4 new skincare brands I've tried...

the good, the bad and the *REALLY* good!

With the demise of Beautycounter my skincare routines have been *evoloving* to say the least. Over the past 6-9 months I’ve tried a few new brands (some gifted, some purchased with my own money) and today we are going to chat what I loved and what’s working for me now and what didn’t work.

(above) The U Beauty Resurfacing Compound and The Barrier -

I feel like everyone is/was talking about U Beauty and I heard the founder on a podcast and was immediately sold. On top of that the website claims “visibly reawakened skin” and that this combo “brightens and tightens the look of skin for glass-like skin in as few as 3 days.” These two products just completely fell flat for me. The Resurfacing Compound felt good on the skin but I didn’t notice any changes after a couple of weeks of use and the The Barrier was really tacky and sticky on my skin. I tried both at night for a week then quit The Barrier because it was sticking to my pillow case at bedtime (ewww) and in the end quit both without being impressed. I bought these with my own money and won’t be reordering. But maybe I’ll try them one more time before passing on to a friend or throwing away. This discovery set was $98. These were a 3/10 stars for me.

(above) Dr. Diamond’s Metacine Instafacial Collection Plasma + Emulsion -

This is another duo I tried for a few weeks and was pretty “meh” about. Then I saw one of my favorite beauty influencers say she loved the Plasma but not the Emulsion. Lightbulb! So I tried the Plasma on its own and ditched the Emulsion (it felt really heavy and quite sticky on my skin). The Plasma is AMAZING. I use it morning or night either after my vitamin c serum or after retinol/glycolic acid in the evenings. The website describes it as “curated ‘power molecules’ to rejuvenate & transform skin.” The Plasma is a growth factor serum which is super buzzy in the beauty world these days and The Emulsion is a retinoid night cream. The Plasma on its own gives a really glowy glass skin look and I can tell a difference after using this in fine line and brightness. I really, really like The Plasma. The combo clocks in at a whopping $550 and was gifted to me. The Plasma on its own is $200. I probably would reorder The Plasma with my own money, but I will be the first to admit the price is steep. Not many brands are doing growth factor serums but I suspect we will see a lot more of these on the market in the coming years. Again, these products were gifted, all opinions are my own. I would rate The Emulsion 4/10 and The Plasma 9/10.

(above, from left to right) Prequel Multi-Quench Plumping Hydration Serum, Prequel Multi-Acid Milk Peel, Prequel Lucent-C Vitamin C Serum

I follow the dermatologist Samantha Ellis on Instagram that founded this brand. Everything is FANTASTIC and under $30 (praise!) and super high quality. I also love that this brand is stocked at Target and Amazon so it’s easy to toss in your cart when stocking up on the basics. I started with the Prequel Multi-Quench Plumping Hydration Serum and fell in love. I use it morning and night and it’s been great for dry winter skin while still being light and dewy on the skin. Next I tried the Prequel Multi-Acid Milk Peel to replace the Beautycounter Overnight Peel and I like it even more than the BC. Also it’s like a third of the price. I use it 2-3x a week at night on the nights I don’t use retinol. My most recent purchase is the Prequel Lucent-C Vitamin C Serum and wow, I’m most impressed by this product out of the 3 (which is really saying something because I really like the other two!). It’s a dead ringer for the $150+ Skincueticals CE Ferulic Acid. It feels the same, smells the same, everything but for under $25. I highly recommend these three products and can’t wait to try more from this brand. I purchased these with my own money. These all get 10/10 stars.

(above) One Skin Face SPF, One Skin OS-01 Face Moisturizer, One Skin OS-01 Eye Topical Supplement

All three of these were gifted to me by One Skin. I get a lot of beauty brands reaching out and I don’t accept gifting from them all. It would be too much. This brand intrigued me because their formulations use peptides which is another buzzy ingredient in the beauty industry right now with promising research behind them. One Face claims to be a “treatment scientifically proved to target the root cause of skin aging so skin feels healthier and look younger.” I started using the One Skin OS-01 Face Moisturizer & One Skin OS-01 Eye Topical Supplement every morning and night as the last two steps in my skincare and noticed an almost immediate and positive result. Especially around my eyes. The eye cream is INCREDIBLE. I get botox in my crows feet about once a year and I’m due right now but will be skipping the botox this time because I feel like the lines around my eyes look so much more bouncy and fresh. Botox freezes the muscles, so an eye cream won’t do that, but it can make the skin around the eyes bouncier so that when I smile there are lines but when my face is at rest the lines “bounce back” to unwrinkled skin. In general I also feel like my whole face is more moisturized and fresh from using these two products. The One Skin Face SPF felt a little drying so I am going to wait to pull that out until the weather warms up and my skin is naturally more moisturized- the SPF is tinted and a really nice fresh look on the skin but I felt like the all mineral formulation was a little drying for me in the winter. Again, all three products were gifted to me. These are my own opinions. I give the SPF 6/10 (to be revisited this summer), the eye cream 11/10 and the moisturizer 10/10.

Have you tried any of these brands? If so, I would love to know your thoughts on them!