Beauty Tips For Body Care
Hello fellow addicts! TLDR at the bottom. I wanted to share a method I use to figure out which of my products might be breaking me out, causing irritation, or doing nothing. I’ve always struggled to identify problem ingredients. My acne fluctuated so much that using spreadsheets to track good/bad reactions felt impossible. Patch testing didn’t help because I couldn’t tell if it was the new product or just my regularly scheduled breakout.First step is to commit to your routine for 6 weeks. No more browsing SCA for product recommendations, no second guessing your choice of moisturizer. Trust that past-you chose your current products for a reason. You may find it useful to keep a skin journal. I would write just a couple notes each night, like “very irritated, several cysts, some flaking and burning” or “extra dry today, skipped tretinoin to avoid irritation”.Why 6 weeks instead of 2-4? Sticking to your routine for a while allows you to see the overall trend of your skin health rather than getting hung up on small, daily changes. It also shows how your routine handles any hormonal fluctuations you may experience. This process may seem like a very long time, but if you’re like me you’ve been unsuccessfully trying things for years. The time will pass anyway. This time offered an enormous amount of insight into my skin and routine that I never achieved with years of trial and error.Now choose one product to eliminate. I started with my “extra” step, a hyaluronic acid serum. Over the next six weeks I saw no significant change in my acne and my skin was much drier. I woke up with more flakes and felt my skin dry out earlier in the day. I reincorporated the serum, happy to know it really was helping.Next, I looked at products that caused irritation. My first cleanser did not emulsify (Albolene), and using a washcloth to wipe it off every night was too much physical exfoliation. I also wasn’t sure if I even needed an oil cleanser since I don’t wear makeup. Six weeks later, my skin was much less irritated. My inflammatory acne didn’t significantly change, but I started seeing blackheads and closed comedones which are unusual for me. I also ended up needing to physically exfoliate with my fingertips every few days due to a buildup of old, dead skin. I decided I need an emulsifying oil cleanser. HOWEVER! Do NOT go out and try a new product at this point! You are still evaluating your current routine! I decided Albolene provided a net benefit so I temporarily reincorporated it back into my routine with plans to replace it later.Sunscreen was the hardest step to eliminate, because I use tretinoin and it is mandatory. If I didn’t use tretinoin I would’ve stopped using sunscreen completely; six weeks of limited unprotected UV exposure wouldn’t age me that much. I got “lucky” with the timing of covid-19 and used my time indoors to stop wearing sunscreen. I used it 3-4 times because I went out hiking, but the break was still enough to evaluate how it changed my skin. My acne remained the same, but my face was a lot less red during the day. I also noticed my face felt a little warm on the few days I did apply it. I believe I have a sensitivity to chemical filters, so I’ll be looking for a cosmetically elegant PA++++ physical sunscreen. I previously thought it was my HG, but the search goes on ;_;Once you’ve gone through your whole routine it’s much easier to try a new product and truly know how it affects your skin. You can confidently use your products without wondering “is this actually the cause of my breakouts?”TL;DR: Commit to your current routine for the next six weeks. Consider a skin journal. Choose one product to eliminate for another six weeks. Evaluate if its absence caused more/fewer skin concerns and choose to reincorporate or ditch. Do not try any new products during this time, very important! Six weeks for each step allows you to track your overall skin trends including hormonal fluctuations. Several months of using this method gave me more insight into my skin and routine than 6 years of trial and error.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Ivorykiki
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