a discussion on here got me thinking: what skincare brands do your drugstore carry? it varies country by country and i can’t help how a lot of people just refer to them as drugstore brands, when it can be a little misleading.

since i live in singapore, our drugstores carry a lot more korean and japanese brands than american brands. big europeans brands are also common here.

i can’t list them all of course but here’s some that our drugstores carry off the top of my head: cosrx, bioderma, la roche posay, eucerin, biore, wishtrend, dear klairs, i’m from, hada labo, menturm, uriage, vichy, shiseido, rohto, rovectin, derma lab, dr. g, dhc, anessa, kose, skin1004. we do have neutrogena and olay, but things like aveeno have very limited options, mostly baby lotions. 

so you can see how referring to something as drugstore can be misleading. everyone here knows about wishtrend, and i reckon most of you won’t refer to it as a drugstore brand, but as you can see, i can.

drugstore skincare

do y’all have any micellar water recs? not cleansing oils/balms, i have those still. i’m currently using the one included but i’m not really a fan of it. i know Bioderma is the common one, but i’m hoping one of y’all have other options for me 🥺

please and thank you 🥰🤗

Micellar Water Recs

hello picky friends! i need your thoughts

i used a new moisturizer today and may or may not have forgotten to patch test 🤫 i also forewent spf since im stuck in a dark cave (aka my room). the entire morning my skin was super itchy and irritated but before i headed out for lunch, i spritz on facial mist and put on sunscreen and somehow my skin doesn’t feel irritated anymore???

my skin felt mildly irritated this morning before the moisturizer, but it was barely noticeable sort of irritation. also i should mention that my house is currently dusty af bc we’re renovating our kitchen and the whole house looks like a battleground.

so rn i’m not too sure if the moisturizer exacerbated the irritation, or if the lack of spf wearing did, or the environment i’m in?? all of the above, none—kinda one of those “it just happens” things? do i keep using the moisturizer, or pass it on? has this happened to y’all??

irritated skin

omg y’all i won the giveaway for the b3 serum!! this is my first win—i’ve kinda lost all hope of ever winning anything so this was such a nice surprise. super excited to try it out! 

did y’all win any? check your emails everyone!!

thanks picky and tiam 🙏🙏

tiam giveaway

not to add to the spam but yall i won 🤯🤩 i’m so excited to try it. i was not expecting to win anything else honestly. thank you picky and skin1004 for this blessing 🙏🥺🥰

omg i won

honestly i have nothing bad to say about this at all


I received this product for free from Picky and Baciel in exchange for my honest review.

🌀 key ingredients: centella asiatica extract, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and 7 other derivatives, peptides
 
✅ alcohol, fragrance & eo free

🔸 packaging: a simple frosted plastic bottle with a screw cap, good design, simple and attractive 

🔸 texture: watery but also thick, viscosity is closer to water than gel, but it feels like a gel. finish is a lil sticky but it’s too mild to be an actual issue

🔸 scent: mild, fresh, watery scent

💰 price: ~ 15 SGD for 200ml

🗣 thoughts: yes yes yes YES. 🙌 this toner? a gold mine. 💯 let’s start from the beginning. the texture? superb. it glides onto my skin like butter, so smooth. it’s so gentle and SUPER HYDRATING, and very very very cooling/calming. the effects are immediate and i can feel my skin absorbing all that hydration in seconds! any minor redness i had are gone. plus this layers so well despite the texture. i have never been more impressed by a toner. seriously. i am crying, screaming, jumping for joy. 10/10 would recommend to everyone. but for real, this toner goes out to every skin type but especially dehydrated skin.  

💸 will i repurchase? yes. maybe not right now bc i have way too many toners in my stockpile at the moment, but once im done with those, i’ll def be getting this

😩:
packaging - while i love the external aspects of the packaging, i do think that this would have been better suited with a pump head than a pipette head. it was so difficult to get the serum out and it took me a few days to get the right technique for the pipette to pick up just the right amount of serum. it was just plain annoying

💸 will i repurchase?
as much i enjoyed this serum, at ~ 40 SGD for 50 ml, it’s a little on the pricier side for me. at the end of the day, this is a simple basic calming serum, and i don’t think i can justify spending the money for it.

I received this product for free from Picky and efilow in exchange for my honest review.

🗝🖋 ingredients: artichoke extract, niacinamide, bifida ferment, rice ferment, centella extract, beta-glucan, ceramide NP, hyaluronic acid

✨🥰:
texture - an absolute joy! it was smooth and jelly like, with no scent, and spreads like a dream! 
packaging - the bottle is Gorgeous. simple and attractive, and different—rectangular bottles aren’t commonly seen in skincare ngl. the contrast of the light green serum visible through the glass is  -chef kiss-

🗣thoughts:
this product absolutely meets its claim at being calming. i cut myself derma planing and this ampoule soothed it immediately. it didn’t sting, it didn’t irritate, and my redness was gone in minutes. this is also pretty hydrating, it gave me the much needed hydration without feeling sticky and greasy, and the absorption was quick. overall i really enjoyed this and this is def suited for any and all skin types

😫:

❗️texture wise: as you can see there’s these tiny beads in them that make the serum feel kinda gritty? it’s not very obvious and it dissolves almost immediately but it’s something to take note of

❗️this is not oil-free and does contain sugars and isn’t fungal acne safe

💸 will i repurchase? as of right now, i don’t see a point to keeping this serum, so no. there are far better brightening/hydrating serums out there. don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice serum, but it’s nothing exciting

I received this product for free from Picky and Face Republic in exchange for my honest review.

🗝🖋 ingredients: sea buckthorn water, niacinamide, lemon fruit extract

🤩:

⚜️ packaging: love the bright yellow box. the bottle itself is plastic and with a basic serum dropper. i have no complaints nor praises for it.

⚜️ texture: the serum is viscous but watery. it looks thick but slides across the skin like water, and doesn’t feel oily with a loght yellow tint. lightweight and hydrating. 

⚜️ scent: this had no scent despite all the plant extracts added

💰 price:  ~27 SGD

🗣 thoughts: overall, this is a pretty good hydrating serum that leaves a good healthy glow. it absorbs really fast and doesn’t leave a sticky finish. it claims to leave a dewy finish, but i found that the finish isn’t too dewy that would make my oily skin too shiny. it’s gentle enough on my skin but i think i’ll need to use it for way longer to see proper observable results. i’d rec this for people with normal to oily skin—it’s not very moisturizing for dry skin folks and ofc if you have sensitive skin, this is not for you

there’s not a lot of bad things for this toner. it is pricey tho, it used to be about $44 from Sephora for the bigger bottle. of course this contains fragrance so its not suitable for people who are sensitive to those. 

nonetheless, I’m moving on from pixi products

okay so i much prefer this to the glow tonic ngl. this contains about 5% of glycolic and salicylic acid combined and it’s a much better exfoliant for my skin. similar to the glow tonic, it comes in two sizes, i got the huge bottle (250 ml), translucent light blue in colour. the liquid itself is colourless, and it does contain fragrance but it’s not overpowering. i reckon the fragrance is mostly there to mask bad smells

the toner itself has a light watery texture, with no viscosity at all. it absorbs pretty fast, there’s no stinging, even when my skin barrier is damaged. it’s quite hydrating as well, and as exfoliants, they’re rather effective to me. my pores feel cleaner after use and it’s pretty good at minimising them too

😫:

❗️scent: has a weird musty scent, which i did not enjoy. the product is fragrance free tho, so it could just be that

❗️despite all the HA and its derivatives in this, i didn’t really get much hydration ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

💸 will i repurchase? i mean, i have no complaints so far, and i absolutely enjoyed this. at full price, this is firmly in my maybe, but definitely a buy if it goes on sale just bc i cannot justify spending more on moisturizer than sunscreen 😂

I received this product for free from Picky and Face Republic in exchange for my honest review.

🗝🖋 ingredients: niacinamide, titanium dioxide, hyaluronic acid (in multiple forms), vitamin complex

✅ fragrance and EO free
✅ alcohol free

⚜️ packaging: comes in a orange ochre box and pale yellow tube with a flip cap. simple and clean look. 

⚜️ texture: super thick, and feels very heavy as it come out the tube. really white cream. spreads really smoothly despite that. not oily and dries pretty fast. dries matte.

💰 price:  ~18 SGD for 50 ml

🗣 thoughts: this cream really surprised me, in a good way. i was ready to hate this when i first tried it—the super thick cream, heavy, unnaturally white color were kinda red flags. BUT hot dang was i proven wrong. the cream is lightweight on the skin, doesnt feel oily at all, and leaves me matte the whole day. and ofc the fact that there’s absolutely no white cast. the lightening effect is immediate and looks natural, unlike other tone up creams. and it stays the whole day. it has just the right amount of occlusive-ness for my a.m. routine. which means, this probs won’t be ideal for dry skin folks, but right up the alley of normal-oily skin folks.