Hi! Could you please give opinion about my skin routine, the serums and facial cream are new. I have combination skin, T-zone is often oily but at the same time skin is dehydrated. I live in a climate that has very cold winters and mild summers. Skin feels after a wash and in the mornings itchy and tight. On the summer I use spf 50 but right now we have almost no sunny days, so I mostly skip it.
Thank you!
Jaanika
Thank you for your answer!
I also have the ordinary retinol 0.5% in squalane - would you recommend it? I prefer organic and natural brands, just somehow trust them more, so I would be very happy if you could recommend good organic cosmetic lines.
What about the daily moisturizer, which one would be better? Did I understood correctly AM: spf, moisturizer and no serum; PM: milder cleanser, anti aging retinol serum or treatment, night cream?
Also, most of the products that you recommended are unfortunately not available in Estonia and ordering from UK/US is usually not worth it.
Lastly, I have often clogged pores on chin, are all the recommended products non clogging (my dermatalogist said that I have acne prone skin on chin).
Thank you so much for your time and effort!
Jaanika
Tere 😃🇪🇪!
Yes, the ordinary retinol is good - you can use it in the PM, after cleansing, instead of the Paula's choice product I've recommended in the example routine.
For a moisturizer, here are a couple of more options, hope at least some will be available to you:
https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/la-roche-posay-toleriane-toleriane-ultra-night-cream-for-face
https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/clinique-moisture-surge-intense-skin-fortifying-hydrator
You do not have to use a moisturizer in the morning if you are using a sunscreen. For some people, their sunscreen can be moisturizing enough (I sometimes only use a sunscreen, but on other days, when my skin feels dryer, I first use a moisturizer and sunscreen then). And yes, I don't think you need a serum in your AM. You can use your lactic acid product a couple of times a week though if you see a benefit in your skin from it (it would go on before the mositurizer/sunscreen). And yes, for PM, milder cleanser, anti aging retinol serum/treatment, and moisturizer should work well for you.
These products should not clog your pores. Sunscreens sometimes do - but not using a sunscreen means premature signs of aging, so it is still worth finding one that works for you and you can wear regularly. Also, the good news is that a retinol serum will help to reduce the pore clogging. You could also add a product with salicylic acid (it help exfoliate inside the skin pores) just in your chin area a couple of times per week - here are a few options (maybe you can buy it once your lactic acid product runs out):
- https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/the-ordinary-salicylic-acid-2-anhydrous-solution
- https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/paulas-choice-daily-pore-refining-treatment-with-2-bha
- https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/la-roche-posay-effaclar-k-renovating-care-for-oily-skin
Re organic & natural brands, it is just marketing unfortunately. "Organic" might make sense with food in some cases, but it is not safer in any way in cosmetics. If anything, natural materials grown organically for cosmetics is an unnecessary burden for the environment (organic agriculture is way more resource-intense than conventional one, it uses way more farmland, water etc.). But you do you of course!
Hello again!
So I have made some changes in my routine:
AM:
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Night Cream for Face (because my face is so dry right now)
Bionike no shine fluid SPF 50+
PM:
Bioderma sensibio h2o micellar water
Paula's choice retinol Booster (the one you recommended, I use it every other day, not daily).
La Roche Posay Toleriane Ultra Night Cream for Face
But my face feels even more itchier than before and it has started to get a bit red too. It seems like the Night Cream is not helping at all and sometimes I feel a little bit (very little) that it burns some small spots. Same for the Paula's Choice Booster. My skin feels very uncomfortable and dry after 20 minutes already.. and I have no idea how to help my skin. What would you recommend?
The weather is still freezing and due to that the inside climate is dry. I have noticed that my skin gets even drier during these months.
All the best
Jaanika
Hello! Sorry your skin feels uncomfortable - sounds like it's too much for your skin barrier and maybe there is an ingredient / combo you are particularly reacting to.
Please stop retinol booster for a couple of weeks until your skin gets restored and not dry any more.
Also, please make sure you rinse the micellar water with tap water after application to make sure no residue remain.
It would also make sense to switch to a mineral-based sunscreen (it has lower risk of irritation), for example, this one: https://whatsinmyjar.com/product/ultrasun-face-mineral-spf50-by-ultrasun. (More options: https://whatsinmyjar.com/search/sunscreens/mineral-sunscreens?sortBy=Irritancy&sortBy=Promises%20fulfilled).
You can also apply this balm at night to speed up the skin barrier recovery: https://whatsinmyjar.com/search/sunscreens/mineral-sunscreens?sortBy=Irritancy&sortBy=Promises%20fulfilled.
If you can get a humidifier for your room, it would help as well.
Hello, again! I removed all the irritants from my skincare. I've been using daily:
La Roche-Posay Toleraine Ultra Night (morning and nevening)
SVR B3 HYDRA Serum (morning and evening)
ULltrasun Mineral SPF 50 (morning)
Eucerin DermatoClean Hyaluron Cleansing Milk (evening)
My skin feels finally moisturized and not tight.
I tried last evening to use your recommended Paula's Choice Retinol and Bakuchiol Treatment.. In the morning my face was partly red and very itchy, I also had some kind of rash. Now I have no idea what could have caused it (it contains C-vitamin, retinol, bakuchiol, peptides). What would you recommend to do next? I also haven't been using any exfoliator, could you recommend any?
Thank you so much for your help!
I added a photo of my rash to the original post.
I would recommend wearing a daily SPF (broad spectrum sun protection) even if it's not sunny - you can go for SPF 30 to get lighter textures, but any sunlight that reaches your skin through clouds and even windows (if you are sitting close to them) ages your skin. Daily sun protection is the no.1 thing you can do for anti-aging.
To help with with dehydration, itchiness & tightness, I think you'd need to decrease the irritancy of your routine. Unfortunately, it would mean changing your moisturizer - the one you have now can be irritating (sorry I know it's new and it hurts to put it aside!). The same unfortunately goes for the Evolve Organic Hyaluronic Acid Serum - I suspect it would do more harm than good for your dehydrated skin.
You might also benefit from a more gentle cleanser.
5% lactic acid might also be a little bit too much for using on your skin every day, so I'd recommend applying it every second day instead.
I am a little bit torn about your "Bio Retinol" serum. Bakuchiol (it's main active) is a great ingredient that has benefits similar to a retinol, but with less irritation. But then it contains fragrance that increases the irritation risk back up. So the question is, wouldn't it be better to use a retinol serum without fragrance instead? But since the serum is new, maybe it's worth giving it a try in the updated routine - it could be that with all the other products being fragrance-free and milder, your skin would be fine with the serum.
This is how I'd edit your routine (I've added another product instead of the Evolve Organic Serum so you can have an option in case you feel that the Evolve product isn't working well): https://whatsinmyjar.com/skincare-routines/public/3229