What are your favourite and least favourite skincare brands?

Hey!

So I recently joined this forums, mainly because I wanted to see what everyone's favourite and least favourite brands are.

The reason to this is I want to purchase a whole new set of skincare stuff for my beauty regime - but I've found my favourite brands (high-end, luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Clinique, et cetera) have the most harshest and are 100% unnatural, whereas I want something which is as natural as possible, is light on my skin and has no harmful ingredients.

So what're your favourites and least favourites?

I've also made a threat with as many brands of skincare I can think of, and best to my knowledge, as possible, if you wish to vote!

PS: If any of you are going to recommend, please note I have normal to oily skin, and I have quite a bit of acne at this moment in time. x

It's not on your list, but Paula's Choice makes products that are fragrance and sulfate free (so they don't dry out your skin) and get rave reviews. They're very focused on current science and their website has many resources for you to find out about the ingredients in their products. They really seem to care about educating the consumer. They are not prone to using "natural" ingredients because not everything natural is good, and some "unnatural" ingredients are great.

Another brand is CeraVe which makes many acne and moisturizers. I have a salicylic acid lotion from them and in my opinion it works well for the acne I get on my back from conditioner.

Of the brands you listed, I think most will have parabens, sulfates, harsh alcohols, and other harmful ingredients. Big companies tend to add these harsh chemicals into their products for some reason.

I think if you truly want to get the most holistic products suitable for your skin is to make it yourself. Clay masks are easy to make and clay in bulk is cheaper than prepackaged stuff with fragrances and other nasty things added in. To clay masks you can add things like raw honey, pure salicylic acid (for acne), and so on. Oils like jojoba, argan, grapeseed are wonderful as makeup removers and moisturizers and even conditioners. And if you get the right combination of oils they do work for oily skin and will not make you break out. As long as you remember to research things and not just put them in because they come from nature, you can make great at-home skin care for cheap and know everything that goes into it.

Also, I hear Trader Joe's has a really great fragrance and sulfate free lotion that is really cheap.

I second Paulas Choice, I've had acne for the last 24 years (I'm 36) and I've tried everything. Antibiotics worked but didn't want to spend my life using them and figured I was just stuck with this problem.

I tried Paula's Choice because I hadn't tried it yet. Within 2 days my active acne was gone!! I though this must be a fluke and it will be back, but nope months later and I LOOK GREAT!

For my acne, I've found that using Suki exfoliate foaming cleanser regularly has helped keep it to a minimum. I typically just use the oil-free Neutrogena with SPF as my daily moisturizer, but I've also had good results with Acure moisturizers.

Boscia! I love everything they make. It's not harsh and it makes my face feel so clean and even. I have combination skin, and it is the one thing that treats both the oil slicks and the sahara just right. It's like the Goldilocks of skincare for me.

I also use CereVe, and have major acne breakouts. The Hydrating Cleanser has been a God-send to me, seriously. I'm 29 years old, and it is the only thing that I have started using that clears my skin up and makes it look smooth and healthy. 

I use LUSH. I have tried three different cleansers, two face masks, a body wash, bath bombs, lotion, moisturizer, toner, a body scrub, plus various hair and body samples and I've honestly loved 90% of it. I can't afford everything I've tried, but their products are great. I'm currently planning another LUSH UK order... haven't gotten anything since black friday-ish and there are a few things I had samples of that I adore. You can look on their website, but LUSH is natural, and they rarely use preservatives. 

Cleanser - I like to try an array of cleansers, however; as of late, I have been really loving Dermalogica's Special Cleansing Gel.

Toner - I have struggled with acne on and off. The best toner I have ever used to clear up my acne is Clinique's Acne Solutions Clarifying Toner.

Moisturizer - I own quite a few, but right I am true to my Lancôme moisturizers most.

Exfoliator - I love to try new scrubs. ExfoliKate is my current favorite followed by Peter Thomas Roth.

Mask/Peel - I don't have a favorite, as I am always trying new ones. Boscia's Luminizing Black Mask is one of the best there is though.

Serum - I use a variety, however; I am very true my Advanced Night Repair serum by Estee Lauder. It's one of the best serums I have ever used and have been using it for 2+ years now.

As for least favorite, I will have to think about that one. There have been several.

I can usually find something good about every line, but my go-to's are usually Ren, Fresh, Boscia and Ole Henricksen. They're all more on the natural side with great, effective products. I do throw a few things from other brands in to my regime too, Dior serum and Dream Skin primer and Murad anti-acne moisturizers, Perricone, etc. I'm not a huge fan of lines from Clinique, Clarins, Philosophy. They just don't react well with my skin I guess (I had  terrible experience with Clinique, never touch them again).

I've never used any of the brands you've mentioned, or really any high-end department store skin care product. But I have tried a variety of natural and organic products and if you really want to go that route I would suggest looking for independent brands that mainly sell their products online. Occasionally you can find these brands in your local health food/vitamin store if you live in a big city. But otherwise I would just start researching natural and organic brands.

I would start looking in the skin care section of Whole Foods market if you have one of those. Whole Foods has a great selection of natural and organic skin care products and although they are pricey, the prices are usually on par with what you would pay for Lancome or Chanel.

To get specific, of all the natural brands I've tried I like best Andalou Naturals. Their products are based on fruit stem cell science and I love their Resveratrol Night Cream. Most of their products are around 75% natural and most of those ingredients are organic.

I have used many products from your list.. but after using them all, at last i found my all time favoirite skin care product i.e Yllume. The products offerd by them are just amazing, i could actually feel the difference in my skin in very less time and all the products are made of natural ingredients and this is the most positive thing i like about their products. 

Favorite: Jarvis products because these natural herbal products and few months ago I took clinical trial with them and their treatment was awesome.

Least Favorite: nevia product, nivea lip butter..

 I'm extremely picky about skincare, I have very sensitive, reactive skin. I use Paula's Choice and Dr Jart's. For moisturizing I use Dr Jarts Ceramidin or extra virgin coconut oil,, cleanser either PC or Cetaphil.

Least favorite; too many to list

Paula's Choice is very nice but if you are looking for a very affordable alternative for Vitamin C and HA serums then you really need to try Hydra Select. They sell on Amazon.

As we all know that skin is the most important organ of our personality. And one should use that brand which suits well on his/her skin.

I love Olay products... their Shine Shine Go Away Cleanser was amazing and I was set to buy it for the rest of my life. It was just one of those products that clicked with my skin... then I found out Olay tests on animals and now I cannot repurchase it. Such a shame. Now I have been looking for another brand of skin care products to try... I've tried and hated Neutrogina (how ever that is spelled) and Clean and Clear... They might be good products for someone else, but they broke me out big time. For now I've been using products from Loreal, which seem to be working okay. I really can't wait for the day when Olay becomes cruelty free. Writing this reminds me of how perfect that cleanser was.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />