Hi! Yup, in my office, under my cozy blanket I am curled up in my office with a fluffy blanket, trying to write about the skin barrier without making you feel like you accidentally enrolled in a biology class. Because I do want you to understand this stuff. What your skin is doing, why a product might help, and why something that worked beautifully last month might suddenly sting. I can get quite absorbed in ingredients and formulation. But the reason I make these products, and sit here...

Pickle and the Berry Ampoule Facial Oil I grew up in the skincare era when oil was basically the enemy. If your face was shiny, remove the oil. If you had a breakout, remove more oil. We had those astringent pads that felt like they were quite literally burning your face off, which obviously meant they were working, right? We had the scrubs. You know the ones. Basically extra-grit sandpaper. And cleansers that left your face feeling approximately three sizes too small. Somehow “oil-free”...

I'm 46... 47 next month. Which means I have reached the stage of life where conversations with women my age can go from perfectly normal subjects to... “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO MY SKIN?” in approximately seven seconds. It is suddenly drier than it used to be. Things that never bothered it before make it sensitive. Fine lines have appeared in places I wasn't particularly monitoring. There is a little sagging. And maybe chin breakouts have decided to return from 1994 even though...