Spill the beans! Let me hear it! Tell what I wanna know! So…what, pray tell, is currently on your beauty wish list?
Girl, what isn’t on my beauty wish list is more like it!
I’ve been deep-diving into the skin care world, scanning the interwebs for solutions to hyperpigmentation and melasma, and I owe my discover of these first items to Dr. Alexis Stephens on YouTube. She has a video on hyperpigmentation for darker skin tones where she basically “sciences the sh*t” 😂 out of the ingredients one should be looking for in their quest to even out their skin tone.
Today, I’m deeply enamored with the idea of tranexemic acid products and would like to add one to the mix, so I’m wish-listing (yes, I just made that up) three options.
Option one is affordable and accessible. It’s the $14.99 INKEY list Tranexamic Acid Night Treatment at Sephora. I like that it doesn’t break the bank, and I also like that it’s available at Sephora, so I wouldn’t have to drive 250 miles to find it.
Option two is pricier at $88 (oh, my!). It’s by Peter Thomas Roth, called the PRO Strength Niacinamide Discoloration Treatment.
So, this one’s much more expensive, but I like that it contains hyperpigmentation heavy-hitters niacinamide and kojic acid, as well as tranexemic acid. It’s also supposed to have a creamy texture, which my dry skin would probably like.
Option three is the most expensive 💸💰 one, so of course it’s the one I’m most intrigued by, ha ha ha. It’s called SkinMedica Lytera 2.0, and it clocks in at a whopping, ridiculous, staggering $154!
I’ve seen the brand in dermatology offices before, though, and it’s listed in that hyperpigmentation video from Dr. Alexis Stephens, so I’m deeply curious about it…
After much internal debate, which is still ongoing, I’m thinking about splurging on the Peter Thomas Roth item in the purple tube to kickstart things before perhaps eventually transitioning to the more affordable INKEY list product for maintenance, assuming my skin likes tranexemic acid.
Also on my list is a moisturizer with vitamin F, which technically isn’t a real vitamin, but rather two essential fatty acids — an omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), and an an omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid (LA). Vitamin F is another thing that is supposed to help with hyperpigmentation as well, and yes this is another thing I learned from Dr. Alexis!
As for moisturizers, both of these are on my list right meow: Biossance Squalane + Omega Repair Cream ($58) and Drunk Elephant F-Balm Masque ($54).
Incidentally, even though the Drunk Elephant F-Balm is billed as a “sleeping mask,” I think that’s just marketing-speak for “night moisturizer.” I can’t imagine you couldn’t just use it in the evening before bed, if the timing and convenience worked out better for you.
In other news…can we briefly chat about retinol for a minute? I’ve been using this one from Neutrogena for a few months, and I like it just fine (it’s moisturizing and doesn’t irritate my skin), but I’m getting the urge to try something new. I’ve been reading up on the different types of retinols in over-the-counter products, and now I want to try a treatment with retinaldehyde, which is supposed to work quicker than retinol…
The Avene RetrinAL 0.05 Cream ($62) gets mentioned often, and so I’ve got that one on my list!
Speaking of Avene, they have new mineral sunscreens, including a tinted one. Ugh. WANT! 🙃
That’s it for me…at least for now…from what I can think of at this very moment. Ha! What’s currently on your beauty wish list? Inquiring minds want to know.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. BTW, today is someone’s birthday. 😁 I’ll give you a hint. It’s somebody typing on a keyboard into this blog right now, and she likes cats and makeup and clothes and sunny weather and kindness and good conversation and is currently obsessed with skin care and sunscreen… 🎁🎂🎈🎉
