I want to start using a retinol and snail mucin but idk when to use in my routine. I also just recently purchased the two It’s Skin products so those are new in my routine, but I’m open to any substitutes. I am planning on getting new products to incorporate double cleansing.
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Thank you so much for the advice!
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Hey! I'd suggest you to replace the hyaluronic acid toner with a snail mucin essence (e.g. the Cosrx one). As for the double cleasning, I use the same cleanser as you (CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser) twice, but you could also try adding a balm like the Clinique Take The Day Off or the Beauty Of Joseon one (I haven't tried the one from BOJ but I've heard many good things) or the Oat Cleansing Balm from the Inkey List. If you wanna change your regular cleanser, you can also try the La Roche Posay Cicaplast Cleasner (if you have access to it, because I am not sure if it's available worldwide). It's just more expensive than the CeraVe one.
Also, you could try the Cosrx snail nucin cream instead of the one you're using at night. Another great moisturizer for me is The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors+HA.
Furthermore, keep in mind that you actually can overdo it with hyaluronic acid and your skin can get sensitive to it, so you could replace some of the products with hyaluronic acid with other products without or with less hyaluronic acid. I haven't tried your eye cream, but I sense that you only use it for hydration. If that's the case, you can ditch it completely and use the CeraVe Daily Moisturizing lotion in the undereye area as well, if it's not too heavy for you. If you're using an eye cream for other purposes (puffiness, dark circles, aging) you could search for one with ingredients that help address these issues (caffeine, niacinamide, vitamin C, peptides, retinol). I like the Caffeine Eye Cream from The Inkey List for puffiness (even better if you store it in the fridge). For aging and dark circles you could try the Inkey List retinol eye cream at first and then, when you build tolerance, the Beauty of Joseon retinal eye cream. But make sure to use anything with retinoids ONLY at night. I also really liked The Ordinary Buffet (now Multi-Peptide serum + Hyaluronic acid) for my whole face AND eye area. And I feel like The Ordinary Niacinamide helped with my dark circles as well. If you'd like, you could try using the Multi-Peptide Serum + HA (it's one of the most expensive TO products, unfortunately) or the Niacinamide instead of the Hyaluronic Acid you're using now. You could also try The Inkey List Niacinamide Serum, which is more hydrating than The Ordinary one, but it also a little nore expensive.
Regarding the retinol, my suggestion is to add it at first once a week, then twice a week, the three times, four times etc. You can use it INSTEAD of the Paula's choice BHA toner and in the days you're not using the retinol you may use the toner. For a beginner in retinoids, I'd tell you to use The Inkey List retinol at first and then move up to a higher percentage of retinOl from the ordinary. When you have build an amount of tolerance for your skin, you may want to move up to the scale of retinoids and use retinAl (for example the one from Geek and Gorgeous).
Last but not least, you could add an AHA in your routine and if you're exfoliating two times a week, use the BHA one the first night of exfoliation and the AHA on the second night of exfoliation. My suggestion is The Ordinary Lactic Acid serum or The Ordinary mandelic acid serum. I am currently using the AHA/BHA peeling solution form the ordinary, but if you wanna add retinol to your routine, it might be too much for now. If you still want to try it, make sure to not leave it on more than 10 minutes and to only use it ONCE a week or once every ten days.