Hi all, apols for the prolonged absence. Thanks for the flowers, Enid, hope your cold has cleared up now. It wasn't a physcial thing, I knew exactly what triggered the nightmares and the only way of avoiding that would be to become a recluse. They went away during the weekend away but I'm still suffering from broken up nights, so minor improvement at least. When I peeked back in on the S&B boards after the weekend away it seemed to have turned into the worst of AIBU (not this thread) and I just lacked the energy to deal with it, so I took a voluntary step away for MN as a result. Hope there were no major emergencies and I'll do a quick catchup now for the essential stuff that's popped up and gone unanswered.
bannivani, do you have a link to that radio show? I have to say as great as getting into skin care to help improve mental health can be for some, the more constant banging on about it (especially on blogs, and then other media reporting on blogs) that it's very much in danger of becoming a simplified narrative of 'my 10 step skincare routine cured my depression' for purposes of clickbait, which is worrying especially as this equation of bad skin=low self-esteem speaks to the very young.
Bagel, whilst a Dr. Jart is very well liked I think you have to be quite choosy with what you buy. For example, the liquid may be a better fit for oily-combo than the cream, etc. I also think as exciting as K-Beauty can be it suffers many of the same trappings as TO, it's low price point suddenly makes it revelationary for those who never could or wanted to afford higher end skincare. Great takeaways from Asian Beauty are the obsession with hydration and sunscreen, the vast amount of products only really have a leading edge in some place but as a whole it is just as filled with rubbish and non-performing skincare as any other region. My chief annoyance with it is the current batch of overhyped products are coming in very expensive, exceeding western prices but everyone seems to still be riding the novelty wave and hoarding as much as they can as a result.
@Thedarklady, KP is very complex to treat. Age plays into it a lot (it becomes significantly less over time), hairfollicle development, skin cell turnover, etc. The treatment success with different ingredients differs greatly. In the general they are:
High percentage AHA (usually Lactic Acid, but Glycolic can sometimes be effective too but you really need something over the 15% range, 30% even)
10% BHA
high % BHA with high % Urea
high% AHA with high % Urea
high % Retinol (most likely by prescription though some have success with Retinol body lotion)
Physical Exfoliation
Avoiding heavy clogging moisturisers, focusing on hydration instead.
Non-clogging SPF when exposed to sunlight.
By the sound of it, you have one or more version of all of these but you're using them all at once which pretty much renders them useless. Go one at a time and see what your skin responds to best and move from there.
Your best bet is Calmurid cream which is a Urea and Lactic Acid cream (since LA has given you the best results so far). It's available OTC here, the version with Hydrocortisone requires a prescription.
It's also worth looking at your hair removal methods, if the hairs are having trouble breaking through the surface of the skin this will contribute to the KP as it's the hair follicles that fill up with 'debris' creating all those little bumps, so a disordered growth cycle of the hair follicle may be at play, especially in an area like the thighs. In that sense it may be worthwile pursuing permanant laser hair removal (not IPL) to tackle the KP.
Pupsie, either Dr. Bronners (I throw it in some soapy warm water overnight) or for a deep clean I use two parts olive oil to one part fairy liquid on a dampened BB and have a good old squeeze before rinsing it all out.
miffy2, I think that Nivea is a bit of false advertising. It contains ascorbic acid in a cream. You want L-AA in an hydrous or silicone/suspension base for it to actually be active, I'm no formulator but I imagine all it does is lower the pH of the cream slightly 
bani, that Cos story confirms the horrible sinking feeling I had not long ago. I had found the perfect 100% silk 40s style fitted (I know, shocker Cos) trousers in the sale only to find I had about 4 inches to spare in the waist. Way too much to even attempt to take in and still hold up the integrity of the design, it forced me to resign to the fact that Cos is no longer for me if even the fitted stuff (which used to be TTS) isn't fitting in the smallest size. Just get the jeans already, clearly, the size labels are now up for interpretation and we should just wear whatever.
user that Vitamin C serum contains SAP rather than L-AA, it's not really a highly supported form of Vit C, beyond being good for those with active acne.
Enid, I think supplements are really difficult as they're always spoken of as one and the same whilst Omega 3s can come from a variety of sources. The 'trusted' brands are really expensive and most of the time we can barely discern if it's really doing something in isolation. I also know a lot of people who have discovered allergies to very rare things that only seem to be in supplements.
Milford, cloud10 (based in Ireland I think, but deliver everywhere) seem to have quite a good stock of TO at the moment including the Vit C 23%. Barring that, I did mention previously a new Vit C had caught my attention but I'd forgotten by whom, but have looked it up since. Vichy has a new one with just 11 ingredients, 15% L-AA based, tiny bottle (to prevent oxidisation I assume). Similar to SC somewhat and they're both owned by L'Oreal so could have some transfer of research going on there. Dinky little bottle costs around 20 euros here, strangely more expensive at EPP but I'm expecting the price will come down. The only issue with it is the presence of Alcohol Den. quite high up in the INCI. IIRC the old SC formula also had AD in it, so it sort of looks like the previous incarnation of SC without the ferulic. Price per ml it roughly comes out as half the price of SC (putting it on par with SC samples on ebay excl. import taxes) but the small size does make it enticing to try the more OG versions of Vit C serums like SC without committing as heavily financially. Still very pleased with my SC at the moment, I actually only use it every other day as it doesn't feel like I need it more than that, never had that with a Vit C serum before.
I can't tolerate a synthetic brush on my skin either, mint. Far too aggravating. I've always been under the impression that a brush like the RT one gives a slightly more full coverage look, filling pores more effectively whilst a BB gives a sheerer finish overall. Am I making this up or is that actually a thing?
I think we should all out ourselves and hand out little bottles of sunscreen to the trick or treaters 
Annoyingly we have both Halloween and a more Dutch traditional version on St. Martin's day on the 11tht of November (where they have to sing traditional songs in exchange for candy). A lot ignore one over the other but it seems to have become quite the norm to do both now.
eyebrowseyebrows, in all honesty, 4 weeks is the point at which I wouldn't do anything new in fear of a bad reaction not remedying itself in time. Realistically, pigmentation and sun damage takes a very long amount of time (unless it's very recent and therefore not deep).
Vitamin C is worth trying as this gives a nice glow quite quickly but it won't tackle pigmentation and sun damage in that time. There is the possibility of getting a Vit C facial in a cosmetic dermatologist's office, which is more intense. Laser is another avenue to consider but so close to the date makes it risky.
I've noticed you don't have an SPF in your routine currently, I'd really be focusing on that for now.
Wrt EH balm, it's nice but very irritating to some. It's also extremely expensive, it's mostly the scent and the bit of comfort it adds to the cleansing experience than that it's an absolutely outstanding cleanser which warrants that kind of price tag. Save your money for the stuff that actually stays on your face. Moringa itself isn't much of a special ingredient, just ignore the CH hype, including that cleanser of hers. I'm not a massive fan of CH, she has her place but I think for someone new to skincare her advice is far too contradictory, confusing, and overwhelming to be really helpful. In the general people end up with far too many products and no clue what to do with them after a CH binge.
Free, I think the transition from TO 2% to 5% isn't a difficult one. I do have to say I've noticed it being a bit more effective but still underperforming to what I've used before. Don't know if you're looking into going down the prescription route or something more high end. I have the Medik8 Retinoate on my to try next list but am still waiting out a decent offer on it. If the Vit C was working for you, I'd definitely say to continue on with it. It's the most rewarding ingredient integration in a routine IME but that may very well be specific to me, but I've noticed many others on this thread are always very happy with the Vit C glow.
In terms of serum, what are you looking for specifically?
Must, there's definitely a correlation between high sugar diets and shitty skin, and AFAIK the replacement sugars in diet sodas aren't treated any different by the body. Not sure what implications for rosacea are, that mostly seems to revolve around wine, exercise, spicy foods, etc.