Skincare and foundation for dry & sensitive skin

greenfrogs

Hi, at the moment I have very dry sensitive skin. I also have an oily t-zone with blackheads around my nose and chin. At the moment I am using effacler duo from La Roche Posay but even after applying my skin still feels dry. I was thinking of using coconut oil to help but I don't know if that will block my pores giving me more blackheads.

I am using bare minerals power foundation and using gosh face primer at the moment. However it doesn't last and shows up the dry patches after a couple of hours. Does anyone have any recommendations for what foundation to wear?

jadie

I think you need to treat your skin conditions before foundation. At this time of year most of our skin is dehydrated. My routine is double cleanse with a cleaning milk and balm n the evening, exfoliating toner, hydrating toner, serum, oil and moisturiser. Repeat the same steps in the morning but I only tone once and no oil. Twice a week I use a hydrating face mask with hyaluronic acid and leave it on for an hour. If your tea zone is very oily you can use a clay mask on this area. I would use more of a moisturising foundation. Elizabeth Arden Bare Minerals tinted moisturiser is nice. Finally coconut oil is comedogenic so I wouldn't use it on the face but it makes an excellent body moisturiser.

Firedance

I have the same skin type and for years I was constantly looking for products / foundations etc that would help. Now I use Vichy moisturisers and cleansers and also their foundations (Aera Teint) are quite good, also try Garnier 'Fresh' cleansers. I really find less is much better. I've tried primers and find they just make my skin worse, I never use toners either.

Garnier BB cream is my daily foundation, if I'm heading out I'll use a Vichy one, another in my bag is Revlon Age Defying. Try to use as few products as possible on your skin, let it breath and IMO definitely don't use oils. Something for everyone's makeup bag is Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, you can dab this on if you have very dry patches, works brilliantly for lips too and dry nails.

greenfrogs

Ok it seems the coconut oil was a bad idea. I can use it for my hair and as a body moisturiser instead.

At the moment I use no 7 hot cloth cleaner, tone, serum, moisturise (and use a night cream in the evening). However either the serum and night cream have caused my skin to become blotchy. I am always so reluctant to buy new products as I am worried my skin will react badly. But I think I will try and buy the Elizabeth Arden cream. I have their hand cream and find it really good. I might look in the vichy range too once I have a bit more money.

Jadie do you mean I should use a tinted moisturiser rather than foundation. I have bought a smashbox and clarins foundation in the past. Both looked terrible on my skin. All I could see were dry patches and blotchy foundation. I want a foundation with good coverage. I think you are right about looking after my skin first. Then I can see what foundation will suit me.

Firedance

I would forget about serums/toners etc, in my experience with sensitive skin the more product you use the worse it will get. Go to a chemist that does vichy (lots do) and they will do a skin analysis for you, ask for free samples, they never say no, this will allow you to try before you buy. I would also recommend for a period of time until your skin settles down that you use only products recommended for sensitive skin, you're already using La Roche Posay although I agree I found their moisturizers still left my skin feeling tight. If you try a BB cream (all brands do them) you get slightly more coverage than a tinted moisturiser but you skin can still breath through it, save your full foundation for occasions. It will be trial and error but never be afraid to ask for samples anywhere, if they wont give them to you just don't buy the product. I don't work for Vichy by the way in case you think I do I just really rate their stuff as it has completely solved by dry/sensitive skin issues.

StripedBoxers

I use this micellar water for make up removal

http://www.boots.ie/en/Garnier-Micellar-Cleansing-Water-400ml_1440752/

I use this for mascara, eyeliner etc.

http://www.boots.ie/en/Garnier-Skin-Naturals-Fresh-Eye-Make-Up-Remover-125ml_868682/

I have the same type of skin (oily t-zone, dry cheeks, top of my fore head is dry too).

I use the Garnier soothing cleanser and the soothing toner, morning and night.

http://www.boots.ie/en/Garnier-Simply-Essentials-Soothing-Water-Lily-Extract-Comforting-Cleansing-Lotion-200ml_1225250/

http://www.boots.ie/en/Garnier-Simply-Essentials-Soothing-Toner-200ml_1160762/

I use this facial wash

http://www.boots.ie/en/Garnier-Pure-Active-Fruit-Energy-Daily-Energising-Gel-Wash-200ml_1262023/

I use this moisturiser morning and night - its done wonders for my skin. It's definitely one of the best I have used.

http://www.boots.ie/en/Vichy-Idealia-Smoothing-and-Illuminating-Cream-For-Dry-Skin-50ml_1277146/

This is another great moisturiser, it is very thick though, so its better to use at night

http://www.boots.ie/en/Neutrogena-Visibly-Clear-Oil-Free-Moisturiser-50ml_11630/

This is an amazing serum, its very light, and leaves my skin feeling velvety.

http://www.boots.ie/en/Vichy-Idealia-Life-Serum-30ml_1360844/

You only need a tiny bit so the bottle should last ages.

The eye cream from the range is fantastic too for hydrating the eye area, leaves the area feeling hydrated and moisturised without being heavy or thick.

http://www.boots.ie/en/Vichy-Idealia-Eye-Contour-Cream-15ml_1493098/

jadie

I would'nt agree with dropping the toners and serums, serum in particular is very important for dehydration issues.vichy products are highly perfumed which can be irritating.The no.7 cleanser may have essential oils which can be an irritant to sensitive skin too. I recently bought Clinique redness relief cleanser, no perfumes oils detergent etc.I would also recommend the Ziaja range they have a sensitive skin line and it has gotten grest reviews. Like another poster said BB creams might be an option for you, I use the estee lauder one sometimes.

vibrantblue

Having sensitive skin is annoying. Products, skin care or make up, that work for one sensitive skin may not work for other sensitive skins. You need to find out what ingredients works and don't work for you.

I cannot use anything that contains shea butter for the life of me. And it is a common ingredient for sensitive skin products. I can't use 99% of the stuff with alcohol. Not all but most natural ingredients aggravates the life out of my skin - i.e. If any essential oil touches my skin, it burns and produces angry rashes. But I can tolerate natural perfumes, whereas my skin hates synthetic perfumes.

Even with some of the above examples: Gosh primer - it obviously works with one sensitive skin. But if I use anything with that much silicone in it, I'll break out with those annoying pimples that develops beyond the surface and hurt like crazy. Same with most mineral make up: Works great for some, doesn't work for me. Garnier BB Cream - clogged pores galore.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I have a whole list of ingredients to avoid on my phone.

In short, you need to learn what works for you. And it can be very annoying and pricey. I don't mean that you have to use all high end products. Most of my favourite skin care products are drugstore. It's just that you may need to try a few products before learning what works for you.

Here's what I use skin care wise. I don't use them all at once, but in rotation:

Bioderma (Garnier Micellar Water is a very good alternative)
Home made oil cleanser with emulsifier (because my skin doesn't tolerate anything and I've tried SO MANY) - You can find recipes online
md Formulations Facial Cleanser
Pixi Glow Tonic (I love Clarins Exfoliating Toner too)
Stridex Acne Pads - red box
La Roche Posay Serozinc
Cerave PM
Emu Oil Well Moisturiser
Nourish Serum (I've tried the ones for sensitive and combination skin, they are great)
Aquamoist Hyaluronic Acid Essence (This is a Korean product. It is a better version of Hydraluron imho. But Hydraluron works miracles too)

I have a few other products but I have more confidence in the above ones to work for a wider range of skin concerns.

greenfrogs

Well there are loads of products I need to try out. I think I'll take a trip to a pharmacy which stocks vichy. I never knew that they do skin analysis and give samples for skincare. Which pharmacy would do this in Cork?

The Ziaja range looks interesting and is very reasonable. Does anyone have personal experience with these products?

Yah it definitely is annoying vibrantblue. I still don't know what causes my skin to react like this. During the summer people actually complimented my skin which was a first so maybe part of it is the weather. The serum and night cream I were using were no7 and were hypoallergenic yet they still caused problems. I looked up the Hydraluron Moisture Booster which you recommended and it gets great reviews on boots.ie. I will look into that as well.