Geraldine Orentas

03/31/2025

Shameless (okay, maybe a little shameful) plug:
I write a personal beauty newsletter where I overshare about acne, skincare mistakes, and all the products I’m testing so you don’t have to. It’s part diary, part beauty education, and full of juicy skin stuff.

Subscribe here if you like nosy reads with good product recs — and the occasional unhinged breakout rant.

Join the list for really-good offers, exclusive content, and free goodies.

03/24/2025

Skincare can feel overwhelming. So I started a simple skincare newsletter.
No fluff. No filters. Just what actually works.

New issues drop every Monday night.

This week: fake before-and-afters, post-workout skin tips, and the hair mask that saved me.

Subscribe →

Join the list for really-good offers, exclusive content, and free goodies.

03/24/2025

✨Giveaway Week 1✨

Thank you SO MUCH for joining and hanging out with me while we learn a bit more about skincare.

Now that you have the basics on building a skincare routine I want to gift you one! 🎁

To enter this giveaway:
- Comment your skin type in this post!
- Make sure to follow me
- You MUST be in my channel Beyond Blemishes
- Extra points if you subscribe to the newsletter (link in bio)!!

Winner will be announced via the newsletter next week! ✨🤍

01/23/2025

My skin using tretinoin ⏩ My skin using retinol

With tretinoin (even on the gentlest % and schedules) I dealt with constant texture, stubborn white bumps, and blackheads in places I’d never had them before. I attribute this to how fast tret works in speeding cell turnover, which can be great, but scenic skin already does this faster anyways! My skin was sensitive to everything, and I just couldn’t get it to balance, no matter how carefully I adjusted my routine.

Retinol, on the other hand, feels like it’s the perfect fit for me. My skin is smoother, less textured, and more balanced. Since retinol is less potent (doesn’t mean less effective), my skin can do its thing and retinol just gives it a nudge, versus turning up everything to overkill. Plus I still get to experiment with other actives on non-retinol nights, and I’ve noticed way fewer cysts than I had with tret.

It’s a reminder that skincare isn’t one-size-fits-all!! 🫰✨

Are you team…

01/14/2025

Hot take: makeup, chocolate, and greasy foods aren’t behind your acne. 👀 We’ve been blaming the wrong things for years, but here’s the truth.

➡️ High-glycemic diets: Spiking blood sugar leads to inflammation and excess oil production.

➡️ Leave-in hair care products: Certain oils and silicones can clog pores along your hairline and back.

➡️ Hard water: Minerals like calcium and magnesium can disrupt your skin barrier and worsen breakouts.

➡️ Over-supplementation: Vitamins like biotin or whey protein can trigger acne by messing with sebum production.

➡️ Occlusive masks: Trapped sweat and bacteria under face masks can lead to “maskne.”

➡️ Certain medications: Some drugs, like corticosteroids or lithium, can ramp up oil production.

The truth? Acne is complex and often linked to things we don’t immediately think about. Let’s focus on science and stop falling for outdated myths.

What’s an acne myth you used to believe? Let me know in the comments.

01/13/2025

Skin wins. ✨ Sometimes progress doesn’t have to look jaw dropping. For me, THIS is progress. And to be honest, it’s the best my skin has looked in a hot minute. 🤍

01/09/2025

Some skincare trends for 2025 I won’t be participating in. 👉

What about you?

01/07/2025

My journals + therapy books. 📚🤍

- this was the first journal I bought. I think it’s perfect for beginners because the prompts are very simple and it takes 5min a day to get started.

The Magic Words - I initially bought this book because I wanted to go back to writing and just play a bit with poetry. But, surprisingly the prompts are super deep and sort of forced me to look into how I was feeling at the moment. It became such a therapeutic book for me. I finished all prompts last year and I’ll be doing it again this year.

The Complete Shadow Work - If you’ve done any therapy, you might have heard about shadow work and addressing old wounds. This isn’t for the beginner, and I’d say it’s an intense book to work with. You have to be mentally prepared for it. I only work on this once a week and I dedicate maybe an hour or so to it because you really have to get in the zone to do the word.

The Thought Log - This is my latest purchase. I work with CBT a lot with my therapist and it’s the therapy method that has worked the best for me. So seeing it like this was interesting and I wanted to try it. I think if you’ve been wondering what a therapy session would be like, but you don’t want to therapy yet, this journal is for you. The prompts and explanations are on point. And I even shared it with my therapist and she agrees that it can be a helpful tool. Plus, it’s quite slim, so you can bring this with you for impromptu journaling sessions.

I’ll be dropping link for each in my ShopMy. 🔗

12/25/2024

Lots of firsts this Christmas ✨🎄

- First pavlova 🥹🤌
- First time hosting it here 🏡
- First patio setting 🌳
- First Christmas with new family 🫶

The one constant always? Cora. ❤️

12/19/2024

Don’t skip the era of craft dates with your friends. ✨🎀

12/15/2024

Having a bit too much fun with new silhouettes. ✨🤍

12/04/2024

Most magical night in a while. ✨

I had the absolute pleasure of joining an intimate dinner to celebrate the collaboration between and , with a menu specially curated by . Their cohabitare project is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

It was fascinating to learn how design can address climate change challenges in vineyards, serving as a vessel for biodiversity and completely rethinking how vineyards are structured. I was blown away by the depth of thought and care poured into this initiative and how it perfectly connects to Perrier-Jouët’s origins, as its founders were both botanists and horticulturists. 🌿🍾

Dinner itself was exquisite. The champagne pairings complemented the menu and textures beautifully, and the glass designs paid homage to vineyard biodiversity. The desserts served on leftover clay from the cohabitare project was such a thoughtful touch. And we got to experience an ecoacoustics session that really brought us to the vineyards. I need that soundscape for my meditations ASAP.

It was an inspiring, memorable experience. 🤍🌿

Swipe all the way through for the reality of the evening…we dined outdoors, and Miami gifted us 57-degree weather with wind, because of course. 🥶

Speaking of climate, I’m proud to still be sticking to my second-hand clothes-only policy this year. This dress? Thrifted. 🫶