Hi everyone! I wanted to know, what are your favorite cream/milky toners and essences? I just started using a toner that seems a bit milky so I'm curious to see what other good ones might be out there.

Cream toners/essences

Hi everyone, do any of you use SPF lip balms/products? If so, what are your favorites? Do you know of any K-beauty or J-beauty SPF lip balms/products? I'd love to see what products work for you

What are your favorite lip SPFs?

Hi everyone, I've been really interested in trying out LHA-based products but I've only found two K-beauty products with it as an ingredient so far which are by Rovectin and make p:rem (they're tagged below). And the Western beauty products I've seen with LHA in it are waaaayy too expensive for my taste (like $41 for a cleanser *cough SkinCeuticals cough* 👀). So if any of you know of products with LHA that are reasonably priced, please share them below!

LHA products?

I won one of the make p:rem giveways for the Safe me. Relief Watery Cream! Thanks to Picky and make p:rem for this opportunity! This is the first giveaway I've won, and also the first make p:rem product I'll have tried so I'm super excited to review it! Who else won? And how long does it usually take for the product to ship?

I won my first giveaway!

Hi everyone, my question is basically what the title says. But, to give a little more context, I've heard multiple times now through watching various skincare YouTube channels that AHAs can increase the skin's thickness and help promote collagen production. However, I've also read online that AHAs can thin the skin because they speed up cell turnover. I'm confused about which one is true or if both is true. So for those of you who are dermatologists, estheticians, or extensively read studies on things like this, which one have you found to be true?

Do AHAs increase skin thickness??

I really don&#39;t have much of anything bad to say about this toner except that I wish it was a few dollars cheaper (it does last a long time and is worth the money in my opinion; I&#39;m just being cheap), and that I didn&#39;t really notice a plumping effect on my skin in that it felt and looked plumper.

First and foremost, I love this toner for its thick, syrupy (but not sticky or tacky) consistency and for how long it lasts. The consistency alone makes it really easy for me to not go overboard and run through the bottle like I&#39;ve done with some toners I bought after this one. Second, it has great ingredients and other humectants to aid in boosting the hydration factor like sodium PCA, beta glucan, and panthenol. Third, it doesn&#39;t take long to absorb but it doesn&#39;t absorb too quickly either. Like it takes enough time to absorb that it leaves some tangible hydration behind rather than seemingly vanishing into the pores without a trace. Another plus is that although I don&#39;t mind it and it doesn&#39;t bother my skin, it&#39;s fragrance-free. It isn&#39;t a mind-blowing toner in that it transforms your skin, but it essentially does what it claims to do. Overall, I&#39;d say this is a great toner for some deeper hydration and&#47;or just a basic daily routine.

I don't really have much of anything bad to say about this product, but here's the one thing I wasn't too thrilled about: 

Price: At $28.00, the price of this product does give me pause. The biggest thing that makes me feel better about the price is the amount of product you get (8.4 oz./250 ml, which is more than the 6.76/200 ml toners I'm used to). And, considering that the toner is certified organic and vegan, I can see that driving up the price since using multiple organic ingredients can get expensive. I mainly give this product a pass on the price because of the amount of product though.  

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from Picky and PURE'AM in exchange for my honest review.

Packaging: I don't have much to say about the bottle's packaging, as it was pretty simple and was like your standard toner with the screw cap and small hole to dispense the product. I have to note, however, that the ribbon the box came wrapped in along with the handwritten note was a really nice touch. I generally don't expect to find a things like that in product packaging, but I must say it was a pleasant surprise. 

 Performance & notable attributes: I was pretty intrigued by this toner, as I've never tried one that has a milky appearance as this one does. It has a pretty runny, watery texture. It's not slick and gel-like, but it has a bit of density to it. It doesn't run down my hands as quickly as other watery toners I've tried. It doesn't contain any fragrance or essential oils, but it does have a light herbal scent which is probably from one of the ingredients. It's a pretty faint scent to me. I haven't had any irritation from it as far as I can tell (I did have a bit of irritation because I was trying another new product at the same time, but once I took that out of the equation my skin calmed down). I think "balance" is a really fitting name for it, as it's definitely hydrating, but more than that it brings some moisture along with it too. It doesn't take too long to absorb, but it doesn't disappear into the skin quickly either. I haven't experienced any stickiness or tackiness from it, and even when I've layered it a couple times it didn't leave an oily or greasy finish. My skin truly felt balanced and calm while using this. 

Overall thoughts: All in all, I'd purchase this for myself in the future. But I'd make sure to savor it as much as I can so it wouldn't run out too fast! It's not a must-have. However, I think it's a really good toner for just about every skin type, depending on the time of year. Those of you who have oily and combo skin might enjoy this most during the fall and winter, and those of you with dry skin may enjoy this most during the spring and summer if you find it's not moisturizing enough for the fall and winter. If you're on the hunt for a lightly moisturizing and hydrating toner or are just curious about milky toners, give this one a try! 

I don&#39;t have much of anything bad to say about this product. However, the one thing that is lacking for me and has me reaching for other moisturizers over this one oftentimes is that it isn&#39;t moisturizing enough for me long-term. It feels nice and plump and moisturized at first, but within a couple hours my cheeks start to feel a little dry. They don&#39;t get flaky, patchy, or feel tight, but it feels like it&#39;s on the brink of dryness to where it might not feel quite as smooth compared to when it&#39;s moisturized. I think it&#39;d be just fine for those who have oily skin or combo skin that leans a little more on the oily side overall, or it would be great during the spring and summer if you&#39;re going to be outside a good bit. I used this during the bulk of the pandemic though, for which I was inside all day everyday, so I think being inside with the AC on contributed to the lack of moisture I felt after a couple hours. I&#39;ve used another moisturizer that&#39;s more watery in texture though and haven&#39;t had this same issue despite still being inside all day, so I chalked it up this moisturizer not being quite enough for my cheeks when inside all day or during the winter in a less humid climate. Lastly, in my experience at least, this does feel just the tiniest bit tacky right after application but that goes away quickly. The tiny bit of tack doesn&#39;t bother me — I mainly care about price, ingredients, and a product&#39;s effectiveness on my skin — but others may take issue with it.

First off, the price is phenomenal considering that you get 100 ml of product that has a solid list of ingredients and is fragrance-free and cruelty-free. I personally don&#39;t mind fragrance in my products, but I take it as a plus when they don&#39;t have any. I like that it comes in a tube rather than a jar since it&#39;s more hygienic, and it has a smooth, light texture that doesn&#39;t feel oily at all on my combo skin (oily T-zone, normal to slightly dry cheeks). I&#39;ve never had any issues with it clogging my pores&#47;giving me breakouts, and it absorbs pretty quickly. I also haven&#39;t had it pill on me so far and I&#39;ve finished a 30 ml tube and almost finished the 100 ml.

The only &quot;bad&quot; thing I have to say about this product, and the only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that it does cause this combination of an itchy and tingly feeling upon application for several minutes afterwards. I also did have some slight breakouts of whiteheads a couple days after first using it. And I don&#39;t have sensitive skin, so that was surprising to me, but I&#39;ve heard that can be due to the zinc PCA which can irritate some people&#39;s skin and is also antibacterial I believe so that may also explain the initial breakouts. The itchy&#47;tingly feeling wasn&#39;t overbearing, but it was bothersome enough that I wanted to lightly scratch my face a bit. That may be alarming and an immediate put-off for some, but I decided to see if that would change over time and that feeling began to subside after about a week of daily application. So the only caveat for me is that initial itchy&#47;tingly phase, which is just more annoying than anything for me. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

While it did take several months of use to notice it, this product did help lightly fade some of my post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from old breakouts on my forehead, which is the main purpose I had in mind when I bought it. I took a break from using it for a couple months to try a vitamin C derivative (I was just being impatient and didn&#39;t want to wait to try it so I stopped using niacinamide to make room for it), but then swapped the niacinamide back in. Maybe a week or two after exclusively using the niacinamide as my serum, I noticed that my forehead and nose — which are both oilier and more prone to texture and enlarged pores — felt smoother. And my forehead felt a bit more firm than usual. I&#39;m 22 so I don&#39;t currently have issues with firmness, but there just seemed to be a bit more bounce back than usual on my forehead which usually just seems to have less compared to the rest of my face. It spreads easily, doesn&#39;t feel sticky or tacky to me and layers just fine. Mind you, I do apply this product on a wet — as wet as I can get it — face and apply my moisturizer immediately afterwards, so that may affect how it applies for me. Oh! And I forgot to mention, the price of course is fantastic, especially for the 60 ml. It lasts me forever since I only use 6 drops between my face and neck (I kinda have a large face) once a day. I&#39;m currently on my second bottle and plan to continue buying it indefinitely.

Price: This is the one thing about this product that I disliked. For a total 2.70 fl. oz.&#47;80 ml of product, this moisturizer costs $29.99 (the cost will of course vary depending on where you buy it, but this is brand&#39;s own pricing). While 2.70 ounces is a good amount of product in my book, $29.99 is just too much in my opinion. I&#39;d be hard pressed to find any moisturizer I&#39;d pay that much money for myself, unless it had more product. Only then would I consider paying that much. I&#39;m not sure why it costs this much. I assume the packaging and maybe the sourcing of one or a few ingredients and&#47;or the brand&#39;s reputation may drive up the price. Regardless, I would not pay this much for this product.

Overall thoughts: This a good simple hydrating moisturizer for the warmer months, particularly for those with oily, combination or sensitive skin. I don&#39;t think it&#39;d be quite enough for people with dry skin. The texture of this product makes it fun to apply, and the packaging is nice to look at it. I&#39;ve enjoyed testing out this product. However, I can&#39;t get over the price. While I like this moisturizer, it didn&#39;t blow me away. And I can only see myself purchasing this product if I could find it for a much cheaper price, if it had significantly more product, or just did so much for my skin that I felt the need to have it in my routine as a staple. I&#39;d say it&#39;s worth trying out, but only if you have the funds to do so and don&#39;t mind splurging a bit.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from Picky and make p:rem in exchange for my honest review.

Packaging: Based on the aesthetics alone, I love the packaging of this product. The blue jar and white cap are made of sturdy plastic, and is shaped in a way that makes the product easier to hold for someone with butterfingers like me. 😅  Its design overall is both minimal and elegant. It comes with a small, clear spatula and a product cover inside the lid which partially makes up for the less hygienic packaging since it&#39;s not in a tube or airless pump. The lack of airless packaging isn&#39;t a negative per se for me — just something worth pointing out in my opinion — although it may be for other people. On the label, there&#39;s a space for putting the date when the product was opened, which I appreciate. The label also has a tab that would make it easier to remove for recycling once the product is finished, which I think is great.

Performance &amp; notable attributes: Now that that&#39;s out of the way, on to the product itself. True to its name, this really is a watery gel cream. So much so that it&#39;ll start to run off your hand fairly quickly if you tilt it. The ingredients are pretty simple, with prickly pear stem extract being the first and main ingredient. Other key ingredients include glycerin, panthenol, hyaluronic acid, and jojoba seed oil. This is a great spring and summer moisturizer, as it&#39;s very lightweight, hydrating and gives a skin-like finish with a slight glow. While it&#39;s watery upon initial application, as you start to rub it in it feels a little emollient as well. I don&#39;t think it&#39;d be enough for me at night or during the colder months though, even with an added facial oil. It&#39;s fragrance-free and has no detectable scent, which is great for those who are sensitive to fragrance or just prefer products without it. It&#39;s also vegan and cruelty-free. I didn&#39;t sense any irritation with this product, but my skin rarely gets irritated so I&#39;m not the best judge of that. It absorbs relatively quickly, but not so fast that it feels like nothing was applied, and it mixes well with other products.