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Post in Acne-Prone Skin
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Advice on routine

About 2 weeks ago, I started a new routine, my skin is very oily and acne-prone.
Cleansing with SA every night and changing my leave-on products every day:
day 1: The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Exfoliating Peeling Solution 1 oz/ 30 mL or Salicylic Acid Masque + Hyaluronic Acid lotion.

day 2: glycolic acid toner + niacinamide serum + salicylic acid lotion. 

day 3: BHA serum + Hyaluronic Acid lotion. 

day 4: Hyaluronic Acid serum + retinol 0.5% +  Hyaluronic Acid lotion. 

 

Every morning, I just cleanse my face and wear a Vitamin C serum + Hyaluronic Acid lotion + SPF.

 

However, this week my whole face started purging, it is the first time it happens to me. I don't know if it I've been applying a lot of products or if I should keep up with it. 

Re: Advice on routine

@pamsesma 

While salicylic acid is a great ingredient for acne and should absolutely be incorporated into your routine, the combo of cleanser + mask + lotion + serum may be a bit overboard. SA (aka BHA) works best as a leave-on treatment, as cleansers and masks aren't on the skin long enough to have much of an effect. I'd revamp slightly as follows:

 

Cleanse: keep it simple here; you don't need actives in a cleanser. CeraVe Foaming Cleanser is a great budget option that cleans without stripping.

 

Mask: honestly, I'd ditch both of those, or at the very least, use them waaayyy less often, like once a month. 30% AHA is just over the top for a consumer product, and using the glycolic toner 2-3 times a week is probably enough, frankly. And a 10minute SA mask isn't going to do a whole lot; SA needs to be a leave-on product.

 

Treat: alternate days with your glycolic toner, SA serum, and retinol (these *can* be used together if your skin will tolerate them all at once...not everyone can do that, but if, for example, you find you need SA more than once every 3 days, it may be something to consider working up towards slowly). Niacinamide can be used in conjunction with any of these ingredients, so throw it in as desired as well (and the same goes for your HA serum).

 

Moisturize: this is another step that can be simple; I'm not sure what SA and hyaluronic lotions you have, but with the SA already covered by your serum, the hyaluronic lotion should be plenty.

 

Purging is a very real thing if you are new to actives, as they start pulling up the goop from below and encouraging your skin to turn over a bit faster. If it lasts longer than a month or so, you're more likely looking at incompatibility with one or more of your items; unfortunately, if you started all or most of these items at the same time, you'll never know which one is the culprit, since you won't have a baseline idea of exactly how well each item works for you on its own.   

Re: Advice on routine

thank you smmmm 🤍🤍

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