What if the issue isn't just timing but also the type of HA you're using? @linda_reed mentioned spritzing water first, and that actually makes sense because some HA formulas are thicker and more likely to pill when layered over a peptide that hasn't fully dried down. I switched to a lighter HA serum and cut my wait time to like 3 minutes between steps, and that fixed the balling problem for me too.

Heard that. There's a Taco Bell near me that went from okay to pure chaos in like 3 months flat.

Did they end up buying 12 extra feet of fence they didn't need lol?

Yeah, read somewhere that a lot of these fancy tools are just rebranded cheap stuff with a big markup. Sounds like you got exactly that.

That line about "it's just time on the tools" really hits different when you think about it. It's like how people freak out about wasting twenty minutes in line at the grocery store but then they'll spend a whole evening doomscrolling without a second thought. I've noticed that pattern everywhere honestly - we get bent out of shape about small setbacks that are actually teaching us something, but we waste hours on stuff that gives us nothing back. The time spent figuring out your mistake is just part of learning the craft, whether it's carpentry or cooking or whatever else.