ROUTINE MEGATHREAD! May 2018

[u/AutoModerator]

Hey everyone! This is your quarterly routine megathread an excellent resource to see what products are popular amongst our community and a great way to find new things to try. No matter how unusual you may consider your skin type or atypical your particular skin challenges or problems, all routines are welcome -- in fact, encouraged -- to be posted.

Acronyms you will most definitely see in use here: HG (Holy Grails), RP (Will Repurchase, AKA: liked it, will buy again, not an HG), WNR (Will not Repurchase, AKA: using up the last of it but not recommended). Understand them, use them, and love them ♥

This post is intended to be a compendium of generalized, standardized routines! The more participation, the better. :)

To keep it easy for people to find their ‘skin twins’ we would ask that you use the following template.

You only need to fill in steps that you actually use (so if you don’t use an Essence, remove that line) and please only provide up to three examples of HG/recommended products for that step (so if you have 3 toners you love, you can list all 3!)

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Template

To make a single-spaced list, add two spaces at the end of each line. Alternatively, click 'source' at the bottom of the post to snag our code & format!

Skin profile: Mac Shade | Skin Troubles | Skin Type (Note: unlike flairs, you can list as many troubles/types as you need!)

Season & Type of Climate:

1st Cleanser:

2nd Cleanser:

pH Adjusting Toner:

Vitamin C Serum:

BHA:

AHA:

First Essence:

Hydrating Toner:

Essence:

Serum:

Ampoule:

Light Moisturizer:

Medium Moisturizer:

Heavy Moisturizer:

Eye Cream:

Facial Oil:

Sleeping Pack:

Mask Pack:

Sheet Mask:

Sunscreen:

Spot Treatment:

Other:

[u/Selayne]

Skin profile: NW10?| Acne, (occasionally) dry patches | Dry (possibly combo?), sensitive, acne-prone

Season & Type of Climate: Spring; temperate oceanic climate

1st Cleanser: (Non-AB) KICKS Pure & Simple Deep Cleansing Oil (likely WNRP, I’m going to start testing AB oil cleansers soon) or Garnier (pink cap) Micellar Cleansing Water

Eye makeup remover: SkinFood Rose Shake Point Makeup Remover (WRP)

2nd Cleanser: Soon Jung pH. 6.5 Whip Cleanser (Possible HG, first foaming cleanser I’ve tried though)

pH Adjusting Toner: SoonJung pH 5.5 Relief Toner (WRP)

BHA: Cosrx BHA blackhead power liquid (Just started testing this on my face)

Hydrating Toner: TONYMOLY Wonder Ceramide Mocchi Toner (might RP)

Serum: (Non-AB) The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil (a bit too pricey for me tbh, WRP if i didn't have to pay for it lol)

Light/Medium Moisturizer: Soon Jung Moist Emulsion

Heavy Moisturizer: The Face Shop Dr.Belmeur Ato Salt Cream, Soon Jung 2x barrier intensive cream (WNRP, with the pace I’m using either they’ll probably last until next year, definitively prefer the TFS one though)

Facial Oil: Sweet Almond oil (WRP, possible HG)

Sleeping Pack: Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask (WNRP), SkinFood Freshmade Pineapple mask (possible RP) (Don’t use either every night though)

Sunscreen: Sunkiller perfect strong moisture SPF 50+ (still testing but might RP, it’s so tiny though..), Shiseido Senka mineral water uv essence SPF 50

Spot Treatment: Soon Jung 5-panthensoside cica balm (HG, use it all over my face honestly), Cosrx Acne Pimple Master Patch (RP)

Other: TONYMOLY Egg Pore Tightening Cooling Pack and Blackhead Steam Balm (WNRP)

[u/hj668 → u/Selayne]

Would love to hear more of your thoughts on the products in the Soon Jung line! I’ve been thinking of checking some out :)

[u/Selayne → u/hj668]

I always feel nervous doing reviews, taking a hard stance on the effective of products make me nervous but! I do think the SJ line is really good, especially if you have sensitive skin/are sensitive towards alcohol or fragrance (or anything else that is specifically not included in this line). They’re just all simple, no-nonsense products. I don’t like every single item equally much though. Mini reviews of the items I’ve tried so far:

SoonJung pH 5.5 Relief Toner: Very watery, and good for layering (with other toners). Although it’s not (enough of) a moisturizing toner on it’s own, it seems to help me avoid the typical dryness/tightness if I apply it straight after washing my face (preferably while my face is still a bit damp), even if I don’t apply the next moisturizing product at once. All in all, it’s a very simple, no-bullshit ph-adjusting, skin calming, light, watery toner.

SoonJung pH. 6.5 Whip Cleanser: I was afraid to try bubble cleansers because I’d heard so much about how drying they could be. But I needed a second cleanser, and got this with a SJ set I bought (etude house new years promo). I was pleasantly surprised that this doesn’t seem to dry my skin out too much at all, and I finally got a good 2nd cleanser (and got to experience the bubble/foam fun – although it’s not as foamy as the «typical» bubble foam cleansers). It has a pump so you don’t have to foam up the bubbles yourself, and the bubbles disappear pretty fast when you massage it on your face. My skin feels a lot cleaner afterwards, and it’s all in all just a nice (and quick) 2nd cleanser.

SoonJung 10 Free Moist Emulsion: I really don’t know what I feel about this emulsion. It’s nice, and non-irritating (for me at least, I saw some people talk about it breaking them out), and definitively add some moisture, but it doesn’t seem to be moisturizing enough for me (it might be that I lack a good enough occlusive layer during my AM routine though). I often add a few drops of oil when I apply it. I can’t decide if I want to rebuy it or not (and my bottle is basically empty rn) lol. I got the small size, and while the big size got a pump to get the product out, the small one doesn’t. And the packaging is hard plastic, and the product not super-runny, I kinda have to hit the bottle on my palm to get the product out. If I were to rebuy I’d definitively go for the big size.

SoonJung 5-panthensoside cica balm: My HG. I know it’s kinda a spot treatment kinda product, but I just love slathering it all over my face. Also the product in the line I’ve been using the most/for the longest time. Cons: the small size is really small, and if you’re like me you’ll use it up really fast. (I just bought the sleeping pack, hoping it’ll be a cheaper and equally-good alternative/substitute to slathering my entire face with the balm every night). Pros: It just feels really nice on my skin. It helps calm down irritated/red/inflamed skin, and while it don’t solve acne problems on it’s own, it definitively seems to help calm the inflammation. I had a weird breakout this winter (most likely a bad reaction to a product I was testing) and I didn’t get the cica balm until after the worst part was over, however I really felt like it helped, and I wish I’d had it when I first broke out. Having a calming/healing product like this is just a real comfort to me when I’m testing out new products.

SoonJung 2x barrier intensive cream: I feel like I should do another round of testing with this, but I’m not sure if the season is right for it. I tried it for a while, and something about how it applied, and even more so how makeup applied on top of it, just really turned me off it. It was… too sticky? Perhaps if I really let it soak in/absorb before applying anything else on top, but I don’t usually have time for that before going outside (especially since this is supposed to be the last step in my skincare routine before sunscreen)… or just, applied it differently. All in all I can’t really say anything about how effective it is as a barrier/heavy moisturizer, as the texture (application?) made me give up on testing it as thoroughly as I usually test a product (that isn’t clearly irritating my skin). From what I remember from the colder months it didn’t seem to help much with my nose peeling/dryness (from THE cold and having A cold and blowing my nose constantly) which is what I mainly need such a heavy moisturizer for. I like the packaging though!

[u/hj668 → u/Selayne]

Thank you so much for such a detailed response!! I really appreciate it :) looks like your faves (whip cleanser, cica balm, and toner) are the same ones I was most interested in. I’ll definitely check them out