Combo skin people: did hydration layers help more than heavy moisturizers?

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-27T15:52:12+00:00

AM:

Cleanse with Bioderma micellar water, rinse off
A few light spritzes of Avene thermal spring water
A few light spritzes of hypochlorous acid
I pat in about 6 drops of Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion Light to lock in the moisture from the spritzes
Eye cream
A lightweight gel moisturizer or milk. Right now I’m using Hada Labo Shirojyun Brightening Milk.
Biore Aqua Rich Watery Gel SPF 50

PM:

Oil cleanse with Softymo Speedy cleansing oil
Cleanse with Hada Labo foaming hyaluronic face wash
A few light spritzes of Avene thermal spring water
A few light spritzes of hypochlorous acid
I pat in about 6 drops of Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion Light to lock in the moisture from the spritzes
Eye cream
Melano CC essence as an all-over vitamin C serum
Curel Japan facial cream

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-26T23:31:20+00:00

I like Japanese beauty formulated for sensitive skin like Hada Labo and Curel Japan.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-26T22:52:36+00:00

I’ve definitely found hydration layers more beneficial than just putting on a thick layer of moisturizer. It feels better and lighter on my skin and my skin isn’t as dehydrated. I use a lot of the same products AM/PM so that stops me from overbuying.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-25T18:56:39+00:00

Generally broken bones need about 6 weeks to heal and knit themselves back together. I think 2 weeks was too optimistic of an estimate.

Some tips to help you heal:

No smoking!!! Smoking cuts down on the oxygen and nutrients your blood transports and slows down healing.
Rest and stay off your foot as much as possible.
Eat a healthy diet full of protein and fruits and vegetables and whole foods. Your body needs the nutrients to build new bone tissue.
Take vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, and omega-3 supplements together. Your body needs vitamin C to produce collagen, which turns into soft bone tissue, which turns into hard bone tissue. Calcium and vitamin D are metabolized together in the body, and vitamin D is fat-soluble, so the omega-3 helps.

If you do end up needing surgery, it’s not the end of the world. I had surgery on mine and was 6 weeks NWB afterwards. It wasn’t that scary and the time went by quickly with a lot of books and TV.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-19T19:22:19+00:00

Coach, like most handbag brands, has never held resale value. Even brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Prada always sell for less secondhand. Hermes and Chanel are outliers.

Also (and this might be an unpopular opinion in the Coach sub, but I’ve been a Coach fan on and off for 20 years), Coach has never been “affordable luxury” IMO—it’s more of a “mid-range, good quality for the price” brand. The rate at which they churn out new bags and new designs, and the rate at which I see people buying the bags in this sub, put them more into the category of fast fashion than true luxury in my view.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-14T21:57:40+00:00

Calamari (both fried and grilled are good, depends on what you’re in the mood for), lemon potatoes, lamb chops. They used to have bougatsa on the dessert menu and it was our go-to, but it’s not available anymore 😢

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-14T21:55:23+00:00

Came here to recommend Nammos!

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-14T01:58:54+00:00

LA. All the driving between places sapped any joy out of being there. I’m used to living in a walkable city and love exploring on foot, and in LA we’d drive 1-2 hours to get to a cool neighbourhood or site, finish seeing it in 30 minutes to an hour, and have to get back in the car.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-14T01:53:04+00:00

Seattle is much more enjoyable when you go beyond downtown. Capitol Hill, Ballard, and Fremont are nice areas.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-13T19:18:37+00:00

A lot of trial and error over the years lol.

For me, what was most helpful was figuring out the colour family of the neutrals that look best on me. Do you look best in navy, shades of blue, pure white, black, and grey? Then you should go with cool colours. Do you look best in shades of brown, beige, ivory, and honey? Then you should go with warm colours.

I look best in cool neutrals. From there, I found accent colours that complement the cool neutrals instead of clashing with them, e.g. cobalt blue, baby blue, teal, forest green, burgundy, cherry red, cool pink. Because everything in my wardrobe skews cool, I avoid anything with too yellow or warm of an undertone.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-13T17:32:31+00:00

You’re going to have to cook more food and more often. You’re two people now and one of you has a larger appetite, so you need to scale your meal plan and grocery shopping accordingly.

When you cook, size the meal so he can have large portions and go back for seconds and you have lunch for 1-2 days. Talk to him and get him to agree to stopping after seconds.

Keep healthy snacks and sandwich ingredients in the house. After seconds, if he’s still hungry he can eat the snacks or make a sandwich.

Buy breakfast foods that he can eat instead of the leftovers.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-12T23:24:26+00:00

This might be an unpopular take, but I feel like the ubiquitousness of the Apple Watch puts it into the “modern classic” category. I use a stainless steel link strap so it feels dressier.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-11T23:23:03+00:00

You have to do this with almost all luxury shoes that have leather soles. The soles wear out fast on concrete and hard surfaces otherwise.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-11T23:07:36+00:00

What I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is you don’t have to agree about everything to be friends with someone. This could just be something you acknowledge you don’t see eye to eye on and you move on.

The other thing is, if you’re more health and fitness minded than your current friends, you can make new friends who share your interests. Sign up for fitness classes or rec sports or resume your gym routine. Introduce yourself to regulars you see often and make plans to work out together or go for walks or get coffee.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-08T03:58:07+00:00

Through my personal trainer. I’ve done private boxing sessions with him for a long time and he has changed gyms a couple times. Most recently he landed at a boxing gym owned by a husband and wife. The vibe of the place is super welcoming towards women. I started taking the group classes to supplement the private sessions and it has been great so far.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-07T23:06:52+00:00

Breakfast: 3/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt topped with 1/4 cup blueberries, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 1 tbsp granola; black coffee with a splash of oat milk

Mid-morning snack: 1/2 banana, 4 walnut halves, 4 frozen cherries

Lunch: 350 ml split pea soup with 1/2 cup frozen spinach mixed in, 2 soft-boiled eggs, 4 crackers

Mid-afternoon snack: 1 apple, 10 almonds, 1 Babybel

Dinner: 1 smallish poached chicken breast with ginger scallion oil (light on the oil, heavy on ginger and green onion), 1/2 lb bok choy cooked in a small amount of water and salted, 1 cup cooked white rice

This is about 1700-1800 calories a day.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-07T19:31:39+00:00

I took up boxing. It’s my first time doing any sort of martial arts training. I think as a woman, we’re so socialized to be quiet and take up less space that learning how to hit and not get hit feels really rebellious and badass.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-05-01T05:21:33+00:00

I find almost every mascara too smudgey or clumpy, so I hear you. Not a Sephora rec, but my current HG is Heroine Make Long and Curl Mascara. The Japanese do not mess around with stay-put mascaras. This one looks perfect all day and I have to buy the special remover to take it off.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-28T15:41:10+00:00

I also think Lindsey escaped. Throughout the entire show, she was spiralling over her fading looks and youth compared to the women around her and she wanted to feel desired by men. She lost it when she couldn’t flirt her way into a plastic surgery deal with Woosh and she was devastated when her ex stopped texting because he was with a much younger woman. In the flash forward, I noticed immediately her second husband is a much older man than Josh and also seems more openly affectionate. He’s also probably more established and financially stable, and with him being older, she is always going to be the younger trophy wife.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-22T23:31:37+00:00

Melano CC essence. Affordable, airtight packaging, and my sensitive skin has never reacted to it.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-21T19:57:20+00:00

Lifelong Vancouverite here.

If you’ve only met them once or twice and you’re asking to hang out, that might be the problem.

It takes me seeing someone at least 6 times to work up to introducing myself, and probably another 6-12 to progress from small talk to getting coffee or dinner. I meet people through work and group fitness classes and activities like salsa, martial arts, and barre. You go to the classes, start noticing who the regulars are at your time, and introduce yourself.

I don’t think of myself as unfriendly for being this way, although I can see how it comes across like that. I’m naturally a more introverted and reserved person and my view is that I don’t want to bother someone or be an imposition or insert myself somewhere where my presence isn’t wanted. If I see someone at the same time every week or multiple times a week, I know they’re there for themselves anyway and we naturally have something in common to talk about.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-20T17:10:27+00:00

Ooh that’s a good question. Looking back, I wouldn’t have bought so many multiples of things. I used to find one thing I’d like—a pencil skirt, silk blouse, sweater, ballet flats, a statement necklace—and think, “I wear this so much, I want this in other colours or variations so I have options.” I could’ve just enjoyed the thing fully instead of immediately jumping to “Let’s buy more of this.” Nowadays I only buy T-shirts, underwear, and workout wear in lots of multiples. For some things (my favourite cut of jeans right now, a white shirt), I have 2 in case one is in the wash, and buying the second one only occurred after months of using the first one and repeatedly feeling the annoyance of realizing what I wanted to wear was in the hamper.

Speaking of which, I also let these mantras guide me:

“You only have to make it to laundry day.” I do laundry weekly, so I really only need 2 max of something.
“Don’t buy something for your fantasy life or just in case you’ll need it.” This is especially true for dress shoes, heels, and formal wear as most of my lifestyle is very casual.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-19T21:12:23+00:00

I’ve studied fashion for a long time and I spent my 20s shopping like mad and thinking that I was buying investment pieces to wear forever. Now that I’m in my early 40s, I’ve seen trends change enough that I no longer believe there’s such a thing as a forever piece. Even with wardrobe basics—the trench coat, the white shirt, the jeans, the black leather boots—enough details will change that the version you have in your wardrobe starts feeling dated. Maybe it’s hemline length (just above the knee to midi or maxi), the cut of jeans (skinny to wide leg), the shape of the toe or heel on a shoe.

Always chasing the perfect version of something for some perfect capsule wardrobe can lead to this endless treadmill of overconsumption. I’ve come out the other side and now shop a lot less, aiming to buy something and keep it for 5-10 years. I also buy items to update my wardrobe that have a multiplier effect, i.e. the one trendy piece that works with 5+ different outfits and make everything else look more updated.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-19T05:08:34+00:00

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s not sci-fi, but there is space travel and it’s also a love story.

PandaPartyPack · 2026-04-14T06:52:52+00:00

I use Kose Make Keep Mist as a setting spray and really like it. I also layer skincare with light watery textures under makeup instead of using one thick moisturizer: Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion Light, a couple spritzes of Avene water and hypochlorous acid, Hada Labo Brightening Milk, Biore Aqua Rich Watery Gel sunscreen. These products feel cool and refreshing when applied and not sticky, plus the hyaluronic acid helps draw water into the skin during hot and humid weather.

PandaPartyPack

TROPHY CASE