Meanwhile I’ve veered from “wash face with whatever soap/body wash happens to be in the shower” to “buy something fancy that promises in ads to make me look less like I am twice my actual age, use it a couple times, give up.” I would try and read about what I should be putting on my face and then get confused and give up, and I didn’t, like, talk about it with friends or anything because I was embarrassed to admit that I had missed the girl gene and basically was doing nothing, I guess?
I figure that since it’s a pandemic and we can’t go anywhere and now that it’s winter it’s miserable to even step outside, I have no excuses, I certainly have the time to pay attention to my face.
So far the cleanser seems good, at least. I don’t look any better (of course, it’s been 2 days, of course I don’t look any better) but my skin felt clean but not tight and it didn’t FLAME ON and turn immediately bright red the way it does with like 95 percent of products I’ve tried before including “redness relief” and “for extra sensitive skin” stuff.
I haven’t tried to cancel, but I looked and the website does have an “I want to cancel” button on my payment page. I don’t want to click it because I don’t want to cancel, but it appears that it’s not one of those lame sites that make you email or call to cancel.
I recommend looking at what the common ingredients are! It might be that you have a reaction to a common ingredient used for redness like chamomile, azelaic acid, or vitamin E.
So in the meantime do I keep using my previous moisturizer? In winter, I don’t feel like I can go without, certainly not for 7-14 days.
I started with the cleanser, because the only cleanser I had on hand was a scrub and I have been having the same issue as people above have mentioned with that. What if it doesn’t go with my (drugstore) moisturizer or they react badly to one another - like, how would I know if it’s the cleanser, or just that the cleanser doesn’t play nice with the moisturizer and THAT is what I should stop using?
This is so complicated!
I’ve patch tested everything on my arm (though, that seems not super helpful for me - I mean, it tells me I’m not literally allergic to it but my not-face skin can take stuff that my face absolutely cannot take). I’ve been using the cleanser for 2 days and I used the peptide stuff this morning, which it sounds like I shouldn’t have done.
If your previous moisturizer works for you, keep using it. You don’t have to only use one product, you just shouldn’t introduce a ton of new products at once as it’s hard to figure out “what changed” and is causing issues.
I mean, there’s no hard and fast rules, but I would wait a bit until you know if the cleanser works. Usually it can take more than 48 hours to know if you body is rejecting something.
I know a lot of people who patch test on their neck, it’s closer to your face and more likely to have issues similar to your face.
Snort. NOTHING “works for me.” Other than, it makes me feel less dry and flaky and I fear that at My Advanced Age, if I skip moisturizer I’m going to overnight morph into the Crypt Keeper.
But, that makes sense. If I have the same amount of redness/irritation as is my normal, then I know the cleanser isn’t making it any worse.
Oh, that is a good idea, I didn’t think of that. My neck does seem to react similarly to product, except I don’t usually break out there, just get the redness.
Any sunscreen recommendations? I’m allergic to “chemical” sunscreens (I think oxybenzone because my reaction is photoallergic). Regular “body” type mineral sunscreens make my face break out (I use banana boat mineral sunscreen because it was available at the drugstore, no particular reason).
For my face, I’ve been using Clinique city block sheer for many years, and it’s okay. There are so many more mineral sunscreens on the market now compared to when I first was looking and want to see if there’s anything better out there.
Also need a mineral sunscreen that’s easy to rub in for baby, but don’t care so much if there’s a white cast. Care more about ingredients for baby sunscreen.
Generally, I 100% recommend looking for korean and japanese sunscreens packaged for that market - not for sale in the US. The FDA has some complicated rules about sunscreens that have not been updated to reflect current science, and often there are ingredients added to US sold sunscreens in order to meet FDA requirements that cause a lot of people to be broken out.
Shisheido purchased from Japan = much better for many people than Shisheido purchased in US.
They also tend to be competitively priced.
The products generally are more hydrating and lighter as well for Korean and Japanese markets, though the Korean ones are better for darker skin tones as the Japanese ones often don’t blend as well.
I am so guilty of using St Ives scrubs as a teenager. The harder/longer you scrub the better, right? But… in my defense it was in a super tiny town like 35 years ago, and there was simply no good information to be found. I graduated to much improved scrubs as an adult, but in the past couple of years I’ve switched to chemical exfoliants which I am happy with. Other than the use of scrubs though, I’ve always tried to take good care of my face, with extra attention on my eye area. Start using eye cream while you’re young! In general I get told I look younger than my age. I generally stay out of the sun, but really never used sunscreen. I know I need to.
My friends and family have never been as interested in skincare as me, so I’ve basically been on my own with it which makes it harder. I used Philosophy brand exclusively for at least 20 years and was pretty happy with it, but they discontinued some of my favorite items and I don’t like new ones as well. Earlier this year I heard about The Ordinary and starting trying to learn that. After a little research, I bought some random stuff from them and then randomly used it, which probably didn’t do a whole lot of good, so a month ago I narrowed my products down and made an AM regimen and a few different PM ones. I do have a few differing levels of acids, and a vitamin C product that I alternate. I did get one item in powder form that I mix with a liquid because I didn’t like the way the serum form felt. I am super lucky that I’m not sensitive, so I pretty much just threw stuff at my face which maybe wasn’t the best idea. I definitely had some purging when I don’t get pimples very often, but after a few weeks it calmed down and I think my skin is improving.
I really love Elta MD UV clear sunscreen. It’s specifically for acne prone skin, and it actually helps clear up my breakouts when I wear it consistently.
Question. The days I use this, do I also use my moisturizer? I’ve been doing this then the moisturizer after the shower (cleanse in the shower) but wanted to make sure I was doing it “right”.
I think you’re doing it right. I don’t think there’s a time you’d want to skip moisturizer, especially after any kind of cleansing. Gotta put that moisture back in!
But… in my defense it was in a super tiny town like 35 years ago, and there was simply no good information to be found. I graduated to much improved scrubs as an adult, but in the past couple of years I’ve switched to chemical exfoliants which I am happy with. Other than the use of scrubs though, I’ve always tried to take good care of my face, with extra attention on my eye area. Start using eye cream while you’re young! In general I get told I look younger than my age. I generally stay out of the sun, but really never used sunscreen. I know I need to.