Bad Trade: BOJ Toner + Geek & Georgoius Serum completely dried out my face...
Hello community,
I wanted to share a short story about how I accidentally dried out my skin by making two mistakes.
I’ve been really happy with my skincare routine, which I’ve followed for about 3 years:
- Step 1: Cleansing Oil – Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Deep Cleansing Oil
- Step 2: Toner: Thank You Farmer Rice Pure Essential Toner
- Step 3: Serum: DERMALOGY by NEOGENLAB Real Niacinamid 15%
- Step 4: Eye Cream: COSRX Snail Peptide Eye Cream
- Step 5: Face Cream: Etude House, SoonJung 2x Barrier Intensive Cream
- Step 6: SPF: Beauty of Joseon Rice Probiotics Sunscreen SPF 50+
The most expensive products were the toner and the serum, so I tried to save money by switching to “dupes”:
From: Thank You Farmer Toner → Beauty of Joseon Glow Replenishing Rice Sebum Toner
From: Neogen Niacinamide 15% → Geek & Gorgeous B-Bomb 10%
After about 3 weeks, I realized that was a big mistake. My skin became very dry, tight, and even flaky.
I did some research and switched back to my original toner, and also added a more hydrating serum (Torriden Dive-In Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum).
Conclusion:
- Switching both my toner and serum at the same time completely threw off my moisture balance. The original Thank You Farmer toner is more hydrating and helps retain moisture, while the BOJ toner is much lighter and more focused on sebum control. For my dry and sensitive skin, that was the wrong move....
- At the same time, I continued using a high-dose niacinamide serum (Geek & Gorgeous), which ended up being drying when combined with less hydration.
So this left my skin dehydrated, which showed up as tightness and flakiness.
After reintroducing more hydration (original toner + Torriden serum), my skin recovered pretty quickly and feels plump again.
Lesson learned: not all “dupes” work the same (duh...). Pay attention to formulation and skin type – sometimes it’s better to stick with what already works, even if it’s more expensive.
---