Hi!! I feel like my routine is kind of excessive and might be irritating my skin? I use a lot of products because I like them all, but I probably don’t need EVERYTHING that I’ve been using. I have pretty dry/sensitive, easily irritated, usually dehydrated combination skin, with occasional hormonal acne, and most products sting around the sides of my nose and under-eye area. I use all the products I have that don’t sting, but occasionally my skin will be extra sensitive and I’ll have to stop something (like the COSRX snail mucin). I’m probably using too many exfoliations, so I might space out the toner pads. My skin loves hyaluronic acid, and most centella products (except for the SKIN1004 regular centella ampoule which burned) and I’ve been doing okay with the amount of niacinamide that I’ve been using. I just wanted some insight on what products I should actually use every day, that won’t cause excessive irritation, and won’t be layering the same ingredients over and over. My holy grails would be the Naturie skin conditioner, the cleanser and toner, the Numbuzin No.1 toner, and the Torriden Dive-In serum. Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated!
What do I ACTUALLY need?
Hey, looks like you’ve learned what ingredients your skin enjoys but are likely incorporating a lot of similar products into your routine to the extent you are giving it too much! I have the same skin type and issues so maybe I can help.
To add on to Susie’s awesome advice, once you’ve given your skin barrier a rest, I’d recommend still keeping the products you introduce again to a minimum and restrict yourself to one toner, then a serum. See how your skin feels after those two added because overall, either an ampoule or essence is best filling the role in your routine with an ingredient not already in your other products. They also add to a lower concentration of an ingredient you’re using already.
A single mask product is nice, I’d introduce it last once you’ve seen how your skin feels with those others as you establish a basic routine. If I notice my skin looks like it needs a boost, one mask a week for starters is all I need (2 per week at max to not overdo it).
For a mask 1x a week I’d say the Mary & May Hyaluronic Panthenol Mask sounds nice (more moisturizing vs. the Skinfood one which has sensitizing ingredients)
Here’s how I would go about a routine after reintroducing basic products you own:
AM:
(Optional Cleanse)
Illiyoon Ceramide ATO Lotion or Naturie Hatomugi Skin Lotion (this can depend on your sunscreen or if your skin needs more or less moisture. The Illiyoon one is my pick, especially as your reintroductory product)
Sunscreen
PM for the 3ish weeks of barrier repair:
Round Lab Dokdo Cleanser
Illiyoon Ceramide ATO Lotion or Naturie Hatomugi Skin Lotion (I’d stick to the Ceramide ATO as my pick in PM too while the skin barrier heals. After a couple weeks, evaluate how things feel when you wake up and throughout the day.)
After your 3 weeks (or so) of repair:
Same as before for AM!
PM:
Round Lab Dokdo Cleanser
Evaluate the moisturizer pick, does it feel dry using whichever moisturizer you chose (Illiyoon or Naturie)? If so, you could pair them together as your nightly moisturizer and test them for a couple weeks. You can gradually add other products that help with moisture, sensitivity and acne in the future.
Obviously toning is a step many do in their routine before applying heavier products, it’s up to you if you want to implement one into your routine before or after adding one of the PM moisturizers (if you don’t choose to combine Illiyoon and Naturie lotions):
A. Illiyoon Ceramide ATO Lotion alone (only if Naturie is your daytime choice) which can be even more moisturizing with the added eventual benefit of a toner or serum or:
B. One of the heavier moisturizers, the Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream (very moisturizing) or Skin 1004 Tea-Trica Cream (my pick) for calming acne, very light exfoliation and moisturizing. These both include sensitizing ingredients.
You have many toners listed in your routine so narrowing down to one product is all we need to not overdo it for your skin:
A. Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing or Nambuzin Pure-full Calming toner are pretty similar and will work AM or PM (try just once a day for a week or so) and they incorporate well into any pick of moisturize for calming acne, inflammation and light moisture. My pick is the Anua one for your reintro to toner.
B. Torriden Balanceful Toning Pad or Parnell Cicamanu Cotton Clear Pad or Mediheal Madecassoside Blemish Pad are pretty similar too, as they have some mild exfoliants. Use in PM. Any of these have multiple beneficial ingredients. The Torriden pad would be my nighttime pick.
I think you’d overdo the dose of moisture the COSRX Full Fit Propolis Synergy Toner or the Round Lab 1025 Dokdo one contain, unless you use them in the daytime only with Naturie as your moisturizer. If you live in a climate with heavy winters either can work but for now they may be too much with heavier moisturizer picks as first toner. The Pyunkang Yul Essence toner isn’t as useful as other choices.
The serum I would implement last is the COSRX Peptide Skin Booster (my pick) or maybe the Purito Glacto Niacin 97 Power Essence. You have some Niacinamide in other products and 10 percent of that is pretty much the ideal amount so with all your product picks combined, the Essence may not be necessary.
Remember to take your time and keep it simple. There are lots of products out there that aren’t always necessarily what our skin needs!
Thank you so much for the thorough reply!! I’m definitely going to give my skin a break for a while, and I love the breakdown of products and recommendations you wrote. I think I have a habit of trying to use everything at once to try to heal the irritation but I’m probably just making it worse lol. Thank you again!!
Hi 👋. It sounds like your skin barrier might be impaired. Consider cutting out everything but the basics (Cleanser, Moisturizer and Sunscreen) for 1 to 3 weeks.
Then, once your barrier has healed, you could choose your top skincare concern and add back in a product that targets that. I suggest using it for a while (1 to 6 weeks) noting how it affects your skin before deciding whether or not you want to continue it.
Add products slowly, over time, remembering that more is not more.
Best wishes!