New products causing breakouts??

[amandadawnj]

EDIT: I've taken the advice you all have given me and I have only been using the TATCHA - The Deep Cleanse Exfoliating Cleanser and the belif The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb With Oat Husk and Vitamin B 1.68 oz/ 50 mLand the breakouts have gotten worse, I have a bunch of white heads al my nose, forehead, and chin. I don't know how to figure out which one or if both are causing the breakouts. Should I try a new product?

OLD POST: When you’re trying a new product, how long should you give it before you can confirm that it’s causing you to break out more or if it just doesn’t work for you? I had to toss out all of my skin care products (Curology) because it literally made my skin burn. So I bought all new stuff from Sephora but I had no way of gradually adding the new products in because I had nothing else to gradually add it to or to compare it with. I don’t know how to figure out if these products work or if they’re making my acne worse....some advice would be really appreciated!!  

[Meg557]

@amandadawnj as others have echoed it would really be smart to just start with your cleanser and slowly add in more as you go.continuing touse a routine that is irritating your skin could cause some serious long term damage. Have you used any other products that didn't irritate your skin? maybe they weren't you're favorite but you know they don't damageyour skin. I would maybe add in a moisturizer you've used before in withyour new face wash and see what happens. From there I'd give it a week-2 weeks before adding new products. Best of luck.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@amandadawnj What new products did you get?

[amandadawnj]

 This is the routine I have now with my new products 

Mornings

clean and clear sensitive face wash (I've been using this product for a while so I think it's safe for now)

Witch hazle 

The belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb Hydrating Moisturizer With Squalane

OLEHENRIKSEN - Banana Bright Eye Crème for my under eyes

Neutrogena SPF55 sunscreen

At night

I use the TATCHA - The Deep Cleanse Exfoliating Cleanser

Witch hazle

THE ORDINARY - Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion

belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb Hydrating Moisturizer With Squalane

OLEHENRIKSEN - Banana Bright Eye Crème

[greeneyedgirl107]

@amandadawnj I agree that the Clean & Clear face wash has problematic ingredients.  I also think the witch hazel may be irritating your skin (here's a good explanation why)

Spoiler

Commonly used plant extract that can have potent antioxidant properties and some soothing properties. However, witch hazel’s high tannin content (tannin is a potent antioxidant) can also make it sensitizing if used repeatedly on skin. The bark of the witch hazel plant has a higher tannin content than the leaves. Producing witch hazel water by steam distillation removes the tannins, but the plant’s astringent qualities are what most believe give it benefit.

Alcohol is added during the distillation process, the amount typically being 14–15%. Witch hazel water is distilled from all parts of the plant; therefore, you never know exactly what you’re getting, although the alcohol content remains.

Depending on the form of witch hazel, you’re exposing your skin either to an sensitizing amount of alcohol or to tannins, or both. Moreover, witch hazel contains the fragrance chemical eugenol, which is another source of sensitivity.

As for the belif True Cream Aqua Bomb, it has a lot of supporters on BIC but it has alcohol and fragrance in it which may be aggravating your skin.  The Tatcha Deep Cleanse is supposed to have gentle scrubbers, but perhaps they are bothering your skin - only you can tell if the scrubbers are soft enough for your skin, and it you're scrubbing gently enough.  It could also be that the fragrance paired with the manual exfoliation is an unfortunate combination.  Finally, the introduction of the "Retinoid*" by The Ordinary will require a period of adjustment for most people's skin - especially at what appears to be a high concentration for beginners.

[TrysBeautyItems]

@amandadawnj what exactly did you have from Curology? It might have been a used too soon after cleansing to apply, to using too often and needing to cut back.

What exactly did you currently purchase?

Some ingredients do need a gradual adding into routine, especially actives. 

[amandadawnj]

I got their cleanser, moisturizer, and the special cream that was "specifically made" for my skin. I did exactly as the website told me, washed my face morning a night with the cleanser, moisturized morning and night, and put the special cream on only at night. After about 2-3 weeks of that I have this burning sensation on the tops of my cheek bones and I have dry/rash like spots. it was so bad that I was afraid to even wash my face!

I realize that this looks like a lot of stuff to go from a few things, to all of this, but I used to have a more intense skin care routine, but it was all drug store so I didn't get the results I wanted. 

Now for my mornings

I use my clean and clear sensitive face wash (I've been using this product for a while so I think it's safe for now)

Witch hazle 

The belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb Hydrating Moisturizer With Squalane

OLEHENRIKSEN - Banana Bright Eye Crème for my under eyes

Neutrogena SPF55 sunscreen

At night

I use the TATCHA - The Deep Cleanse Exfoliating Cleanser

Witch hazle

THE ORDINARY - Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion

belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb Hydrating Moisturizer With Squalane

OLEHENRIKSEN - Banana Bright Eye Crème

[TrysBeautyItems]

Sounds like the special cream has an active ingredient in it, possibly a retinoid? Could've contributed to the skin hurting.

I use a retinoid, but wait awhile to apply on completely dry skin and worked up to using nightly,  so only a few times a week to start. Moisture allows the product to enter the skin faster, which more irritation is likely.

If you stopped everything and just switched, I wouldn't use TO yet, allow the skin to rest and very slowly incorporate it in.

I also would take out the witch hazel. It can be drying and seems like your skin barrier is compromised right now.

Clean and Clear which sensitive? The cream contains fragrance, salicylic acid (a no no with retinoids) and menthol, all irritants. The foaming, fragrance. Note, products that once worked can backfire at any time.

I wouldn't use Tatcha nightly, too much exfoliation is overkill as well as hurting the barrier.

Noticed you mention using a cleanser is drying, it shouldn't be.

[quspork]

@amandadawnj It really depends on your own skin. For me, I can generally tell within two weeks if a product is giving me a negative reaction or not. It's so important to add things one at a time, in order to gauge product reactions. I know it's difficult if you've had to completely start over with your routine, but in the long run, it's much better for your skin. Like @LadyKabe mentioned below, I'd start simply. Use your cleanser for a couple of weeks and see if it's making your skin worse or not. Then add moisturizer back in and use that simple routine for a couple of weeks. If those products aren't giving you negative reactions then you can move on to other steps, slowly. 

[amandadawnj]

I feel like if I just used my cleansers, my face would get super dry! But it's probably worth it to deal wit the dryness to be safe

[LadyKabe]

I've heard it can take as long as a month for skin to show signs of negative reactions. I give myself a minimum of 2 weeks testing (either spot testing or only applying to half my face to try and better tell if there are positive/negative/ANY changes being caused specifically by the product) and then another week of letting my face settle down before testing the next product. But longer would be better. 

I too am building up from nothing so I totally get how unbelievably frustrating it is not to just jump into a complete routine - BUT DON'T. You will have products doing nothing but eating your money and not know which. You'll have products bullying your skin and not know which. You'll have products that are amazeballs but are being hindered by bad ones and still not know which. It's not impossible to work backwards, but you'll be putting up with these negative effects the entire time you're troubleshooting your routine - opposed to catching the bad products right away.

Start with your cleanser and moisturiser, those are the most important steps after all, everything else is gravy. And slowly add the rest in after. It sucks. But it's saved my skin from some truly horrible stuff, and it can save you too.

[amandadawnj]

Thank you! I'm definitely going to try that to be on the safe side!