Reviews and Other Stuff

Hey-lo! I’ve always wanted to do this review because I’m sure you’re wondering what I think about The Inkey List brand. You’re probably curious if I’m a big fan of single-ingredient skincare products, or do I prefer the multitasking ones? My answer is “it depends”. When there’s a specific skincare concern that I want to address, I like to use a single-ingredient product. But when I’m crazy busy, I like to use some skincare multitaskers.

The Inkey List is a brand I’ve been using to supplement my skincare needs for more than a year. They have several exciting products that mostly contain a single ingredient targeted to a specific skincare concern or to simply enhance the skin. I haven’t tried all of them yet, but I certainly have tried a couple of them already. Here are my thoughts.

Brighten-i Eye Cream – I like this eye cream for the price, but after going through the whole tube, I didn’t really find any dramatic effect on my undereyes. I also did not notice any depuffing effect from this. However, this product did not exacerbate my sleepless undereye circles. So, this is still a good deal.

Bakuchiol – Truly a great alternative to Retinol, but may not be as effective. This product does a good job of refining my skin’s texture without the irritation that Retinol gives. However, this does not provide the same glowy effect that Retinol does. I do like that this does not have any strong scent and is way safer to use than Retinol. I also recommend the one from Alpyn Beauty Melt Moisturizer, which also contains Bakuchiol and a good alternative to Retinol.

Alpha Arbutin – I don’t use this much, but many folks swear by this product. Alpha Arbutin can reduce the appearance of dark spots and hyper-pigmentation. While I haven’t had any of these issues lately since I mostly stay indoor, what I do notice is that my skin feels so smooth after using this. I should investigate this further and see how this compares to Bakuchiol. Also, this product does not have any strong scent, which is excellent.

Salicylic Acid Cleanser – I’m not sure if you noticed, but it’s quite a challenge to look for an excellent salicylic acid cleanser nowadays. The drugstore ones do not really work for me, and my face ends up being oily after a few hours. This Inkey List salicylic acid cleanser is one of the few that I found that really mattifies my face.

Kaolin Clay – Wondering what’s a good clay face mask for oily skin? Kaolin clay, yes. This mask is on the milder side, which means that the texture is way smoother than most clay face masks out there. I like this product because this does not irritate my skin, and this does not feel too stripping. However, I wouldn’t recommend this as a weekly or biweekly exfoliating mask because this feels more like an everyday face mask.

Collagen Booster – Think of this product as a framework that will keep the facial skin together, like some kind of scaffolding, lol. Collagen peptides are good for maintaining skin elasticity, but our skin tends to lose it as we age (quoting Healthline on this) or if we are under stress (oxidative stress). Therefore, it’s very important that we replenish the collagen loss to avoid skin sagging. So, if ever you find yourself feeling like you’re losing collagen from learning how to write grants 😀 (wink wink), you gotta use this.

Overall, I love this brand, especially the price. I don’t think you can find several other brands like this that don’t skip on ingredients’ potency while making the price affordable for everyone. I can only think of “The Ordinary”, which is also a great skincare brand when it comes to quality and affordability. I will be reviewing that brand soon. So, stay tuned.

What do you think of The Inkey List? Yay or Nay?

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