Hallo, Friends! As you might not know, I am not royalty, nor can I afford a housekeeper, let alone the one I already have/am (ahem). So, when things need a little bit of the tidy tidy around the house – your girl here must get the job done. But this week, I was SUPER excited, to get the job done. Over the course of the year (2022) I was doing a little experiment; I kept my trash. Yes, you heard that right. I kept my trash over the course of the last year of all the beauty products I purchased and used up. Reason being – I wanted to see what I repurchased, and what remained a solo experience, lying lonely at the bottom of my Sephora bag receptacle. This is not a new trend – many YouTubers have been doing this for years – and people are FASCINATED with what is in their trash – so, I thought I would bring my sweet little community a glimpse of mine.
Wanna see what my trash collection revealed? Let's go!
2022 Trashed Faves
1) Dr. Brenner’s Vitamin C Serum
It is no surprise there is a whole family of this product, spinning around in my bag. I probably have about a half dozen bottles swimming around in there (and two more in my cabinet!). This has been a constant in my skincare arsenal for a couple years now – ever since I compared the ingredients to a much more expensive, very well-known medical grade product I used to buy at my medical esthetician’s office. This product is jam packed with L-Ascorbic acid, Vitamin E and Ferulic acid - a super potent powerhouse of free-radical fighting, skin brightening ingredients – and only $20 on Amazon! This product will more than likely continue to appear in my trash, because there really isn’t anything else out there, price wise, that I have found as effective and that my skin loves.
2) SkinMedica AHA/ BHA Exfoliating Cleanser
Now, usually, I am not a huge advocate of mechanical exfoliators – but long gone are the days of those apricot scrubs I would purchase in a tube at the drug store… etching swirly scratches into my face with apricot pits (yikes, 10 year old me). I do have to say, though – I have really enjoyed this product. It has taken me a whole year to get through this tube, and each time I used it, my skin felt nice and smooth, not overly irritated and didn’t feel like I ran my cheeks over a cheese grater. This exfoliating wash is a 2 punch powerhouse; it contains Alpha hydroxy acid which helps to chemically exfoliate the skin and remove impurities, while the tiny microbeads give a gentle scrub to the face. I like to put it on in the shower and just let it sit and do its thing, while I scrub the rest of my skin (with the product I will mention below!). This bad boy comes in at about $48, but like I said, it lasts all year and will be a repeat purchase, for sure!
3) Touch KP Skin Wash
We love our faces, but we should pay just as much attention to your bodies, too! Early on in my skincare journey, I began to develop keratosis-polaris – also known as chicken skin – on the backs of my arms and the tops of my thighs. After a bit of research, I realized it could have been a combo of a few things; vitamin deficiency, being in leggings all day and dry, unhappy skin. I started to research at-home remedies and stumbled across this product (also on Amazon). #gamechanger ! The KP wash has a combo of both glycolic acid (15%) and salicylic acid (2%) which is a powerful combination to help combat KP skin, as well as great for folks that experience body acne, without drying out the skin. After a few weeks with consistent use, the backs of my arms are as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Combined with the below product, I don’t think I will ever NOT use this product.
4) Alpha Skincare 12% Glycolic Lotion
Yes. It is dented - because you do not want to waste this. This one, like the Vitamin C serum – is another subscription on Amazon that I absolutely cannot live without. After moving to a drier, higher altitude – my skin started looking like I could possibly be mistaken for an expensive pair of alligator shoes. Just when I thought I was nailing it in my regimen – this curveball almost ruined me! I would take of my pants or tops – and it was like Christmas in July – flakes, everywhere! This particular product I discovered while watching another blogger on her YouTube channel, Angie Hot & Flashy – so I took the penny flinging plunge. Wow. Just – wow! After showering, I let my skin air dry and then applied my first dollop – after a bit of a tingle, my skin was soft, moisturized – ALL DAY! The glycolic acid in this lotion is yet another chemical exfoliator, to gently remove all those dead skin cells, leaving your skin feeling soft and looking glowy. The pH level of this product is also well balanced, so it will not strip your skin or overly irritate it. While this product has also been in my skincare regimen for a couple years now, I have three bottles of this in my bag, and will be happily purchasing more.
5) Toups & Co Organics Frankincese Face Balm
Vegans, beware - this is tallow. Yes, I said tallow, as in beef fat. But hear me out! Because this product is so readily bioadaptive, this product will moisturize your skin like nothing else. I discovered this small business from Tati on YouTube, and I have not looked back. This past year, I started to suffer from some auto-immune issues – which wreaked havoc on my face. I would swell and itch and then peel. It was horrible. Queue in this product. I needed something pure and almost completely unadultered to help keep my face moisturized overnight and soother so it wouldn’t itch as bad during my flare ups. This was a lifesaver – as nothing else would be welcomed on my skin. It is gluten free, organic and because it is made from animal products your skin will absorb it more readily, as it is similar to our own genetic makeup. It does contain Frankincense, which if you are not allergic to essential oils – is a soothing, skin improving oil that has been used for centuries as a beauty product for anti-aging. I have gone through three tins of this, just this year, and honestly can say that as long as this product exists, it will forever remain in my lazy susan of moisturizers.
6) OneSkin Os-01 Face Topical Supplement
Wow. Now this was the discovery of 2022. This brand comes in on the pricey side, but the ingredients deck can’t be beat (peptides, niacinamide, Vitamin E, just to name a few), and worked well even with my sensitive flare ups. This is a peptide rich, moisturizing serum that protects from and helps to repair environmental damage – you can use it on your face, neck hands – anywhere. I first purchased this in May or June of 2022, and although At almost $100 per package, I crossed my fingers I would not be disappointed. Thank the heavens I wasn’t! Not only are the ingredients fantastic, the story behind it is marvelous and – they have reusable packaging! OS-01 can also be an all-encompassing serum and moisturizer – so when you think about the pricing, you could essentially pair down your skincare regimen to just this one product, and your skin will still love it.
2022 Trash FAILS
These are the products I tried this year and – well – will not be making the cut for 2023. Not to say they will not work for you – as this review is all personal – but in seeing other review this as well, I feel pretty confident that there are other products out there more worth your money and efforts.
1) Babo Botanicals Tinted Mineral Sunscreen
I wanted to love this, I really, really did! In fact, the first time I used this, I was so in love with it! The tint in the sunscreen hides the white cast zinc causes on your face – and in such a beautiful way – you often don’t need to put on foundation! It is also a 50 SPF (Sun protection factor) – so it was great to wear outdoors in high elevation to pretct you from the UVA/UVB rays. I thought I had found my holy grail! Until… the face break outs. At a certain point I was able to tell when they were about to come on, as my face would tingle, so I tried to keep my skincare regimen and products I put on my face to a minimum so as to prevent more irritation when the flare up was in its peak. I would wash my face with a gentle cleanser, put on my moisturizer, and then protect my face with the Babo botanicals sunscreen. But it didn’t seem to help, in fact – it was worse. Much to my dismay – I found out that it was the sunscreen that was aiding the flare ups! This is why you read labels in their entirety! Come to find out – there is an ingredient derived from wheat, and when it is put on my face… disaster city. I was allergic to my all-most mineral sunscreen! My face was screaming at me the whole time about it, too. It was a bittersweet moment, friends, when I had to lay my bottle of Babo to rest at the bottom of this bag. But unfortunately out of necessity, I had to, and that is where it will remain, never to return. So, if you are like me with a wheat allergy of some sort, you may want to avoid this product. The good news is, I know several people who do not have a wheat aversion, and they love it just as much as I did! Again not saying it is a bad product – it is a bad for me product. If they reformulate, I may reconsider, but for now, I like my face without hives, thank you very much.
2) The Ordinary Hyalauronic Acid 2% B5 Serum
I know, I know – it’s THE ORDINARY – and this product in particular was an Allure BEauty Award Winner. But hear me out. I need products that can sit in the proverbial hot tub with the rest of my heavy-hitters and just meld together, beautifully – not just with my other skincare but with my makeup, as well. I have my faves, I shan’t deter. But I heard so many good things about this product and decided to try it. What I do love about the Ordinary in general is that they are very science forward at a fantastic price. I own MANY of their products, so I am not bashing them, no no. But this one – it just felt like it really wanted to fit in, but with my clique of otherskincare products – just wasn’t a good fit. I encounter these scenarios from time to time – and again – not saying it is a bad product – but it just doesn’t fit into my regimen. The ingredients deck is amazing – anti-aging, plumping – but the base of the product makes my other serums and moisturizers pill right off my face, and then I feel I wasted my entire morning routine. Another reason to make sure you chevk your ingredients – some products are water based, some aren’t – and like oil and water – if you try to mix the two, the molecular compounds will never allow that to happen. I even tried changing up the order of my skincare, and waiting forever and a day to apply the next product – nope. Not happening. So, if you are a “skinimalist” you could add this product to your daily regimen and get great results. If you are like me, it ain’t coming back.
3) SuperGoop Unseen Sunscreen
I’m just gonna say it- weird. I mean, I love chemistry and sciency stuff – but this is the strangest (and most expensive) sunscreen I have ever encountered. It comes out of the tube in this silicone primer-like consistency, then as it warms up on your face, becomes almost gel-like and – again – weird. The dry down is nice, and wears decent under makeup- I think it was the experience of application overall that had me freaked out a bit… No, I take it back, it was the price. $48??? For an ounce??? Every human being on earth should be using a ¼ teaspoon A DAY just on their face TO START – you have to re-apply throuighout the day if you are outdoors!You would go through a container of this in a week! This is the thing that erks me the most – skincare has blossomed into this beautiful, amazing realm of discovery – and then people want to bottle up a product and basically be like, “You need this, you will pay for it”. Sorry, you’re weird and expensive. I don’t have time for that. Again, not to say SuperGoop is an overpriced brand of weird stuff – but, this particular product needs to cool its jets.Yes, science is fun, but it also shouldn’t hurt the wallet, and make you feel like you need to shower your face, after.
4) Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Eye Cream with Niacinamide
Not a lot of product, not a lot of wow – except when I realized that $40 left my wallet for this. Again, I love some of the Dr. Jart+ products – the Cicarepair line is pretty great, especially for sensitive skin – but this was like – I don’t even know what happened… did anything happen? Eye creams are a super touchy subject as to whether their efficacy can stand on one leg – some people think they are a waste of money, others claim the reverse the hands of time. What group I am in is the former, and this product in my opinion is no exception. At $40 for 15ml of product, I would be long buried in a coffin before I could use enough product to see any improvement. I distinctly remember the last drop I dispensed from the component – it was as if I was in the middle of some anti-climactic read in a novel. The last half pump of the total .52 ounces dispersed, and I was left there, standing in my bathroom, saying out loud, “so, that is it?” and then I, befuddled at the shortcomings of our relationship, dropped the container in the bag of empties and numbly walked away, in confusion. You got me on that one, Dr. J. But, fool me once…
5) Honest Beauty Makeup Remover Wipes
First of all – guilty as charged; these things are so bad for the environment. I had decided to get these for my makeup biz, for easy touch up etcetera. But I did want to try them, first. And THAT, was a mistake. Like the Babo sunscreen, my face became irritated and unhappy. The ingredient deck is jamp packed with natural oils, and it very well could have been one or a combination of some – but because my skin in its maturity has developed aversions to certain products, it is best I just stay away. At $8.00 a package, the price might be a little steep if you are using them on the daily. But you shouldn’t – because you should be washing your face, so as an emergency aid, you might find these useful. Unfortunately for me, I will not be repurchasing, so as to prevent future irritation on my part, and possibly my clients.
Well, Friends, there you have it – SWB's TRASHED of 2022! We have had some ups and downs, but through it all, have become a better person – armed with more knowledge to hopefully help impart upon you all, as well as maybe save you a few bucks, or invest in something really worth your while! Let me know if you have tried any of these! What’s in your empties? What did you love, what did you part ways with – let me know below!
XoXo's,
Jackie
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