In June, to my dismay, I had to travel for work for the first time in five years. It was my first flight at all in five years – so I was well out of practice doing things like creatively stuffing a quart bag with toiletries. I saw some awesome wisdom from frequent flyers to use contact lens cases for travel and stop blowing money on waste generating, expensive price-per-ounce/mL travel sizes.
Let me explain.
I explored SO much in my early days of discovering beauty and skincare, I don’t encounter too many products that blow me away these days. But I had a chance to try a new K-Beauty product that blew me away: ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener.
I’ve talked about sebaceous filaments a lot on this blog. I’ve derided Biore strips and similar products. I find that managing them with a good cleansing routine, a silicone facial cleansing brush or washcloth (yes, a washcloth) keeps them sufficiently in check.
ILSO Super Melting Sebum Softener (long, name, I know – we love them here) is a thin, watery solution in a twist-top dispenser bottle. I got the kit linked above, which comes with some thin woven cotton pads. You saturate those pads with the solution and then lay onto your skin in your target area ensuring good contact with your skin. It is easy and not messy.
Then, do something else for ten minutes. When those ten minutes are up, you remove the saturated strip and go about your extractions. ILSO sells the pusher/scraper tool for this separately (it came in my kit), but they mention that you can alternatively use cotton swabs. I used a metal extraction tool I already had since I wasn’t (yet) sure how to use the tool.
And oh my god, the amount of stuff that just glided off my skin with no pressure! I was and am awestruck. Normally, when I do extractions even with steam, I have to apply some pressure with my tools or use tweezers to remove individual sebaceous filaments. Not so with this.
I saw some other reviews wondering if the stuff that comes away is just the product. No – it isn’t. I know. It is night and day.
Now, I will say that it may not be for everyone. My sebaceous filaments tend to slightly firm up and I can feel them if I touch my nose. I can often tweeze and remove them (and often do as part of how I manage them). That isn’t the case for everyone. If it isn’t for you, then this might not blow your mind.
I’m super curious about whether this could have any impact on keratosis pilaris. That’s next on my list to try, and I’ll report back on that.
This is a pricier product in my lineup these days – but it is outstanding at its stated use case.
The kit I got is currently nearly $40, but that comes with the tool. If you don’t want the tool or are restocking, it is around $25. Their strips are convenient, but if you run out of those before you run out of the solution, you can buy more or just use thin cotton pads like these, which I keep on hand to use for nail polish remover.
My nose is eerily smooth even two days later. It’s hard not to want to touch it in disbelief. I don’t yet know how frequently I will use this, but I suspect around 1-2x per month. I’ll report back if that estimate is wrong. Even if it is once a week it is incredible! I also expect this bottle to last me at least 6 months.
I’ve been using retinoids for over a year now. Earlier this year, I switched away from OTC retinol products in favor of Rx products. This means you need to talk to a doctor, ideally a dermatologist. But I wasn’t due for my skin check yet, and I was impatient.
After researching a few telehealth options, I decided to try Nurx. TL;DR – I’m still using them, so clearly it’s a positive experience.
I shared that I stopped using OTC retinol products after learning how they lose potency fast. I switched to a prescription retinoid, Tretinoin, which has extensive research and time in the market behind it. It works, and it remains stable over its shelf life – which is more than can be said by cosmetic OTC retinols.
I expected to see improved results over, say, Paula’s Choice, Inkey List, or InnBeauty. But retinoids changed my skin routine in ways I didn’t expect, too.
When you’re incorporating a serious retinoid into your routine, best practice is to discontinue all other treatments to give your skin time to adjust. I pared back to the basics: cleanse, moisturize, retinoid, sunscreen. No acids, no toners, no treatments or whatsoever else. I did reincorporate Vitamin C in the morning, which I previously used, once I had adjusted.
A typical skincare day looks like this:
Today, we’re revisiting a recent topic: Lume Deodorant. I’ve tried, and like, the unscented cream version. Target sells Lume Deodorant Minis, though, and I figured that would be a halfway decent way to try one of the other options.
I picked up one of the Lume Deodorant Minis in Clean Tangerine. This time, I got the mini stick which comes in a small, slender tube not unlike the Native minis’ older packaging. Certainly very travel or purse friendly. I really dislike having fragrance on my hands, so the squeeze tube was not an option.
Last year, I shared that I incorporated retinol into my skincare routine. If you’re a beauty enthusiast, chances are you’ve heard about the benefits of retinoids for your skin. Retinoids are a type of vitamin A derivative that can help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots, and improve skin texture. However, not all retinoid products are created equal.
I have since quit OTC retinol products that you might buy from Sephora or the drugstore (…or, anywhere, really). If you use over-the-counter retinol products, you should quit them too – and I’ll dig into why below.
First, I covered it a bit in this post, but let’s revisit difference between retinol and retinoids:
Retinol is a type of retinoid that is available OTC in skincare products. Retinoids, on the other hand, are available in both OTC and prescription-strength products. Prescription-strength retinoids, such as tretinoin and adapalene (which is available OTC now but was previously Rx-only), are more potent and effective than OTC retinol.
One of the biggest problems with OTC retinol products is that they may not maintain their potency over their shelf life.