February Empties!
Empties #3: a sunscreen, a face mask, an exfoliant and a Niacinamide serum.
Helloo!
I hope you enjoyed my (late) January empties post! Do leave a ‘like’ if you enjoyed reading it; it’s the only metric I have to judge if all of you like reading these posts!
Feel free to drop a comment/message too - let me know what you liked/have you tried any product I’d mentioned, etc; I’d love to know!
Here’s the February one and I hope to send the March one by the end of the week - then I can finally be on schedule and sleep peacefully :P
Now, on to the post!
Skin Context: I have dry and dehydrated skin which is something I discovered recently. I thought I just had reaaaally dry skin... but apparently not *shrugs*. Dehydrated it is!
So what does that mean? It means my skin is dry but dehydrated - parched, with a lot of texture (minuscule bumps that make it drier and rougher). So this month’s empties were also interesting because I used them when I thought my skin was dry (some of them!) but also after my oh-no-it’s-dehydrated discovery haha.
Also, I don’t mind fragranced products!
Texture:
It’s a super light/lightweight cream. I wish I had a photo to show!
Fragrance:
Strong fragrance. To me, it seemed very powdery like talc.
Usage Timeline:
Honestly don’t remember. I got it in 2021 and used it forever because I bought other sunscreens too.
How did it do?:
A little bit of relevant skin history - I discovered silicone in creams don’t suit my skin, back in 2021. So this was my first non-silicone sunscreen and I was quite excited to finally use something and not have it break my skin out.
What I liked about this sunscreen the most is that it wasn’t heavy and so got absorbed into my skin so well! I think this is what they mean by skin-like feel no? I genuinely didn’t feel like I had sunscreen on my face!
It went on smoothly, was easy to blend, and had no white cast on my skin tone.
I didn’t go in the sun consistently enough to judge the protection it provided. But I did use it in the beach and such open outdoor spaces and I didn’t tan with it. But also to note - I don’t tan quickly I think!
It’s not water resistant. Wrt sweat, it didn’t form those annoying white droplets on my face when I went out!
So overall, a pleasant experience.
Would I repurchase?:
Maaaaybe? I have since used several other sunscreens to experiment.
What did I replace this with?:
Deconstruct Gel Sunscreen SPF 55+ 50g.
It had just newly launched and was silicone-free so I bought it immediately!
It’s ₹349 and I got it for ₹252.
I got it as a part of the Axis-Y Mask Now Glow Later Duo Set. Here is the link to the specific product.
Texture:
It’s a little creamy with leafy bits in it! Both the product pages I’ve linked above have texture shots.
Fragrance:
It’s a herbal smell but it wasn’t a pleasant one for me, personally.
Usage Timeline:
I bought it nearly a year ago but didn’t use it consistently. That’s why it’s lasted me this long.
How did it do?:
I purchased this after seeing a review that said this helped clear out a bump on the skinfluencer’s skin. The problem is, I have dry af skin whereas those that have the above-mentioned bumps are mostly oily or combination skinned. When you’re the latter it’s easy for pore-penetrating products to pull out the gunk easily. I didn’t feel this happen to me as I have dry skin.
It was a good mask to use once in a while though. I’m not sure it did anything amazing for my skin. But remember, skincare is subjective.
Would I repurchase?:
Nah, I won’t. The market now has new products that I would like to experiment with.
What did I replace this with?:
My friend from the US got me Papa Recipe’s Eggplant Clearing Mud Cream Mask. I am using this currently.
Texture:
It’s a little watery but viscous too. It’s a lightweight consistency.
Fragrance:
Only a chemical fragrance that you get used to.
Usage Timeline:
1 year and 9 months (and counting!).
How did it do?:
This is my favourite product! I’ve already written a detailed review of this product on the r/IndianSkincareAddicts subreddit on Reddit. Here’s a link to the review.
I will reproduce a brief review here:
The AHA in this product is glycolic acid. It was my first proper exfoliant (I’d used Suganda’s Lactic Acid earlier but it was average back then I think). When you start using an exfoliant, your skin undergoes something called purging. It’s basically your skin working towards removing the gunk that’s underneath the surface. As exfoliants work on cell renewal, this purging is a side effect of that process. Once your skin gets used to this the purging stops!
I was a very hesitant beginner. I started using this AHA once a week for several weeks and slowly upped the usage. I went through a scary purge phase (nearly a month to two) but I suffered through it and I’m glad I did! I now use the toner more frequently because my skin is now used to exfoliation.
As for what it did for my skin specifically - I think it definitely helped the texture of my skin improve a lot! I did not start using it specifically for a purpose, but selfies from my pre-AHA life compared to my skin now have definitely improved my texture (little bumps on my forehead). It has also given my skin a certain glow that I don't know how to explain (I know this is frustrating to read hehe but it's the truth!). The gradual use of this product over the years has certainly helped even my skin tone, improved my texture, has given me a nice glow! It's also vastly improved the health of my skin the way a chemical exfoliator would do. I started breaking out less or rather, I am able to control my breakouts, in a way. It's just an excellent addition that has made a really good difference in the long run!
Would I repurchase?:
Yes!! I already have; I’m on my second bottle now.
What did I replace this with?:
The same product. Except this time I got it on the Kult app (available on iOS and Android). They had a 75% off sale and I got this Cosrx product and a Dear Klairs product both for just ₹584!
Dot & Key 10% Niacinamide Cica Face Serum With 3% Tranexamic Acid 20ml
Texture:
It’s a thick viscous serum but doesn’t feel too heavy.
Fragrance:
It has no fragrance.
How did it do?:
I think my Amma enjoyed using it more than I did! She has some pigmented spots on her face and this helped clear them for her - which was surprising for both of us!
For me, I introduced this for overall skin health and I do think it’s helping. Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific targeted skin issue that this helps tackle so I can’t pinpoint and say “this serum helped me here”. But, it did improve my skin overall!
Usage Timeline:
A month or so roughly. Both my mom and I used it.
Would I repurchase? + What did I replace this with?:
Already did! We got them on a B2G2 sale (not hoarded; required products only!). The bad news is that they have reformulated this serum. The one I got does not have Tranexamic Acid. It only has Alpha Arbutin. The website did not have these updated details :/
That’s it for Feb! This has been sitting in my drafts for a really long time. Ngl, I am not proud of that :/
I will try harder to be more consistent.
As always, let me know your thoughts! And also let me know if you’ve tried any of the products mentioned above :D
PS - Do you notice all the new banner images/descriptions/profile pictures!! Are they cute?? (please say yes!)
I did notice the banner images! They are indeed very cute!!