okay i’m finally doing this, settle in my good friends 🍿
for reference: here is my face today without makeup (not even sunscreen because i use a tinted one, more on this below) filters lighting adjustments etc etc 
almost exactly a year ago, i went to paris with two objectives: 1) eat everything, and 2) go to as many pharmacies as possible.
before that trip, i didn’t have a skincare routine to speak of. i would wash my face with a bar of soap and put body lotion on it if it occurred to me.
(this is mainly because i have been ✨blessed✨ with good skin my whole life)
SO in case you don’t know, french pharmacies are veritable holy lands of skincare. the stuff you can get in a regular old pharmacy in france is just astoundingly good.
the first things i bought: bioderma micellar water, which everyone on the internet seems to agree is the best micellar water out there. this is the bottle i bought in paris a year ago, still going strong.
i use this at night to take my makeup (or just sunscreen) off. i first learned about micellar water from my group chat. it’s great because you don’t have to rinse it off, meaning that no matter how tired you are you can take your makeup off before going to sleep.
the first cleanser i bought: la roche-posay effaclar H. this is still my go-to cleanser, but this formula is hard to find in the US so i stock up when i’m abroad and enlist traveling friends (hi @skamille) into smuggling it back for me.
i love this cleanser because it’s very gentle and doesn’t dry my skin out. LRP is a great brand for acne-prone skin (which mine is not). it manages to just destroy blemishes without drying out your skin.
the first serum i bought: a full-size version of caudalie’s vinoperfect serum, aka the cum serum (if you know, you know)
this was a GREAT first serum and a GREAT first caudalie product. caudalie is one of those overnight brands: i have noticed overnight changes in my skin with every caudalie product i’ve tried, which is ridiculous and not an exaggeration.
general wisdom is that you choose serums based on your skin concerns. this serum is great for evening out and brightening up your skin.
i don’t use this serum so much anymore, mostly because i discovered caudalie’s premier cru serum which is the best thing that’s ever happened to my skin and the worst thing that’s ever happened to my wallet.
the first moisturizer i bought: biotherm’s aquasource cocoon. i have the aquasource creme riche right now (photographed) because i couldn’t find the cocoon the last time i needed to stock up on moisturizer.
the creme riche is a good formula, but it’s heavier than the cocoon. the cocoon feels almost like a water or gel moisturizer: it’s super light and soaks into your skin almost instantly.
i’m not currently using cream/gel moisturizers rn, but aquasource cocoon is still my moisturizer of choice.
unlike la roche-posay, you can easily order every biotherm formula online straight from their website 🙏🏻 biotherm also does these ridiculous box sets that have one full size product and a bunch of samples for the price of just the one full size product.
it’s great but i will say i haven’t found another biotherm product that is a have-to-have for me the way the aquasource cocoon is.
the first oil i bought: nuxe huile prodigieuse. this is the first bottle i bought, still going strong.
this is The Best Smelling stuff ever, and pairs really well with amour oud’s safran rare just FYI.
this is what i’m currently using as a daytime moisturizer, but i’ve used it for a bunch of other stuff as well. when i first bought it i was all about layering it after moisturizer/lotion to lock everything in.
the bottle says you can mix it into your moisturizer, but check what your moisturizer is made of because it might pull of you do this (e.g., if you’re using a water-based moisturizer). if you want to mix i’d say just layer it on after.
pill*
shoot i was going in order but skipped the GOAT: la roche-posay’s effaclar duo +spf 30. this is the original tube i bought in paris which just today sighed it’s last breath. i cannot believe this lasted me a year, even with relatively few blemishes.
spf is important in a spot cream/when you’re dealing with blemishes because the sun protection will help reduce scarring. if you can’t find this with spf, just remember to wear sunscreen (duh).
again, this product will destroy blemishes without drying them out. they just...shrink. it’s incredible.
the first sunscreen i bought: la roche-posay anthelios XL. this is still my sunscreen of choice, and you’ve probably heard me complain about getting this formula in the US.
this formula is tinted, which i like because it means i don’t have to adjust any of my makeup to counteract the color of my sunscreen. it’s also super light, just like it says on the bottle.
if you don’t wear sunscreen on your face because you hate the feeling of sunscreen, i am here to tell you that i feel you and the good news is that face sunscreens have a way different texture than body sunscreens. go forth and protect thy face!
the other things i bought on that trip: body lotion, eau thermale, hand cream, and lip balm.
except for the eau thermale (lol literally what is fancy spray water even for?) i still use all of these. this caudalie body lotion makes my tattoos look SO GOOD. i won’t use any other body lotion.
so, notably missing from my first skincare routine: toner, exfoliant, c-serum, retinol, eye cream. let me tell you about what i tried this year in each of these categories.
exfoliants: thanks to a rec from @cenalarsen i bought peter thomas roth’s firmx peeling gel. this stuff is so amazing. if you love peeling away dead skin this is the product for you. if you don’t what is wrong with you?
i only use this once a week because it’s so intense. every other night of the week i use caudalie’s vinoperfect concentrated brightening essence (after cleanser and before toner)
i love this as an exfoliant. my skin is *so soft* in the morning. when i’m done with this sample i’m going to try the chemical exfoliant from paula’s choice that i’ve been hearing so much about, but this exfoliant is staying in the rotation no matter what.
in case it was unclear because i threaded weird: i only use the PTR exfoliant one a week but i use the caudalie one nightly.
the first toner i tried this year was a rec from @hedhouseman: ole henriksen’s balancing force oil control toner. i liked this immediately and kept buying it for a while.
but then i tried a sample of caudalie’s vinopure toner and just WOW. a word of caution on this: it’s pretty spicy so take it easy during the winter and make sure you really moisturize.
i tried a couple of c-serums this year, including peter thomas roth’s and drunk elephant’s, neither of which i liked. i landed on ole henriksen’s truth serum which smells like a creamsicle, is very expensive, and will totally brighten up your skin.
my first and only retinol i’ve tried is this one from paula’s choice. i like this product a lot and am not really trying to replace it, though i’m always open to recs.
my skincare confession is that i don’t really care about eye creams, but this might be because this year i started drinking a gallon of water a day and stopped drinking alcohol which did more for my undereyes than any eye cream.
i spent a stupid amount of money on this tatcha eye cream with gold flecks in it and i won’t be doing that again. i have a dr. brandt eye cream on my shelf waiting for me to finish this tatcha tube so we’ll see how that goes. i will say this tube is lasting 5ever.
going to bring this thread home with some miscellaneous products and my main tip for skincare in the US.
this laneige lip sleeping mask is as good as everyone says it is, especially when paired with this bite agave lip scrub. i started taking care of my lips pretty late into 2018 and i highly recommend it, especially if you wear lipstick.
this is one of my favorite products from this year. it color-corrects AND has spf 30. it’s great for no-makeup days. pro tip: make sure to really blend it around your hairline/eyebrows/mustache/beard or you’ll get a weird greenish line that is no good.
finally, my main skincare tip for folks in the US: go to canada. you can get the hard-to-get french formulas at a favorable exchange rate. plus canada is really great. happy skincare everyone!
oh also! i tried this out with a coworker and it worked really well: if you buy any skincare that i recommend/use and you don’t love it, DM me and i’ll buy it off of you 😘
