SkinSourcer · An editorial index

The Shelf

What's worth buying when you don't need us to source it.

SkinSourcer Drops are reserved for products worth crossing borders for. The Shelf is our ongoing curation of the products already within reach that still clear our bar.

Drops · Sourced

We source what you can't get.

Finite imports, bought directly from the makers, verified to the invoice, unavailable on American shelves. The current drop remains the heart of SkinSourcer.

The Shelf · Curated

Ten post-procedure skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 059 · THE POST-PROCEDURE SHELF The Post-Procedure Shelf: What We'd Put on Our Face After Doing Something Expensive to It The quiet half of the treatment: barrier support, recovery and formulas that know when not to show off.

Ten acne treatments arranged on a shelf

Edit 057 · THE BREAKOUT CABINET The Breakout Cabinet: Acne Skincare for When the Cute Little Pimple Patch Isn't Enough The acids, retinoids, benzoyl peroxide and sulfur we call on when things have escalated.

Ten luxury creams and serums arranged on a shelf

Edit 056 · THE CAVIAR PROBLEM The Caviar Problem: Skincare Ingredients That Sound Like They Belong on a Tasting Menu Caviar, gold, bio-placenta and a few formulas that make hyaluronic acid sound painfully ordinary.

Eleven night creams and serums arranged on a shelf

Edit 055 · THE OVERNIGHT SHIFT The Overnight Shift: Night Creams That Actually Earn the Eight Hours The products we would give the longest uninterrupted shift in skincare.

Eleven firming skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 054 · THE FACELIFT JAR The Facelift Jar: Firming Skincare for People Thinking About Gravity Eleven formulas making the most ambitious promise in the moisturizer aisle.

Eleven biotech-inspired skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 051 · THE BIOHACKED FACE The Biohacked Face: Growth Factors, Exosomes and the New Biology of Skincare The shelf where skincare starts borrowing vocabulary from regenerative medicine.

Ten luxury skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 050 · THE $300 FACE The $300 Face: Skincare Over $300 That Has to Explain Itself At this price, "luxurious" is not a reason. Ten formulas with something more interesting going on.

Eight products for the zones a routine forgets arranged on a shelf

Edit 049 · THE BLIND SPOTS The Blind Spots: Neck, Chest, Hands, and Everything Skincare Forgets Eight products for seven places a routine forgets: neck, chest, hands, lips, feet, the part line, and whatever the plane dried out.

Thirteen professional skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 048 · THE LONG GAME The Long Game: Skincare Judged in Months, Not Mornings Thirteen products with nothing to prove by Friday, chosen for the routine you keep, not the one you start.

Sixteen professional skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 046 · COUNTER CULTURE Counter Culture: What the Clinic Counter Sells, With the Lists Read Sixteen products from the clinic counter, and the ingredient lists are not what that counter implies.

Nine calming Korean, French and Australian skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 045 · THE CALM ROUTINE Calming Skincare for When Your Skin Wants Nothing to Do With You Nine products built around centella and ceramides rather than strength, and they happen to make a whole routine.

Twelve skincare products with no dupe, arranged on a shelf

Edit 042 · THE UNDUPABLE EDIT Skincare So Good We Still Haven't Found the Dupe Twelve formulas nobody has managed to copy, and the specific reason why in each case.

Second Bottle: Skincare That Earns a Repurchase

Edit 028 · SECOND BOTTLE Second Bottle: Skincare That Earns a Repurchase The highest compliment we can give a product: it earns another bottle.

Luxury Skincare Worth Spending an Unreasonable Amount On

Edit 027 · THE SPLURGE EDIT Luxury Skincare Worth Spending an Unreasonable Amount On Expensive products, and the actual reasons they cost it.

The Best Skincare Under $15, Because Price Isn't the Point

Edit 026 · THE UNDER-$15 EDIT The Best Skincare Under $15, Because Price Isn't the Point Under fifteen dollars, with nothing to apologize for.

Winter Skincare for When Your Face Hates the Weather

Edit 025 · THE WINTER SHELF Winter Skincare for When Your Face Hates the Weather For the season the barrier files grievances.

Summer Skincare for Heat, Humidity and Everything Melting Off

Edit 024 · THE SUMMER SHELF Summer Skincare for Heat, Humidity and Everything Melting Off For the months when everything heavier slides off.

Travel Skincare Worth the Space in Your Carry-On

Edit 023 · THE TRAVEL SKINCARE EDIT Travel Skincare Worth the Space in Your Carry-On What survives security, altitude, and hotel bathrooms.

The Dermatologist Shelf

Edit 022 · THE DERMATOLOGIST SHELF The Dermatologist Shelf What the derm counter stocks, and what it costs.

French Pharmacy Skincare We'd Fill a Suitcase With

Edit 021 · THE FRENCH PHARMACY EDIT French Pharmacy Skincare We'd Fill a Suitcase With Pharmacy classics that became settled law.

Japanese Skincare Worth the Extra Suitcase

Edit 020 · THE JAPANESE SKINCARE EDIT Japanese Skincare Worth the Extra Suitcase Japan's drugstore canon, institution by institution.

Korean Skincare Worth Ordering Before Everyone Else Finds It

Edit 019 · THE K-BEAUTY EDIT Korean Skincare Worth Ordering Before Everyone Else Finds It The gateway shelf: the Korean formulas that explain the whole phenomenon.

Face Masks Worth Cancelling Plans For

Edit 018 · THE MASK EDIT Face Masks Worth Cancelling Plans For The ten minute kind and the overnight kind, mostly in jars and tubes rather than sachets.

Body Skincare for People Who Treat It Like Their Face

Edit 017 · THE BODY EDIT Body Skincare for People Who Treat It Like Their Face Face-grade thinking for the other ninety percent.

Eye Creams and Treatments for When the Eyes Give It Away First

Edit 016 · THE EYE EDIT Eye Creams and Treatments for When the Eyes Give It Away First Most eye creams are moisturizer at a markup. These argue otherwise.

Sensitive Skin Products for When Your Face Says Absolutely Not

Edit 015 · THE SENSITIVE SKIN EDIT Sensitive Skin Products for When Your Face Says Absolutely Not Defined by what it leaves out.

Skincare for Dry Skin That Drinks Everything You Put On It

Edit 014 · THE DRY SKIN EDIT Skincare for Dry Skin That Drinks Everything You Put On It For skin that is dry every day, not just this week.

Dark Spot Skincare for the Marks That Overstay Their Welcome

Edit 013 · THE DARK SPOT EDIT Dark Spot Skincare for the Marks That Overstay Their Welcome Tone-correctors for the shadow a breakout leaves behind.

Acne Skincare That Clears Without Starting Another Problem

Edit 012 · THE ACNE EDIT Acne Skincare That Clears Without Starting Another Problem De-escalation first: treating blemishes without declaring war on the barrier.

Korean Skincare for Glass Skin, Minus the Filter

Edit 011 · THE GLASS SKIN EDIT Korean Skincare for Glass Skin, Minus the Filter The layered-hydration look, built from ferments and humectants, not highlighter.

What We'd Pair With a Retinoid

Edit 010 · THE RETINOID EDIT What We'd Pair With a Retinoid The retinoid is the easy part. Surviving the first six weeks is the shelf.

Centella Skincare for When Your Skin Needs Everyone to Calm Down

Edit 009 · THE CENTELLA EDIT Centella Skincare for When Your Skin Needs Everyone to Calm Down Skincare's best-documented soother, from ampoule to counter classic.

Peptide Skincare for Playing the Long Game

Edit 008 · THE PEPTIDE EDIT Peptide Skincare for Playing the Long Game Twelve formulas between twenty one and four hundred and seventy five dollars, and what the extra money buys.

Vitamin C Serums: Find Your Percentage

Edit 007 · THE VITAMIN C EDIT Vitamin C Serums: Find Your Percentage Every vitamin C eventually oxidizes. These earn the countdown.

Cleansers That Do Less, Better

Edit 006 · THE CLEANSER EDIT Cleansers That Do Less, Better Cleansers that remove what they should and nothing they shouldn't.

The Best Skincare Under $25 We'd Buy at Twice the Price

Edit 005 · THE UNDER-$25 EDIT The Best Skincare Under $25 We'd Buy at Twice the Price Eleven formulas where price and quality came apart, mostly in Korea.

The Best Skincare We Found on Amazon

Edit 004 · THE AMAZON EDIT The Best Skincare We Found on Amazon What clears our bar without crossing a border. Yes, we were surprised too.

Barrier Repair Skincare for When You've Officially Overdone It

Edit 003 · THE BARRIER EDIT Barrier Repair Skincare for When You've Officially Overdone It For overworked skin: twenty three dollars at the pharmacy end, one hundred and ninety five at the other.

PDRN Skincare Worth Knowing Before It's in Everything

Edit 002 · THE PDRN EDIT PDRN Skincare Worth Knowing Before It's in Everything Korea's clinical-skincare molecule has reached American shelves. Nine products, $18.90 to $49.50, and one of them is American.

Korean Sunscreens That Make American SPF Hard to Go Back To

Edit 001 · THE SPF EDIT Korean Sunscreens That Make American SPF Hard to Go Back To The filters are better, the textures are better, and all eight of these are already on American shelves.

Ten face and body skincare products arranged on a shelf

Edit 076 · BEHIND THE SHAMPOO Behind the Shampoo: The Skincare a Hair Company Quietly Sells Ten face and body formulas from shops that make their money on haircare, read the way we read everything else: from the label.

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