Skin help again please

[Dhama]

So ages ago I asked for your help advice regarding my skin care (which was minimal)

You were all very helpful and after advice and research I now do the following:

Morning:
cleanse with No7 hydrating melting cleanser
toner is an ELF one, also hydrating
vit c serum - medi8
hyaluronic serum - the ordinary
Boots no7 moisturiser

Evening:
cleanse and tone as above
Boots retinol serum
hyaluronic serum
Boots no7 evening moisturiser

I occasionally have horrific breakouts on my chin, almost blisters rather than spots, is there anything else I can use to help these?

In addition to this rather than making my skin lovely and dewy about once a month I am actually scaly - my skin just seems to flake off, it’s grim, and also seems really hyper sensitive, stinging after the evening routine, even with a really genital moisturiser- the skin under my eyes looks like it’s crinkled/crêpey even.

What can I do to reduce these issues?

Thanks

Dharma

Also can anyone recommend a cheaper vit c serum that works?

You’re putting too much product on and your skin doesn’t like it. Pare right back to a gentle cleanser (if you’re using a balm and a CLEAN flannel each day then you don’t need to exfoliate) and an SPF moisturiser. Stay off the vitamin C for a while and your skin will calm down. Only use hyalauronic acid at nighttime.

The retinol serum might be too strong for you. Only use once per week after your skin has calmed down and never on the same day as vitamin c serum.

The spots sound hormonal. Keep a diary and don’t eat sugar when you have PMS.

Which retinol is it? The highest you can get without prescription is 1% but most drugstore ones are less, so it's probably not the retinol in itself, but the lack of hydration /buffering of the retinol.

Hyaluronic is just a good hydrating product so if you're happy with that, keep going (remember it works on damp skin or it has the opposite effect, although recent research is maybe starting to show that might not be as crucial as was originally thought)

What's in your N7 moisturizer? Which one is it?

I'd ditch the toner, unless it's an acid toner, which it doesn't sound like it is, you don't need one. The moisturizer could be silicon heavy which can cause skin to rub off.

If your breakouts are oily/hormonal then a salicylic acid product.

But for now it sounds as if you've overdone the retinol. I've been using vitamin As for 3 years and built up from entry grade 0.3 to 1% and bow use Tret but only 2-3 times a week.

Re: vitamin C- my favourite is the N7.

Oh- and you don't seem to have an SPF? With vitamin C and retinol- it's an absolute must. Every day.

I post this on every skincare thread so apologies if I posted it on your last one! I really like face theory products and I cannot say enough how much of a difference they made to my skin, particularly spots and oiliness. They have a little quiz to help you find what products suit you.

Your number 7 cleanser is an oil based cleanser? That’s just for taking off makeup. Not actually cleansing your skin. I certainly wouldn’t be using that as my morning cleanse either. My face would be like the Sahara!!

Another one saying too many products. I find Retinol and Vit C quite harsh together sometimes. Controversially I don't cleanse in the morning. But I would switch out the balm and use something with salysilic Acid (can never spell it) and drop any other actives when you have a flare up. Keep it very simple. La Roche Posay do good calming moisturisers

Thank you all!

I will reply in more detail later but I am scaling right back and will see who my skin feels from there.

My moisturiser doesn’t actually have any SPF 🤦🏼‍♀️ I thought it did, it’s the No7 HydraLuminos one, it was a freebie. The cleanser has vit c, e, b5 and grape seed in it, didn’t realise it didn’t actually cleanse!

Laughing at 'genital moisturiser' 🤣
Sorry, I'm such a child.

Tea tree oil for spots or niacinamide.

There’s so little evidence that these products do anything. There is a small amount of evidence that retinol can reduce the signs of aging but it’s not by any significant amount. Honestly, it’s not worth the cost, the sensitive skin or the risk of UV.

Find a gentle cleanser (a moisturising one if you suffer from dry skin), use a gentle moisturise with SPF and see your GP about the spots and bin the rest of the products.

Cereve does a nice range of products that are reasonably priced.

Don’t forget that the cosmetics and pharmacy companies are making billions convincing people like you that their miracle products will give you perfect skin.

That's why all the products suggested to the OP contain proven ingredients like salicylic for the breakouts she's mentioned. The CeraVe you have mentioned is one of them

I would strip it back a little:

Bin the toner
Swap vit c to the medik8 vit c spf and put it at the end of the routine, then you still have vit c but get the much needed spf.

Double cleanse in the evening, ideally an oil based cleanser then water based.
Swap Boots retinol to a retinal (you will need to work up to it as its stronger, I like medik8 crystal )
bin hyaluronic in the evening (not sure I would bother in the day if you use a moisturiser or cleanser with it already on it)

Omg how did I miss this 🤣🤣🤣