Help! Combination Skin, Acne Prone - Skin Care Routine

[Anonymous]

Hi, 

I have combination skin, and tend to have cycles when I get acne on my cheeks, chin and forehead. 

My skin tone is uneven, with my cheeks being lighter than my forehead and other parts. 

I'm of indian descent with brown skin and I tan really easily. 

I use ZO Skin health at present, under the guidance of a ZO specialist. But I would like to switch products. I've been on this skin care line for 2 years, and it has been a roller coaster. 

I bought some products (regrettably) without doing much research.

Farmacy Honeymoon Glow

Sunday Riley Good Genes

Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyeme Creme

Philosophy Purity Cleanser

Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

Can i use any of these? How should I start to make the switch?

This is the first time I'm giving it a go on my own, and I am very nervous. 

[RAWRitsRED]

Hi @Anonymous!

When you say your acne comes in cycles, does it mean you break out during your monthly?  If so, you probably have hormonal acne.  I have the same problem with hormonal acne.  Even though I use products for acne and my skin has cleared up for the most part, I still break out during my monthly.

Would you say your combo skin more oily or dry?

As for the products, I would switch some of them out.  Many of the products you bought are too strong and irritating to your skin if used at the same time.  I see there are a lot of exfoliating products as well.  You should really have only 1 exfoliating product in your routine.  I haven't looked at all the ingredients in each product you mentioned, but sometimes, ingredients should not be used together since it can cause more harm than good.

Products with salicylic acid and retinol are great for fighting acne.  They should only be used at night and sunscreen with SPF and UV protection is a must since they will make your skin more sensitive and prone to sunburns which can become hyperpigmentation.  The thing with retinol is that it cannot be used with many products with ingredients such as salicylic acid, vitamin c, AHA/BHA, etc.

I use Sunday Riley U.F.O. Salicylic Acid BHA Treatment Face Oil 1.18 oz/ 35 mL at night for oiliness and acne.

[Anonymous]

Hi, thanks for the response! I find my cheeks and by my mouth to be tight while my forehead is oily 😞

I've never really tried to correlate my acne to my period, but I'd certainly start to take notice. 

[meou]

@Anonymous I won't lie you have a lot of exfoliators in there lol. Couple notes/recommendations based on what you bought 

• The philosophy cleanser and the Sunday Riley tidal creme you should be good to use daily
• I would start by using the good genes once a week and wait on using the farmacy honeymoon glow. The farmacy is just a much higher % so get your skin used to chemical exfoliants first using the good genes. You can increase the frequency as time goes on but you don't need to use this daily. 
• You could use the honeymoon glow as more of a spot treatment when you see a breakout coming! The directions for it are a bit strange I recall though where it advises against using a moisturizer after but instead to use a balm or oil. Users choice on that one - i think you can just wait 15 min before applying moisturizer. 
• The exfoliating wash I'd say use it once a week and not the same nights you use the good genes and again work up or use it when you're skin is feeling dull. 

I would 100% add in a sunscreen and then wait before buying anything else and see how your skin handles what you have already. It's possible your skin will love chemical exfoliants and really thrives or you might find the moisturizer irritating and need to switch that up. Remember to always patch test and introduce things one at a time so you can easily identify what is causing issues if it happens. 

I hope that helps a little bit 😊

[Anonymous]

Thank you! That was a very helpful response. I actually just checked back the products I'm currently using, and I have a 10% AHA, 1% retinol and 0.1% retin-a which is alternate nightly for a month continually, then ease up off. 

But as I said, I'd really like to ease off these products and switch to a routine that is less high maintenance and cheaper. 

Should I stop using my current products for some time (a week or two), then start slowly introducing the new products? 

[meou]

@Anonymous it's good to know that you are used to exfoliators at least! If you aren't finding you are experiencing irritation with any of your current products I don't think you need to necessarily stop using them all at once. I would just use less of the exfoliators because its not necessary to use them all at once. 

I think you essentially want to focus on using up the products you have (but not all at once!) and then adjust your routine accordingly. I might add in a hydrating toner or a serum just to balance out the exfoliants and maybe introduct a retinol again alongside a sunscreen.

You can scale down even further though, the only things you really should have are gentle cleanser, moisturizer and a sunscreen - tons of moisturizers now have actives in them now so you can get a lot of the benefits of antioxidants or active ingredients through your moisturizer.