My January 2026 Skincare Finds: What I loved and what I’ll never repurchase
Honest product reviews from someone with sensitive, acne-prone, dry skin
January just whoozed past us, and somehow the 1st month of 2026 is already over???
Winter is always a tricky time for my dry skin, so my January products have a lot of pressure riding on them.
In case you’re wondering how to care for your dry skin in winter - we got you, here’s a dermat-approved guide
Apart from tending to the winter dryness, I’ve also been trying new products, and given the DMs I got after my 2025 skincare finds - I thought, why don’t I make this into a recurring series? So here it is, everything I tried in January 2026 – the good and the bad.
PSA: I am not a dermatologist. This analysis is based on publicly available information on INCIdecoder and informed by skincare science. If you have active acne, I would recommend consulting a dermatologist before experimenting with potent skincare products.
If you would like to consult our dermatologist, comment or DM us.
1) Innisfree Volcanic Swirl Pore Mask
I have to admit, I am a shameless lover of physical exfoliants. (Really hope my dermat isn’t reading this). I know physical exfoliants aren’t the best for your skin, because they can cause micro-tears in your skin, irritate it and contribute to acne.
✅ Pros: Unlike most clay masks, this one didn’t dry out my skin. It contains hyaluronic acid, which helps hydrate, while the clay removes excess sebum. It also includes a few anti-acne actives (which are not the main focus ingredients) like glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid, all known to help unclog pores. Overall, it’s a fairly refined clay mask formula.
❌ Cons: It has a very unpleasant odour for a face mask. If something is sitting on my face, it needs to smell pleasant or at least not be overpowering. Clay is a physical exfoliant which can dry out or irritate the skin, especially if you’re acne-prone.
🔄 Did it make it into my routine? Nope. I didn’t see any noticeable improvement in my skin texture. This was a skip for me, and if you have active acne, I’d recommend avoiding it given the physical exfoliants.
2) Ole Henriksen Double Rewind 0.3% Pro-Grade Retinol Serum
Suddenly, everyone around me seemed to be on the retinoids train. I realised I was the only one not using retinol, retinal, or tretinoin for their anti-ageing and anti-acne benefits. I know this sounds like FOMO, but honestly - I just wanted to see what the hype was about.
✅ Pros: It is an amazing retinol product and doesn’t irritate my dry skin. It contains a bunch of soothing ingredients like aloe leaf extract, white birch leaf extract, etc, which counter the skin drying + irritating effects of retinol.
❌ Cons: The formulation contains parfum / fragrance, which isn’t great (only saving grace - it’s listed at the end of the ingredient list, which means it is present in a minimal amount). If you’re sensitive to fragrance, this product might not be for you.
🔄 Did it make it to my routine? Yes, so far I’ve noticed improvements in my skin texture. This is a very thoughtfully curated retinol formulation. Also, as someone who is a sucker for good skincare packaging, this one is a 10/10. My only wish - make this without the fragrance!
PS: If you’re wondering how to use retinol safely, drop a comment and I’ll write back to you with my dermatologist’s advice on this!
3) Laneige Water Sleeping Mask
I’ve been a fan of several Laneige products in the past, so when I saw this moisturiser, I wanted to give it a shot.
✅ Pros: If you like gel-based moisturisers that are fragranced, you might enjoy this. I’m sadly in neither camp, so this was a bummer.
❌ Cons: I didn’t quite like the texture; it feels tacky / sticky after application. The fragrance was too overpowering for me, especially for a face moisturiser; it isn’t the best. The formula lists Ceramide NP, but it sits at the end of the ingredient list - so this can’t replace a barrier repair moisturiser.
🔄 Did it make it to my routine? No, as someone with acne-prone skin, I avoid using highly fragranced moisturisers (minimal odour is still doable). This isn’t nourishing enough for my skin; there are better options in this price range.
4) Ipca Acne UV Gel SPF 50
I love reading skincare routines of dermats - just to see what they’re experimenting with or trusting. This came up in one of those rabbit holes.
✅ Pros: It has no comedogenic ingredients, and the overall formulation looks safe for acne-prone skin.
❌ Cons: It contains Octinoxate (also known as OMC), an old sunscreen filter considered to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC). It also contains fragrance; if you have very sensitive skin, you should patch test it. I also didn’t love the texture - felt overly mattifying… and not in a great way.
🔄 Did it make it to my routine? Nope, considering it has fragrance, an old UV filter, and not great texture - I wouldn’t rebuy it.
5) Laneige Water Bank UV Barrier Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA++++
I’m on a perpetual mission to find sunscreens with ‘zero’ OMC, octocrylene, alcohol and added fragrance. This mission sadly sees very few successes. But, a weekend window shopping spree at Nykaa Luxe led me to their Laneige section, and after a few minutes of desperate INCIdecoder browsing (with terrible network and a dying phone), I realised I may have found gold.
✅ Pros: It blends well, gets quickly absorbed and doesn’t leave a white cast. It does leave behind a little sheen, which I quite like, honestly. It uses clean sunscreen filters, two of which (Drometrizole Trisiloxane and Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid) are L’Oréal-group exclusive sunscreen agents, known for being photostable and for their broad spectrum activity. It also comes with soothing ingredients like allantoin and hyaluronic acid compounds.
❌ Cons: This formulation unfortunately does have fragrance - if you don’t like fragranced sunscreens, you might not enjoy this. The ‘barrier’ in the product name could be misleading, because it doesn’t have barrier-repairing ingredients like ceramides.
🔄 Did it make it to my routine? Yes (till I find a version that doesn’t have fragrance! - are you listening, Laneige??)
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