Help me dissect my problem skin.....product recommendations, please!

[JILLEYPOP]

Beauty gurus...needing some help here!  
This is my freshly washed face....freckles, redness, and all.  I've been having major redness/flakiness around my mouth in the corners, all the way to my chin.  
My nose, however, is an oil slick.
I moisturize like crazy with either First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream or Glamglow Volcasmic Mattifying Moisturizer.  
My makeup routine or products seem irrelevant, since my skin is already red and flaky before putting on foundation, though most any foundation I use seem to slip all around my face and create an oily nose but flaky, dry mouth.
Tips? Tricks? Recommendations? 

[kendralh]

Hi @JILLEYPOP! I feel you with the combination skin and redness troubles 🙂 

I'd suggest giving your skin as much of a break as you can, until it gets less angry (or as long as you can bear :])-- make up remover, a gentle cleanser, a hydrator, then a moisturizer to seal it all in... and that's it.

If you can, wear minimal make up (or nothing at all!) during that time, too-- I LOVE Dr. Jart's Cicapair Color Correcting Treatment because it has a green tint that neautralizes a lot of the red in my skin, it has tigergrass which helpt to calm and heal skin, goes on with a matte-ish finish, and it's SPF30. On no/light make up days, I usually wait until my moisturizer has dried, then put the Cicapair on (a little goes a long way-- too much and you'll look like a ghost and might even be greasy), wait for that to dry, then put a bit of translucent powder on if there are any areas that are looking shiny. It balances the way my skin looks, without needing to apply foundation that will probably just melt off anyway 🙂

After your skin has calmed down, I'd add back in some actives and play around a little bit with your products.

When you exfoliate, consider using an enzymatic exfoliator or maybe even a gentle chemical exfoliator rather than a scrub. I really like the NEOGEN BIOPEEL green tea wipes that @MissPuff mentioned-- I use the lemon ones a couple times per week, plus Sunday Riley Tidal Enzyme Water Cream daily (helps with my dark spots). If manual exfoliators work for you, try looking for one that is designed for dry skin-- since you're using it on your dry areas anwyay--- then you can use masks and other products for the oilier areas. 

I really like Ole Henrickson Balancing Act Oil Control Hydrator for AMs when my skin is extra greasy, but if my dry skin is really dry, I'll only put the Ole Henrickson on my T-Zone, then put something more targeted on my dry areas. Whatever hydrator you use, make sure it's light enough that it can really sink in instead or sitting on top of the skin. After the hydrator, layer over a heavier moisturizer to lock all of that good stuff in. You might not need the moisturizer on your whole face in the AM, or you might need to use different products for the different areas. 

For treatments, try varying them nightly or only doing them when needed/ on a rotation. Depending on what your skin is telling you, you might want to only use the DE once a week, or you might want to cycle between products and rest days-- you might try the DE, Sunday Riley Good Genes (lactic acid), HERBIVORE Moon Fruit night treatment (enzymes + hydration), and a retinoid, depending on what your skin responds best to! (That's my product rotation, lol). When you do masks, add in some hydrating and soothing products-- I've found that my oiliness actually goes down when I do a good job with hydration, and (obviously) my dry areas love it. 

For what it's worth, I've personally had great success with the Cetaphil cleanser you're using! No reason to stop using it unless your skin feels tight or "squeaky" after you use it. If that's the case, consider something like Fresh Soy Cleanser-- I found it did a good job at cleaning my face without overcleaning it, if that makes sense. 

Good luck! It can take a long time to find what works for you, so be patient and trust that you'll get there someday!

[MissPuff]

I've got combo skin and often get flaky bits around the corners of my mouth/chin. It's almost always because I haven't exfoliated and hydrated sufficiently. Might I suggest a lactic acid exfoliator rather than your current physical (sephora charcoal) and glycolic (DE). Some people get better results from different acids so you might just need to experiment a little. 

I'd try either the neogen gauze pads (the green tea ones might also help with the redness) or my HG, the dr. dennis gross alpha beta universal peel pads (if you're sensitive, there's an ultra gentle version). After exfoliating, add in a hydration step (different than your moisturizing step), perhaps an essence or hydrating serum. FAB has one that's quite lovely. 

[JILLEYPOP]

Ladies - it flared up again. I did a simple shower.....washed my face with my usual Cetaphil and got out of the shower. My face seemed dry, so I looked in the mirror and saw it was already flaky around my mouth.
So, I took a small amount of my charcoal cleanser just to get some exfoliating going on with the microbeads.  Washed my face off and then slathered it with First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. That seemed to sting a tiny bit, so I went for my Corn Huskers Lotion.
It felt amazing, but now, 2 hours later, I'm red and irritated again 😞

[k617]

If your skin was dry, don't go in with another cleanser, especially a charcoal one that's exfoliating.

Skin stinging after application tells me your skin is dry and irritated, possibly due to the products you're using. I'm thinking the Cetaphil is your culprit (it is stripping the natural oils from your face, making it feel dry), and the charcoal cleanser made it worse.

quite honestly, with your skin irritated, I would hold off on ANY exfoliating products and let your skin heal. If you try to exfoliate skin that's red and irritated, it could make things worse and you might be setting your skin  up for an infection.

[ChicDabbler]

Ok, it definitely sounds like you have combination skin and it's sensitive right now. Don't double cleanse in the morning, the Sephora charcoal is actually more for dry skin so it could be drying out your skin and causing the flake. The FAB cream is for dry skin, which is why it makes your nose oily. The rule of thumb is to apply products from the lightest consistency to heaviest so if you apply lotion after FAB cream it won't absorb really well so all the moisturizing stuff is just sitting on top of your skin while the skin is not getting what it needs so it's red and irritated. Also, I searched online and only found Corn Huskers hand lotion. Are you using the hand lotion on your face? Your skin on your face have different needs and are more delicate than skin on your hand so that may not be a good choice.

You mentioned using makeup remover and glycolic serum at night. I assume you are also cleansing after removing makeup and used a moisturizer after glycolic serum? If not then that's another problem. Makeup removers sometimes leave a residue on the skin and glycolic serum is strong so your face may not be cleansed properly and is irritated from glycolic serum. I also hope you are using an SPF during the day since glycolic acid can cause skin sensitivity so if you are not, that's another factor making your skin red and irritated.

For now I'd say take out the Sephora charcoal exfoliating cleanser and glycolic serum. Try Tatcha gentle enzyme powder 2-3 times after cleansing to exfoliate. After a week your skin should feel less irritated. You can exfoliate every other day if it's flaky but if it's still oily, then try a different moisturizer like Drunk Elephant Lala cream or Clinique Moisture surge.

Personally I don't find cetaphil cleanses well but that could just be my skin. However, you definitely need to wear SPF during the day and cleanse/moisturize at night if you are not. Hope that helps.

[JILLEYPOP]

You've given me some great info. Thank you!
I find myself buying into hyped products, or recommendations from employees, that might not necessarily work for my skin type.  I also haven't run into many employees of Sephora who know much about skincare, as much as they do makeup.

To answer your questions, yes it was the hand lotion I used this morning, but I've used Corn Huskers on and off for years without issue.  In hindsight, the charcoal scrub was probably not a great idea with already flaky and irritated skin, but someone once told me "if your skin is flaking, exfoliate". I maybe took that too literally.

After I remove my makeup at night, I always rinse with water and then apply straight moisturizer.

I appreciate your thoughtful response and will make some adjustments in my routine, and for the time being.

[ChicDabbler]

Flakes usually means dead skin cells, so exfoliation will help get it off your skin. However, when your skin is irritated/dried out, the top layer of skin is damaged and the flakes might not be ready to come off. That's why you want to wait a few days for your skin to be normalized/healthy again before exfoliating, or use a much much gentler exfoliator. Most cheap exfoliators I tried are cream/gel solutions with sparse big grains that don't exfoliate well. You want something with lots of very fine grains, like a paste, a bit of enzyme or acid is a plus but too much might irritate your sensitive skin (that's why I recommended Tatcha gentle enzyme rice powder, it's expensive but depending on the condition of your skin it might be worth it. Otherwise Laura Mercier face polish is also nice....whichever it is, give your skin a few days to heal before exfoliating. You will have flaky skin, but just bear with it for a few days).

[JILLEYPOP]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll do my best to explain my skincare "regimine".
MORNING:
-Cleansers/Wash - Cetaphil (Daily) or Sephora Charcoal Cleansing & Exfoliating Cleansing Cream (roughly every 3 days to not over exfoliate with it since it has "microbeads").  
-Moisturizer - First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream or Glamglow Volcasmic Matte Moisturizer.
-I may or may not spray rose water from time-to-time.
NIGHTTIME:
-Miscellar water or Take Off The Day balm for makeup remover. 
-Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum or same moisturizer as I used in the morning.

Occasional Masks/Peels (every few days as needed):
-Purity Philospohy Pore Extractor Mask (on nose and chin).
-Origins Rose Clay Mask
*I don't do masks/peels daily or even every other day.  Every 3rd day max, and I always follow with moisturizer.

[k617]

@JILLEYPOP How often do you use the Drunk Elephant, and how long have you been using it?

What about the masks, if you had to give a frequency?

I think if you're using the Drunk Elephant Framboos AND the exfoliating cleanser AND those twomasks, your skin might be irritated.

I just looked up the Philosophy mask...that has denatured alcohol (bad, bad, bad) in it, as well as salicylic acid. You might be doing too much for your skin to handle.

[ChicDabbler]

I have combination skin, I find that if I don't exfoliate properly to get rid of dead skin and keep my pores clear, I get dry flakes and oily skin.

If you have that, plus red and possibly irritated skin, then you might be using products too harsh or drying for your skin type (cleansers, makeup remover and toners mostly).

[k617]

The flakiness around the mouth and chin area seems like it could be perioral dermatitis. Did you start using any of your moisturizers recently? New toothpaste? New lip balm or lipstick?

With both flakiness/redness AND oiliness I'd take a guess that your skin is dehydrated and not moisturized enough. But to confirm you'll have to give us more info.

What is currently in your skincare routine? What is your cleanser? The skincare gurus on this board will want to know.

[suggrr]

New toothpaste, or a new irritation to the OP's current toothpaste, was my first thought as well. Perhaps try a toothpaste without sodium lauryl sulfate? Some of Sensodyne's toothpastes don't contain it, though they don't have a lot of whitening power (if you like that) in my experience. I don't think SLS is the primary cause of the flakes, but it could be exacerbating the problem.

[k617]

@suggrr Toothpaste has been a suspect of rashes and zits around the mouth for me and that's why I suggested it! Can't confirm that it was indeed, but I've switched to Tom's of Maine toothpaste. It's SLS free as well and works fairly well. @JILLEYPOP

[jemly]

hi @JILLEYPOP. what do you cleanse with ? how often do you exfoliate / how do you exfoliate ?

often flakiness is not a symptom of needing more moisturizers. the creams you use are pretty rich but depending on the rest of your skincare routine may not be absorbing properly to give your skin the nourishment it needs (or, perhaps, are too rich for your skintype to begin with).