The Best Drugstore Skin Savers

Yesterday I posted about my favorite skin saving products for Makeup Wars. Except, I had a problem. There were a lot of skin issues I wanted to cover, and I had a lot of products that I’ve loved over the years for those issues! I split the post into high end (yesterday) and drugstore (today). These are products that I’ve tried and had great results with, and recommend to friends, family and people who email me with questions!

Pimples

1. Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser/Mask: I love that this is both a cleanser and a mask. It pulls some stuff out of your pores, feels cooling, exfoliates… It’s a great multi-tasker and I’ve had a few dermatologists recommend it to me recently for Babble posts.

2. Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10: Persa-Gel is what I was taught to recommend as a spot treatment in all of my peds training. Yes, general pediatricians treat a lot of acne. And it turns out there’s a reason they recommend this stuff, it really does get in there and work. You need to use it with caution, it will bleach fabrics (hello, new duvet cover!) and it can dry out your face and make it more sensitive to the sun.

Clogged Pores

3. Alba Botanica Hawaiian Facial Mask, Pore-fecting Papaya Enzyme: Another fun mask. It has a lot of fruit extracts and really clears stuff out of pores while exfoliating your skin. Definitely the answer to dull, clogged up skin.

4. Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque: When I want to really suck things out of my pores, this is what I reach for. It can feel a bit tight/hurt when it dries, so use in moderation.

Dry Skin

5. L’Oreal Paris Age Perfect Hydra-Nutrition Glow Renewal Facial Oil: This is the L’Oreal dupe of the Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate. The oils are different, but they work the same way, except this one feels a little bit heavier on my skin. Super glowy results!

6. Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask: This is a great mask for when you want to pamper your skin and include a hydrating mask in your at home facial. It does really hydrate and plump up the skin, but it doesn’t seem to be “too much” resulting in shine or blemishes.

Chapped Lips

7. Aquaphor Lip Repair Ointment: This is super hydrating and gentle on lips that are already irritated. I like to use it in the morning when I apply my moisturizer, it helps prep my lips for lippies later on.

Irritated Skin

8. Derma-e Soothing Facial Treatment Oil (see my review of Derma-e Facial Oils): This hydrates but also calms down irritate skin. I actually use it pretty frequently on my hands for eczema flares. My eczema doesn’t like the anti-bacterial foam we use in my ICU, so after a few days at work I can start to get rashy. If I apply a few drops of this at night to the back of my hands, then all is well with the world.

Dark Spots

9. Aveeno Positively Radiant Tone Corrector: Rather than working with hydroquinone, this targeted treatment uses Soy and increases cell turnover with a retinoid (not pregnancy safe).

Puffy Eyes

10. Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller: This is somehow the only eye product that I’ve ever used and really seen an immediate difference in my puffy eyes. I use it when I’m having allergy issues (again, not pregnancy safe).

Wrinkles

11. RoC Retinol Correxion Sensitive Eye Cream and 12. RoC Retinol Correxion Sensitive Night Cream are both retinoid creams, but they’ve altered the release of the retinoid, so it is slower. You’ll get more results and less irritation that way. Did you notice I didn’t have a high end retinoid product to recommend yesterday? That’s because these ones are much better than any I’ve used that are more expensive. Buy the RoC. (Again, not pregnancy safe.)

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