Beauty Tips For Body Care
TLDR at end! I’ve had acne for 12 years now, since I hit puberty. My skin type was dehydrated, is now combination with an oily forehead, normal cheeks, and dry chin. I suspect that I have type 2 rosacea but have no diagnosis. I’ve been on this sub for 5+ years now, and have tried tons of different routines and products.One month ago I had my worst breakout in years and couldn’t even keep count of how many pimples I had on my face. I stopped counting after 50, whereas my usual had been 10-20. I decided to re-examine some of the ingredients I had been using for years. It made a huge difference so I finally feel ready to give you all my excessively long review of nearly everything I’ve ever tried, in order, by category!CLEANSERSAcneFree Oil-Free Acne Cleanser with 2.5% BP: My first cleanser besides bar soap, prescribed by a general practitioner. This was before I found this sub and had no routine or moisturizer, so safe to say it didn’t help. I switched to a very harsh neutrogena exfoliating scrub cleanser (gag), not sure which one though.Paula’s Choice Hydralight One Step Face Cleanser: This was my first cleanser after finding the sub. I thought I had oily skin (really just dehydrated with a destroyed moisture barrier and acid mantle) so this was a step up but definitely didn’t fix my problem. Way too drying, though I loved the gel texture. I thought my face was supposed to feel stripped and tight and squeaky clean after cleansing!OCM with Coconut Oil, then Mineral Oil: My first attempt at fixing dehydrated skin. Problem was, I didn’t have any of the rest of my routine figured out so I didn’t double cleanse, used it as my moisturizer, and suffered bad cystic acne for months as a result. 0/10 would not recommend without having a second cleanser and otherwise solid routine. Also I think coconut oil breaks me out.Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Softening Cream Cleanser: Since PC didn’t give me cystic acne I went back to it but with something made for dry skin. It helped a lot, my face only felt a little dry after cleansing and I loved the creamy texture so I stuck with this for the last 3 years. I didn’t want to mess with it since my acne was comparatively manageable (only 5-15 pimples active usually, compared to 50+ with cysts). However I recently realized it had SLES in it and wanted to find something less stripping. Still have a giant, mostly full bottle, ugh.Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser: I tried this for a mere two days! It didn’t dry me out but the pH was too high and I was nervous about the coconut based ingredients considering my history with coconut oil. My skin texture went to shit after those two days even with chemical and light physical exfoliation.Currently Using La Roche-Posay Toleraine Hydrating Gentle Cleanser: I like this cleanser a lot! It doesn’t leave me feeling dry at all and my face doesn’t get red after use. However I don’t always feel confident that it has removed all of my sunscreen/makeup so I’m considering adding in a first cleansing step, maybe Albolene?TONERCurrently Using Paula’s Choice Enriched Calming Toner: I use this for the hyaluronic acid, and love it! It really made a big difference for my moisture barrier. I was using a heavy hydrating mask as moisturizer twice a day and my skin would still dry out halfway through the day. This goes on with a very silky feeling and keeps my skin baby soft all day long.MOISTURIZERSPaula’s Choice Moisture Boost Hydrating Treatment Cream: I spent a very long time using no moisturizer, so this was really my first one. The moisture didn’t last through the day but I still used it for a really long time because it didn’t seem to break me out. It spread easily at least and was sure as hell better than not moisturizing.Currently Using Paula’s Choice Hydrating Treatment Mask: I use this mask as normal moisturizer and like it a lot. There are a couple of ingredients I want to try phasing out, but this is my go to when I’m trying new products because I know it will soothe my skin. Combined with the PC HA toner, this keeps my skin super soft. I will be looking for a new day moisturizer soon though. It is thick and somewhat hard to spread, and I use less during the morning so it doesn’t feel like a mask when I use it.Cerave PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion: Tried for one day! There are fatty alcohols in my go to moisturizer so I wasn’t too worried about trying this, but I think with the ceteareth-20 it was too comedogenic. Went from mostly clear skin to feeling a dozen new pimples begin to form under the skin. I tried this because I want to get away from Paula’s Choice for a few reasons, but for now I’m sticking with the moisturizer that works well enough for me.ACTIVESPaula’s Choice 8% AHA: I tried this for several months, using it only once a week because my moisture barrier was compromised but my skin felt rough. I stopped using this ages ago when I realized it was just exacerbating the dehydration. I always looked brighter the next day but it wasn’t worth it. I’ve also since seen warnings that those with rosacea should stay away from AHA so I probably won’t add this back. It left a sticky texture behind so only for use at night.Stridex (Red) Holy drying power Batman, was this a mistake. My skin burned and got much worse during my two weeks using this. It did good things for my shoulder and back acne though!Currently Using Paula’s Choice BHA: I use this once a week now, at night because it’s a little sticky. It doesn’t sting, but I don’t sense any of the possible “moisturizing” benefits of BHA some people have mentioned on this sub. I have to heavily moisturizer after or my face feels like it will snap. It works great for the blackheads on my nose and cheeks. I just can’t use it too often or it irritates my skin.Paula’s Choice Clear Acne Body Spray: I tried this for KP/ingrown hairs on my legs and bacne. It helped a bit but was always very sticky, and really just didn’t do enough. Also trying to spray it upside down stopped working early on so it was hard to reach parts of my body that needed it.Currently Using (sorta) Acne.org 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide: This is the product that helped calm down my recent breakout. I used it once a day for three days, then upped to twice a day for another four days, only doing short contact therapy. At the end of the week my moisturizer started to burn my cheeks so I assumed I was overusing this active and backed off. It took me from 50+ pimples to about 10! I gave it a week and tried again, but it still burned so I’m backing off for a bit longer. I did notice an increase in blackheads after only a week. I want to use this but I’ve read it might be too harsh for rosacea? Really hoping not because damn it worked.Currently Using The Ordinary Azelaic Acid: And this is the product that brought me down from ~10 pimples to one! I only incorporated this in about 2 weeks ago, using it three times a week in the morning. I have had a couple new pimples since starting but they stayed flat and disappeared very quickly. Haven’t noticed any difference in redness yet but I’ve heard that usually takes months. It doesn’t burn, though I did notice a few flakes after my first use. That has gone away. The texture is very thick, I apply it to wet skin to help it spread more easily. I might try a higher concentration when I run out of this.SUNSCREENSPaula’s Choice Cellular Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 25: I tried this when I was still barely willing to even try sunscreen. I always hated the smell (I have since grown to love and appreciate it). Between the mild stinging, the white cast, and the smell, I abandoned it quickly.Banana Boat Baby: I cant remember/find exactly which one I tried. I actually liked it, it didn’t sting at all or smell too much, but the white cast was killer. I used this when I knew I would be out in the sun for more than an hour but otherwise not so much.Paula’s Choice Redness Relief SPF 30 Mineral Moisturizer: I was so disappointed in this one! It didn’t help my redness at all, was insanely thick and hard to spread, and once again made my already super pale face ghostly white. Tried to get past the texture and white cast but couldn’t. Went back to not using sunscreen for a while (it helps that I have no friends am a nerdy hermit home-body so I don’t go outside much at all).Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essense SPF 50+ PA++++: Boohiss! I wanted to love this SCA HG so bad. It was tinted, it glided on like angel tears, it left a very nice finish to my face. And then a few minutes later, it itched. Oh Lordy it itched. And then it burned.Kroger Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 70: I used this one till it was empty. There was no white cast and the smell didn’t bother me, but it left me crazy greasy looking. Never soaked into the skin and I suspected it was the cause of at least some of my pimples. I didn’t use it daily.Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Dry Touch SPF 55: Grabbed this off the shelf at random during an unexpected outing. This started getting close to what I like in a sunscreen. No white cast, low smell, spread easily enough. But I was still breaking out regularly and couldn’t find the culprit so on to the next one!Currently Using Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Liquid SPF 70: I like this one, but I think it might be breaking me out a little. I love how easy the liquid is to spread, I have no issue getting the recommended amount on my face. It also absorbs well to give me a nice dewey finish. I like the silky feeling it leaves behind. So I’m still on the lookout for one that won’t break me out but for now this will do!Currently Using Aquaphor Lip Protection SPF 30: Love it! I always have cracked/peeling lips so this has been wonderful, it’s a step up from just using Vaseline.OCCLUSIVECurrently Using Vaseline: My HG for sure, this locks in moisture flawlessly. And I’ve gotten good at applying the thinnest of layers in the morning so I don’t look oily all day. It works as a protective layer from my nightly drool which usually breaks me out (I probably need an SLS free toothpaste). I’m also not as worried about accidentally wiping away my sunscreen when I wear this on top.Well there you have it. The 25 products I’ve tried over the years. I still haven’t found the perfect routine but I’m happier with my skin than I have been in a very, very, very long time. If anyone has suggestions for moisturizers and sunscreens, please provide them!And just to quickly sum up what I’m currently using, here is my actual routine.AM - Rinse with water or LRP Hydrating cleanser, PC HA toner, TO AzA (MWF), PC Hydrating mask, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid sunscreen, Aquahphor lip protection sunscreen, Vaseline.PM - LRP Hydrating cleanser, PC BHA (Sunday), PC HA toner, PC Hydrating mask, Vaseline.TL;DR: One month ago I had an awful breakout, 50+ pimples. I switched cleansers from PC Skin Recovery to LRP Hydrating Cleanser, introduced acne.org 2.5% BP for one week, then introduced TO AzA. Successfully cleared that breakout. Still looking to replace my moisturizer and sunscreen.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Ivorykiki
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