Tag: skincare junkie

Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Moisturizers

Hey, there! It’s been a while. But I had to return after testing out and searching for fungal acne-safe moisturizers for my readers. I think, as a consumer, it is a struggle to find safe products for our “skin condition.” Moisturizers and makeup removers are vain of my existence because I struggle with these a lot. Now, I can say that fungal acne is like a surprise trip. You never genuinely know what triggers YOUR fungal acne. And that depends on your fungal acne’s sensitivity to certain ingredients. All we can do is do our best to keep at least track of certain ingredients that are a BIG NO: esters, lipids, fatty acids, oils (not all), and polysorbates. How can I identify the ingredients that may trigger a fungal acne flare-up? Well, ingredient analyzers are your friend; Sezia, Skinsort, folliculitisscout, and Skincarisma are my favorite ones and are great for educating us on ingredients and the benefits based on skin types. Remember to patch test, track your progress, and enjoy your skin journey and struggles. Now here are my top 10 fungal acne-safe moisturizers and some honorable mentions.

 

Curel Intensive Moisture Facial Cream

I have repurchased this moisturizer three times. I am about to go to Amazon and repurchase it because I ran out while writing this post. This is my favorite moisturizer because of the formulation of this silky airy nourishing magic cream. This is a moisturizer with vitamin e that is specifically for dry and sensitive skin types. You can wear this during the daytime with SPF or at nighttime. I don’t believe in a day or nighttime moisturizers when facial oils like Happy Honey Oil by Sjoskin or 100% Squalane Oil by The Ordinary (any 100% squalane oil will do from any brand) can be added to a moisturizer to bump up the moisturizer to fit your needs for a more nourishing moisturizer. This doesn’t peel underneath makeup or SPF. It supports the skin barrier with ceramides, squalane, and glycerin and is pH-balanced, fragrance-free, and alcohol-free. Your skin will thank you and will be healthy and glowy.

 

Malezia 5% Urea Moisturizer*

Malezia is a small skincare brand focused on formulations for individuals with fungal acne (Malessezia Folliculitis). This gel cream has key ingredients to support the skin barrier, especially during a fungal acne breakout. We all know that getting a flare-up can be rough on the skin barrier because of the treatment process and recovery. The star ingredient is urea which is also found in our natural skin as a molecule that is part of our skin’s natural moisturizing factor (NMF). It is an important ingredient for skin hydration and the integrity to treat dry & rough skin conditions. Urea can also help with wound healing by removing dead tissue in certain wounds to speed up the process. I discovered this moisturizer while looking for a fungal acne-safe brand, which means that the whole theme or purpose of the brand was to cater to individuals with fungal acne conditions.

This moisturizer is hydrating and emollient because of the skin-loving ingredients in the formulation. We talked about urea, but did you know that not only does it provide hydrating benefits, but it also locks moisture into the skin? It is a fantastic well-aging (anti-aging) ingredient. Paired with hyaluronic acid and allantoin makes the skin more hydrated and moisturized. Urea locks in moisture, and allantoin soothes the skin. This moisturizer is great for dry, sensitive, and dehydrated skin and also a great moisturizer when your skin barrier is compromised. This moisturizer will change your skincare journey in unique ways. Continue reading Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Moisturizers

Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Essences

Essences are one of my favorite skincare products to use for fungal acne. The reason is that brands formulate most essences with 1 or 2 ingredients. Essences focus more on hydration or skin concerns, with one major component that makes up most of the formulation. Still, serums target various skin concerns and have a thicker consistency. We can primarily describe an essence as a “Toner-Serum Hybrid” because of its dense texture. Let’s get right into my recommendations!

Mugwort Essence by I’m From

I used this essence before I ended up with fungal acne. It amazed me it is not only fungal acne-safe but also contains 100% artemisia vulgaris extract, aka mugwort! It is vegan and cruelty-free, free of alcohol, fragrances, oils, parabens, silicones, or sulfates. This watery essence is excellent for fungal acne-safe routines because it contains one ingredient. I use this product in the morning and night after cleansing my face or applying toner. Mugwort has become a trendy ingredient in Korean skincare over the last couple of years. But for a good reason, it helps soothe and treat sensitive and acne-prone skin. Mugwort contains vitamins A, B, C, E, and other antioxidants and antimicrobial properties that nourish and protect the skin barrier. Other antioxidants and antimicrobials like polyphenols. There have been studies that show mugwort’s abilities to fight bacteria and fungi. I’m From is cruelty-free but not 100% vegan, meaning some products contain animal-derived ingredients.

Continue reading Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Essences

Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Toners

I figured I should do a list now for all the top 10 fungal acne-safe products and why not start with toners? Toners and essences are the easiest to find for me. I feel as if I struggle with finding serums and moisturizers that are fungal acne safe. By the way, has anyone heard of Kbeauty? It is one of the best discoveries and improved my skincare routine. Don’t be surprised if there are a lot of Kbeauty toners on this list! But, here is my list of the top 10 fungal acne safe toners. 

1025 Dokdo Toner by Round Lab

Round Lab’s Dokdo Toner is one of my favorite toners to use. I recently finished another bottle of this watery toner. This is a hydrating toner and exfoliates the skin gently. They infused it with seawater from South Korea, Ulleungo Island. This toner can be used daily with a cotton pad or applied with your hands. If your skin gets irritated easily, this toner will help soothe the irritation with panthenol, allantoin, and betaine. This toner is moisturizing, softening, kills bacteria, and treats wounds. It doesn’t contain any alcohols, fragrances, oils, silicones, or sulfates. It’s a very simple toner and safe to use for sensitive, dry or dehydrated skin. This is reef safe but not cruelty-free or vegan.

 Hyaluronic Acid Toner Plus by Isntree 

Isntree came out with two types of hyaluronic acid toners: Hyaluronic Acid Toner and Hyaluronic Acid Toner Plus. Both are fungal acne-safe, but I will review the plus one since I haven’t used the other one. I just wanted my readers to know that we can use both. 

The Plus Toner is thicker than the regular toner, hence the plus in the title. It is free of alcohols, oils, parabens, silicones, and sulfates. It contains hyaluronic acid, centella asiatica extract, panthenol, and chamomilla recutita flower extract. This is great for sensitive and irritated skin types. I remember using this one around fall, which is the perfect weather to be using it, especially if you have dry skin. I tried it again in the summer and it was just too thick for me to use as a toner because the weather was hotter. During seasons, our skin types may change based on if the weather is cold or hot. My skin gets more combination skin types during the summer with some slight dehydration because I have dehydrated skin. I liked this toner more when I used it in the fall/winter because it sinks into my skin quicker. I felt like I was patting it into my skin more during the summer and I didn’t like how it dried onto my skin because it felt like a sticky film was on it. Again, this is just how it was on my skin so it can vary based on a person’s skin type or when/how you are using it. I did like it better with a cotton pad than just applying it onto the skin with my hands. This is reef safe but not cruelty-free or vegan. Continue reading Top 10 Fungal Acne Safe Toners

My Layers Balancing Milky Cleanser Review

I’m not sure why no one talks about this Indie Skincare brand, Layers. But I have found the most amazing fungal acne-safe prebiotic + probiotic milky cleanser I’ve tried. Since I’ve had fungal acne, using milk or cream cleansers was a setback for my dry, flaky skin. Most of these cleansers had fungal acne-triggering ingredients like:

One day I decided to go on a quest for such fungal acne-safe milk cleansers. I first came across Evan Healy. I tried their Rose Cleansing Milk which wasn’t fungal acne safe. At that time, I believed that wash-off products should be fine to cheat my goal of no more prolonged use of unsafe products: skincare and makeup. But, I guess the burning in my eyes when I used it was a sign to stick to my goal. It got the job done, but it burned my eyes. I tried to focus less on my eyes, but the scent and the cleanser were too strong. I was desperate to look for something better. One day, I looked at my google search and came across Layers Balancing Milky Cleanser. This was when I discovered the fungal acne-safe milk cleanser I needed in my routine.

The Balancing Milky Cleanser has a prebiotic + probiotic blend of yogurt powder and lactobacillus ferment. Ph is balanced and claims it improves skin hydration and removes impurities while preserving good bacteria. The amount of product that you get is 120 mL / 4.1 FL. OZ, and it’s priced at $29. Layers is a clean beauty brand, cruelty-free, and their website has a breakdown of some of the ingredients in this cleanser. The ingredients include:

Continue reading My Layers Balancing Milky Cleanser Review