Dr. Melaxin Peel Shot PS is a spray-on body exfoliant for the rough, bumpy skin that face products were never designed to reach — upper arms, thighs, back, elbows and heels. You spray it onto dry skin, leave it a minute, then rub: a polymer in the formula balls up as you work it, lifting loosened dead skin away before you rinse.

Kojic acid and turmeric root extract handle tone, while gluconolactone and citric acid do the chemical side of the exfoliation. Niacinamide, retinol and a B-vitamin complex sit further down the list as supporting ingredients. This is a body and foot product only — the formula carries lavender, lemon, mandarin, orange, rosemary and cedarwood oils at levels intended for body skin, not facial skin.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré has been made in France since 1950 and is the cream makeup artists reach for backstage, used as a moisturizer, a primer, an aftershave balm and an overnight mask. There is no active ingredient in it. It works by doing the oldest job in skincare properly — sealing water into the skin so it cannot leave.

Shea butter, beeswax and mineral oil form the occlusive layer, with hydrolyzed soy protein and aloe extract for softness. The texture is what sets it apart under makeup: thick in the jar, but it presses into skin as a smooth base rather than a greasy one. It is a rich formula, better suited to winter and air-conditioned rooms than to monsoon humidity, and the ingredient list includes parfum and beeswax.

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ is a rich repairing balm made for dry, irritated, compromised skin. It is the product to reach for when a routine has gone too far and skin is red, tight, or stinging.

Panthenol and madecassoside calm visible irritation while shea butter and glycerin rebuild the barrier. Also works on chapped lips, cracked hands, and post-shave irritation.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 Oil Control Fluid is the oily-skin version of the range built around Mexoryl 400, the filter La Roche-Posay developed to cover ultra-long UVA at 380 to 400nm. That band is missed by most sunscreens and is a real driver of pigmentation, which makes this the strongest UVA protection in the catalogue.

Silica, perlite and zinc PCA absorb sebum for a stated 12-hour matte finish, and the fluid dries down in seconds with no white cast under makeup. It is water and sweat resistant and formulated to limit eye stinging. Alcohol denat is the second ingredient and the formula lists parfum — both are what make the finish work on oily skin, and both are reasons to choose a different sunscreen if your skin is dry, dehydrated or reactive.

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant is eight ingredients long, and one of them is salicylic acid at 2% held between pH 3.2 and 3.8. Because salicylic acid is oil-soluble, it works inside the pore lining rather than only on the surface — which is why it clears blackheads and congestion that a scrub cannot reach.

Green tea leaf extract calms the skin as the acid works, and there is no fragrance, no dye and no alcohol in the formula. Expect a purge in weeks two to four as existing congestion surfaces faster than usual; it passes, and quitting during it is the most common way people waste this product. Start at two or three nights a week and build up. Not suitable if you are allergic to aspirin.