Skincare - let's sperg about routines and products

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Rice milk mask.

Its what all the gooks in Korea use. Any other form of skincare is inferior
Wash my face with rice-rinse-water. Got it.
Going through a very bad ''KP'' flair on my arms and legs. Can anyone recommend products for it that won't lead to body acne?
Trust the others for help, but I also like doing coffee scrubs once a month.
 
Anyone have any suggestions for overly thickened skin on the front of the shins? Mine get a subtle cracked pattern particularly in the winter, not really raised and dry but more resembling stretch mark scars.
I also get cracked/calloused heels easily, but I fix that with a.. unorthodox method that doesn't work on more delicate skin.
 
Anyone have any suggestions for overly thickened skin on the front of the shins? Mine get a subtle cracked pattern particularly in the winter, not really raised and dry but more resembling stretch mark scars.
I also get cracked/calloused heels easily, but I fix that with a.. unorthodox method that doesn't work on more delicate skin.


Korean “Italy towel”

They’re cheap (find at Asian stores or online) and you don’t need any special products other than the mitt. You take a warm bath or long shower, no soap then get out of the water and when your skin is still kinda tacky you scrub. Best physical exfoliation ever. I get so much dead skin off every time I do it and it it has helped Keratosis pilaris that I get on my arms.

There’s “tutorials” and tips online but it’s fairly straight forward. Just make sure you use moisturizer afterwards.
 
I'd count myself lucky I haven't had any major skin issues before, at least nothing not already covered in this thread by others. Having said that, at the start of the year I had a bad breakout and in response changed up my routine a bit. I'm used to spots and whiteheads around the nose and cheek area and while it's been largely clear there in recent weeks, I've been getting persistent blemishes on my forehead and sides of my face for the first time. Even if there isn't a blackhead or spot in the middle (maybe it's recently gone away) I can see patches of redness when looking at those parts of my face.

Last year I would have used a cleanser once a day and in morning and night would have just put on a bit of moisturiser, which was far from perfect but since i didnt face any big obstacles i had no reason to stop. Having said that my January was pretty rough, with spots coming up all over the place and refusing to go away. Persisting as I was wasnt going to improve things.
I've now settled on the below routine for the last few weeks and while I've had fewer blemishes I find the remaining ones to be quite noticeable particularly in the morning. Let me know if I should change anything:

Morning:
CeraVe SA Smoothing cleanser: as it foams up massage into face for about a minute, then rinse off.

The Ordinary 10% Niacinamide: 2 drops and lightly pat onto the face and neck area.

CeraVe moisturising cream for dry to very dry skin: rub a pea-sized amount into hands and then massage evenly into face.

Night: the same as morning, typically just before bed

The niacinamide is a new addition and I picked it up last week in response to my current situation. Should I keep going for another couple weeks or is there anything glaring about this routine?
 
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I'd count myself lucky I haven't had any major skin issues before, at least nothing not already covered in this thread by others. Having said that, at the start of the year I had a bad breakout and in response changed up my routine a bit. I'm used to spots and whiteheads around the nose and cheek area and while it's been largely clear there in recent weeks, I've been getting persistent blemishes on my forehead and sides of my face for the first time. Even if there isn't a blackhead or spot in the middle (maybe it's recently gone away) I can see patches of redness when looking at those parts of my face.

Last year I would have used a cleanser once a day and in morning and night would have just put on a bit of moisturiser, which was far from perfect but since i didnt face any big obstacles i had no reason to stop. Having said that my January was pretty rough, with spots coming up all over the place and refusing to go away. Persisting as I was wasnt going to improve things.
I've now settled on the below routine for the last few weeks and while I've had fewer blemishes I find the remaining ones to be quite noticeable particularly in the morning. Let me know if I should change anything:

Morning:
CeraVe SA Smoothing cleanser: as it foams up massage into face for about a minute, then rinse off.

The Ordinary 10% Niacinamide: 2 drops and lightly pat onto the face and neck area.

CeraVe moisturising cream for dry to very dry skin: rub a pea-sized amount into hands and then massage evenly into face.

Night: the same as morning, typically just before bed

The niacinamide is a new addition and I picked it up last week in response to my current situation. Should I keep going for another couple weeks or is there anything glaring about this routine?

Have you been using this moisturizer for long without changing brands? The absence of blackheads would suggest your redness and blemishes aren't being caused by clogged pores but possible irritation in response to a newly introduced chemical in your products. Consider going through each of your products to test which one is irritating your skin.

Also afaik your night routine doesn't have to be the exact same as your morning routine, I'd suggest changing up your nightly routine to use more nourishing products and a softer cleanser than what you're using during your morning. Also make sure to check if something in your make up remover, soap or serums could be irritating your skin.
 
Have you been using this moisturizer for long without changing brands? The absence of blackheads would suggest your redness and blemishes aren't being caused by clogged pores but possible irritation in response to a newly introduced chemical in your products. Consider going through each of your products to test which one is irritating your skin.

Also afaik your night routine doesn't have to be the exact same as your morning routine, I'd suggest changing up your nightly routine to use more nourishing products and a softer cleanser than what you're using during your morning. Also make sure to check if something in your make up remover, soap or serums could be irritating your skin.
I've been using the same moisturiser for about 6 months and haven't had any complaints (aside from the lack of SPF in it but its winter at least), I used to use the CeraVe green brand cleanser (for sensitive skin) which is literally the softer version of the cleanser Im using now. For the couple months I was using it I didn't feel like it was doing much for me and when i erupted at the beginning of the year thats when I really began to lose faith, so I have swapped to using the current cleanser for just over a month.

Maybe I should add that everywhere there is redness there were blackheads around those areas before. For example 2 weeks ago there was a breakout by my cheekbone and while it has mostly cleared up now I just notice there's patchy redness remaining.
 
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I hate being 23 and still having terrible acne. It’s actually worse than it was when I was a teenager. None of my peers have this problem, just me. It makes me feel like the ugliest woman alive.

I’ve tried probably every over the counter skin care product that exists and nothing works even slightly. The latest one I’ve tried was silicone scar gel, doesn’t work, and a retinol, made it worse. I just don’t know what else to try, and I’m scared of accutane.
 
I hate being 23 and still having terrible acne. It’s actually worse than it was when I was a teenager. None of my peers have this problem, just me. It makes me feel like the ugliest woman alive.

I’ve tried probably every over the counter skin care product that exists and nothing works even slightly. The latest one I’ve tried was silicone scar gel, doesn’t work, and a retinol, made it worse. I just don’t know what else to try, and I’m scared of accutane.
You could go for spirolactone. If you are a woman, as it's only for women.
I'm 27 this year and still get acne, so I doubt it gets better with age. Even though it seems to be less after 2 courses of accutane. I'm male though, and accutane gives males less side effects.
 
I hate being 23 and still having terrible acne. It’s actually worse than it was when I was a teenager. None of my peers have this problem, just me. It makes me feel like the ugliest woman alive.

I’ve tried probably every over the counter skin care product that exists and nothing works even slightly. The latest one I’ve tried was silicone scar gel, doesn’t work, and a retinol, made it worse. I just don’t know what else to try, and I’m scared of accutane.
Tret. Nothing helped me like tret. Go to a dermatologist.

They told me to use only cerave/cetaphil gentle wash and moisturizers in addition to tret and dapsone but I started seeing a ton of improvement when I used cetaphil scrub in the morning. Use sunscreen every single day. Dermalogica spf mattifying works great for me.

Also stop taking anything with biotin in it, and never sleep on the same side of a pillow case twice.
 
I hate being 23 and still having terrible acne. It’s actually worse than it was when I was a teenager. None of my peers have this problem, just me. It makes me feel like the ugliest woman alive.

I’ve tried probably every over the counter skin care product that exists and nothing works even slightly. The latest one I’ve tried was silicone scar gel, doesn’t work, and a retinol, made it worse. I just don’t know what else to try, and I’m scared of accutane.
If you can’t go to a derm, I would recommend Apostrophe (its like Curology but less gimicky). I got prescribed spironolactone (cured my hormonal acne) and a tretinoin + azelaic acid cream that cleared out my skin. Ive been on this for a year now and rarely get a pimple when I used to breakout constantly. Also the bottle lasts me way longer than the 3 months it advertises since I only use it a couple nights a week. It seems expensive but since the prescription lasts so long its okay for me. I just go cheap on the rest of my routine.
 
Just wanted to share in the hopes it will help others struggling with acne, dryness, KP, sensitivity etc. The only skincare my skin seems to be ok with is from gardenofwisdom.com - they make ultra simple and inexpensive but high quality natural skincare formulas.

I have diagnosed allergies and irritations to a lot of ingredients commonly used in products such as silicones (milia), hyaluronic acid (redness, dryness, roughness, peeling) and propylene glycol and its derivatives (straight up hives, redness, swelling).

It can happen, my derm said it's way more common than people realize, and it can look like stubborn acne, redness, dryness, peeling, milia, or general roughness even if it's not hives. He said facial skin can react really differently than the rest of the body's skin in some people (so maybe you tolerate a product elsewhere on your body but it could wreck your face).

The ceramide serum for repairing my skin barrier, the 2% mandelic acid tonic for reducing acne, roughness, milia, hyperpigmentation and KP, and the "aging with wisdom" oil for cleansing and moisturizing have been phenomenal for me and a few other IRL friends that have tried it for the last 6 months. I'm now slowly achieving that smooth, poreless, non-blotchy look to my face for the first time ever. Maybe it will help one of you lovely kiwis too?
 
Did anyone try the new strawberry serum by Glow Recipe? I tried a sample of it and it smells so good, while most AHA serums smell shitty and chemicaly.
 
I sometimes shower twice a day. Lightly use lotion sometimes. It seems if I try too hard to take care of my face, it fights back with major acne.

Once in a while, I use charcoal peel masks and pore vacuum. Then I use hyaluronic acid. I tried the needle roller but it just made my face break out more.
 
What's everyone's opinion on collagen supplements? Do they work and are they worth it or is it a scam? Any recommendations for brands?
Hydrolysed collagen peptide is supposed to do something, but it's more for joint health. I have read on reddit from besserwissers that quote TLDR studies, sperg about how it reaches the skin and never really come to a conclusive answer.

So yes and no. I would try it for aching joints though.
 
Hydrolysed collagen peptide is supposed to do something, but it's more for joint health. I have read on reddit from besserwissers that quote TLDR studies, sperg about how it reaches the skin and never really come to a conclusive answer.

So yes and no. I would try it for aching joints though.
Thankfully my joints are doing pretty swell. I was more interested in it for skin, especially firmness, but also if it might help with my lingering adult acne. The sheer number of brands and types and stuff that's more health vs. beauty orientated makes my head spin.
 
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