My All Time Skincare & Beauty Favorites
A few years ago I did a huge cleanout of all the makeup and skincare products I wasn’t using regularly anymore. It was a painful experience since I had been basically hoarding these kinds of products, and probably ended up throwing out over a thousand dollars worth of products.
But it was for the best! Since then, I’ve only added or changed my routine when I need to replace a product I finished, or when a product truly impresses me and outpaces my current routine. I’ve been at this for a few years now and I thought it was about time I put together a list of my all time beauty and skincare favorites. For reference, I have oily skin that is highly sensitive to the climate and environment.
In order to have made this list, I had to have been using these products consistently for over two years and had to have repurchased them at least twice. These are the products that have never let me down —
SKINCARE
I have been using this product for almost three years now and have gone through four bottles of it. It’s the only toner I’ve ever used that doesn’t irritate my skin. Others I had tried in the past usually dried my skin out too much. But I just use this on a cotton pad twice a day and it provides light exfoliation and brightening and it’s perfect as a base to the rest of my skincare routine.
Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence
I started using this at the same time as the beauty water and this stuff SLAPS. It has a slimy texture at first but goes on thin, no scent, and when I say this protects your moisture barrier like none other, I mean it. In the summer I can actually get away with using this as my moisturizer because it hydrates and insulates my skin so well despite being such a thin consistency.
Embroylisse Lait Creme Concentrete
This has been a regular in the rotation for five years. I initially picked it up for an extended trip because I desperately wanted an inoffensive moisturizer that came in a tube rather than a jar, and it has been a staple ever since. It’s a relatively thick, neutral moisturizer that can be used in a variety of ways. I typically use it as my night cream. But in dry climates I will use it during the day and I’ve also used it as a sleeping mask in a pinch. It’s pretty dense but your skin will feel so nourished.
I don’t know how my skin had been surviving, since I’m pretty sure I hadn’t ever removed my makeup properly before using this product. I started using it five years ago after a friend brought it back for me from Korea. It is hands down the best cleansing balm I’ve ever used. It is thin enough to work with but silky and completely effective at removing all makeup, even my waterproof mascara which is notoriously difficult. I have tried a bunch of other cleansing balms but this one wins for me every time.
This one is funny because I tried it when it first started getting popular and my skin completely dried out and hated it. I tried it again a few years later and haven’t looked back - it’s been my go to cleanser for five years. It feels milky and gentle on the skin, with a slight cucumber scent - which I personally enjoy. It manages to be unobtrusive yet totally thorough in it’s cleansing capabilities and I love it as the second step to my double cleanse.
This might be my favorite skincare product ever. It’s been in my arsenal for over 8 years and that’s because there’s never a bad time for this. It is a surprisingly lightweight, fluffy, jelly like mask that you put on as a final step before bed. I realized its full power when I started travelling every week. I would use this at night on days when I flew and it would save my skin from all the dryness of travel. Apart from that, I honestly just use it on nights when I feel like my skin is looking a little sad. The next morning, it is perky and plump as ever.
This is a straightforward Vitamin C Serum that helps with brightening and overall skin texture. I started using it about seven years ago and noticed results right away. It worked wonders for dark spots and little acne scars and gave me super glowy, healthy skin. I’ve since tried other Vitamin C serums but have still always returned to this one.
A classic drugstore staple, I first discovered this eight years ago when I had a severe allergic reaction (to this day I still don’t know what caused it) where my lips and the skin around them swelled up, turned red, and started cracking apart. When I went to the dermatologist, he gave me antibiotics and told me to use Aquaphor rather than the Vaseline I had been using before. It helped my reaction and has stuck around as my favorite lip balm product. It also works in a pinch as a moisturizing ointment, and I’ve even been known to use it on cuts and scrapes to keep them moist while they heal.
BODY
I believe I read about these in an article on intothegloss somewhere and decided to purchase one for myself. I got my first one five years ago and I haven’t used anything else since. These are nylon Japanese washcloths and not only are they cheap, but they are great exfoliators and give me that freshly scrubbed, ultra clean feeling. They are also easy to clean themselves, and don’t harbor gross bacteria or wear out like loofah’s and other exfoliating mitts. I actually still use the first one I bought and it is still just as effective. Peep the nearly 3,000 five star reviews for more info.
Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion
Another drug store classic. I used to be a swimmer so I would slather myself in body lotion twice a day after practices to attempt to prevent the chlorine from completely dehydrating my skin. I was using way too much lotion to ever justify the high end brands and luckily the drugstore is perfectly great in this category. I’ve tried Eucerin, Lubriderm, Vaseline Brand, and more but always came back to the Aveeno one. It lends a great amount of moisture while absorbing quickly and not leaving any sort of distinct residue or scent.
MAKEUP
This is the oldest item in this collection by far. I have been using it almost every day since I was fourteen (over twelve years!) and was finally allowed to wear makeup outside the house. I will cry if they ever discontinue it. This has been the only eyeshadow primer I have ever bought a full size of. I dabbled with some samples of other brands but this one always comes out on top. I buy the original one and it neutralizes my eyelid and makes sure everything sticks. ALL day. Can’t ask much more in an eyeshadow primer.
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation
I borrowed this from a friend when I forgot my own foundation, about five years ago, and it has remained in my rotation until this day. It’s the perfect amount of coverage for my skin, buildable to a medium satin finish, easy to apply with hands or with tools, and also has a little SPF in there. It is an all around winner. I wear the color 30 Beige.
Maybelline The Falsies Mascara
I know there are a million mascaras out there but this one has been a mainstay in my makeup back since high school (going on a decade now). I have long lashes, but they stick straight out so the most important thing a mascara can do for me is keep them curled. Therefore, I buy the waterproof version in the color ‘very black’ and it adds the volume I’m looking for while keeping my lashes curled all day. It even held up during short swims for P.E. class. I’m sure I could find a better mascara since they’ve improved so much, but I’ve never really felt the need since this one is still giving me results year after year.
My Tarte curler broke on me while I was in Shanghai in 2014 and I picked up the Shiseido one to replace it while I was in Asia. The shape is a little flatter, geared towards the flatter, more almond shape of Asian eyes, but I love the pad and effectiveness of the curl so much that I just curl my lashes in two steps to account for the roundness of my eyes. I’ll do the mid to inner portion and then the mid to outer portion to make sure I get all the lashes. I also love that you can just buy the curler pads instead of a whole new curler each time it starts to wear out.
I got into liquid liner towards the end of high school and played around a bit with a few different ones before discovering the Kat Von D Tattoo liner. I buy the color ‘Trooper’ which is just a plain black. I appreciate this liner because it comes in a pen format which I find much easier to deal with than the liquid brush/pot combo. I also like that this pen comes to an extremely fine tip but maintains some stiffness. The Stila liquid liner is another super popular pen liquid liner but the tip on that one is extremely flexible and I had a harder time with it than the Kat Von D one. Once it’s on it doesn’t budge at all and is the easiest and most effective way for me to achieve a winged liner look.
I use a ton of other products in addition to these but those all come and go. They either don’t deliver notable enough results to justify a repurchase or they are the products that are most fun to explore around with - like blushes or eyeshadows so it’s tough to stick to one brand all the time. But this list has stuck with me for many years already, and hopefully for many years to come.
Just a few of my favorites from this article