The Nerd Singularity: My Skincare Spreadsheet

I have never been a “cool” person. When I was home with the chicken pox in 5^th grade, I read the same dinosaur textbook from cover to cover for a week straight. I was a mathlete for like five years. I once wrote an article comparing feminism to the X-Men universe. I want to give myself a noogie.

So, no big surprise that I’m obsessed with spreadsheets. I love putting my life into rows and columns and seeing the patterns that emerge; I love finding the perfect formula to make everything easy. Since elaborate skincare routines can get overwhelming (at least the way I do it), it was only natural that I created an Excel doc to keep track of everything. Things escalated quickly from there.

I posted a link to my skincare spreadsheet in a comment on /r/AsianBeauty yesterday, and it got a surprisingly positive reception, so I figured other people might find it helpful, or at least get some passing entertainment out of laughing at the nerd.

So, here’s my skincare spreadsheet, in all its be-columned glory.

Sheet 1: Stash

All the (non-sheet mask) skincare products I own. I break them up by type of product: cleansers (both oil-based and foaming), actives (like AHAs, BHAs, and vitamin Cs), toners/first essences, serums/essences/ampoules/emulsions, lotions/creams, spot treatments, makeup, and sunscreens.

From there, I have columns for brand name, product name, product sub-type, price, size, a formula that calculates price per ounce, brief notes section, and whether or not I’ll repurchase it when I run out.

This sheet helps me keep track of everything I own, identify patterns across brands or types of products, and see what’s missing from my routine. I have a mind like an iron vice for dates, so I know offhand exactly when I’ve started testing every new product, but if you want to copy this spreadsheet, a useful column could be “Started testing” so if you notice any sudden changes in your skin, you can identify recent additions that might be the culprit.

Sheet 2: Wish List

This is much less organized than my stash sheet, because this gets updated on the fly whenever I see or read about something I want. I just jot down the name, product type, why I want it, and a link to a review or product page. Green and italics means I’ve since bought it; pink means it’s at the top of the to-buy list and I should snag it in my next haul.

Sheet 3: Sheet Masks

I go through so many sheet masks that it would make my document chaos if I included them on my stash sheet. But, I go through so many sheet masks that I would never remember which ones I liked or didn’t like if I didn’t write it down. Thus, the Sheet Mask Sheet was born.

I make a note of brand, type, cost (which I rarely update – whoops), quick review, and whether or not I’ll repurchase it. For my notes, I mostly focus on fit, scent, material, how well it sinks in, and type and intensity of effects. I fill this out as soon as I’m done with the mask, or else I’ll forget.

Sheet 4: Random Links

Almost every day, I find a skincare-related link that blows my mind. I aggregate those links here so I can revisit them and re-blow my mind at my leisure.

Sheet 5: Blog Topics

Probably less useful to non-bloggers, but if I get an idea for a blog topic but can’t write it up right then, I make a note of it here.

Feel free to copy this template if you find it useful. And to clarify – this is not meant to be didactic. This level of organization is unimaginable overkill to a lot of people. But maybe you are also the specific kind of nerd that enjoys this shit, in which case, have at it.

My Skincare Spreadsheet