amazing faces-join our quiche and watch the years roll back!

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sorry for rubbish title, it's been a very long day!

mowglik I was also surprised there was no acid toner! Re: Oskia scrubby stuff, it's incredibly gentle. CH doesn't mind a little bit of scrubbiness on occasion (like she likes the Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser, which is a bit scrubby). I think it's the harsh scrubs she takes issue with, and overuse of them. I have the Oskia one and use it once a week. It's lovely.

I like the sound of the Aurelia oil in the box, and I already have and use 4 of the products, so it would be worth it for the savings made but it's still more than I can afford at the moment, sadly!

I have been following my new routine for 3 weeks now and whilst I was initially really pleased as the acne marks have faded quite well and I'm not getting spots like I used to, in the past 4/5 days I have been quite red faced and had small red spots on my cheekbones (I have never suffered from spots like this, they were always big horrible things, and never here). The new things I am using are l'oreal creamy cleanser, clearasil pads and effaclar duo. I think it's the clearasil but I'm not sure. I researched rosacea as I wondered if this is what I had but I think I've just got more sensitive skin than I previously thought. Can anyone recommend an acid toner suitable for sensitive skin?

I've been whacking retin a on the backs of my hands. They look great, my face looks the same. I guess I had more damage there than I thought!

Im about 3 weeks in now too and my skin is looking great. Very smooth and soft and my pores appear smaller (i know they're not actually smaller). I do have to be careful with my acids though. I can only use an aha and a bha toner twice a week and days apart otherwise my face goes red and burnt. Perhaps it's because Im using retin A once a week, my face is more sensitive now, not sure really. But basically, once I'm really careful with spacing out my acid toning my face responds really well to the new routine.

Has anyone found that sensitivity fades over time?

Anyway, products I'm loving and will replace once used up are as follows:

Timeless vit C serum - my face responds really well to it. It brightens me up and pores appear tighter
Bravura Aha calendula toner- face feels smoother and i wake up looking clearer and brighter.
LRP Effaclar Duo- i use this to help reduce the red marks my months old spots have left on my cheeks. It works.
RetinA - well this tube is probably going to last me a year. Ive stopped peeling and flaking so it's nearly time to upgrade this baby to twice weekly
Vichy LiftActiv retinol cream- nice moisturiser with retinol for days I dont use retinA or liquid gold

Which brings me to the duds
Liquid gold- underwhelmed. Has done nothing that i can see
Bravura 2%bha - this has to be washed off after 2 mins. Bit faffy. Much prefer the Paula's Choice version which is swiped over the face and job done. I do feel that it has really cleared out my gunky pores though so I will be sticking to a 2% bha, just switching brand.

Sunscreens im still trialing.

My skin's looking great at the moment.

Am loving the Hylamide, it's a million times better than Clinique Smart Serum for me.

If I'm going to do vit C serum, should I do it AM or PM, or doesn't it matter? Don't do retinol as yet.

Is it the Cerave lotion or cream that those in the know rave about?

I use my vit C serum in the morning skodabecause i feel it gives me a pep ( also i keep it in the fridge to see if it lengthens the shelf life) so it feels nice in the am to splash it on. Then ai use my other serum which contains niacinamide in the pm.

As an aside, the only thing looking really crappy and tired looking are my eyes ( actual eye alls). Can anybody recommend me some great eye drops for tired blood shot eyes? The Boots tired Eyes is useless.

Apologies for all the typos, i am, of course, tired ( see above)!

Thanks tizwailor but does it shrink those little red veiny things (gross)

Oh yes the actimist, you spray it onto eyelids! Thanks tizwailor will try these. No point having nice fresh skin and old red sad looking eyes!

Skodalabia I love that you love the Hylamide. I've got the sample of Clinique Smart Serum from InStyle to use on holiday next week but am suspicious of it as I can't see that the ingredients are especially smart while they clearly are for Hylamide.

I use the Cerave PM Moisturising Lotion. I suspect they are all fairly similar but the cream looks a bit thicker and is I'm oily/combination I stuck with the lotion. I also don't like tubs if I can avoid them.

Tried the Clearasil pads this am as again bought to go on holiday - they are much stronger than the Clinique Mild Exfoliating Lotion! Unfortunately I really don't like the smell of them, and found the pad quite abrasive so not sure I will stick with them but they are a good product!

Where did you get the Timeless Vitamin C from Coconut? I used the Skiceuticals one years ago when I could afford to splurge and it was fantastic, my early emerging age spots disappeared. I saw Hot and Flashy and am very tempted by the Timeless, off to the States in the Autumn so was going to wait and get a whole load of stuff there-but I'm impatient.

Still peely from Retin A here so going to buffer it this week and see if I can go up to twice weekly that way.

I would like to try the blackhead/filaments treatment I think wombat posted about. Is the boots or superdrug own clay mask suitable to use?

coconut I'm also discovering that my skin is much more sensitive that I thought. I also have tiny little red bumpy spots on my cheeks which I never had before, and I too google rosace as they swere stinging and burning. But I do think it might be in my case just an overload of strong new products. I've held back on the acids every few days and am only using my retinoid once a week ( I started off every night for 3 nights as I didn't realise LRP redermic wld be so strong!) and slapped on a really hydrating watery serum at night to help my skin revived, but I'm hoping I will get used to the routine and become less sensitive.

That's it ilovetosleep i think a slowly slowly approach to this routine is what's needed. I need to rein in my over excitement a bit

I got it shipped over from the Timeless website cathy. Shipping was reasonable and I got it in a week. Will defo buy this again. Also I had a $5 discount code from a utuber called hotandflashy. It's a permanent code

I've now swapped the Clearasil pads for Paula's 2% BHA. Like you, Kundry, I didn't like the smell and it felt too harsh. Paula's, on the other hand, is lovely and gentle - no strong smell and feels almost oily.

I've used the Retin A for 3 weeks now, once per week and no peeling or sensitivity so I think I can now up it to 2 times per week. I've just got to figure how to fit in my weekly peels whilst still leaving a few days between for the Retin A.

I'm also going to buy Effaclar AI (I think that's it) for the few annoying, itchy spots I'm still getting.

One question I want to ask is about waxing/hair removal. Does anyone do this whilst using Retin A and/or peels? When do you do it?

Coconuttywould you mind letting me know if you are using retin a or the LRP redemic thingy? As I think need to get my hands on some of this stuff, been trying to keep up with the thread, but getting a bit lost with it all, been doing the double cleanse/nip n fab pad, but unsure of what serums/oils/peels & totally confused by acids, so any guidance etc most appreciated (apologies for the essay)

Sorry meant coconut