This was painful – literally! This May, I decluttered over $200 worth of skincare due to a painful chemical burn caused by my skincare items interacting with one another. Please keep reading if you’re interested to read about my expensive skincare declutter.

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Before the Expensive Skincare Declutter

For the past year and a half, I’ve had a fairly steady skincare routine that I detailed in a previous post. For the most part, the items I was using remained fairly constant because I only introduced something new if I finished something up. Given that my routine is more intense than the average American, please see the below for a brief summary of my morning and evening routine:

• Wash my face with a gentle cleanser
• Tone my T-zone
• Treat breakouts as needed with topical solutions
• Apply a serum (Vitamin C during the day/ BHA exfoliant at night)
• Moisturize with a gel cream
• Pat eye cream around my orbital area
• Finish with sunscreen on the face, neck, and chest

Expensive Skincare Declutter: Expired Facial Serums

By April, both of my Drunk Elephant products – the C-Firma Day Serum* and the T.L.C. Framboos Glycol Night Serum* expired. The Day Serum has an expiry date of six months after opening, while the Night Serum has a shelf life of twelve months. I started using the Night Serum in April 2017 and the Day Serum in August of 2017. Despite my heavy usage, I still had quite a bit of product left in each tube.

Since I was still seeing positive differences in my skin texture, pore size, and overall brightness, I kept using both products with the hope that I would finish both serums. In hindsight, I would never recommend that anyone use a chemical exfoliant or chemical serum past the expiry date.

Expensive Skincare Declutter: Introducing New Products

At the end of April, I finally finished my First Aid Beauty Triple Remedy AM Gel Cream.* Rather than buying a new eye cream, I decided to use the Strivectin Eye Cream in the mornings and evenings.

My Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Moisturizer* was used up in April, too. Instead of buying a refill, I wanted to try a new moisturizer from one of my favorite drugstore skincare brands, Simple.

What Went Wrong

To keep it simple, both the eye cream and moisturizer caused inflammation on my cheeks when the products interacted with one another and with my facial serums.  My skin burned, swelled, and turned bright red. My pores looked engorged. The inflamed skin was hot to the touch. This lasted for two days.

The following week my skin was still sensitive even after the visible signs of inflammation calmed. When I tried to apply other product, my skin continued to burn. For two weeks, I stopped following my skincare routine, nor could I wear foundation.

When it comes to my skin, I’d rather toss out products then do anything to cause permanent damage.

Although I am disappointed with the Simple moisturizer, I wanted to give the product another shot. I tried the moisturizer three weeks after the original flare up.

What happened? My face still stung when I used this moisturizer. I did not have a severe reaction. Interestingly, when my partner tried this moisturizer he felt a similar burning sensation.

Since I was feeling paranoid about the potential for another bad reaction, I knew it was time for a declutter. In total I decluttered $220 worth of skincare products.

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Did you enjoy reading my expensive skincare declutter? Check out my massive beauty declutter.

Have you tried any of these products before? How did your skin react? Please let me know in the comments below.

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