Looking for suitable face wash for DD10, want to start good habits

[Mintymoomoo]

My 10 year old dd is in early stages of puberty, and noticed she is beginging to get few little blackheads and the odd tiny little pimple around nose!

She has very dry skin and is prone to very rough dry patches especially in winter (just like I did growing up) so looking for something easy for her to use thinking maybe a face wash and possibly a moisturiser though nothing to harsh that's going to make her skin worst

Any ideas?

Confused in boots

And no, I probably won't do the same for ds as he doesn't have sensitive skin & hasnt reacyed to anything do far whereas dd even has to be careful what shampoo she uses. He is however developing a nice collection of shower gels.

I can recommend Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser and the skin tonic and moisturiser that go with it. Lovely, gentle, herbal products, they even recommend the tonic spray as a cooling spray for little ones & my baby DD loved it over the sticky summer months. There's even a matching men's range if you did have a DS
Fwiw my DM helped me along with some 'good habits' around the same age and I'll be forever grateful that I never suffered teenage angst over spots and am complemented on my skin now I'm in my 30s

No.. Men and boys tend (there are exceptions, before I get flamed) not to have sensitive skin. Th marketing people have tried- but so far, male skin is generally resistant to their blandishments!

dermalogica do a range for this age group called fresh start. can't recommend enough.

Aveeno is a great moisturiser for dry or excema prone skin. Not scented so fine for boys and girls.

Dds sensitive skin appeared as a baby - not helped by them bathing her in johnsons in hospital at 1 day old. At 6 months I actually stopped bathing her altogether as her skin brokecourveven using plain water. When she was sick in her cot & I had to wash her hair it was awful

So when I had ds I decided to only bath him with plain water for the first few weeks (mostly with ke gor skin to skin/troubke with feeding) Whether that made a difference I don't know. .

Dh has sensitive skin

I don't want dd to use moisturiser for the moment but she needs to wash her face & remove make up (she's a dancer)

Aveeno is lovely (and especially brilliant for eczema) but I got lots of blackheads and tiny bumps when I used it on my face so it wouldn't be my first choice .

I really hope you will look at the Avene stuff - I had terrible (extremely sensitive, quite acne-prone) skin for years due to the irritating chemicals in most skincare (including nice, expensive, all-natural stuff), right up until a pharmacist recommended Avene's Extremely Gentle Cleanser and Skin Recovery Cream. They are really gentle, get fantastic reviews, and work out as very good value for money when you look at how far they go. (I now use cold-pressed virgin coconut oil and a muslin cloth most evenings because it's great for removing foundation, but I prefer the Avene cleanser if I've only been wearing light make-up because it's not such a faff.)

I haven't tried the normal Avene moisturiser, so can't comment on that - I use Waitrose's own brand "Pure" moisturiser under make-up unless I need the Skin Recovery Cream, as it's the only other one I've found that doesn't irritate my skin or clog my pores.

Avene or la Roche posay are good fit sensitive skin - transformed my skin!

Pictures - I know you say that you don't want your DD using moisturiser every day, but it might be worth getting a gentle one for the shows so that there's a "barrier" between the sensitive skin and the make-up. I always get blotchy if I use even normal make-up without moisturiser underneath (and have done since my teens). With it, my skin doesn't get irritated and the make-up seems to come off more easily.

You'd probably find that the Waitrose Pure one (about £2 for 200ml) is fine for that purpose - it's supposed to be hypoallergenic, and my extremely intolerant skin is fine with it .

I like Avene too. Again, massage into dry skin.

For washing it off buy lots of flannels so she can use one per day. Primark/poundshop/ etc sell them cheap. I buy fake ones so I can chuck them in the wash with the socks and pants!

*dark not fake!

Oh, and it's not greasy at all (Waitrose Pure or Avene Skin Recovery Cream) - I find that my make-up actually looks better with the moisturiser underneath!

Totally agree with merryxmas about flannels, as well.

Gosh I didn't use anything on my skin b that v young and I have lovely skin.

Is it really a good habit? Is have thought it a bad habit b to become so product abs chemical dependant so young, especially when skin is c so delicate!

My 10 dd has been using a face wash by Amie which I buy in Tescos. They make several, the one she uses is the morning clear one.
It's soap free and doesn't dry her skin out and has helped with the odd spot blemish she was getting.

Nothing wrong with chemicals as such, - isn't water a chemical and the biggest ingredient in most of these things. Chemicals that cause something to foam though are too harsh

ARealPickle - it totally depends on what your skin is like. Mine definitely needed it by the time I was 10, and sadly I only found the right products after about 14 years of damage had already occurred .

Skincare doesn't have to be a powerful astringent or antiseptic (as I wish somebody had told my DM and DF ), and you're absolutely right in thinking that those sorts of products can do more harm than good. Gentle, non-clogging cleansers and clean flannels are very unlikely to hurt, though, unless the child is washing too often or scrubbing too hard .

My own personal perspective is that what happens to your skin in teen years is largely genetic. Sure, good habits are great and no harm in getting her a mild cleanser etc, but please don't let her fall for that bunkum that spots are caused by poor cleansing/ not using the 'right' products.... bad teen skin is caused by hormones and, sometimes, resident bacterial infections.

A few blackheads and pimples, well, that will pass as she gets older. Any sign of acne= straight to GP. Sorry if I've gone off on one but I had years of well-meaning rellies telling me that my skin would magically imrove if only I used x, y, or z. What was really needed was the Pharma big guns :) Not saying your DD does (obv not, she is 10 with a couple of blackheads!) but something to bear in mind for the future.

Actually my 13 yr old ds is bothered about his skin. Dh had v problem skin as a teenager and i think ds is taking after him. It is improving with a daily long steamy shower and he is using Aldi facial gel every day, not fussing too much but the daily steamy shower helps. When he had a sleepover at his friends (obviously minus the shower) his skin was very spotty but as soon as he had the shower later that day it calmed down again. He doesnt squeeze them - the steam just seems to calm things down.

I will totally be watching my DS's skin just as much as my DD's skin at this age (a few years off yet). DS has very dry skin and eczema and I have just come in here to repeat the point that you shouldn't assume that 'simple' products are better than others for young ones. We used Simple shampoo for DS for a long time and actually it was much worth for eczema on his scalp than other less 'natural' brands. I would challenge your DD (and any DS's too!) to work with you to find something that works for them - which is what we have to do as adults after all. Everyon'es skin is different - one of my Major learnings as a parent so far!

Avoid baby wipes, I wouldn't use them on my own arse, let alone my baby's or faces.

I've used many things, generally have found garnier products good, and have been using body shop cucumber cleanser and toner, and I swear by Nivea now for my face cream. Keep it affordable as you know you'll be onto a good thing then, when she needs to buy it herself.

Use Cetaphil to cleanse and then La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo to get rid of the blackheads. My two DDs use this regime and have good skin. Cetaphil is the most gentle cleanser - plastic surgeons recommend it post face lift, and Effaclar gets rid of the blackheads in a few days.

Cetaphil is also good for shaving legs! (With a razor, obviously.)

Yes, Cetaphil is good and gentle and not too expensive. I can often find it cheaper in Afro-Caribbean beauty shops, if you have one nearby. Waitrose's Pure range is really good so I would recommend the moisturiser - even oily skin needs hydrating. It could be that her skin is dehydrated - if so, Superdrug's own brand hydrating range (white bottles with blue caps/logo) is very good and is cheap.

Cathycat avoid a foaming wash, it really dries skin out and makes it produce more oil. My best friend has always had problem skin and using a creamy cleanser (she uses Superdrug's Vitamin E hot cloth cleanser) has made a world of difference. She also uses La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo which has really helped, her skin is a lot smoother and calmer.

But yes, skin problems or the lack of them are largely genetic - I've really ignored my skin but am genetically very lucky in that area so haven't had any big problems, the only spots I get are hormonal jawline spots which aren't affected by what cleanser I use. Also, everything is a chemical and many 'natural' products are really harsh on the skin, eg straight lemon juice (which often gets recommended by 'natural beauty' blogs - but it'll burn your skin!).

ragusa I'm right on the verge of calling in the big pharma guns for my dd, who is 16. She gets a lot of spots but the ones she gets on her forehead are enormous and linger for weeks. They never have a head on them but they're just big angry lumps. She's very good at looking after her skin and she doesn't wear make-up so I can't think what to do. (sorry for de-rail OP)