My Eye Care Products :)

The skin around my eyes has been very dry lately. I needed to find a moisturizing skin care product for the eye area quickly. I picked up a jar of Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream since it’s very affordable. I also started using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% EGCG again. I know it may lead to another disappointment. I have it, so why not try it again?

Here are my thoughts on each product so far. I’ve been using both for less than a week. Let’s begin with Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream.

I didn’t think Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream did that much until I finished my last jar. It’s a creamy, rich formula that prevents the skin from feeling too tight and dry. Once I started using it again, my skin felt so much better. What I really love about this cream is that it doesn’t cost a lot, lol. It’s meant to be used on the whole face and neck, but I’m just using it as an eye cream. It seems to be working just fine. I needed a rich, heavy product to use on the skin around my eyes anyway. After less than a week, it’s doing something just a few days in. And that is, keeping the skin around my eyes from drying up and feeling too tight. The feeling of skin tightness is really awful.

I picked up using Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% EGCG again. I’ve tried this product so many times before. The first application felt great. It helped tighten the skin around the eyes. But it eventually left the skin feeling a bit dry. I don’t use Ordinary Caffeine Solution with 5% EGCG alone. I use it with Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream to prevent my skin from drying out. It’s working for the time being. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with ongoing use. I hope it helps with dark under-eye circles. I noticed that I developed darkening of the under eyes over time when I stopped using skin care products on this area of my face. We’ll see how both products will go. So far, so good. 🙂

That’s my first update on Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream and Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% EGCG. Stay tuned for my next update!

My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 1 Week!

It’s been 25 days on tret. I’m moving on to 1 month soon! This is what happened this week!

Increasing Strength & Adding Moisturizer.

I tried to increase to a higher strength this week from what I’m using. Ugh, I burned myself again after a good streak with little to no irritation. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I should’ve known from my prior mistake. My skin was so irritated. It was reddish and pink. It looked so flushed. So painful, so sad. Super itchy! Should’ve slathered on a heavy-duty moisturizer beforehand. This burn was worse than the previous burn. Ouch! So I took one day off before getting back on tret. It took ONE day for my skin to fully heal. I was shocked how resilient my skin was. It bounced back that quick. My skin settled down after a day of nourishing my skin. Here are the skin care products I used to soothe and heal my skin. I used whatever I had, lol.

Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin:

This is the only moisturizer that I have found that actually works to heal, protect, and soothe my skin. It didn’t soothe my skin at the beginning though. It burned my skin when applied to damaged skin. When the moisture barrier is damaged, almost everything burns. This product was one of them. I still used it anyways. I needed a moisturizer with ingredients like ceramides. It was the least likely to clog my pores out of all the moisturizers I have. I find that my skin really like ceramides when it’s feeling irritated and burned. With this moisturizer, I only used it at night. Before I stopped using Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin, I was using it daily, morning and night. Maybe that was just too much moisture for my skin. Using it at night only has helped replenish moisture in my skin without going overboard. I don’t plan on using this moisturizer every single night. Just a few times a night when my skin needs it. I went back to my no moisturizer routine after my skin felt moisturized and healed. Who knows when this moisturizer will pop back in. It’s nice to have around to alleviate dry skin.

CeraVe Healing Ointment:

After applying Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin, I slugged for one night because my skin really needed it. I couldn’t take the itchiness anymore. It was getting to be too much. I took the CeraVe Healing Ointment and applied a thick layer over my facial skin, slept with it on, and woke up the next morning with less irritated skin. This product also contains mineral oil, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid. It made my skin look so poreless and smoother in the morning. Very moisturized with a nice sheen to my skin. I love keeping this product around to heal dry, itchy skin. It’s amazing stuff! I can’t slug every night. It’s too moisturizing, heavy, and sticky. It gets in my hair too and makes it sticky in the morning. It’s a once in a blue moon thing when I destroy my skin by accident.

Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Face Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50:

I don’t use Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Face Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 as my face sunscreen at all. I use it around my eyes, on my ears, and neck. I’m on my last bottle and won’t repurchase after I finish it. I find that this sunscreen is just way too heavy and moisturizing. It seals in moisture in the skin. And that’s why I used it while my skin was irritated, dry, and itchy. This sunscreen makes a great occlusive with SPF in the morning. It felt extremely soothing on the skin.

Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50:

I love the UVB and UVA protection of the Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50, but I can’t use this sunscreen every day due to how moisturizing it is. My skin starts to get clogged if I use it too much during the week. This sunscreen worked pretty good at keeping my skin moisturized and protected from harmful UV rays as my skin healed. I love applying this sunscreen directly on my bare skin, it’s just so soothing.

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

I’m not a fan of the Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40. But, this sunscreen is definitely another moisturizing sunscreen that makes the skin feel silky smooth and soothes irritated skin. I piled this sunscreen on throughout the day to increase my skin’s moisture levels. It’s not something I would use as a daily SPF, but it served its purpose during the healing process. It was nice to have this sunscreen around for that reason. I’m on my last bottle too. Another sunscreen that I won’t purchase again after I finish it. At least it’s good for something, haha.

So am I going to try to increase the strength again? Probably not. No. I’ll just wait until the weather is warmer when my skin is even more oily. I’ll just stick to the lower strength from now on unless it stops working. Tret burns are just terrible to go through. I’m glad it’s been fixed and over. I’ll try not to do it again. 😵 lol.

An update on skin care products I tried this week…

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence:

I tried using Melano CC Vitamin C Essence again. The essence felt lightweight and absorbed into the skin very quick. I loved that aspect about this vitamin c essence. But, I didn’t like the way it left my skin feeling and looking drier throughout the day. By the end of the night, my skin looked drier. I noticed some pimples too. Ugh. Why did I try this product again? The dryness and breakouts turned me off from using this essence again. I stopped using it immediately after one try. Skin felt so much better after I stopped using it. I prefer to apply my sunscreen products directly to bare skin anyways. It was nice to try out this vitamin c essence again to see if it’ll work on my skin since I have several tubes left, but I won’t bother with it anymore after this. I hope, haha. I’m currently not using a vitamin c product. I can’t find one that works well with my skin. They tend to be irritating on the skin too with little results. Oh well.

Check out my 1 month update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG!

My Results.

After my skin healed, I went back on tret. I also started using Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant again to help with skin congestion. I noticed my nose had a ton of sebaceous filaments. And the only product that I know will help with this type of skin issue (on my skin) is the bha liquid. I’m actually using it with tret at night also. I apply bha first, let it dry. Next, apply tret. I apply moisturizer (Vanicream) if my skin feels dry. If not, I skip it. I haven’t noticed any breakouts from using this moisturizer at night only. I might try to be more consistent with moisturizing my skin if it doesn’t cause any clogged pores. I love how soothing and how moisturizing it is without leaving my skin feeling and looking oily. It feels a bit sticky and tacky upon application, but it doesn’t feel that way after it absorbs into the skin. With the bha, I noticed results after using it once. My pores looked clearer and cleaner. It helped accelerate the skin purging process. My skin cleared up even more after using it again. Overall, my skin looks pretty good right now. No noticeable blemishes and no new cysts. Hopefully it all just gets better in the next upcoming weeks!

Read more on my acne journey below!

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😃

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 3 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 4 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 1 Week Results.

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 3 Weeks! What I’m Doing to Maintain My Clear Skin. 🙂

My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 5.5 Months Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 3 Weeks

My Acne Journey: 6 MONTHS!!! 🎉

1 Month Update: The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

Here’s my update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. It’s been a total of 1 month using this product again. I used this product for years before and decided to give it another chance due to how affordable it is. Here are my thoughts on it this time around!

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG comes in a glass dropper bottle. The texture of the product is a gel-serum. I only needed one drop of product for both eyes. The serum glides over the under eyes smoothly and easily. It feels soothing and cooling when applied to the skin. This is not a fast absorbing eye serum. It takes a while to absorb into the skin. I started off using it in the morning and at night. Since it takes a good amount of time to absorb in the morning and felt a little too drying on my skin, I switched to using it at night only. I didn’t have the time to let the serum absorb in the morning. For mornings, I prefer skin care products that sink into the skin quick without pilling. This serum pilled underneath my sunscreen. That made it difficult for my sunscreen to sit right on my skin to get the proper sun protection. I could see my sunscreen balling up and just not staying in place. Years before this, I used the serum twice a day (morning and night). Not sure how I managed to keep up with using this serum, haha!

The purpose of The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG is to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. After a month of using this product once again, I was hoping to see a difference in my under eyes in terms of dark under circles and puffiness, but I didn’t see any changes in my skin whatsoever. No results just like before with religious application. Seems like getting more sleep and eating well would be the better choice (which I’m already doing) to help with dark under eye circles and puffy eyes than this caffeine eye serum. It didn’t work after trying it out again.

So I stopped using this product once again after being disappointed with the results. No results, lol. But also, I thought the product was too drying for my under eyes (as mentioned earlier). It made the skin around my eyes feel super tight (it does as it dries on the skin too) and dry. I applied heavier eye creams and moisturizers on top to keep the skin around my eyes moisturized, but my skin still felt tight and dry afterwards. I noticed that the serum accentuated some of my under eye fine lines and wrinkles. That’s not something I want from a product. I’m trying to diminish those signs of aging as much as possible. I don’t want them to become more prominent. I wish this product did something positive for my skin. It just didn’t. I kept trying for years and picked up using it again. If it worked, it would’ve worked already. This product didn’t work for me once again. I’m officially removing it from my skin care routine once again (lol). It could work for someone else. It’s not for my skin, and I have no reason to keep it in my routine after this experience.

More posts on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG:

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

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

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%