January Skin Care Empties!

Here are my January 2023 skin care empties! 🎉

Mizon Peptide Ampoule Cream:

I finished Mizon Peptide Ampoule Cream! This cream did nothing for my skin. I’m glad I’m done with it. This cream contains ingredients, such as (to name a few) cocoa extract, sodium hyaluronate, copper tripeptide-1 (20 ppm), centella asiatica extract, beta-glucan, cranberry fruit extract. The ingredients are nice, but I didn’t see any changes in my skin. It’s just another moisturizer. I didn’t think it kept my skin that moisturized either. It’s a very lightweight cream. I used almost all of it on my neck and chest area. As mentioned in my previous review, the product irritated my eyes. I couldn’t continue to use it on my face. It contains lavender oil, which I thought was very irritating. I really don’t like products that contain lavender oil. It gives me mad migraines. This is possibly one of the worse products I have encountered and tried. I won’t ever purchase it again. Once again, it’s a waste of money. No results.

Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream:

I finished my last tube of Purito Centella Green Level Eye Cream. I’m so happy that I’m done with it. I have no intentions in purchasing it again. I didn’t see any results while using it. I’ve gone through so many tubes of this eye cream too. The ingredients looked soooo good! It contains centella asiatica extract, shea butter, peptides, madecassic acid, and so much more! But, it didn’t do anything for fine lines and wrinkles. It didn’t feel moisturizing either. I prefer eye creams that are thick, rich, and moisturizing. The skin around my eyes become dehydrated quick. This eye cream didn’t do it for me.

Cosrx Oil-Free Ultra-Moisturizing Lotion (with Birch Sap):

I’m finally on my last bottle of Cosrx Oil-Free Ultra-Moisturizing Lotion (with Birch Sap). I finished a bottle this month. Yay! I’m not a fan of this moisturizer. It feels lightweight and lightly moisturizes the skin. It doesn’t do much for my skin. I didn’t see improvements in the texture or moisture in my skin. It smells very nice though. It smells citrus-y and contains tea tree oil in it. I’m just not impressed with this moisturizer to use it daily on my face. The bottle/packaging of this product is very annoying. Product gets stuck inside the bottle and there’s no way to get it out. Seems like a waste of product. I can’t wait to finish my last bottle. Another product that I won’t be purchasing again. I’ve been using it as a body moisturizer. It’s not doing a great job moisturizing the skin on my body either. At least it’s not breaking me out or causing any other skin issues.

Benton Fermentation Essence:

I’ve been waiting to finish Benton Fermentation Essence for ages. This essence contains beneficial skin care ingredients like galactomyces ferment filtrate, bifida ferment lysate, ceramide np, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, panthenol, sodium hyaluronate, and so many more. The product is lightweight and sinks into the skin quickly. It leaves the skin feeling soft and silky after application. I didn’t see results using it though. I’ve gone through bottles of this essence with little results. It feels like I’m applying water to my skin. When I was using it, I noticed that it had shimmering sparkles in it. Just an observation. I won’t purchase this essence again. It was nice to try it out for a while. It’s officially done. Moving on..

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG:

I still have a bunch of The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG left. Another bottle of this caffeine eye solution down (more like a gel eye care product). So I didn’t use this product for the eye area. I used the rest of it on my body. I find that this eye product dries out my eye area and didn’t do anything for the skin around my eyes. I didn’t see any changes in dark circles or fine lines/wrinkles. It just didn’t do anything that I stopped using it. Also, it was very drying even with moisturizer and pilled with other skin care products. I didn’t think it was worth it. I’m still using what I have left on my body. What else to use it for? I can’t wait to finish this product. Let’s see how long it takes, lol.

iUNIK Beta-Glucan Power Moisture Serum:

I finished my last bottle of iUNIK Beta-Glucan Power Mositure Serum! Yessssssss!!! This serum never worked on my skin. It dried my skin out rather than moisturize it. I’m glad I’m done with it. Being a product that contains very few ingredients, it contains only 6 ingredients in it (Water, Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Beta-Glucan, Sodium PCA), I thought it wouldn’t do my skin any harm. Nope, it made my skin feel soooo dry! I would wake up the next morning with red, dry, irritated skin. Ugh! I thought it was doing my skin some good at first. No, not at all. I’m not going to purchase it again. There’s nothing really special about this product. It didn’t work for me.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream:

I finished one of my bottles of First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Creams. It took me about almost 2 months to finish it. I didn’t hold back using this cream. I made sure I used it every night and whenever my skin was dry. After finishing my first bottle, my thoughts on this product is the same as before. It’s a creamy, thick, moisturizing cream, but I can’t use it on my facial skin. I used all of it on my body after realizing that it clogs my pores and gives me blackheads. It worked great on my legs. Left my skin feeling moisturized and protected. It absorbs fast too and doesn’t leave a sticky residue behind. It worked great on my body. It’s just not meant for my face. Would I purchase it again? It’s still a no, but I have one more tube of this cream left to try. Let’s see if it changes my mind!

Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++:

I’m so close to finishing the rest of my Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ sunscreens! I have 3 left (including the new one I recently just opened!). I’m not currently using this sunscreen on my face right now. I was trying it out again on my face, but that didn’t work out. My skin dried out once again. Even when I used a mositurizer underneath, my skin didn’t like it at all. I love how it’s lightweight, absorbs quick, and doesn’t leave the skin feeling sticky and tacky. It feels like I don’t even have sunscreen on compared to the other sunscreens I use. But, from my experience using it so far, it doesn’t agree with my skin. It’s so drying and makes my skin feel terrible. It doesn’t provide good protection either. My skin tanned while using it. I reapplied consistently throughout the day too. That didn’t help with the dryness either, LOL. My skin looked so flaky and chapped. I’ll finish what I have. Most likely as a body sunscreen.

For more skin care empties…

August Skin Care Empties! 

September Skin Care Empties 

November Skin Care Empties 

December Skin Care Empties 

More December Skin Care Empties!

Update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG & Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

I stopped using more products. 😃 I’ve been using these two products since forever. I think it’s time to let them go. They are The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG and Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. Let’s start off with The Ordinary!

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG:

It’s been about 2 years using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. The purpose of this product is to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. I thought it was working at first, but I haven’t noticed much of a change in my skin (under eyes) after another year of using it. All it did was dry my under eye area out. I still have dark under eye circles. I make sure to get enough sleep too, and I still have them, lol. Must be genetics, haha. Oh well. I only have puffy eyes once in a while, but this product didn’t do much for puffy eyes when I had them. Just like most The Ordinary skin care products, this one didn’t work for me either (2 years!!! 😮‍💨). This is the last of The Ordinary products I have in my skin care routine. I removed all of The Ordinary products I was using. I think I’m over this brand. Most of their products are too greasy, oily for my skin type. They don’t sit well on my skin. My skin gets more oily and ends up with breakouts. I’ve been dealing with acne for so long that I wonder if The Ordinary products contributed to the clogged pores. So far, after not using any of them (along with a bunch of other skin care products), my skin has improved. With the Caffeine Solution, it was just drying even when I moisturize my eye area heavily. It tightens my under eyes and dries it out. When I stopped using it, the dryness went away. I’m going to stick to moisturizing products only for the eyes from now on. I’m over this product. It didn’t work for me.

Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence:

I stopped using Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence since I wanted a simple, basic skin care routine instead. All products that didn’t serve a purpose in my routine had to go. This was one of them. With the Snail Essence, it didn’t really hydrate my skin by much. I tried using it alone without any other skin care products, and my skin felt extremely dry. My skin started to crack. I couldn’t even smile, lol. The dryness started to hurt my face. So the essence doesn’t do well as a stand alone skin hydrator. It works better in combination with other moisturizing products. So did it do anything at all for my skin? lol. Well, I didn’t see improvements in my skin texture and hydration levels while using it. I’ve gone through several bottles too. I just didn’t see the purpose of this product anymore. It feels like I’m just wasting my money hoping that it’ll do something for my skin since it’s a snail product. Nothing’s happening and it seems like a waste of time and money. Also, another aspect of the product that I didn’t like was the packaging. This applies to other Cosrx skin care products as well, such as Cosrx Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence, Cosrx Oil-Free Ultra-Moisturizing Lotion (with Birch Sap), and Cosrx Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence. They all come in the same type of packaging/bottle. It’s a plastic bottle with a pump. Once you reach the bottom of the bottle, it’s difficult to get the rest out. They should really change the packaging of these products. It’s extremely annoying. I feel like they did this on purpose. 😂 So that’s another reason why I’m going to stop purchasing products that come in lousy packaging like this. They’re also very clunky to carry around and to travel with. It’s just not for me, I guess.

More products that I stopped using…

Benton Fermentation Essence

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%

Review: Andalou Naturals Luminous Eye Serum

I have another eye product to share! It’s called Andalou Naturals Luminous Eye Serum! It’s formulated with fruit stem cell complex, vitamin c, and goji glycopeptides for a lighter, tighter, brighter looking appearance. Caffeine from green coffee to uplift circulation for youthful luminosity. It’s 100% vegan and cruelty-free. Formulated without gluten, GMO, parabens, and synthetics. I read the claims, looked at the ingredients, and just went OK! Let’s see if it works! It looks so natural! So I finished this eye serum within 4 months. Now I’m here to share my experience with everyone. Here are my results!

My experience

I love vitamin c products. I had to try this serum to see if it works or not. I have terrible dark under eye circles even though I’ve had enough sleep, eat well, and drink enough water. It’s like, wow, these dark under eye circles will never go away, so let’s do something else about it! So this eye serum feels very soft and silky. It absorbs into the skin well. All you need is a little bit of product to cover the whole eye area. It feels gentle on the skin and doesn’t cause any issues like redness or bumps. It doesn’t irritate my skin at all. I love the texture of the serum. It feels very soothing on the skin. Now let’s peek at the ingredients…

The eye serum contains fruit stem cells, vitamin c in the form of Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, caffeine (green coffee), and goji berry as the advertised ingredients. But it also contains aloe barbadensis leaf juice, sodium pca, sodium hyaluronate, green tea leaf extract, cucumber fruit extract, and so much more! The ingredients look pretty good to me. It’s packed with ingredients that could possibly improve the skin around the eye area. Ahem, dark under eye circles! But let’s see if it did anything for my eyes, especially my horrible dark under eye circles.

So the first week of using this eye serum, I didn’t see a drastic change in my skin. It left my eye area feeling very moisturized and supple. I kept using it anyways since it’s only been a week. It takes time for skin care products to work and to see results (if there’s any, lol). I used it twice a day, morning and night. Never skipped a day. I had high hopes for this eye serum to brighten my under eye area and make it look more luminous. After 4 months (finishing the product) of dedicated use, unfortunately, I didn’t notice any brightening effect. It just felt gentle and soothing on my skin. It left my skin feeling really moisturized. I didn’t experience lighter, tighter, brighter looking skin. There was no youthful luminosity that the product claims to do. From my experience, it’s just another moisturizing eye serum/cream.

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Contains vitamin c (Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate)
• Contains caffeine from green coffee and there’s goji berry!
• Gentle on the eye area
• Very soft and moisturizing

❌ Cons

• No improvement in dark under eye circles
• No tightening effect, nothing

Conclusion

Here’s to another eye serum or eye cream that just moisturizes the eye area. That’s not a bad thing at all. I rather have an eye product that leaves the skin moisturized than leaving it taut and dry. But, this eye serum didn’t deliver the results that it claims to do. It didn’t help with my under eye circles. It didn’t make my eye area look brighter or tighter. All it did was just moisturize the skin around my eyes. After I finished the whole tube of serum, I moved on to other eye care products. Andalou Naturals Luminous Eye Serum makes a good eye moisturizer. I may or may not try it again in the near future. As of now, I don’t have enough interest in it.

For more reviews on eye care products go here!! 👈🏻

Review: The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream

I did a review on The INKEY List Retinol Eye Cream just a couple of days ago. If you missed out on it, don’t forget to go check it out! 🙂 Today, let’s chat about another eye cream from The INKEY List! It’s the Caffeine Eye Cream. So this eye cream is a lightweight, hydrating eye cream. It’s supposed to help reduce the appearance of puffy eyes, fine lines, wrinkles, and dryness. It contains caffeine to reduce the look of puffiness. Matrixyl 3000 to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It’s for dry, normal, combination, and oily skin. A cruelty-free eye cream. Now here are my thoughts on this eye cream after finishing it!

My experience

This eye cream is creamy in texture. It’s a true cream. It comes in a 0.5 oz. (15 mL) tube. It’s the same size as the The INKEY List Retinol Eye Cream. Just another eye cream in a tiny packaging. The instructions says to use the eye cream in the AM and PM. After cleansing, apply a small amount onto finger and gently pat the product around the contour of the eye area. Can be combined with other serums and moisturizers. I followed the instructions. The eye cream feels lightweight on the skin. It has a soft and gentle feel to it. Blends into the eye area very well. I haven’t had any issues with application and haven’t had any skin irritations with the eye cream. I also used it twice a day (morning and night) for full benefits. It feels moisturizing on the skin. Not drying at all. Now on to the results…

As for the results, I honestly haven’t noticed a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles. The eye cream didn’t help with eye puffiness either. I think this eye cream is just good at moisturizing the skin. That’s not entirely a bad thing. It’s just that, it is advertised as an eye cream that will help diminish, reduce the look of fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, and being moisturizing at the same time. Even though I love how it doesn’t settle into the creases of my eyes and doesn’t dry out the skin around my eyes, I still want more out of an eye cream than just plain ol’ moisturizing. I currently have other eye creams that are less expensive and comes in a larger tube that moisturizes my eyes just as well as this eye cream (some even better). So this eye cream hasn’t done much for me.

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Moisturizing
• Contains caffeine and matrixyl 3000
• Affordable

❌ Cons

• No results. Didn’t help with fine lines, wrinkles, eye puffiness, dark under eye circles. Nothing.

Conclusion

So, after this experience, I’m not planning on purchasing this eye cream again. It’s a pretty basic eye cream. Between the Caffeine Eye Cream and Retinol Eye Cream from The INKEY List, I prefer the Retinol Eye Cream a little more even though they both didn’t deliver results. Both of these products aren’t too expensive. I can see why someone would choose to use it considering the ingredients and price for the product.

For more reviews on The INKEY List skin care products 👈🏻 CLICK!!

Review: The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG (10 months!)

Finally, here’s my review on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG! I’ve been using this eye serum (gel) for 10 months! I’m nearing a whole year soon! The purpose of this serum is to help with dark under eye circles (eye contour pigmentation) and puffiness. It contains caffeine (as the name of the product states) and green tea catechin. Both of these ingredients are known to help with under eye bags. Remember when people would place green tea bags over their eyes? This serum works just like that. Caffeine helps to improve circulation to reduce the appearance of dark under eye circles. Green tea catechin helps to reduce swelling and puffiness. Sounds like a perfect combo to destress the eyes! Since I’ve been using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG for 10 months now (moving on to a year soon in a few months!), I’m here to share my experience with this serum. I hope this is helpful. Keep on reading!

My experience

This product has a serum, gel-like texture to it. It’s light yellow, golden in color. I only use 1 drop for both eyes. A little goes a long way. Using more product than necessary isn’t going to lead to faster results. It’s just a waste of product. From my experience, anyways. The serum spreads easily underneath the eyes without tugging the skin. I don’t pat this serum into my skin. I glide it on and let it sink in by itself, naturally. Give it some time to absorb. Once it absorbs into the skin, the skin feels tight and firm. Application is very easy. It’s the first product I put on my eyes, since it takes time to sink into the skin. It’s also a thin serum/gel. After I apply the serum, I go about my eye care products to keep my skin moisturized. This sequence seems to be working for me because I’ve seen results.

Here are my results using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG!

In the first month of using this product, I didn’t expect to see results but I did. I saw visible results! So amazing! This product claims to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. And it does! My dark under eye circles improved after using this serum within the first month. It also helped to depuff my eyes. Some days I would wake up in the morning with really puffy eyes, and this product helps to reduce the swelling and puffiness. Overall, I think my dark under eye circles benefits from this serum a lot more. It was the first thing I noticed. With the positives, there’s gotta be at least a negative. I thought the serum was drying on the skin even though I applied heavier eye creams and moisturizers on my skin afterwards. The weird thing is that this serum doesn’t feel drying, but I visually noticed that the skin around my eyes appeared drier. It looked crepey. I saw some skin flaking off too. So I only used the serum at night. The recommended use of this product is in the AM and PM. I’ll get into that later.

After 5 months of using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG…

I was able to finish a whole bottle of this serum. I could’ve stretched it out even longer if I wasn’t experimenting with it so often. I tried using it on my neck and sometimes I still do. I think it’s just a habit now. I tried using it on my facial skin. That was a no-go. This serum is not suitable for my face. I ended up with breakouts. Ouch! I’m never doing that again. lol. After 5 months of using it on the skin around my eyes, I didn’t see an increase in or drastic improvements, but my under eye circles looked better, and the serum is still helping with the puffiness. All I know is that my skin just looks better using this product. It simply just works and does what it’s supposed to do. It lives up to its claims!

About that dry skin problem that I had…

Once the dryness subsided, I was able to use the serum twice a day in the morning and at night. This took me over half a year to get to this point. I can’t help it, my under eyes dry out so fast. Before that, I would try to use the serum twice a day on and off until I got to the point where I can use it twice a day. Even with using it twice a day, I didn’t see an increase in benefits, but I love how the product calms and cools down my skin whenever I use it. Like having tea bags on my eyes in the morning and at night. haha. Without having to make the tea, lol. It helps me to unwind and relax that part of my face. It’s mentally calming and helps to relieve stress too. Like I’m unwinding for the day (or to begin the day). It just feels really nice. Since I know that this product is working on my eyes, it doesn’t hurt to bump it up to twice a day.

Did it work on fine lines and wrinkles??

As for fine lines and wrinkles, this serum helps to smooth them out, but it doesn’t get rid of them. I don’t think any product can get rid of them. It’s part of the aging process. It’s bound to happen. Also, the purpose of this serum is to help reduce the appearance of dark eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. It didn’t say anything about fine lines and wrinkles. Smoothing out some fine lines and wrinkles here and there is just an added benefit that I noticed. It’s better than nothing, to be honest. But, overall, I really like this serum. It works on my dark under eye circles. And they are quite terrible. lol. I wouldn’t be using it for 10 months and moving on to a year soon if I didn’t like it. This is pretty much a staple in my eye care routine by now. Love it! This stuff works!

This is what the serum looks like. It’s a light yellow, golden color. This is a drop of the serum. I use about this much on both eyes. No more, no less.

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Contains caffeine and green tea catechin
• Feels lightweight on the skin
• Leaves the under eye area nice and firm
• Helps with dark under eye circles and puffiness
• Helps a bit with fine lines and minor wrinkles
• Inexpensive

❌ Cons

• Can be drying

Conclusion

This is one of my HG products. This is the only product from The Ordinary that has made it into my routine as a staple. And I’ve used a bunch of The Ordinary products with less than stellar results. This product actually does what it’s supposed to do. It helps to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. It doesn’t say anything about fine lines and wrinkles on the product, but I have noticed my fine lines and wrinkles (if there’s any) smoothed out. After applying the serum, the skin around the eyes feel tighter and much more firmer than before. After seeing my results with continued use (10 months, whoooaaa!!!), I really like this product! It’s inexpensive, effective, and lasts for such a long time. My second bottle has lasted much longer than my first, since I’m only using 2 drops a day (in the morning and at night). If you’re looking for something that’s effective at reducing dark under eye circles and puffiness, this is it. Give this one a try. I highly recommend it!