We’ve talked a lot about tackling your active breakouts, but what about post acne marks & scars? They can seem so frustratingly persistent. But the good news is, things that tackle your breakouts like tretinoin and adapalene can also help tackle the healing phase to minimize acne scarring. Another active ingredient that can be helpful is glycolic acid… butttt that comes with a lot of caveats. So let’s dive into the science of post acne care!

With acne breakouts being the stubborn, complicated creature that it is, it’s no wonder the world of acne treatment options is a billion-dollar industry. Today we’re walking through some of the recently trendy acne favorites. Are they worth the hype? How important are they to your acne strategy? Let’s dive in!

We can’t believe we haven’t done a dedicated podcast episode to anti-aging superstar retinol. This skincare active has been clinically tested (again and again) to effectively improve fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation… you name it! But with thousands of retinol serums to choose from, and even countless different “retinoids” to shop for, it can get confusing fast. So let’s get into the retinoid landscape, interesting retinol clinical tests, and all your retinol questions answered.

Retinol's popularity is ever-growing as THE anti-aging ingredient to dabble into - and for good reason! Butttt with so many retinol serums on the market to choose from, it's bound to lead to some confusing products + claims. So let's take a look at some confusing %s, Cerave's retinol range, and get your burning retinol questions answered! 

Skincare for sensitive skin sometimes feels like an open-ended category.  It can feel like there are too many random products out there and yet too few that really answer sensitive skin needs. In this very dense episode, we talk about what defines sensitive skin, what labels could help, the skin redness conundrum, and how to build a routine for sensitive skin. Settle in! We’re going down the rabbit hole!

If you have sensitive skin you may find that this realm of skincare just doesn’t speak to your skin needs that well. What’s worse is that if you try shopping for your sensitive skin, you’ll be bombarded with the widest array of skincare products and skincare actives. To help, the chemists break down this category into three groups of “could be better”, “better”, and “best” based on their product testing! Through these examples, the hope is that you’ll be able to research and find a more...

Tackling hyperpigmentation already feels like you need a whole team of products to get any meaningful improvement. But, some of the most popular hyperpigmentation treatments seem to come with the biggest price tags. The chemists give their analysis on this group, run through the testing, and see if these truly live up to their price tag. For once, these frugal chemists might actually be swayed by these luxury serums.

Hyperpigmentation is probably one of the most stubborn skin concerns to tackle. It takes a lot more patience, diligence, and what feels like an army of actives to see meaningful improvement. Because of this, there are quite a few products in this realm to choose from, and decoding the ingredient list can get pretty messy. We go through two cult favorites and walk through our thought process in shopping for hyperpigmentation products! Lezzgo!

If you’re a skincare junkie, you’ve probably come across the term “slugging”. This trend of sealing in your moisturizing routine with a balm really highlights the benefits of occlusives. These waxy, oily, balmy substances are pretty helpful to your moisturizer game, so let’s get into the science, the controversy, and just which occlusive product to include in your arsenal!

The slugging trend is here to stay and if you've ventured into this realm, you might have realized that the products suggested can vary a lot! Here we decode two popular "slugging" products and go through which one to choose for your skin type.

It's time for an exfoliation update! But this time, we're spending a segment on physical exfoliators aka. scrubs. Scrubs can actually be a helpful addition to your exfoliation game specifically for very stubborn texture concerns and blackheads. We discuss the various kinds of scrubs, any testing behind them, and what to look for when you're shopping for them! 

Chemical exfoliants come in all sorts of product types and one type that seems to be expanding is home peels. These typically include higher concentrations of chemical exfoliants and are meant to be used as wash-off masks. To give everyone a general picture of the landscape, we go through a few product decodes and soon realize this realm isn’t as straightforward as we thought!

6 years ago our journey started in skincare education started with decoding ingredient lists. Since then, this realm has evolved a lot...for better or worse. In this episode, we've decided to take some time to break down decodes based on product type and discuss when decoding can be helpful and when decoding could lead you into a pit of confusion.  

We’ve been decoding all sorts of claims in the skincare world, but devices happen to be some of the most confusing products to figure out. Today it’s decode challenge mode! We walk through a really good example of a device that comes with the works in terms of claims and talk about what to pay attention to and what we’d probably ignore.

There’s a whole world of Vitamin C molecules outside of ascorbic acid, but they all get lumped under the “Vitamin C” serum category. The difficulty here is that not every molecule has been validated to give the same benefits of ascorbic acid. So let’s get into a few of the major players, what they’ve been tested for, and how to go about shopping for these Vitamin C alternatives.

Vitamin C seems to be entering all sorts of skincare arenas, including body care. But is Vitamin C actually helpful in the category? Let’s take a look at a couple products to understand what’s really going on here. 

You’ve probably wondered, “Out of all the Skinceuticals CE Ferulic Dupes out there, which one should I buy?” Well we’ve decided to put a few dupes to the test. After some surprising results, we go over which serums we would avoid. We also discuss what clues to look for to help you decide whether or not its time to let that Vitamin C serum go. Let’s get into it!

Have you wondered if your body needs a skincare routine too? You’re definitely not the only one. Despite this arena getting a lot of attention, there isn’t a ton of research or data to go off of. Instead, let’s go through a few common body products that would have some sort of testing behind them..and no it’s definitely not caffeine.

Summer is in full swing now! In addition to the gazillion sunscreen articles, this is also the time of year when all these jazzy “summer skincare routine guides” come out. But do you really need to change up your routine just for summer? Is skin actually different during this time of year? Should you continue with retinol usage? What about your hyperpigmentation routine?

Vitamin C is definitely a must-have active during summer because of its excellent antioxidant properties to help prevent and combat photodamage. Because of its benefits, this category has expanded in the last couple of years into different formats outside of the classic: water-based, suspension, and powder formats. In this episode, let’s decode a wash-off mask, a stick, and an AOX sunscreen to see if these alternative formats hold any merit.

There’s been a big focus on “Skin Barrier Health”, but what does that even mean? Many don’t realize that dabbling in things like anti-aging and hyperpigmentation is a moot point, if your skin barrier isn’t in tip-top shape! In this episode, the chemists do a deep dive into the biology behind good skin barrier health, what ingredients can help, and how to shop for your skin barrier!

It’s time to give our skin barrier some spotlight. But wait! When you start going down the rabbit hole of moisturizers, you stumble on some very odd formulation. So let’s go through some recent product launches and see if we can figure out what exactly we want in a moisturizer and how to make sense of the wild ingredients and claims.

For 30 days, the chemists decided to trial 30 different sunscreens for texture, wear, and wash-off using a UV camera. We ended up learning a lot through this journey so let's discuss! Who were the winners? losers? and what new sunscreen habits did we pick up? Let's talk about it!

Since one of the chemists reached a major life change, it’s finally time to dabble in the world of “pregnancy-safe” skincare. It’s not a surprise that this is a realm that doesn’t have a lot of regulation and not a lot of testing. So let’s go through what data IS available and how the chemists would navigate skincare during this more delicate time of life.

Cleansers are a pretty good hybrid of an art and a science. Aside from a few basic criteria like gentleness and cleansing power, why you like a cleanser can get pretty personal. This makes shopping for a cleanser pretty difficult, but you have us! And we’ll try to put some logic to this world, so let’s do it!