New Skin Care Products...What do I use when?

[sprocketta]

Hey Alll!

I've been working on upping my skin care game.  I've added new products, close to each other, which I know I shouldn't do, but I'm not patient enough to wait.  I'm trying to figure out the order to use things and if some can or can't be used together.  I have a few things that have been in my routine for a couple months:

Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser (I use this first and like it a lot)

Paula's Choice CLEAR Regular Strength Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution with 2% BHA

Paula's Choice CLEAR Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide (I read in some places that you shouldn't combine this with certain other products, so I don't know if this can stay)

Started 3 weeks ago:

Missha All Around Safe Block Sebum Zero Sun Ex SPF50+/PA+++ (I kept telling myself I couldn't use any AHA or vitamin C without doing daily sunscreen on my face and finally started and stuck with it.

Started 2 weeks ago daily:

Murad InvisiScar Post-Acne Resurfacing Treatment 0.5 oz/ 15 mL

I'm still not sure how I feel about this, it zapped some zits but it has a weird texture

Started a week ago daily:

Paula's Choice 8% AHA Gel Exfoliant (with glycolic acid)  I've been using this daily for a week with no issues.

Tried last night but unsure about order and if I should use these or if it's too much vitamin C.  I received them as a promo and I've wanted to try the Truth Serum for a while.

OLEHENRIKSEN - Truth Serum®

OLEHENRIKSEN C-Rush™ Vitamin C Gel Moisturizer 1.7 oz/ 50 mL(this one I KNOW goes last)

Again, I'm well aware I'm trying too much new stuff at once, but haven't been having any issues yet.

Big questions....

Can I use the benzoyl peroxide treatment with any of the other items? 

What's the proper order?

Should I keep multiple vitamin C products?

This is the order I did last night and know it's not quite right.

1) PC Cleanser

2) PC 2%BHA

3) PC 8% AHA gel

4) OH Truth Serum

5) Benzoyl Peroxide cream (I'm most willing to give this up)

6) Murad Invisicar

7) OH Moisturizer (I know this goes last)

Any help or guidance would be great.  I'm tagging @WinglessOne because I've seen a lot of great posts from her about skin care).  I feel like someone is going to tell me to go to a dermatologist instead of messing around but I see a million doctors for other things and don't think my skin care issues are bad enough to consult a derm doc.

This post has become way too long.  And I know I'm adding too much but can't seem to slow myself down.  Thanks for reading all this.

[WinglessOne]

@sprocketta  Since I won’t even touch benzoyl peroxide, I haven’t investigated which ingredients are truly incompatible with it. But about the rest of your routine: I’d move Truth Serum to AM and use the Murad InvisiScar as a PM spot treatment. That’ll spread out your vitamin C usage. The OH moisturizer should still be fine to use AM or PM.

You might not need both the BHA and AHA exfoliation serums; BHA might be enough, depending on what results you’re after. It’s fine to use both if your skin’s tolerating them, but more isn’t necessarily better here. Or you could move one of them to AM. What results do you expect from AHA vs. BHA? Are you using both all over your face? 

[sprocketta]

@WinglessOne I've used BHA for years but it seems like a lot of people are posting about AHAs and raving about them, so I thought I'd try one.  I figured if it exfoliated more or in a different way than the BHA, it would be worth a shot.  The vitamin C I wanted for brightness and fading of acne scars.  I guess I'm expecting the AHA to maybe help with dullness and keeping my pores more clear.  I haven't noticed any new glowiness or radiance since I started the AHA.  The thing I've noticed is that the Vit C and AHA in addition were helping get rid of pimples.  I found a pimple on my face today, which I suspect is due to one of the OH products.  I had tried the balance line and it broke me out terribly.  I hope it's not going to be the same thing with the Truth line.

I hate the thought of moving certain items to AM because I'm TERRIBLE about skincare in the morning. All I do in the morning is sunscreen.  Usually I wash and do my skincare routine after I shower at night.  It seems like when I do anything morning AND night, my acne flares up more.

[WinglessOne]

@sprocketta  Remind me, what’s your skin type? You’ll hate this suggestion but: if washing morning and night is causing acne flares, and you have oily, combo, and/or acne-prone skin, you may need a dermatologist’s advice. I know why some folks with dry skin wash their faces only once a day; I also did that until last April, after a derm got on my case about it because that practice was terrible for my oily zone and, as a result, the rest of my face. Also, your flares might not be simple acne. For instance, rosacea can mimic acne. 

Yeah yeah, I get not wanting to see yet another doc. I’m also very stubborn about seeing doctors (though I also partly blame my anxiety disorder for that). You’re gonna do what you wanna do. 🙂 I’m just saying a derm might be able to help you with your flares, be they adult acne or something else. 

About AHA: not everyone needs it. I started using it to replace physical exfoliation with chemical, and to address my hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. I chose AHA over BHA for my entire face because of my past unpleasant experiences with salicylic acid. Luckily, BHA treatments have come a VERY long way since the 80s and 90s. 😄 But my skin’s not prone to lots of acne breakouts: I get the occasional random pimple, and I do get hormonal breakouts along my jawline once ever 1 or 2 months. So for me, BHA spot treatment seemed best. I do sometimes use my BHA exfoliant on my entire face, but not as often as my AHA serum. My face just seems to prefer AHA. 

BHA can give the same results as AHA: it removes the top layer of skin, fades dark spots, brightens dull skin, improves skin texture, and can reduce the appearance of lines and pores. Unlike AHA, BHA goes deep into pores to clear dead skin cells, which is why it’s so often recommended for acne prone skin. Again, there’s nothing wrong with using both BHA and AHA. Just be aware that they achieve many of the same results; they just don’t do it the same way. You might even get better results using both. Time will tell. 

[sprocketta]

@WinglessOne I'm definitely oily and acne prone.  I think I'll keep the AHA for a while and see how it goes.  I'm definitely not going to be using the Truth Serum again.  I have 3 new pimples in the last 2 days and didn't use it last night.  I'm not sure if the moisturizer is doing that as well or not.  I had forgotten how badly the OH balance line broke me out.  Maybe I'll consider going to a derm...what you said makes sense.  I guess I need to go 6 weeks or so and reevaluate.  Thank you for all your help and knowledge.

[RGbrown]

@sprocketta 

I know you like the PC products, so I'll dispense some PC advice with regards to your order. Paula says benzoyl peroxide works best when used first; use it after cleansing and before other actives, and allow it to dry before moving on (and she counts dry as something like a minute or two, so there's not a huge delay). 

Are you using the Invisiscar as a spot treatment or a full face serum? If using as full face, the Truth Serum is overkill in the same routine (not a harmful form of overkill, but just generally useless. At it's heart, the Murad is just a strong vitamin c, while the OH is a good bit weaker). Perhaps use the OH in the morning and the Murad at night. If you are just using the Murad as a spot treatment though, I think you're fine with using the OH for the rest of your face.

Other than that, I think your order looks fine. Just watch for any issues popping up...I know you've been using most of these for at least a week, but sometimes it can take a while for reactions to show up. Adding so many items so close together can make it hard to figure out what's causing your issues. (I can't say a whole lot...I'm on a sample/mini dive myself, and am changing something at least weekly as I finish items off lol)

[sprocketta]

@RGbrown Thanks!  Did not know that about the Benzoyl Peroxide.  I was using the Murad Invisiscar all over my face.  It's not a serum, it's a cream.  How do you know it's stronger than the OH?  I can't seem to find the strength of the Murad online anywhere, so I'm guessing there's something I'm missing.

[RGbrown]

@sprocketta 

Educated guess more than anything really. Vitamin c is the third ingredient in the Murad, and the other actives are much further down on the list. I don't know what the exact percentage is, but it's likely fairly hefty. ETA: I saw a chart somewhere at some point, a year or more ago now, that displayed the percentages of several popular vitamin c serums; OH was relatively low (2.5%? Maybe 5%? And it's also a weaker form of vit c...more stable, but less oomph), which is the other half of what I'm basing my "Murad has more than OH" on. 

I have the Murad too, and also find the texture...interesting. I thin it down with a bit of serum to make it more fluid/spreadable. I've got a ferulic acid + vitamin e serum I'm using (found cheap at tjmaxx), but even something like a basic hyaluronic serum from TO or Inkey would work too, if you want to play with making it feel more "normal" lol. 

[sprocketta]

@RGbrown Yeah, the Murad texture is weird.  It's a bit thicker than I expected and doesn't spread across the face well.  It feels silky, but in an odd way.  I'm really not sure what to make of it.  Maybe I'll try to thin it down, though efficacy worries me if I mess with it too much.

[RGbrown]

@sprocketta 

Efficacy shouldn't be much of a concern unless you wind up using substantially less than whatever a "normal" amount would be. I use one pump plus about 3-4 drops of serum to thin it out and have been quite happy with it! 

The Murad description is a "Velvet" finish, and I find that to be pretty accurate. It's a bit dry and hard to spread evenly. It's a bit off putting, at least in skincare...I could see it being neat in a primer or foundation formula though.