C
5 months ago
How's the skin log going?
Three honest questions for anyone who's tried (or tried and stopped) the skin log.
- Are you actually using it? Daily, weekly, gave up after 3 days? Be real — encouraging answers don't help me make it better.
- What's missing or annoying? Any feature you wish existed, or anything in the way of you actually logging?
- If this lived as a proper mobile app (App Store, push reminders, faster than the web version) — would you use it more?
Pick whichever you have thoughts on. I'm planning what to build next.
— CYoung
58 views · 7 comments
Comments (7)
I started the log today :) The only thing I miss is a delete button on the products I logged in my routine (I logged the same product twice by mistake)
Here’s my honest take on the skin log: 1. Usage frequency: I log daily right now (on a 7-day streak), but honestly, as someone whose routine is mostly established after years of trial and error, daily logging feels a bit redundant. The feature is at its absolute best when I’m introducing a new product or tracking an active flare-up/reaction over a 2–4 week window. When a routine is static, logging every single day starts to feel like checking boxes for the sake of checking boxes. 2. What’s missing or annoying (UI/UX feedback): Routine vs. Daily Log separation: The current view lists every single product in my arsenal as a big grid under 'Current Routine'. It would be much cleaner if there was an active 'AM/PM Daily Drawer' vs. an 'On the Shelf / Rotation' section. Having to see or scroll past products I only use once a week (like masks or weekly treatments) makes the daily check-in visually cluttered. Targeted Product-Introduction Mode: A dedicated feature where I can tag a newly added product and track a focused 14-day or 30-day "skin trial" (with side-by-side photos and reaction tags) would be huge. Right now, if nothing changes, daily tracking loses its value once you hit a steady baseline. 3. Mobile App vs. Web: Yes, a proper mobile app would make quick photo uploads and daily logging faster, but push reminders wouldn't make me use it more if the core functionality remains a static daily checklist. What would make me open an app regularly is smart analytics—like highlighting "You've used [Product X] for 14 days; here is your skin texture delta since day 1." Hope this helps you shape what to build next! 🚀
This is genuinely one of the most helpful pieces of feedback we've gotten — thank you for taking the time. 🙏 You nailed something we'd been circling: daily logging loses its purpose once your routine is dialed in. So we built exactly what you described — a Product Trial mode: tag a new product, pick a 14 or 30-day window, and track a focused before/after with a "day 1 → now" skin change breakdown. It's live now in My Routine if you want to be the first to try it and tell us where it falls short. The routine-vs-shelf declutter you mentioned is next on the list. Two things I'd love your take on: 1. The mobile app question — we're genuinely torn, and your instinct earlier ("push reminders won't make me open it, smart analytics would") reshaped how we're thinking about it. So honestly: if we shipped an app, what would make you open it weekly? Is it the trial analytics? Progress photos in one tap? Or is the web version enough for you and an app is just... nice-to-have? No wrong answer — we'd rather build the right thing than the obvious thing. 2. On trials specifically — when a 14-day trial wraps and shows your skin got worse, would you want us to suggest why (e.g. "this often happens with actives — here's the purge vs. reaction difference"), or does that cross into "too much AI, just give me the data"? And seriously — feedback like this is always welcome, anytime. You're shaping what we build next more than you probably realize. 💛 — CYoung Team
@CY_Team 1. Web vs. Mobile App: What would actually pull me in weekly? Honestly, for a static routine, the web version is plenty. But if you build an app, the one feature that would make me open it weekly (or even bi-weekly) is a High-Fidelity Photo Delta tool. The friction right now: Taking progress photos on web/mobile browsers is clunky. Lighting and angles constantly shift, making visual tracking noisy. The killer app feature: An in-app camera with a semi-transparent ghost overlay of my Day 1 baseline photo, plus standardized lighting/color calibration. If I can line up my face in two seconds and get an accurate side-by-side comparison without hassle, I’ll open the app every single week just for that (I have a similar feature on an app for a microcurrent pen, I don't know if I can say the brand, and it really helps to compare first and last pictures or selected ones through the journey). Without high-value utility like that, an app is just a nice-to-have wrapper for a web tool. 2. Trial Wrap-Up: AI Insights vs. Raw Data Give us the analytical context, but keep it grounded—and let us input a personal 'Ingredient Red List'! If a trial shows skin worsening, a pure 'raw data' screen leaves people searching Reddit anyway. A smart diagnostic nudge—like distinguishing a micro-comedonal purge (expected with retinoids/exfoliants) from contact dermatitis or barrier damage—is genuinely useful. The power of a personal 'No-Go' list: To make those insights actually accurate, let users define their known skin triggers upfront (e.g., "I can't tolerate L-ascorbic acid / Vitamin C on my face because it triggers immediate erythema" or "My skin reacts to essential oils"), or even simpler "I use this product, I get erythema". How the insight works: If a trial fails and the system cross-references the INCI list against the user's personal 'Red List', it can instantly flag: "This formula contains Pure Vitamin C, which matches your known flushing triggers." That bridges the gap between raw data and actionable cosmetic chemistry! Excited to test out the new Product Trial mode! 🧪✨
We built it. 🧪 Your "Ingredient Red List" idea is now live — you can find it on My Routine: 🚫 My Skin Triggers — add the ingredients you know your skin hates (e.g. "pure vitamin C — flushing"), one line each. 🔬 Trial wrap-up analysis — when a trial ends, you can now paste the product's INCI list and hit "Analyze my result." It does exactly what you described: cross-references the formula against your trigger list (synonym-aware — "vitamin C" catches ascorbic acid and its derivatives), and when actives are involved, it walks through the purge-vs-reaction distinction instead of leaving you to Reddit. It's deliberately grounded — pattern guidance with the reasoning shown, never a diagnosis, and it tells you when there isn't enough data to say anything useful. On the app question: your "ghost overlay camera" answer genuinely changed our thinking. You're right that a web wrapper with push notifications isn't worth installing — a Day-1 baseline overlay with standardized comparison is the kind of utility that earns a weekly open. That's now the bar we're holding the app to before we build it. (And the microcurrent-pen reference was helpful — we know exactly the kind of experience you mean.) You've now shaped two features in a row. Please keep it coming — this level of feedback is rarer than you think, and it's steering what we build next more than any internal roadmap. Run a trial with the new analysis when you get a chance and tell us where it falls short. 💛
@CY_Team It's impressive how quickly you turned that around. Having the Red List be synonym-aware is key—catching derivatives (like flags on L-ascorbic acid when someone inputs 'Vitamin C') makes the INCI analysis actually useful rather than just a basic wordmatch.I've already added my main ingredients to the Red List. And agree on holding off on the app until the camera alignment/overlay is ready. That gives it actual functional utility instead of just being another web wrapper. My routine is fixed at the moment, but when I rotate in my next active step, I’ll run a trial through the analyzer and let you know how it performs!
I log a few days / week since my routine has been established for years. But I find it useful for tracking when introducing a new product in my routine.