Is my skin beyond hope?

[tryingtobebetterallthetime]

Here goes. I am mid-60s. I have fair skin as mainly Scandinavian ancestry.

Since puberty I have had enlarged pores on my nose. They fill with whitish sebum and sometimes blackhead type things. I have fought it my whole life it seems.

Also, my chin area gets similar blocked pores. Recently I also get those painful under the skin pimples that take forever to heal. They get quite large and red. They last for weeks.

My cheek and forehead skin is not a problem.

The past two months I started cleansing with a foam by Neostrata that has glycolic in it. I also have been using Paula's Choice AHA and The Ordinary 1% retinal in squalene.

thought it was working but recently my nose pores look worse and so does my chin. I have a sort of superficial blackhead. My overall skin is smoother but I am really disappointed overall.

Am I doing something wrong? Maybe I did stronger retinol? This is all new to me.

I just feel like I should get a break from this in my old age! Any help appreciated.

Thank you.

I

Shameless bump

Try Clear Complexion Tablets, they’re in an orange box and i get mine from tesco. They are very good, i thought nothing would help my awful skin but they cleared it right up. Take 3 a day for the first 2 weeks then go down to 2 a day. Hope this works for you i know how upsetting it can be xx

You'd be better off using a BHA than AHA as they work better on clogged up skin. Paula's Choice do several good ones.

Try a regular facial sauna to get rid of the blocked pores. No need to buy anything fancy. Bowl of hot water and towel over your head does the job. Steam the blocked pores until soft (squeeze out the gunk) then massage gritty cleanser over your face followed by toner. Do once a day and wash cleanse and tone at the other end of the day. Keep it up until the pores are normal then drop to once a week with the steaming but cleanse and tone twice a day.
Avoid greasy moisturers and skin make up. Go for the fresh clean healthy skin look, takes years off you!

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will try them. Sorry about the typos in my original post. I was nervous about posting this.

It is frustrating to still have these problems at my age. I remember my dear Mom telling me at about age 12 that since I had skin troubles early they would go away early. Not!

It's pretty common with retinol for skin to get worse before it gets better. Purging, I think, is the term for it.

So I should keep going with the retinol? I really thought it was helping but then suddenly my nose looked worse.