You could also consider a product with Niacinimide in it. It is supposed to help regulate oily-ness. I tend toward oily, and when I was still trying a lot of stuff, using a niacinimide serum that also had hyaluronic acid in it made a difference (called shark sauce, does not contain sharks!!!). I keep meaning to go back to it, but my skin seems to prefer a more minimalist routine rn.
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Has anyone tried Tula’s retinol alternative serum? It’s supposed to be gentler than retinol (which my skin won’t tolerate) but with similar results. Curious if it’s legit.
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No but I waaaaant it
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Right?! I decided “f-it” and just bought it, lol. I’ll let you know how it is!
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I’m not sure if this qualifies as skin care, but I have found the perfect lip balm. I’m a little obsessed with and definitely addicted to lip balms. I have many that are fine. But I’m in love with e.l.f. Ride or Die lip balm. It’s really thick and goopy and apparently that’s what I’ve been wanting. All others seem too thin to me now and definitely not ride or die balms, nope, they are fairweather friend balms.
The best is Grapefruit Goals, it’s so good and actually grapefruity. I also have Tough Cookie which is good but nowhere near as wonderful as my beloved grapefruit. I really love grapefruit flavored everything, so that’s hard to beat for me. Some grapefruit lip balms are not grapefruity enough, but the e.l.f. one is. And they are only $5 each, because they are e.l.f.
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I’ve never tried that particular one, but I do have a bakuchiol serum that I do love!
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Are you into science of skincare ingredient stuff? An insta scientist who I follow posted a thing about the science of bakuchoil.
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yes pls share all these instas
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I dug it up! Here’s her write-up of it: https://labmuffin.com/bakuchiol-better-than-retinol/
TLDR: Retinol is much better studied than bakuchiol. So far there isn’t evidence to say that it’s the same or better than retinol for anti-aging purposes, but it is promising since so many people can’t tolerate retinol. My takeaway: I’d buy a bakuchiol product since my skin doesn’t tolerate retinol either, but if retinol-based products were working for me, I wouldn’t stop using them for bakuchiol.
@Meowkins, here’s her Insta: https://www.instagram.com/labmuffinbeautyscience/?hl=en
Disclaimers that, yes, her name is a little silly but she’s a real scientist; and she spends a lot of time debunking product marketing (including what’s marketed as clean beauty), which I know some people are into/some aren’t. I like her content even though sometimes she’s a little bit on the combative-towards-brands side.
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tl;dr hormonal acne is annoying, advice?
So, I was on HBC for years, which basically kept my face almost completely acne-free for years. It was delightful. I then went off HBC last February – my doctor decided no combo pill because of migraine aura, and the mini-pill made me an anhedonic mess. I now get what’s very clearly hormonal T-zone acne, tied to ovulation and menstruation.
My skin is normal-to-slightly dry, moderately sensitive. My routine for years has been “wash face in morning; apply light moisturizer with SPF for sensitive skin; use a bit of spot cream if I have a zit that’s not a small whitehead; a few nights a week after cardio exercise, wash face and use retinol cream.” This worked for me for YEARS, and it’s fine most of the time. However, it’s not quite cutting it during ovulation/menstruation – I keep getting these zits and they are displeasing (mostly in terms of vanity but every once in a while I get one that’s physically unpleasant, too). The spot cream and retinol help deal with the acne once it’s there, but I would really like to figure out a way to help prevent the acne from popping up at all.
Anyone else have a good routine for ye olde hormonal acne? Every time I go on the internet to look things up I get overwhelmed and then never do anything about it, so I’m curious to know what people here do/have done.
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Thanks for the article (read it) and your TLDR. I think I’ll try this bakuchiol serum to see how it goes, and if it doesn’t work maybe I’ll try a less intense retinol product? TBH I haven’t tried retinol in a lot of years and back in the day it was prescription only (for severe acne). Maybe there are gentler retinol products on the market now…haha, or maybe that’s wishful thinking!
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My friend swears by these
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When I was younger and had unlimited free time I did silica face masks https://ca.iherb.com/pr/Naka-Herbs-Vitamins-Ltd-Hubner-Original-Silica-Gel-17-fl-oz-500-ml/24234 basically daily during that phase and had amazing skin. I’m also now using a turmeric and tea tree stick on the prezits to help https://www.cocokind.com/products/turmeric-spot-treatment. The yellow tone also helps with redness.
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You described exactly my face. If you ever figure out a perfect routine, I want to know about it! Haha. Personally, I avoid sugar during PMS times and Ovulation times, and I’ve actually seen a noticeable difference with that (YMMV) and I also don’t oil cleanse as much during those times or even regular cleanse. I wash my face once a day vs my normal twice. I use a sunscreen specifically for acne prone skin that really helps as well. I’ve never tried any spot treatment sticks, but curious about what others will recommend!
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Benzoyl peroxide does well with my hormonal acne, and for some reason doesnt piss off my sensitive skin 
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My hormonal-ish acne responds well to acid exfoliants. Most ppl use glycolic and salicylic acid. I use them a few times a week. Some people are more or less sensitive to exfoliation/over exfoliation. I also moisturize a bunch. CosRx brand BHA and AHA acids work well for me. Starting exfoliation sometimes increases acne appearance for a cycle, so it a little depends on if you want to go through that.
Basically keeping things turning over to avoid forming clogs can help.
I’m also using a new moisturizer with urea which does basically the same thing.
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My kid has recently developed eczema. I bought some solid castile soap to make liquid hand wash with before he got diagnosed. Is it ok to use? The internet search I did had polar opposite views. Or is someone here could direct me to a reliable eczema website.
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My son has eczema. Our pediatrician recommended Cetaphil for bath wash and Vanicream for moisturizer or aquaphor if it’s bad.
We use Castile soap for hands and it’s fine for hand use mostly, but if the eczema is on his hands I’d opt out of it for a while.
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I asked about this product/ingredient a while ago and got very smart responses! I’ve been trying it for a couple of weeks so thought I’d review in case others are interested.
So, thus far I would give this really high ratings and recommend it. I have very dry and sensitive skin (I’m 34) and it doesn’t irritate it at all. It has not increased my photosensitivity at all, either. I will say it hasn’t helped my hyperpigmentation BUT my skin texture is the nicest it’s ever been. I also feel like my skin is less dry in general now, like I’m using way less moisturizer and even my sunscreen isn’t drying it out. The texture difference is big enough that I’m fine with the lack of improvement color-wise, so if you’re looking for fine line reduction/smoothing I’d say go for it!
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