Rio Viera-Newton Keeps Snail Mucin and Pimple Patches in Her Bag

I started following Rio Viera-Newton in 2017. Like many, I found her via her viral Google Doc of skincare that works for her sensitive, acne-prone skin (same type as mine) that was published on The Strategist. But while I came for the affordable product recommendations and relatable musings on adult acne, I stayed for her colorful makeup looks, penchant for Sanrio and stickers, and her eclectic style.

After a long stint as The Strategist’s beauty writer, the 31-year-old continued to build her following with her first book, Let’s Face It: Secrets of a Skincare Obsessive, published in 2021. And in June, she checked another first off her list with the launch of her very first product, The Buzzworthy Propolis-Infused Cleanser, in collaboration with LA-based facial studio, Face Haus.

Viera-Newton has always been a fan of the studio’s open plan and “accessible, non-intimidating environment,” which results in a much more diverse clientele than she sees in traditional spas. So when they approached her to create a product, she was thrilled. She knew two things going in: she wanted the texture to be just so, and she wanted the key ingredient to be propolis, a honey byproduct known for its anti-inflammatory properties.

“Propolis is just one of those ingredients that really strikes that middle ground, because it’s super hydrating in a very lightweight way, but deeply skin-quenching,” she tells Byrdie. “[It’s] also very reparative, and it’s antibacterial and anti fungal.” She adds that it’s the perfect ingredient for her finicky skin, since it adds moisture when she’s feeling dry, calms and soothes any pimples when she’s breaking out, and is great for soothing a post-pick wound. “I’d never really seen a propolis cleanser, and when you have a cleanser that has a lot of really great ingredients, it allows you to shorten your routine. You’re packing a big punch.”

Ahead, Viera-Newton shares how she uses the cleanser in her routine, the treatments she’s been exploring, and the acne advice that changed her skin.

About Her Skin

“I have a super temperamental skin type. I’ve dealt with acne my entire life, but I also have eczema and psoriasis, so I feel like I’ve always been going back and forth between, what I can use that’s going to treat my acne that’s also not going to make my eczema freak out, and vice versa.”

How Her Routine Has Changed Over Time

“I started my career listing out a skincare routine that was very extensive. I think the biggest thing is that at the start of my career, I was just so excited to try so many things. I was really open to putting anything on my face, and I think at the time, that really genuinely benefited my writing. But now I’m just a little bit more reserved and more cautious about what I’m putting on my skin.

“There’s still a lot of products from that very OG spreadsheet that I still use every day. Now, I feel like I have the energy to do a lot in the morning—I really enjoy the process of listening to a podcast, putting on my skincare, doing my makeup. And then in the evening, I’m just so tired. I don’t have the energy anymore.”

Her Acne Journey

“Acne is such a journey. People really think about acne as this thing that you have, and then you fix, and then it’s over; when I know very well it’s all about phases and changes. I’ll go through a year of hell, and then a year where it’s manageable, and then three months where I cannot get my breakouts under control, and then two months where I have clear skin.

“The Sofie Pavitt ingredient checker is something that I live and die by. I will not put a product on my face if it doesn’t pass the ingredient checker list. I’m just I’m not at a point anymore where I feel comfortable putting anything on my skin that I feel like is going to make it freak out.”

Her Morning Vs. Night Routine

“I really like to treat my morning routine as protection and my evening routine as treatment. So in the morning, I’m mostly focused on giving my skin some moisture, but also some antioxidants, and making sure I’m using enough sunscreen. If I have sweat in my sleep, I use a toner pad—toner pads have been such an important part of my routine recently. I really love the Mediheal ones, for the morning I love their vitamin C one. If my skin is really dry, which it is, because of the summer and the heat in LA, I’ve been using CosRX snail mucin in the morning just for that extra bit of moisture. Then I’ll go in with a sunscreen—these days my sunscreen is enough moisture. I’m always cycling through sunscreens, but my favorite one right now is the Skin 1004 Hyalu-Cica sunscreen. It feels like a lightweight moisturizer and it gives me a really nice glow as well.

“In the evening, I’ll use my propolis cleanser, and then after that, I’ll go in with the Mediheal centella toner pad. Something I noticed is that so much of my acne was because I wasn’t properly taking my makeup off, especially if I have on sunscreen that has zinc in it. I feel like it just really settles into the skin and it’s so hard to get off. I realized that toner pads just give that one final swipe that just gets anything left off on your skin. I feel like the cleanser does such an incredible job at melting everything else away, and then I can just sleep peacefully knowing I did that extra step that is like 100% sure. And centella is another great ingredient for soothing, calming, it’s just something my acne responds so well to.

“My tried-and-true Holy Grail acne product is definitely the Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Exfoliant. It’s a cult classic for a reason. I tried it a million years ago, and I remember being like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ And I don’t know what it is, but in the last like, three or four years, it works so well at keeping my acne at bay. So now when I use it, it’s more preventative than anything. I no longer feel like I’m using it to treat active flare ups, but anytime I feel a little congestion, I use it for two days, and it really gets rid of it.

“Back when I was dealing with a lot of hyperpigmentation, I also loved the Paula’s Choice Azelaic Acid Booster. Those two really got my skin together. And then after that, I use snail mucin. She’s back in my routine, love her to death. And then Sofie Pavitt’s products are so good, it’s just unbelievable. The Omega Rich Cream is incredible, it’s the best moisturizer I truly think I’ve ever used. It’s definitely more expensive than a lot of the other products that I tend to buy, but I think it’s the most beautiful formula.”

Her Favorite Treatments

“I have a Substack called Fun Little Treat, and I talk about all things beauty, but it’s really put an emphasis on treatments, because it’s something that, by nature of working for an E-commerce site for so long, I never really was able to write a lot about. It’s definitely been something I’ve been exploring this year, kind of for the first time in a real way. When I first moved to LA, I went overboard, and I was getting microneedling once a week, and was laser crazy. But I love laser treatments—microneedling is interesting, but I feel like laser works better for me.

“PRF is a very big, buzzy treatment right now, I tried it recently, and I definitely did see that it took the edge off my under eyes a bit, but I feel like it’s one of those things where in order to see results, as is the case with a lot of treatments, you have to do it many times in a row. [The thing] about treatments, I find, especially since I’ve been doing so much sleuthing this year, is like, what in your budget can you afford to do?

“So for me, it’s like, okay, what is the most cost effective laser treatment that you feel like you can get? I love Clear + Brilliant. I think it’s really good. It’s done wonders for hyperpigmentation for me, and just getting that sort of polishing effect. Laser Genesis is a really amazing entry laser, because it’s gentle and you see immediate results. I have yet to do one of the hardcore ones like Fraxel or anything like that. I’m definitely interested, but I’m kind of at the point where I’m like, when do I feel like I can allocate a week [to recover]?

“BioRePeel is an incredible chemical peel. It’s low-peeling, I got it here in LA with Nicolette Skin in Beverly Hills. Her facials are really well priced, too. The peel is basically just for acne and hyperpigmentation, it’s a really great thing to get if you are really going through a period of time with a lot of active acne. I would say it’s more of a flaking, it’s similar to starting tretinoin. Like I’m kind of peeling, but it’s not shedding like a serpent. And I think it does a lot of really amazing things for hyperpigmentation.”

The Best Skincare Advice She’s Ever Gotten

“By far, especially as someone that’s grown up with acne, it’s to get on top of your picking. That was the biggest life change that I could have possibly made as far as helping my acne goes. I realized so much of my acne was because I could not leave my skin alone. Anytime I would feel even a tiny bump, I would be extracting. I felt like my skin would not heal or my acne would not go away unless I got it out. And it’s taken me years to realize that that’s actually not true.

“It was something that I felt like really genuinely controlled my life to the point where I felt like I needed to talk more about it in therapy, because [I realized] it was a kind of self-harming. So that’s definitely the thing that’s made the biggest difference, there’s a lot of environmental and also internal changes you have to make to try and get through it. Now, I only shower at night, and I only ever go into the bathroom either by candlelight or a night light in the outlet. I will not turn the main lights on, because that’s just my number one trigger. And also, I feel like it creates this very like spa-like, chill environment at the end of the day.”

The Product She Uses the Most

“I go through sunscreen like crazy. I really do wear so much sunscreen, especially now that I live in LA, it’s so bright out and I just want to make sure that my skin is protected. I do a lot of hikes in the morning, and it just took one hike without sunscreen when I moved here, I was so red and flaky… it’s that serious. That’s probably the thing that I use the most, as far as how many times I’m restocking.”

The One Acne Essential She Always Has on Hand

“Anytime I have the urge to pick, my first course of action is to apply a pimple patch, because that is just truly the most out of sight, out of mind thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m a shark that’s going into a feeding frenzy, like eyes rolling back in my head, and I stop and put a pimple patch on. That’s something that changed the game for me.”

The Product That She’s Used the Longest

“Snail mucin or pimple patches. Those are two things that you will not find a medicine cabinet of mine without. I will always have a surplus of pimple patches around, and I will always have snail mucin around. Once I had to go and do a job in LA really last minute, and they were like ‘you have an hour to get it together. ‘ My bag was literally phone, keys, wallet, and then a bottle of snail mucin. So that’s definitely something that I love and has stayed in the game for a while.”

The Newest Addition to Her Routine

“The toner pads. And also, laser. Trying out lasers feels like the newest thing that I’ve been really exploring and trying to commit more to perfect.”