Finding the best retinal serum is less about chasing the strongest number and more about finding a formula your skin will actually tolerate. I learned that the slow way. In my early skincare fascination days, retinol felt like the ingredient…
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Peptides have become one of skincare’s most overused words. Not because they don’t work, but because the term has been stretched to mean everything and nothing at once. In creams especially, “peptide-powered” can signal anything from a thoughtfully built formula…
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Smoothing and soothing are technically skincare opposites. And opposites attract. Here’s how I combine the two for best results. When it comes to my own skincare efforts, smoothing almost always comes before soothing. My skin isn’t naturally sensitive, so I…
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From $18 to $105, these fifteen clay masks tighten pores, nix blackheads, and deliver that post-facial glow without the facial. A recent DM asking about my favorite clay mask for congested pores had me answering instantly and then adding two…
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My skin responds well to retinoids. Most of them, actually. I’ve only ever felt like backing down once, after upgrading my Tazorac cream from 0.05% to 0.1% strength. For well over a decade I’ve hopped around various formulas, both Rx…
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A bit over a year ago I wrote about three Marula Oil formulas that ranged significantly in price (and all that contributed to both value and quality). You can still check out those musings here. Most recently, Maelove, a brand…
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