Talk me through what i should be doing with my awful skin.

[RunnerBeen]

I am entering my mid-twenties, I seem to be the only one my age who still has the skin of a teenager- and i don't mean a youthful glow.

I have oily skin with visibly big pores especially around my nose, but it doesn't seem to take too kindly to being dried out, i used a Witch Hazel blemish stick around my nose and chin to keep pores from getting dirty in the day and it ended up dried out and flaky .

Recently i have veen making an effort to improve my looks and generaly well-being but i'm crap at sticking to any sort of regime.

I am using a Simple exfoliating facewash with Witchhazel in the morning and evening, with a splash of cold water to help pores close at the end. I sometimes wipe over the blemish stick too.

i use Neutrogena oil free grapefruity moisturiser after i wash.

if i am wearing make-up i put it on as late as possible and take it off as soon as i can, usually with baby wipes rather than leaving it on all day.

That's about it, i do sometimes wipe over with a baby wipe through the day if my skin feels greasy and am still using blemish stick throughout the day but not as much.

i want to rid my skin of spots and redness, keep the oil balanced and hopefully get those horrid looking pores closed up without it costing the world and taking forever each morning.

Thanks for reading my rather long winded post, well done if you've made it this far and thanks for any advice.

Stop using baby wipes for a start. They are useful for all kinds of reasons but too harsh for your face!

I have combination skin and went through a dreadful phase until I discovered La Roche Posay. I have recommended it to lots of people, including here. The Efaclar range is really great for oily skin. I would say the Efaclar duo would be good for you. I use the nutrogena cleanser too (share it with my teenage ds, who also uses my Efaclar) I love the smell!

I also find the Maybelline BB cream great, gives me a glow, and has SPF30. Unlike other bb's it doesn't give me spots!

Have a look at Caroline Hirons blog, especially the cheat sheets. It sounds like you might be encouraging you skin to be oily by trying to dry it out. You need to cleanse properly with a gentle cleanser and wash it off with a facecloth. Makes a huge difference and definitely stay away from the baby wipes.

I got a clarasonic in January and I love it. It's cleared up my skin quite significantly. In fact, I got some spots where I wasn't using it. Like in my hairline. Almost as if they had to come up,somewhere.

The other advantage is that you hardly use any cleanser at all.

I am in the same position, of the same age. It's a bugger isn't it. I am trying the oil cleansing method at the moment (search for the threads on here) using coconut oil. Has helped, but still need to work on my pores. I'm thinking there may not be a cure for me in terms of my pores, and have seen loads of recommendations for Benefit Porefessional on here so will give that a go too.

Perhaps get some muslin cloths and use that to remove make up every night - I've heard great things about the Superdrug hot cloth cleanser.

Good luck, don't give up!

I had skin just like yours. Five years ago I started oil cleansing. I'm now blemish free with even skin tone, no oil, no dryness, no blackheads and no open pores.

Hi everyone, thanks for replies! Dozy me forgot i had posted a thread!

I will definitely stay away from the baby wipes from now on- i didn't realuse they woyld actually do more harm than good.

I have heard that if you try to dry the skin out it just produces more oil and makes spots etc worse, which is why i try to remember to moisturise.
i just feel that even when i follow the rules in the
morning, my face feels very oily by lunchtime, it's not really practical to have a full wash and re-apply up halfway through the day unless i'm at home.

What is a BB cream and what should i look out for brand wise etc?
will look into the Caroline Hirons blog and LaRoche Posay and also oil cleansing.

Savoy, what is clarasonic? I like the idea of not having tonuse alot of product.

i remember using benefit products when i was a teen and i really liked them but they would be breaking my budget a bit- is there anything that is really worth paying for?

No there isn't. You just need olive oil, perhaps some castor oil too for the first 6 weeks. Stripping the skin with cleansers and witch hazel then applying chemical moisturisers is why your skin is out of balance and producing too much oil.

So what do you do with olive oil?

La Roche Posay transformed my skin. Try it. and no more wipes ,any cheap cleanser would be more gentle than wipes.

I had oily-but-sensitive skin at your age and the best thing I ever did was STOP cleaning it in the morning - just splash with warmish water, pat dry and apply a little light moisturizer. My skin was far less oily and troubled after that.
Do a gentle but thorough cleanse by your chosen method in the evening, with moisturizer afterwards.

My skin has improved loads since using Angels on Bare Skin from lush. It is a bit if a faff and best used in the shower as it is like a paste and you mix it with water in your palm. You can scrub or leave it on as a mask. Very soothing and smells fab

It's a it like an electric toothbrush for your face. I read a lot of stuff about it and decided to go for it. It's so simple too. It's on for a minute then it's done.

www.johnlewis.com/clarisonic-mia-2-skin-cleansing-system/p461175?colour=White

Wow Savoy, it looks good but there is no way i could justify paying that for it.

have had a look at oil cleansing and think it looks worth havng

Oops.

i think it looks worth having a try.

So i should mix 1/3 castor oil with 2/3 sunflower, massage it onto my face, then use a very hot flannel to grt rid of excess?

Should i be doing anything else on top of this?

I'm going to try and avoud make-up for a bit but i do feel i need it- does this really remove that too?

when I had a facial last I was told by the beautician not to use an exfoliating wash more than about 3 times a week as it can stimulate the oil production.

There is a Champneys cleanser that's supposed to be comparable to clarisonic. I think £15?? I went to boots to buy it the other day and saw a sonic one half price so got that as I couldn't find the Champneys.
Can't find the one I got online but it was called Sirius and was £40. I have had a clarisonic on birthday/Xmas list for ages! I'm pretty pleased with it so far blackheads seem to be going but I also got a cleanser with salicylic acid in which is supposed to be great for blackheads.
Champneys one:
m.boots.com/mt/www.boots.com/en/Champneys-facial-cleansing-system_1412136/

Thanks peas and katee! I have a birthday coming up soon(ish) if things haven't improved much i may put the boots clarasonic equivalent thing on my list

after some deliberation i'm too chicken to try the OCM just yet, i've read alot of people end up with more spots and it seems a little too much faffing for me- i'm admittedly lazy when it comes to things like this.

did some more reading today and i think i just want to try a nice gentle but natural and effective cleanser for once a day use so any reccommendations for that would be lovely- something that wont leave me feeling like my skin has a horrible oily layer halfway through the day?

Still need to tackle the foundation problem too, tinted moisturiser doesnt seem to give enough coverage, the ont i'm using at the mibute feels too heavy.

i feel i may be looking for something i'm never going to find.

I've got very similar skin to you. I'm now age 33 and for 15 years I worked for clinique and then chanel and tried pretty much every skin care product there is! The only things I rate are liz earle cleanse and polish or garnier pore wash (can't quite remember which one it is but the aqua blue tube, about £3) and St Ives face scrub. Not all at the same time obviously but those 3 products are the only ones I've ever found make any difference to my skin.

At the moment I am using nivea lotion to remove my make up with cotton wool pads and I then wash my face with the garnier wash and I never use any moisturiser. At all. I just find all it does it clog my skin up and give me spots.

The nivea works well to remove make up but it has oil in it so I always use a face wash to remove the residue. I'd never leave anything with oil in it on my face.

I use clinique stay matte make up (oil free again).

I do the oil cleansing method with extra virgin olive oil and a hot flannel too.

I'm 39.

In the past few weeks, I've been mistaken for my 15 year old son's sister. Twice. One man told me he'd assumed I was 28, but was now having to revise it to "probably about 35?"

I use a tiny amount of olive oil as moisturiser or Body Shop vitamin E face cream. I have combination skin.

I use Max Factor Facefinity powder foundation.

I used to use castor oil for the OCM, but now I just use extra virgin olive oil.

Afterall, it was what people used for 100s of years before someone else decided they could make lots of money from selling us chemicals to put on our faces instead...

I've been using this cleanser for a few months. It's brilliant; very soothing and calming, not drying, and touch wood I haven't had a single spot since about a week after I started using it (this is a minor miracle...last time I went this long without a spot was about 10 years ago). Bit pricey but lasts for ages.

www.renskincare.com/p/3325/ClearCalm+3+Clarifying+Clay+Cleanser+