Greasy Face/ Combination Skin

[MeadowHay]

Hello! Looking for skincare gurus. I'm 22, battling with acne on and off since I was 12. Currently have a few lovely LARGE spots, some smaller blemishes, and a ton of blackheads (particularly on my chin and nose). This has been worse over the last 2 months or so because I came off the antibiotic I was on and stopped using my topical cream because me and DH are ttc and I read that neither of them were suitable for use during pregnancy. I also have quite sensitive skin, and eczema. I sometimes get eczema/dry patches on my eyebrows, in between my eyebrows, and sometimes around the bottom of my nose. However during the day, my forehead often gets really greasy, and so does my nose and around it, it's horrible. I don't wear makeup on a day to day basis but I probably should, I'm just lazy and always seem to be in a rush getting ready because I oversleep...anyway, how am I supposed to tackle these greasy patches without aggravating my skin/causing dry/eczema patches?! I stopped using moisturiser on my face for awhile but then it just really aggravated the dry areas! Help?! :(

[Wolpertinger]

Have you seen your GP? Seriously it's quite a combination of problems plus you are TTC. You need proper medical advice I think.

In the mean time this will not in anyway solve the problem but will not upset your skin but Cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser will not make your acne or eczema worse or upset your sensitive skin and may help a bit to calm everything down. Dermatologists recommend them over and over for a reason

I think you probably need prescription meds for your acne and so see your GP to see what you can and can't have while TTC.

[MeadowHay]

Thanks for the reccommendation, will look it up.

I was under the impression that none of the acne meds, or at least the antibiotics, are known to be safe during pregnancy and so I don't think it is worth starting any now because it usually takes a good month or two to see any improvement from then anyway. So I don't think there is anything that I can take to help my skin at the moment, I had a topical retinoid too but that is also not safe! I think I am mostly just going to have to suffer through with it and hope maybe I get pregnant quickly and hope pregnancy helps it, is that possible? The best thing for my acne was actually being on the pill!

[Wolpertinger]

Make sure that you check with your GP whether there are any safe options rather than hearsay - you may be lucky retinoid is a no though.

Seeing as you have ezcema as well it's far too complicated to give blind recommendation over the internet. Good luck with TTC!