Help with skin care routine

sophie22

Hi all,

Apologies if there is a threat for this already but I am wondering if anyone knows where I could go to get help with my skincare routine? I am in my early 20's and have acne prone skin and really want to try and look after it now to prevent a face lift in the future! I have tried dermatologists before but they are really just about perscribing medication they didnt give me any info on what cleanser/ toner to use etc

I live in limerick so if anyone knows where I could go to get some advice and I am quite a poor student too so wouldnt have tons of money:p any help would be much apprecaited

snooleen

Apparently the dermalogica products are great? Maybe find your nearest shop that sells them and talk to the person there? They usually have people running the stands to talk to you about your skin and recommend the best products. I haven't tried them personally but I have had many many recommendations
Clinique are pricey, but do great wash-off cleansers. I find them great as they don't irritate my sensitive skin and aren't too harsh like Clearasil or any of that stuff, but do the job on spots and oil at the same time.

Exothermic

I'm not one to really support Clearasil products usually, as I find they can be drying and quite harsh but I've got to say, their Overnight range actually works. I think it's composed of three products: a lotion, a serum and a facewash. I've never tried the serum but the lotion is an absolute godsend. I've probably repurchased half a dozen times now. I was amazed when it worked. The facewash is good too but I would only use it one a day, not twice as it is drying. You need to counteract it with a decent moisturiser. Johnson&Johnson and Dove have quite good moisturisers which aren't too expensive. I'd recommend giving the lotion a try to start. I'd say Boots, Superdrug or any of the supermarkets have it.

La Roche-Posay. I have (well, had!) acne and I use the Effaclar range. It's listed under Oily with imperfections on their website. I use the foaming gel as a face wash, and the moisturiser Effaclar M when my skin is dry. I'm using medication too so it's not totally responsible for clearing my skin, but it's really good. Start with just the facewash and see how you get on. It's only ~€13 in Boots and most pharmacies, and it lasts forever. I've used my current bottle every day for almost a year and it's nowhere near empty. I'll probably have to throw it out because of use-by rather than it running out!

sophie22

Thanks for all the replies! dont think i would go with clearasil never found their stuff good at all. yeah think ill give la roche posay a try. Im on medication for my skin too so sometimes its dry other times its oily but i usually never wear moisturiser as im afraid ill break out in more spots! I heard vichy normaderm where good. anyone given this a try?

Conor Bourke

Hi Sophie,

I know that we are not supposed to give medical advice here but all I'll say is that certain oral contraceptive pills will make acne worse, while others will improve it. Dianette is a popular OCP used to concurrently treat acne, but beware that many girls find that it can lead to very low moods, myself included. I used it for a few years, then took a break from it and my moods vastly improved, and thankfully my skin never went back to being as bad as it was but I remained plagued by occasional outbreaks and ever-present open pores and terrible blackheads.

I switched to a different pill and adjusted my skincare routine. I use Vichy Normaderm products and find them fantastic (hardly surprising since it's a range developed specifically for acne-prone skin) I've been using it for 3 years now, and I've noticed a definite improvement. I don't get spots that often any more and blackheads are much diminished. The Vichy facewash I use costs €13 but a little goes a very long way, I think I've only ever needed to buy three bottles of it so I consider it amazing value for money!

Hope that helps!

mysty

Last year when nothing I did seemed to help with breakouts I went for a facial. Afterwards the therapist recommended products for my skin. I usually dont buy products after treatments but I bought the products she recommended and found that they really worked and I havent had a break out since. This might work for you too.

sophie22

Yeah i have tried a few oral contraceptives for my skin but they just had an awful effect on my moods so never again! im on tetralysal over a year and i do notice an improvement but think ill have bad skin forever as im almost 22 and stil have spots!! Alaskimo do you just use the fashwash or a toner and moisteriser as well?

Conor Bourke

sophie22 wrote: »

Yeah i have tried a few oral contraceptives for my skin but they just had an awful effect on my moods so never again! im on tetralysal over a year and i do notice an improvement but think ill have bad skin forever as im almost 22 and stil have spots!! Alaskimo do you just use the fashwash or a toner and moisteriser as well?

I use the Deep Cleansing Gel facewash, I didn't really like the consistency of the moisturiser. I find most toners leave my skin too tight so I only use the Normaderm one very occasionally. I use Clarins Pore Minimising serum and then Clarins Ultra-Matte Rebalancing lotion in lieu of toner and moisturiser and they both work well. They're that little bitteen more pricey than Clearasil/Olay etc but they are the only things that have ever given me noticeable results (people I haven't seen in a while have even complimented me on how good my skin looks right now, which is a big deal for me, as it always looked dull, rough and clogged-up before)

fordey101

Head to The Body Shop in Limerick, Una and the girls there can do a mini facial on you to demo a range suitable for your skin, its free and no obligaion to buy anything!

Wilde86

Hello, Sophie22. I know exactly what you're going through. I'm twenty five and have suffered with acne prone skin since I was fifteen. Up until two or three years ago my skin was still a problem. Then I went to a skin specialist (Not a dermatologist, been there and like you I wasn't mad about the oral medications either. They never worked for me.) who unfortunately has moved out of Dublin. Anyway she did a couple of intense treatments on my face and then did the extractions. Extractions can be quite painful but it is worth it in the long run. Her recommendations to me were as follows:

-Change my contraceptive pill to Yasminelle. This will balance the your hormones. Obviously different pills may suit better but this has helped me.

-Replace my make up with mineral make up. Mineral make up does not block the pores and it does not dry out your skin but merely sits there instead. I use Bare Minerals which you can get in bt2 and it lasts ages.

-Cleanse, Tone, Moisturise. I only do this in the evening and I use Simple products. I find the light moisturiser to be the best. I exfoliate every second day with a light scrub (St. Ives is good).

-And lastly every four months or so I will have a session of microdermabrassion in the beauty salon. It is deep cleansing and it helps brighten skin tone and keep it looking even. They will also include extractions. I recommend that you do this treatment almost immediately because then there should not be many blockages and it will be like starting fresh with your new routine.

I hope this helps somewhat. My skin has improved greatly I now only get the odd few blemishes if I've neglected to drink enough water or if I've eaten badly for a couple of days.