[Personal] The skincare industry is nothing but a marketing playground and a dumpster fire
Products are not transparent at all. Labels are completely marketing-driven, yet none of them are clear about their ingredients, and most of their claimed benefits are not scientifically proven. The whole industry is a mess. Some cleansers actually damage the skin more because of pH imbalance and heavy fragrance, and many moisturizers do nothing for the skin barrier.
When choosing my skincare products, the first things I look for are whether they support the skin barrier and whether they are harmless to the microbiome. I make my decisions based on the skin’s natural physiology. For cleansers, an ideal pH, gentle surfactants, and basic moisturizing support are enough. Active ingredients only really make sense in leave-on products. I also find the use of active ingredients in moisturizers somewhat pointless, since brands usually don’t disclose the percentages and their effectiveness becomes questionable. I mainly just pay attention to whether they contain ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids.
For sunscreen, all I care about is high quality and a comfortable finish with no unpleasant feel on the skin. Sunscreens are absolutely critical for preventing almost every skin-related issue, so performance is the only thing that really matters to me there. If I ever develop a specific skin concern, I prefer to address it only with targeted serums, which I think is the most functional and logical approach.
The products I personally use and why:
Cleanser:
Bepanthol Derma – Gentle surfactants and a good pH level, nothing fancy.
Moisturizer:
CeraVe Lotion – The only decent ceramide option in my opinion. I might try G&G Happier Barrier at some point, but CeraVe is simply cheaper.
Sunscreen:
Avene Intense Protect – Large size and good price/performance ratio. I’m satisfied with it.
Lips:
Bepanthol Repair Ointment and Bepanthol SPF30 Stick – I use them because they contain petrolatum and panthenol, and they work well for my lips. I normally want Eucerin Aquaphor, but it's not sold in our country; as an alternative, I use this since it has similar ingredients.
Right now, I don’t have any skin issues, so I’m not using any active serums at the moment. In my basic skincare routine, I only prefer products that help optimize and support the skin. However, I’ll probably add a retinal serum soon, and I don’t feel the need for any other active ingredients besides that since most of them are marketing ingredients. If retinal ends up damaging my skin barrier, I’ll just add niacinamide or panthenol.