Hi.. long time lurker here, I love mumsnet! English is not my first language, sorry if my phrases sound strange :)
I have been fighting some kind of skin problems all my adult life. Strangely I had great skin as teenager, but since turning about 20, my skin started reacting to everything..I'm 40 now.. :/ Most of the time it's not a big deal, most people probably wouldn't say I have problem skin, but.. it's difficult to put anything on without some kind of reaction: redness, small whiteheads, dullness, dehydration.. Somewhere at the beginning of this year, I decided to find the solution for it. There must be something I can do for my skin.
Things I had luck with at some points in my life:
- Cetaphil Gentle cleanser (currently gives me small bumps and leaves face a bit overly dry)
- LRP Physiological Micellar Water (they discontinued it and made 3 different ones - Ultra etc. that gave me a terrible reaction with lots of reddish whiteheads)
- Some luck with Clarins Extra Comfort Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream and One-Step Facial Cleanser with Orange Extract.
Moisturizers: mostly OK with serums (Double Serum Clarins, Genifique Lancome), some creams (Multi Active Day Cream Clarins)...
My skin is not dry, it's not oily either (it reacts terribly to any harsh product, I can't even use Sebium Micellar water, it makes me all red). I guess it's combination and sensitive.
I tried Avene Mattifying Foam Cleanser and its matching Mattifying Fluid, a few months ago, but it didn't seem to be working.
Meanwhile, I tried OCM with Nuxe cleansing oil and Ultrabland Lush, but it didn't seem to work well on its own. They both seemed to deep cleanse, but then the film they left on my skin made me break out.
So then I just used some Avene foam cleanser to take that film off.
And it seems to be my perfect routine (OCM + foam)! I don't think the foam can cleanse deep enough, but it's great to remove that oily film left on after OCM.
I just wanted to share it here, in case someone has the impossible skin like me.
So currently it's
- cleansing oil (Nuxe rose petals or something, but I believe it can be any cleansing oil)
- Avene mattifying foam
- Avene mattifying fluid
My breakouts cleared up litterally in 2 days.. I didn't have many but it's the first time in a long time it seems that I'm in control.. and not my temperamental skin.
*It seems to be important that this is foam.. and not a gel that I am supposed to make into a foam.. I don't know why that is..
Hope it lasts! And I hope Avene doesn't discontinue these products.. considering my luck with products, this wouldn't surprise me!
Perhaps someone else would like to share the routine that saved your skin..