So far in my substack journey I have made an active effort to limit, if not avoid, writing what is essentially a list of things to buy. Those kinds of posts are not that interesting for me to write, and I don’t have companies sending me products for free. I am, however, interested in what people find themselves rewearing, or in the case of beauty, using all the way up. From a personal consumption standpoint, I try hard to avoid product hoarding and only bring something in after I use something up. Here’s a bit of what I’ve gone through so far this year.
Vacation sunscreen is still my favorite everyday body sunscreen, but I bought the Hydro Boost in a pinch when we were on our way to the beach in LA. I like the formula of this sunscreen — it has a light consistency that doesn’t make me feel like I *must* shower at the end of the day. It’s a great travel size, too.
The Korean sunscreen is the Round Lab Birch Juice moisturizing sunscreen. I use this as my “pre-shower” facial sunscreen when exercising outside (my “post-shower” sunscreen is from Elta MD). I also share it with husband. It leaves no white cast and works well. It’s also reef safe!
This is my third bottle of Sun Bum; it’s my favorite aerosol sunscreen (also reef safe!) though I think my husband used more of this than I did while coaching and playing tennis. I like this for ease of application (obviously), and I love the smell. Not pictured, but my son has used up three of these Sun Bum face sticks in his short little life. He LOVES applying this himself and smells like a sweet little banana after it’s all rubbed in.
The first two products here are ones that were recommended to me by an aesthetician I saw a few times last year. They are ungodly expensive. This is a big reason why I haven’t gone back for a facial this year — I have a hard time saying no to her recommendations, and I can barely budget for the treatment itself! For what it’s worth, I did love and repurchase both of these products, but I have found more reasonably priced replacements. In place of the CBD-B3 facial mist, I’m using Byoma balancing facial mist, and in place of the iS Clinical Active serum, I’m using Tretinoin. I think I *would* repurchase the iS Clinical Active serum if I was pregnant or banned from retinoids.
I am loyal to Paula’s Choice, and I have decided I prefer this vitamin C moisturizer over vitamin C serum — it may be less effective, but it’s also less irritating. The Costco sized CeraVe tub is my ride or die, desert island skin product.
Please feel free to share any empties you’ve used up this year in the comments!
The Ordinary's Marula Oil for my dry ass skin is a must. It's only like $12 a bottle and buy a few at a time to make sure I don't skimp on it. I also love Sun Bum for my family's daily wear, though they changed the face stick and we switched to Cerave's face stick. I like SuperGoop--I carry it with me so I always have sunscreen on hand.