popular ones are embroiled in this false SPF rating issue (Dear Klairs, Purito, Keep Cool, etc). Seems we won't know unless someone mentions this in their review (for those products with more than 20 reviews this is hard to spot!) or if Google returns a result in English about it. What other sunscreens have been affected by this problem? Can we share them here so it is easier for everyone to know before they decide to buy?

Kbeauty Sunscreens With False SPF

It is a tad expensive and the results aren&#39;t immediate. Things noticeably improved around 3 to 4 weeks. But I will continue purchasing. There isn&#39;t a better daily exfoliant as far as I can tell yet.

Edit: Because I see upvotes on this almost weekly, I feel I should update that this and the other 2% PC exfoliants are no longer my top choice. I&#39;ve since switched over to SKINMADE&#39;s 10% Azelaic Acid 2% Salicylic Acid which I do like better, is cheaper and is cruelty free.

This along with the Resist line version of the 2% BHA I use interchangeably when the original one in the gray bottle is sold out. Which it regularly is. I don&#39;t notice any discernible difference between the 3 imma be honest. It does what the other 2 do, clears my pores and keep the acne at bay while fixing my texture without melting my skin off. I don&#39;t get any irritation from using any of them twice a day most days of the week. I take a break once or twice a week to use the Sunday Riley Good Genes. Might probably never stop using PC&#39;s BHAs.

When people say toners are unnecessary, they&#39;re probably using this. It doesn&#39;t do anything except tear a bigger hole in your wallet. Korean skincare toners out there churning formulas with niacinamide and centella and green tea. This is so far behind. Like almost everything else from Kiehl&#39;s to be frank.

It did not irritate my sensitive, acne prone skin. That&#39;s about all I can say about this toner in terms of what I liked about it.

The price and the fact that Unilever bought over PC. Unilever is not cruelty free which is one of the reasons why I was willing to pay for this product. It is hard to find a retinol with this kind of elegant formulation that is also cruelty free. Not sure I might repurchase.

This is my 2nd month and so far I am seeing results. My expression lines around my mouth and forehead have become slightly less noticeable and in conjunction with the azelaic acid booster also from PC, this has significantly reduced my new breakouts. It does everything I hoped a retinol would do but without the irritation. Some days my skin might be drier than usual and I would just do the 7 skin method. So for a retinol this is quite easy to accommodate into my routine. I also did not experience any purging when I started this.

The packaging is nothing to shout about and the dropper is not the best, but minor issues. The biggest problem is, like I said above, you most likely won&#39;t be able to use this daily so if it&#39;s an azelaic acid serum you&#39;re looking for, this ain&#39;t it.

This is a tricky one to review because you would more than likely be interested in it for a daily azelaic acid serum, but I love this more as an exfoliant. First off, 10% for azelaic acid is gonna require daily use. Most studies for the efficacy of azelaic acid are for 20% concentrations. Personally, I&#39;ve found success with 10% but that was when I used it at once daily, some days twice (PC Azelaic Acid Booster). So the problem is this, you aren&#39;t really supposed to use a 2% BHA daily. I do, but my skin has been through the nuclear Warfield of prescription anti acne medication for a decade. I&#39;m pretty conditioned for the strong stuff. And even then I often check for signs of over exfoliation like waxiness and tightness, to know when I should back off the exfoliants for a while. That said, this is a great alternative to the Paula&#39;s Choice 2% BHA liquid if you didn&#39;t like how slippery or, some say, the tacky feeling it leaves you.

This one is a clear, viscous, odourless liquid that sinks in within seconds of application leaving no trace behind. So it is easy to layer with other serums and essences (no other exfoliants and retinol though, mind you). It&#39;s cruelty free, fragrance free, paraben free and EO free. And it gives me the same results as the PC BHA without a giant hole in my wallet. Keeps my pores clear of blackheads and minimises new breakouts while my sebaceous filaments stay unresurrected. I&#39;ve finally found a replacement for my PC BHA.

There are some schools of thought which theorise that moisturisers or foundation with SPF in them do not actually transmit the full defense they claim to provide. So if it says it is SPF 50 the reality is you might actually be getting benefits similar to only about SPF 15. Especially because you would need to layer a good amount of it to really achieve the full SPF 50 protection. This is a nice moisturiser in one moderate layer for oily skin, but if you pile it on it can feel sticky and my skin gets oily around the 3 hour mark.

Combining SPF with moisturiser definitely made it an attractive morning routine implement. Moreover it contains ingredients touted to combat aging.

Edit: I&#39;ve changed my review from a 4 to a 2 because I&#39;ve just come to realise the implications to coral reef health and how unstable avobenzone is. Of course generally speaking no sunscreen is truly proven reef safe, but we should still strive to find options like non-nano mineral sunscreens (bear in mind though just because the label says non-nano it might not always be because that definition is not regulated). This contains both avobenzone, which degrades in half an hour of exposure to sun, and octocrylene to stabilise and boost it, both of which we KNOW will harm marine life.

Sassquatch