Skincare Ingredients

[Pupsiecola]

Following on from the skincare routines post, what ingredients do you make sure you include in your products, for example, Vit C, Vit E, Hyaluronic acid?

TIA

My chin and just either side of it is very congested. It's the area that is prone to breakouts but is now also just clogged pores and tiny bumps. There's also a small patch of peely, dry skin in the centre like there is on my nose.

If I react and breakout in that area from using salicylic, glycolic, Hyaluronic, Shea butter, bees wax, rosehip oil. WTF can I use to balance things out?

Top of my nose is dry as can be today and peeling but the sides of it are oily. my lower cheeks have broken out in spots. Spots maybe from last weeks wheat and sugar eating but still. Getting very frustrated.

Actually ignore me moaning on. Just been washing my face etc which is why I'm extra pissed off with it. Maybe the lrp tol cleanser would be a start? Using EH at the moment but perhaps there's something it my skin doesn't like.

Or it could just be that I've been ill for ages or the time of year, heating on etc. Who knows.

So sorry you are suffering enid. Your skin does sound oily and very dehydrated.
What about lactic acid? Does that break you out as well?

I'm trying to move away from my regimented spreadsheet a little now that I understand the products more. Aiming for a more intuitive approach to how my skin is on the day. Version 2.0 if you like. Do you guys have set products that you absolutely use daily, and then ingredients you use now and then when needed for certain issues? I think I've been fine with all the new products so far (so perhaps my skin isn't reactive/sensitive as I've thought, although I have chosen quite wisely). I guess I don't feel that intuitive about it all yet. And I love my products and want to use them all, all the time!

Also, has anyone tried the Paula's Choice AHA?

Sorry to read your post enid. I am really getting on very well with the LRP Toleriane range. Is it worth stripping back to that (cleansing milk, day and night moisturisers).

I have a fairly set routine but bits change

Am - boots botanics cleansing milk, ordinary Alpha, secret key 24k moisturiser and then etude house face blur primer

PM - olay cream eye makeup remover, then a cleansing balm
Every other night ordinary retinol
If I'm not using the retinol I use ordinary HA/B5 followed by the niaci
Couple of moisturisers which I chop and change depending on weather/skin feel

Sheet masks if I feel very dry or a spray hydrogel pack
If v flaky or feel the need then an acid pad
If I've been modelling so lots of makeup I use a cleansing oil before the balm

That clarins oil looks lovely Aurora I had a lovely spray oil once from Clarins, it was also gorge!

Your skin sounds in terrible pain Enid. Wish I could suggest something but am clueless! My instinct if it was me would be to revert to simple soothing products for a while.

Maybe just focus on one thing for now? Hydration maybe?

I've been dabbing cicaplast from LRP on DS's horrible crackly dry spots (he is recovering from impetigo ffs ) and it seems to be working...

Thank you all for indulging my moan. I will get some LRP cleanser and the cicaplast on Wednesday. As well as a couple of the other bits bo recommended to me a few pages back. Skin seems to be getting on OK with their hydreane light moisturiser despite the HA and perfume. Lactic acid could definitely be a good one, thank you! Also liked the pro biotics idea and the toner bo linked to.

To start though I'm going to strip it right back and try to get the hydration levels balanced. Good ideas thank you.

I find it hard to recommend oils off the cuff, Wellhellothere1, oils for oily skin are great but you'd need to seek out those high in linoleic acid but then you're also on Retin-A (which usually means lots of dryness for which you'd want oils high in oleic acid) so what is your skin really like without any product?

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Enid, can you use jojoba oil? I find it one of the more gentle things I can fall back on and since it mimics our skin's own oils almost everyone gets on with it so it's pretty neutral and can be used for cleansing and moisturising. Grapeseed and castor oil are also worth considering as they're actually astringent so would help dry out the skin a bit if you're suffering from excess oil there. I do find that if my immune system is lower and/or my skin is more sensitive, things with essential oils can be irritating where they otherwise aren't normally so a more minimal routine is better then. Did you have serozinc as well? That should help soothe it a bit too. And just in case, you don't happen to have a new scarf or coat, do you? I had this once couldn't figure out what was causing the irritation turned out to be my new coat with a high neck that brushed against my chin, also SLS in your toothpaste can cause havoc in that area.

Pupsie, I have no experience with the PC AHA, but the acids and retinol are well regarded on the whole from her but if I were to suggest where look for an AHA, it'd be the lotion p50 first surprise, surprise.

I do rotate certain products, in summer my morning cleanser is usually something lighter (Japanese foam one or just water) whilst in winter I'll gravitate to a cream cleanser since my nighttime products tend to be on the heavier side then. Oil cleanser and 2nd cleanser aren't changed about much (sometimes skip 2nd if I didn't wear a lot on my face). Serums change depending on whether I'm using an acid that night or not and I tend to just go with the oil that feels like the best fit that night, on the lighter or heavier side of things.

bo I do have serozinc, keep forgetting about it! Never tried jojoba oil, can it be bought by itself? Feel like I need more moisture rather than drying atm. The oiliness feels like it's overcompensating for the dehydration. Nothing new against my face, I use ecover non fragranced washing powder, without any conditioner, to wash my flannels, pillowcases and face towels. It helped I think. Think the spots are down to what I've been eating. Wheat has a bad effect in general so if I go back to being wheat and refined sugar free that should clear the visible spots up. Although there's only two now, they just leave marks for weeks so it looks like more 🙄 Congestion wise I need something though. Do you think the ordinary lactic acid could be good? Or would it be best to I start with it as an added ingredient in something else?

Ok am torn between. toleriane ultra

the ordinary as in 'The Ordinary.'

Just realise LRP hydreane light doesn't have HA in it does it? 🙄🙄That'll be why my skin was fine with it. I am a prune.

Oops!

Or just plain toleriane

Anyone experience of the latter? It has aluminium starch I notice...

A few things -

First and FOREMOST - my TO order will be here today!!!

Re the Clarins Lotus oil - it is great, and I find that you can also apply it to spots or marks from old spots and it seems to help quite a lot. If you are using it as a treatment after acids you can also begin your routine early and repeat the oil (just an extra 3 drops or so) after a couple of hours. It's also great on lips if they are extremely dry (on their outer edge, mind you ).
But watch out for other Clarins stuff, as many creams have MO (also true of some of the new Clinique Smart line ).

For drying out spots there is also the LRP A.I. Corrector which is also great.

I agree with bo re jojoba and castor oils. The latter also cured once and for all my flaky eyebrows (or rather the skin underneath them) and is also great for lashes.
Also agree with Serozinc - use AM and PM (at least). It's a real wonder product!

bo what do you think about mixing tea tree oil with clay mask or honey to make a spot treatment? Could that also work as a decongenstant?

A few years ago when I had a break out it took me a while to figure out (thank you, NOT, EL ANR, same goes for Vichy Aqualia) I made a DIY mask from a crushed aspirin, honey and a bit of the Clarins Lotus oil. Mind you, it is quite harsh and I've only ever done this 2-3 times (and my skin is usually very well behaved), so research this well if you want to consider this, but it made a huge difference overnight.

Another thing to consider for acne is your shampoo and conditioner - check the INCI list for SLS, parables and silicones. I suffered from severe dandruff for YEARS until I stopped using that crap. Lo and behold it all disappeared in a couple of weeks... and my hair is x100 softer!

I think I found an effective way of using the Mizon Black Snail cream - I've been applying it after Hylamide (and before Pai rosehip oil) in the AM and it seems to be doing a very good job in terms of hydration.

wilting the "plain" tolerian has silicone as INCI nr 2 and dimethiconol. I personally would not use.

Enid, you can get jojoba oil on its own (I rate the MV Organics one but it is quite pricey). I'm guessing H&B would be a good place to look (although I'm now losing track of everyone's geography and sensitivities). Do check the label though, I've seen jojoba oil sold where it was mixed with other carrier oils.

I'm only on day 3 with my lactic acid (10%) from TO, it is very, very, gentle ime but it's also leaving me questioning whether it's doing something . For comparison Sunday Riley Good Genes, a serum/lactic acid treatment, made me sit up and take notice in seconds of use and was a little too full on for me. I've never tried the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator which isn't all that gentle either supposedly but I'm guessing that sits somewhere in the middle of those two.

LRP hydreane light is HA free, and one of those things made by LRP that don't make a lot of sense to me. It's biggest selling point seems to be paraben free, but beyond that I'm left a little . If it's wheat and sugar causing issues it may be down to glucose intolerance (which tend to go hand in hand with endocrine issues), I'm fine with no (refined) sugar only and favouring complex carbs otherwise my skin would be decidedly more temperamental, especially around the chin area. It really is a nuisance gathering place, I know I harp on about it but lymph drain massage does help a bit with moving along toxins in this area.

Wilting, as suggested before I'd go for the Toleriane Fluid, it has the nicest ingredient list of them all and is good for combo-oily skin.

Aurora, I'm not the biggest fan of neat tea tree oil as I find it too harsh and believe it's recommended for acne as it's a natural antiseptic not decongester, but I haven't ever researched it properly tbh. Since Enid's issues seem to be more to do with dehydration and diet and less with excess oil (it most likely being a side effect of the former) I don't know how helpful it would be to dry it out further, I figure that's asking for more sebum/oil production. The classic solutions like HA, BHA, and glycolic are off the table.

Enid, maybe you can try a bio-yoghurt, oatmeal, and honey DIY mask. You'll get a bit of lactic acid at a lowish pH to see how your skin deals with that, the oatmeal is soothing and moisturising, and honey is hydrating. A mashed banana is often tossed in these recipes too for moisture and hydration, don't really feel it's essential but if you have one laying about, just toss it in for a bit of softening of the skin.

Oops, ignore the Clarins exfoliator, for whatever reason I had it stored as a lactic acid exfoliator in my mind. It's a Glycolic/Salicylic one.

bo just goes to show how important trialing is cause SL Good Genes really did not agree with me (or rather vise versa - my skin did not agree with it). Not to mention the smell....

I agree that pure tea tree oil might be too harsh for break outs, that is why I thought of mixing it or diluting it, but it's not something I have tried. Mind you we always use the oil straight from the bottle on kid's mosquito bites in summer and it's never caused any irritation. Just a few weeks ago DM told me she got rid of a ridge in one of her fingernails by constantly applying TTO.
And another amazing use I learned from a friend a few years ago is to put 10-15 drops in an oil lamp in kids room if they have a cough. It won't cure the child, obviously, but it might help enough to enable you to get some sleep

And mashed banana is also lovely as a hair mask... and you can freeze it and then put in blender with a bit of yogurt for sugar-free ice cream

Mine was a sample run too, and I stopped any further testing of Good Genes after that first try since it wasn't a hard prediction to make that it would cause issues. A quick google informs me GG contains 40% LA at a pH of 2.6 , I was an uninformed idiot trying that that's super aggressive for facial skincare. I've never really looked into the ideal % for LA, I'll have a proper google sometime.

I'm not wholly convinced Deciem is really into acids and why I'm a bit skeptical of their acid offerings currently, the founder has always been condemning of them on the grounds of deliberate irritation (he was also very anti cleansing but don't hear much about that ever since they started selling cleansers). Speaking of Deciem, I came across a blog post for the Mizon Hyaluronic Acid 100 Ampoule, an HA serum with copper peptides and ceramides (good for skin repair) that looks to be a bit of a dupe for NIOD's CAIS. Only around €10 on eBay delivered, it's going on my to try list for when my current HA serum runs out.

Yeah luckily I didn't buy SL GN either, just had a big sample. But OMG 40%!!!

Haha was also looking at that Mizon HA serum when I was researching their snail creams and also at the Peptide 500. Both those INCI lists are very interesting. Just imagine what a WB brand would charge for that kind of INCI list!

I LOVE this thread. Have been dipping in and out for a while now. You guys are fantastic, thanks for sharing all your knowledge.

Can anyone recommend a really good moisturising SPF30 and above?
My problem is I can't put too many layers on in the morning so I tend to skip the moisturiser.

Btw, I've been using The Ordinary Vit C for about a week now and so far so good! Also have the HA 2%+B5. I like the texture but undecided yet whether it is as good as Hylamide.

Apparently it contains 40% but the effective rate is only 5% . I hate cosmetic companies and their creative maths.

I can't believe I totally forgot to harp on about p50, which is all about the lactic acid. Or at least the reason why I turned to it when I found glycolic irritating. I think the normal and V version contain salicylic acid but the W version only contains Sodium Salicylate (the salt form without the exfoliating properties) as the second to last ingredient.

What's the daily Anessa SPF you were using again Aurora? Would that be moisturising enough for OpenMindedSceptic? I did use my Kose Sekkisei Sun Protection Essence Milk SPF50 in summer without moisturiser and I have had instances where this was all I slapped on in a hurry in the morning and been fine with it but not sure how well that would pan out on the daily in winter. It's moisturising but it would depend on how dry or not you are, I'm normal-ish w. dehydration and veer towards dry in winter but despite the recent arctic temperatures it's currently still 'normal'.