[PSA] I thought I had oily, sensitive skin. Turns out I just wasn’t moisturizing enough.

Beauty Tips For Body Care
I’ve spent 20-odd years dealing with acne prone combination/oily skin (male). Most of that time I had a breakout in progress, with only small periods of clear skin everywhere.I always thought I had pretty sensitive skin and went out of my way to use basic oil-free moisturizers.Then a friend of mine referred me to this sub. Reading the wiki/sidebar was super helpful and educated me about how important moisturizing can be and how my symptoms weren’t a sign of sensitive skin but of dehydrated skin.I started using a couple of different moisturizers from the recommended list, and WOW did things change.I barely break out at all now. My skin looks better. And when I do break out, it resolves a lot faster. My skin is noticeably less red all the time. And when I do use the occasional active, it doesn’t immediately get inflamed.It turns out I don’t have oily sensitive skin. I have normal/combo skin that was dehydrated.Here are the personal guidelines I’ve developed to figure out moisturizers. I’m curious if people agree or disagree, or have other pearls of wisdom for moisturizing:The following ingredients matter to your skin (clinically). Everything else is personal preference or marketing.- Ceramides- Cholesterol (triglycerides)- Glycerin- Urea- Hyaluronic acid- Squalane oil (not for everyone)Don’t use moisturizers that are primarily hyaluronic acid by themselves. A little helps, but a lot can actually dry out your skin.Niacinamide can be great (and is very widely tolerated) but it is technically an active. Treat it as such: spot test and start slow.Most oils (e.g. mineral, coconut, grape seed, argan) are fantastic for oil cleansing, conditioning the surface of your skin, and reducing TEWL, but don’t directly hydrate skin. The exceptions to this are squalane oil and (maybe, but clinical evidence is lacking) neem oil.My current routine:Oil cleanse with mineral oil (if needed)Wash with Cetaphil Gentle Daily CleanserHada Labo Skin Plumping Gel Cream (Urea)CeraVe Lotion ("AM" with sunscreen for daytime, "PM" at night)At night, I'll add CeraVe Cream or Aveeno Daily Lotion for extra overnight moisturizing. I only use the Aveeno because it used to be my regular product and I still have about 4 bottles of it from Costco.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by occurious