Hello, can someone please help?

Hello Jood 👋,

I’m no expert, just a person who’s interested in skincare and likes to help.

First, I’d highly encourage you to eliminate the facial scrub completely. They are not recommended anymore because they can cause small cuts and tears in the skin as well as irritate and worsen redness in the skin barrier. With skincare, it’s recommended to treat the barrier first because a compromised barrier will worsen any other problems. A healthy barrier will help our skin to retain hydration as well as protecting us against environmental irritants and bacteria.

I’d recommend starting a barrier repair routine for a few days to a week or so before beginning to target any other specific issues.

That would mean sticking to the bare basics such as a gentle cleanser, a sunscreen and a barrier repair cream and eliminating all actives.

Here’s an example of what a barrier repair routine for you could look like:

☀️ AM

Gentle Cleanser (Some good ones are Vanicream Gentle Cleanser or La Roche Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser.) Or if your skin isn’t super oily you could even skip the cleanser in the morning and just use Bioderma Micellar Water or just plain water. No wash cloths, no scrubbing. Gentle pat dry with a towel. No rubbing.

Sunscreen: Every day, whether you’re going outside or not, just to get in the habit of it (if you aren’t already doing that.) Purito Daily Soft Touch is a good one.

🌙 PM

Cleanser: Micellar Water (to remove sunscreen) or a very gentle non-irritating cleansing balm (Beauty of Joseon Radiance Cleansing balm is very mild, non-comedogenic and rinses away completely.)

Moisturizer: You could use the Bepanthen Cream you already have.

Once you’ve done this for a few days, you could come back and tell us how it went and then we could talk about which actives to add back in and which ingredients are okay to combine.

Hiya! I'm so sorry you've been feeling lost, I know that feeling all too well and I was struggling with it recently as well, this site is so helpful for ideas, you're in the right place <3

Firstly I'd recommend checking out Dr. Idriss on YouTube if you get a chance. She has tons of informative videos about ingredients and is very upfront about everything. I'm sure she has videos about how to target your skin's needs.

Secondly, as far as thoughts on what you are currently are using, I'm not a big fan of the AXIS serum you're using as it has a large concentration of sodium hyaluronate in it (a form of hyaluronic acid). Before I got on my skincare journey, I almost exclusively used Cerave products which have HA in almost everything they make. I firmly believe HA was the cause of most of my breakouts. My pores cleared up when I took it out of my routine.

Thirdly, I agree with SusieQue on her comments! Definitely do away with the scrub, definitely take it easy on your skin for a bit. I would add a few notes for the am and pm routines she wrote about:

AM

Cleansing: I know it's hard with oily skin not to wash your face with a cleanser in the morning, but if you can avoid it, I would try to only rinse with water and pat dry. It could help regulate your sebum production.

Moisturizing: I'm not sure if you would feel it necessary for your skin type (sounds like you might not need it) I have combination skin, half oily half dry. so I usually have to follow up, after rinsing my face, with a moisturizer to avoid getting bone dry during the day. I use Purito's oat-in calming gel cream.

SPF: Definitely use sunscreen everyday (I like Cotz flawless complexion)

PM

Double cleansing: I agree about using Micellar water to wash off makeup and sunscreen, I use Bioderma's Sensibio micellar water. I then use the Vanicream gentle cleanser to get any remaining gunk off my face and get into my pores. I just switched to Vanicream for my cleanser and I highly recommend it as the first and likely most inexpensive step for you.

Moisturizing: I've never used Bepanthen Cream but it does say on WIMJ that it has a high concentration of a comedogenic ingredient, so I'm not sure if it is good for the issues you're having or not. Might be good to try a non-comedogenic moisturizer instead? The Purito one I mentioned earlier is non comedogenic.

Hopefully all of that helps! Like SusieQue said, if you stick with a routine like that for a bit and are ready to introduce some active ingredients, let us know!