Skin care routine for 13 year-old boy

[AlbertCampion]

My son has really struggled with spots since hitting adolescence. He’s tried all sorts of things and now has a routine which consists of:

Cerave anti-blemish cleanser
The Ordinary niacinamide
The Ordinary Natural Moisurising Factors +HA
La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo with anti-uv

He does this morning and night. His skin is now really smooth and spots have gone. However, he does still have some scarring and redness. He’s using bio oil for the scarring but can anyone recommend anything for the redness? I am concerned that he is already using quite a few products and I don’t want his pores getting clogged or his skin getting overwhelmed.

Thanks for any tips!

Hi, for scarring you could try a glycolic acid toner. REN and The Ordinary make one. Any AHA / BHA product will help the scarring and post inflammatory erythema. Oil free SPF so the pigment doesn’t deepen. Neutrogena make a 70 oil free. Less is more, so a wash and then the SPF. May be a little dry but then you could add in an oil free moisturiser and just use on dry areas. Clean pillow slips every night. I quite like using a Foreo which is a great cleansing tool. Hope this helps, I’m a nurse for what it’s worth who used to have a skin clinic ( and also really poor skin) x

Thanks @peanutbutt this is so useful. Is glycolic acid ok for teenage skin? I’ve read conflicting things!

Sorry for really late reply. Generally yes, you could use it alternate nights first and just test for tolerance. The key is to properly clean the skin, the environment in which spots thrive ( pillow slips, flannels) and no picking. Let the spot erupt, and go away. If it’s unsightly, like a yellow head, I’d try and cover it, rather than squeeze it. A simple spot will come and go and the surrounding skin will be left intact as long as you don’t pick. It’s a psychological shift in thinking as it’s so tempting to pick skin and almost harm it because it’s not behaving the way we want it to.

This advice is for normal problematic teenage skin/ menopausal skin. If skin is painful, cystic, scarring because of the breakouts, then that’s a derm referral. Possibly for some medication like Roaccutane. GP will treat first, following guidelines… antibiotics … pill. They follow a pathway. Hope this helps.

You could try treatments with hypochlorous acid in them. It’s being promoted as having good antibacterial/microbial action while being ‘kind’ to the skin.
A few years ago at a dermatology lecture, it was all about retinol as a treatment for acne. I’m not sure if this advice is up to date though. www.dermatologytimes.com/view/hypochlorous-acid-is-it-just-a-trend-

@AlbertCampion my son is 10 and is getting spots so this is really helpful. Can I ask how he uses the skincare you have listed? Cleanser I understand, what are the benefits to the others? I’m rubbish at skincare but really want my son to not go through the teenage spots/bad skin that I did!
And does your son do this morning & evening?

My apologies, I didn’t read all your post. I’ve just realised that your son doesn’t have active acne 🤦‍♀️.
I hope that you find your solution 😊