I’ve written in the past that as I’ve gotten older, my skin has gotten drier. I used to have oily skin…which turned combination in my thirties, and now in my forties, is veering on dry. My skin has also gotten more sensitive with age, and I’ve developed a mild case of rosecea.

Since my days of using tretinoin — which I no longer use because my skin has gotten too sensitive for it — I’ve developed these white, flaky dry patches on my chin that has never quite gone away. They’re on either sides of my mouth and always appear in the mornings, so it looks like I have big dried up drool patches on my chin. (I know, very attractive.) Once I do my morning routine and put some moisturizer on the patches, they disappear for the day, but I wake up to them once again every morning.

I’ve tried many, many overnight creams and lotions and masks and packs to try to alleviate this problem, but they stubbornly appear every morning. It’s especially bad in these dry winter months. I’ve long since thrown my hands up and resigned to the fact that I may just have to live with these darn patches.

Then last month, I received a deluxe sample of the Ongredients Centella Asiatica Skin Barrier Calming Lotion with my order from Olive Kollection. Actually, it was more than a deluxe sample — it was 5 packets of samples in a box.

(I cannot recommend Olive Kollection enough. Not only do they carry a wide range of Korean beauty and skincare products — even sunscreens! — their prices are fair, they often have sales, they ship quickly from the U.S., and they always include a bunch of samples with each order. Even if I only order $40 worth of items, I still receive at least 3-5 samples, one of which is a deluxe sample such as the Ongredients one I mention above, or a sheet mask.)

I had heard about the Ongredients Skin Barrier Calming Lotion via social media before. Apparently, it’s popular in Korea for its simple yet superior ingredients (which includes centella asiatica and 9 types of peptides) and thin yet nourishing texture. A lot of makeup artists use it as a base before applying makeup.

Although the lotion seemed nice, I wasn’t too interested for myself because: 1) I thought it was too thin for my nighttime needs; and 2) I already had a base product before applying makeup.

But a couple of weeks ago, I was doing my nighttime skincare routine and thinking of the inevitable dry patches that will appear in the morning again when I saw the deluxe sample of the Ongredients lotion out of the corner of my eye. “What could it hurt?” I thought, and decided to give it a go. I put on a thick layer where my patches appear, and went to sleep.

The next morning, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were….no patches. The skin in that area was a bit drier than the skin on the other parts of my face, but the patches were gone! I couldn’t believe it.

I thought it must have been a fluke — something I ate/drank, or something else I did. So I did my regular skincare routine that night, and the next morning, the patches returned. And when I tried the Ongredients lotion again? The patches disappeared!

Much thicker, more expensive (upwards of $200) creams and lotions with supposedly better ingredients failed when this $22 lotion solved my problem in one night. I was amazed.

And guess what? I tried it as a morning moisturizer too, as a base before sunscreen and makeup….and not only did it help my makeup last longer, my skin no longer felt dry at the end of the day.

I am so happy Olive Kollection sent me this deluxe sample. And you can bet that I ordered a full size bottle — I can’t sing enough praises for this lotion!

Get it from:
Olive Kollection
Amazon