At my wits end with skincare that doesn’t work

[Gollumgolightly]

Does anyone else feel despite using all the commonly recommended products; their skin is no better for it?

Am seriously debating ditching the lot and just using soap and water…

I’ve put a lot of effort (and I fear, far too much money) into trying to improve my skin over the years. The brands have changed from time to time but my routing has been something like this for a while now:

am: La Roche Posay wash, vitamin c serum (currently the ordinary L-ascorbic 8%). Cerave moisturiser and La Roche Posay 50+ sunscreen.

pm: cleansing balm, La Roche posay face wash, alternate nights using Tretinoin followed by LRP Cicaplast which helps with the peeling. On the nights when not using tretinoin I’ll use Superdrug 2% bha toner.

My nose is perpetually red (been like this my whole life) large pores blackheads and filaments.

My forehead is now brimming with blocked pores as is my chin and now some of my cheeks aswell.

Despite religious sunscreen use and avoiding sun/seeking shade and using hats … pigmentation spots continue to worsen.

and spots … anywhere really but I find the ones on the neck the most embarrassing.

After being so careful and putting in so much effort it really gets me down that my skin still looks rubbish and is getting worse - not better.

I wasn’t blessed with an attractive face (called ugly a lot in my youth and now more commonly receive veiled comments like ‘you have strong features’). I thought at least if I had decent skin I might feel a bit better about my face.

So, please come and tell me if you have tried all the supposed holy grail skincare products and then decided to ditch it all in favour of letting nature take its course… and saving a heap of time and money in the process. Are you glad you did? Did it actually make any difference to your skin?

This sounds like me. My nose was perpetually red until a few years ago. People always commented on it when I wasn't wearing make up. Made me so self conscious. I've found salicylic acid to be the only thing that counters the redness and the acne. I know it's working because I couldn't get hold of it recently and it was all back!

Routine:

Morning
La Roche posay effaclar micro peeling face wash.
La Roche posay effaclar clarifying lotion everywhere. Great for clearing make up.
La Roche posay effaclar duo+ blemish treatment on my nose and chin.
dermalogica vitamin c serum on everywhere else, not on my nose.
Clinique moisture surge everywhere else, avoiding nose.
Amber solaire face fluid spf50, avoiding nose.

Evening
Same La Roche products.
Estee lauder night repair, avoiding nose.

I don't know any man who does anything other than wash his face with soap and water and possibly put on SPF if he goes to the beach. I have never noticed men's skin being worse than women's. Yes skin care is a con. Feel free to stop. Nothing will change except you will have more time and money

I went through a period of trying lots of things, and found some products gave me terrible spots. Now I have stripped back my routine and my skin is very calm. I use

Cereve hydrating cleanser
Pixie glow tonic as a gentle exfoliant
Cereve serum, the blue moisturiser and eye cream

I think the peels might be irritating your skin. Cicaplast is incredibly rich and likely clogging your pores - it is a great emergency product for dry patches in the winter though!

I spent time.looking into all the acids and it just got too complicated for me.

Old.fsshioned but when I has terrible pored in my 29s I was told to use toner. It really helped and I only stopped well into my 30s.

I use a cleansing balm at night followed by a hyaluronic acid serum (I like the neutrogena ones which aren't expensive). Sometimes i also use clarins double serum which is a great all rounder, albeit expensive. Then moisterizer - currently using the Sali Hughes cream drench (cheap).

Morning I don't usually bother to clean with more than water unless there's a reason - and then just use Simple micellar water. I do exfoliate in the shower about once a week - either the neutrogena one or the clarins orange one.

Then vitamin c serum (the Murad one is pricey but really gives me that votamin c glow) then Sali Hughes again.

I use an acid exfoliate before my shower every 2 weeks or so and occasionally use the Clarins Facial Peel which really is a miracle product.

Body shop vitamin c spf.

I feel like I have all the important stuff without the complexities of specific high level acids that can be used wrong.

I wouldn’t go straight to only water but a cleanser such as Cetaphil with a moisturiser and the spf you use might honestly give your skin a break. I had a similar skin regime but it was just a battle between good skin days and horror movie skin (I have desert dry roseacea prone skin). Much as I loved my liquid gold and toners, I had to accept they weren’t doing what I wanted them to. Best of luck op, I hope you find something that works

Maybe the oil cleansing method? See here

theoilcleansingmethod.com

Sorry if this had already been mentioned as I haven't read the responses, but have you tried any lasers? BBL is great for sun damage/pigmentation and redness/veins, and VBeam laser is great for redness/veins/rosacea. I've used both and they've treated my skin well, especially the tiny veins all over my face which made my nose look gross and red.

If your nose is perpetually red, do you have roseacea?

I am wondering if you are treating the wrong thing and just pissing off your skin. All those things you are seeing as spots and blocked pores and exfoliating the crap out of - could they be acne roseacea and not acne that needs exfoliation.

I think you may just be making the problem worse. Money spent seeing a dermatologist would be well spent as currently you are chucking it down the drain and making yourself miserable.

My skin was really congested and the 2 changes I found that seemed to make the biggest difference were doing the 2nd cleanse with a Salicylic acid cleanser and amber solaire face fluid for spf as it doesn’t clog pores.

I love the Bravura London stuff, on days I wear makeup I double cleanse, first with first cleanse oil then the volcanic mud cleanser (on non makeup days I just use the oil) then I use ginseng acid toner (I think they do other ones for different skin types) followed by the hyaluronic acid serum. My skin doesn't like their moisturisers so I tend to buy whatever's on offer in Boots but my skin has really settled with Bravura stuff, they sell acid peels too but I've never bothered with them.

I am currently using an argan oil cleanser from Waitrose, their balance me moisturiser, with the Charlotte Tilberry serum and my skin hasn't felt better in ages. I also take Wellwoman multivitamin. No idea if this makes any difference.

I find using too much on my skin makes me blotchy. I can recommend Ren products highly too.

Try using another sunscreen. Stop the Tret for a while and use a glyc. acid for the stains or see a dermatologist (probably cheaper in the long run). It's July, you could probably use a break from the Tret. as it's too sunny.

That's a shame you are already double cleansing, I came here to say that for years I've suffered with not acne but skin that is both dry and congested and didn't know how the hell to treat it. I never washed my face with water as it always seemed to make it worse and had heard it recommended to not use water.

How long have you used the cleansers? I feel like with your routine being quite solid on paper you shouldn't have so much congestion. And sorry if I missed it but you've mentioned your treatments for pm but what moisturiser do you use?

I second ren - the Global protection day cream is one of the best moisturiser's I've ever used, it's a little out of my price range but I think I will buy it as it's that good

The global protection is the one I use too @Dreamwhisper . Pricey but so good!

I wish I'd done it years ago. It took 3 weeks for me to see an improvement and about 6 for a massive improvement. I get compliments on my skin now!

I think you may have sensitive skin and rosacea.

After having my son I suffered with awful skin so tried all sorts and my skin just seemed to get worse the more things I tried.

I scaled back to just a foaming sensitive cleanser from body shop and a oil free moisturiser for evening and a moisturising spf for daytime. Skin got better within a couple of weeks and then after a couple of months I introduced pixi glow tonic which I use just twice a week, thu eve and sun eve.

Only other thing I do is use niamacide now when I am due and on my period

My skin os so much better. If recommend scaling back everything and getting a cleanser, moisturiser and spf for sensitive skin and just using those for a few weeks before adding anything additional

I read something that said aim for healthy skin not blemish free and that really stuck. I still get the odd spot but my skin looks and feels healthy

Thanks to all for your comments and tips.

I’ll scale everything back as suggested and try looking for a different sunscreen (I’ve been using the LRP one for years) and see if that makes a difference.

I’d like to keep going with the tretinoin if at all possible (maybe avoid the nose) but will reduce this aswell. Hopefully, then, I shouldn’t need the Cicaplast to combat the peeling.

If there’s no improvement, I’ll just go back to a simple wash and light moisturiser, ditch the rest and let nature take its course.

Agree with PP about mens skin. It’s a really good point!

thanks again x

I only use Senegence products and didn't have a skincare routine prior to finding them. My skin feels the best it's ever been. They're pricey but at my age I feel they're worth it!

You are using too many acids and things. For clogged pores I swear by the loreal charcoal face mask. I use it once a week and as it dries you can literally see the black heads coming out .

I have really good skin but the key is consistent skincare. I never used to have good skin and I have dry, red very sensitive skin. The type of skin you have effects what skincare you should use. I always double cleanse at night (doesn’t really matter what cleanser you use as long first as long as the second one is not a facial wipe but something you have to actually massage into skin) but I would recommend muslin clothes to wipe your face as they help exfoliate . These are pretty cheap from Amazon. Always put cream on morning and night and spf in the morning. I do other skin care mixed in during the week but this depends on what my skin needs. Overtime you will learn wether your skin feels tight so needs more hydration or not. In the mornings I only wipe my face with cotton bud and toner as I have sensitive skin (if I over cleanse it gets red and sore) unless I’ve exercised and then I’ll use a cleanser to get the sweat off.
Once a week (I usually do a Sunday but any day is fine) I do a double cleanse, then the Elemis enzime peal (gentle chemical exfoliator) followed by the ordinary salicylic acid 2% mask (I only do the salicylic mask on my nose and chin area as that is where I get spots and blackheads, I use a more gentle mud mask on the rest of my face (all at at the same time) L’Oréal do some nice ones on Amazon or boots, lastly I use a thin layer of a moisturizing/hydrating mask, this could a sheet mask, laneige water sleeping mask or embryolisse mask; all of these are pretty cheap. I pretty much guarantee if you do the above within a month you will notice a difference. The problem with skin care is it takes time. There have been times when I have gone on holiday for a week and have been quite lax in my skin care or once a week I haven’t had have time to do the Elemis chemical exfoliating and mud mask and I really see a difference in my skin and I can feel when I touch it that it’s not soft anymore and it’s more bumpy with more blemishes. The other issue you have is that if your skin is red and you have lots of blemishes sometimes you want to use more acidic products but this can backfire and make the problem worse. Slow and steady will work.

I use supergoop SPF, not cheap but feels really nice. I use it over my morning cream and under makeup as a primer.

I just wash my face with water. Always have done except about three months as a teenager when I adopted a skincare regime and it gave me spots. My dc have done the same. The only thing that goes on my face is some moisturiser with spf15 in the summer and plain Nivea cream in the autumn and winter. My skin is excellent.

Strip it all back. I dabbled a bit with skincare but it is a load of old fakery really. I wash my face with a Sainsbury's face wash in the shower AM. Bit of moisturiser (usually LRP). At night I take my makeup off with an oil and a flannel, then Burt's Bees face wash. Vit C serum. I have dry skin but even I would only use the Cicaplast in the dead of winter for very chapped chops!

I had congestion and really big, painful under the skin spots and tried everything including about 5 steps of skincare.
One day a beauty therapist pointed out that I and women in general , have much finer pores than men and overstimulation leads to blocked pores, congestion and acne.
Then you can be sold more products for that 😠
Its all a huge con!
I went cold turkey, used Lush Ultrabland twice daily and nothing elseat all for 3 months.Very gentle, minimal handling.
Perfectly clear skin.
I use shea soap now, Retinol sometimes and daily SPF
If I ever over do it or used extra products I break out.