Skincare - am I doing something wrong?

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I've started trying to take my skincare routine a bit more seriously. First 2 weeks my skin was glowing and now we're 5 weeks down and I'm pretty spotty. Every few days a new fat spot appearing somewhere on my face. I can't work out if something in my skincare isn't working or I'm using things together that aren't appropriate

AM: cleanse (Elemis wash), medik8 PHA toner, ordinary peptide eye serum, ordinary hyaluronic acid serum then alternate daily with Elemis pro collagen cream or Nivea soft

PM: cleanse (Elemis cleansing balm then wash), medik8 PHA toner, ordinary peptide eye serum, Estée Lauder night serum then alternate daily with Elemis pro collagen cream or Nivea soft

I use the sleep in collagen masks every 10 days or so too.

I've recently come off contraception so my periods are absolutely all over the place (last cycle was 15 days) so I'm not sure if it's all hormonal?

Some of the stuff I've been using is starting to run out and it's all pretty expensive so I could do with making sure nothing is interacting before forking out a fortune and still looking a mess!

With a new skincare routine you will have a purging phase, that’s normal for a few weeks.

potentially reduce the pha toner to once a day, 3 times a week. Currently you’re basically exfoliating twice a day, every day! This can be damaging your skin barrier.

how would you describe your skin before you started this routine?

I agree with pp but it could also be something in one of the products doesn’t agree with you, could be something as simple as the fragrance they add. I’d always recommend fragrance free products.

Hormonal spots are usually on the chin/lower part of the face.

Also - If it’s the advanced night repair you’re starting to run out of, look at manyo bifida biome ampoule, its much much cheaper but has more of the main ANR ingredient in!

Anything with hyaluronic acid in gives me spots like the ones you’re getting. It just doesn’t suit my skin.

Acnecide cream gets rid of them pretty quickly.

Nivea Soft gives me gorgeous skin for a couple of weeks then irritates.

I'm not great with hyaluronic acid either.

As above, reduce the PHA toner and poss the hyaluronic and see if that makes a difference. Hyaluronic is a bit marmite for a lot of people.
And think about adding SPF to your am routine.

Prescription Tret is the holy grail for pm routine but you need to build up and you’ll likely purge. Shout me if you’d like a Dermatica referral code.

Amazing. Thank you everyone. I'll drop the toner to every other day and stop the hylauronic acid for a few days to see if that improves things. The spots are on my chin & cheeks, mostly cheeks I think

I actually had clear skin before all this, barely got a spot apart from the odd chin pimple. It was just a bit dull so I started this routine thinking it would add a bit of life to my face (also a lot of it came with the lookfantastic advent calendar)

Ah thank you for this recommendation! That's a much more reasonable price. Some of these things are eye watering expensive!

I love hylauronic acid serum but you do need to put it on damp skin.

Cheeks suggests skin barrier damage to me!
I get on with hyaluronic just fine but don’t find it mindblowing.

theres an element of going back to basics, particularly if your skin is very damaged but i also found that my skin responded very well to soothing nourishing ingredients, and definitely likes lighter textures rather than rich moisturisers - most people’s skin is dehydrated (but not dry, there’s a difference between the two). I was told to stop the exfoliating acids totally for a couple of months, I started using the manyo stuff and a centella serum (currently skin1004) which is good for soothing, redness and barrier repair, that’s made a massive difference for me. I now only use an acid a couple of times a month around the skin on my nose which can get a bit congested.

echoing a previous poster, you definitely need an spf, particularly after using an acid.

I think you are doing too much.
Ditch the toner.
Stick to the same cream ie Nivea and ditch the Estée Lauder. So you are not changing every other day.
Ditch the collagen mask.

In the day swap the moisturiser for a spf. Eucerin is good or garnier.

Cheek spots can be too much sugar in your diet. And chin spots are hormonal.

I had great skin but decided to treat myself to some expensive skin care, I was doing 3 products in morning and 4 in the evening, like you I kept getting huge spots but carried on with it wanting to prevent aging etc, after 4 months of the skin care routine and bad skin I decided to just use warm water and flannel and my trusty moisturiser (kiehls) and then in the evening I used a cleanser (take the day off Clinique) and then my moisturiser and 3 weeks later my skin was back to its usual clear self.

I think sometimes we can over do it and strip the goodness from our skin.

If you had okay/good skin before I'd honestly just stop with all of these products. X

Very grateful for everyone's help with this. Since Saturday I've cut everything back and only double cleanse and moisturise with Nivea morning and night and my skin has completely cleared. Saved myself a fortune too as I was about to buy all of this again! Thanks everyone!

Glad your skin has cleared up. If you’re looking to reintroduce any actives, definitely introduce them slowly and just one at a time for a few weeks until you establish whether your skin agrees with it.

For an acid toner once a day is enough, and build up how many days. I use medik8 press & glow in the morning which is very gentle.

if your skin is clear, vitamin c is good for giving a lift. I like medik8 or Sunday Riley, but there are lots of options. I use that just once a day in the morning, as I use retinol in the evening and they do not play nicely together.

i don’t find hyaluronic acid does much, but definitely needs to be applied to damp skin.

double cleanse at night only (from your last post it sounds like you do mornings and night, but I might have picked that up wrong).

definitely add a stand alone spf (there’s not enough in spf moisturisers, foundations etc. for it to be really effective).

if anti ageing is your goal, retinol, but build up slowly. Don’t use retinol without a separate spf, even in the winter though.

i do gravitate towards medik8 products a lot, you can often pick up on offer at lookfantastic, cult beauty etc. but The Ordinary is a good budget option.

Yeah it's the press & glow I was using but at least twice a day. Sometimes 3 times if I'd been to the gym and washed my face after that. No wonder it was ruined 😂.

I only double cleanse at night and just use face wash in the morning.

I really want to try a retinol but have never found a "good" time to start where I don't mind the initial purge and peeling etc. Plus I get Botox so a lot of my anti-aging comes fro that.

I'm so pleased I posted in here before buying all the stuff again and making my skin worse.

I'm normally good with a factor 50 but I've really slacked recently. I'll get back on either that though!

I have a very dry skin and Hyaluronic acid just sits there on the surface. I prefer vitamin c for glowy look, and I've had lots of success with glycolic acid. But I only cleanse once a day (evenings) as I'd strip my skin way too much even if I had a gentle cleanser. I do change my pillowcase really frequently.

Agree with others, if you reintroduce something, do one thing at a time and 3-4 times a week. If you want a brighter skin, maybe vitamin C serum might work better.