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Post in Skincare Aware

Skin care advice

Hi everyone ! I just turned 43 and as my daughter so eloquently put it, I need to step it up and take care of my aging skin! I’m new to Sephora and not sure what products to use! I have red dry patches on my T zone and my skin is very sensitive so not sure what to get. I’m oblivious to skin care routines! Please help! 

Re: Skin care advice

He and welcome to the group. I have super sensitive skin too for a face wash that feels really good is Youth To The People Superfood Gentle Antioxidant Refillable Cleanser . This works really great as a SECOND cleanser. I would get a cleanser that is good for getting off all makeup and oils. Mario Badescu Gentle Foaming Cleanser 6 oz/ 177 mL This is my first cleanser that works great. Hope this helps.💙

Re: Skin care advice

Hi @jomama44 ! Welcome to the world of skincare! It can be overwhelming, but I find it’s easier to start with this info: 

 
  • Your skin type/behavior - dry, oily, a combo of those (example: oily in the T zone and dry everywhere else), or “normal”/balanced/not too oily or dry. You mentioned your skin’s very sensitive. In that case, you’ll probably want to patch test products before using them on your whole face. (I do that myself because my skin's quite reactive/inflammation-prone and hates various skincare ingredients.) 

  • Any skincare goals or issues you want to address - what do you want skincare products to do for you? 

    You mentioned red dry patches on your T zone. What do you currently use on your skin? There’s a chance whatever you wash your face with is stripping your skin barrier away, and you may need a gentler hydrating cleanser. Or you could have a skin condition that needs diagnosing by a board certified dermatologist or your primary care doctor. This can help you avoid wasting money on random products that won't treat an underlying skin condition you might have. 

  • Budget/price capprice =/= quality when it comes to skincare, and a good routine needn’t be expensive. Plenty of folks build an effective routine with drugstore products. My own routine's a mix of brands at various price points like The Ordinary, The Inkey List, CeraVe, Vanicream, COSRX, Paula's Choice, Abib, and Avene. 

 

A good routine can be as simple as a gentle cleanser (PM, optional AM), moisturizer (AM & PM), and broad spectrum sunscreen (AM). Those are the foundational ingredients for a good cake. Anything else is frosting and depends on your answers to those bullet points above. I recommend getting used to a basic cleanser/moisturizer/sunscreen routine before adding more products, especially if your skin barrier's damaged (those red dry patches) and needs to heal. 
 
About sunscreen: if you can splurge on just one skincare product, make it sunscreen that’s at least SPF 30. Doesn’t matter if it’s chemical, mineral (zinc oxide), or a hybrid; all 3 types of sunscreen work mostly the same way, and one’s not “safer” or “better” than the others unless certain UV filters make your eyes sting or you personally dislike the greasy feel of most mineral sunscreens. Whichever sunscreen you pick, apply it generously to all skin exposed to sunlight: eyelids, ears, behind ears, nape of neck if exposed, hairline, etc. Wear it all year long, regardless of weather or season. Many “signs of aging” (and more serious things, like skin cancer) are caused by UV damage. If a brand makes face and body versions of the same sunscreen, consider trying the body version on your face: those often cost less per ounce than the face versions. 

Re: Skin care advice

Thank you!!! That was very helpful!!

Re: Skin care advice

No problem, @jomama44 ! Quick BIC tip: be sure to @ the person you respond to so they'll get a notification. Otherwise they might never see your reply. 

 

I'm in my 50s and didn't get deep into skincare until my 40s. Before then, I used just one brand's skincare line for 20something years. Those products wound up damaging my skin, plus my skin began to change in my early 40s, so I had to change my entire routine—heck, my whole approach to skincare. So I can understand where you're coming from. 🙂 

 

Something that'll help you a lot is learning about skincare ingredients. It can seem like a very daunting task, but it'll help you learn what various ingredients can (and can't) do for human skin when applied topically. Here's my list of places to learn about skincare ingredients: 

Spoiler
We can't post links on BIC to sites outside Sephora, so you'll have to search for these. 

Ingredient databases/dictionaries: 

  • INCIdecoder - a database where you can search for products or individual ingredients. It’s run by the co-founder of a skincare brand (Geek & Gorgeous), but I haven’t noticed any bias and the info seems soundly based on scientific studies. This site doesn’t provide product reviews. Rather, it lists a product’s ingredients (in different helpful formats) and defines many of those ingredients. They do grade some ingredients as “goodie,” “icky,” and “superstar,” but they seem fair about it. Example: their writeup of alcohol denat. fairly lists pros and cons. 

  • Paula’s Choice Skin Care Ingredient Dictionary - a dictionary of various skincare ingredients. This is obviously run by the Paula’s Choice skincare brand, and sometimes I see some bias in the info provided. Also, the latest version of this dictionary (replacing the old Beautypedia product review site) now promotes specific Paula’s Choice products on some ingredient definition pages. But PC does reference studies to back up their claims. Also, if you browse the PC site to shop for their own products, you’ll notice some of their ingredient lists include very brief notes about what each ingredient does.  

 

Cosmetic chemists: if you don’t happen to personally know one, here are a few you can find online. 
 
  • Lab Muffin - a blog run by Dr. Michelle Wong, a chemistry PhD and cosmetic chemist. She also has a good YouTube series. 
  • The Melanin Chemist - the Instagram account of Esther Olu, a cosmetic chemist. She’s also on Twitter. 
  • KindofStephen - a blog run by cosmetic chemist Stephen Alain Ko. 

 

Your dermatologist or primary care doctor - if you have a doctor, especially a board certified dermatologist, don’t be afraid to ask them skincare questions. I always tell folks to get their money’s worth at doc appointments: you’ve got a medical expert’s ear for a few minutes, so take advantage! My derm’s used to being peppered by my questions. 😄 
 
Various dermatologists on YouTube - I don't follow any of them, but there are some very popular ones like Dr. Dray, Dr. Alexis Stephens, the Doctorly youtube channel run by 2 derms, Dr. Sam Bunting, and several others. The key here is making sure they're board certified derms, not just beauty influencers. You may notice they don’t agree on every topic; such is the way with doctors in general. 

PubMed - a good place to find scientific studies. If, like me, you don't have a science or medical background, these studies can be challenging to read and understand. Also, don't rely on just the abstract for each study; sometimes that's the only part made publicly available without a subscription/payment or Wiley access. The abstract usually doesn't give details like how the study was conducted, what methods were used, etc. And you need to wear your critical thinking cap when reading/skimming these clinical studies. Example: was the ingredient in question tested on human skin or something rather different like pig skin, rabbit skin, etc.? Was it applied the way a human would apply it, or was it placed under occlusion (covered with a bandage/wrap)? If it wasn't applied to skin at all, was it fed or injected into rats, rabbits, etc.—which is definitely not how humans would use the ingredient in a topical skincare product. 😄 These are some of the things to watch out for. 


I’m sure more folks can chime in with other helpful resources. Those are the ones I’ve personally used. 
 
 
“What about estheticians? Aren’t they good resources?” Well… I’m gonna take some flack for this but, I trust derms and cosmetic chemists far more than estheticians. I say that even though Paula Begoun (founder of Paula’s Choice) is, or was, an esthetician. In the US, estheticians aren’t required to attend medical school or get a chemistry (or other science) degree. In my state, estheticians only need to take a 750 hour training program and pass a written exam to get licensed. I’m not saying that’s easy to do. It’s certainly easier than graduating from med school and completing an internship, for instance. There are medical estheticians who work closely with doctors and perform clinical skincare treatments, and I find them more trustworthy than other estheticians. In general, estheticians (even medical estheticians) don’t treat underlying causes of skin conditions and can’t officially diagnose a patient’s skin. 
 
 
I absolutely don't recommend “clean beauty” apps like Think Dirty or Yuka, or sites like the EWG (Environmental Working Group), as skincare info resources. They're a wasp nest of fear mongering and faulty/misunderstood science—if they base things on science at all. “Clean beauty” in general is nothing but a marketing scheme that preys on consumers' fear of supposedly “unsafe” and “dirty” ingredients. That’s a hill I’ll proudly die on. 

Oh, and I saw you mentioned below that you use a shampoo to wash your face. Definitely look for a gentler cleanser. I usually use the CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser Bar on my face and body in the shower each night, but I'm currently testing a new-to-me moisturizing cleansing bar by Abib. CeraVe and Cetaphil make good cleansers. If you wear makeup during the day, you might need to use a separate makeup-removing cleanser first ("double cleanse"). My favorite products for that are The INKEY List Oat Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm 5 oz/ 150 mL  and Paula's Choice Omega + Complex Cleansing Balm 3.5 oz/ 104 mL because they contain no ingredients my particular skin hates (nearly all essential oils make my facial skin throw a red bumpy tantrum), and the oat cleansing balm is very soothing for my inflammation-prone skin. 

 

Those same brands I just mentioned also make good moisturizers. My daytime moisturizer is usually Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer. At night, I alternate between Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion and Paula's Choice CLEAR Oil-Free Moisturizer 2 oz/ 60 mL  . I've also used CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, though I prefer to use it as a body moisturizer. 

 

Finding the right sunscreen really depends on your personal preferences. A very popular chemical sunscreen is Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++ ; I frequently use that one myself and always travel with it. If you're in the US and have a local Trader Joe's, see if they carry the Trader Joe's SPF 40 facial sunscreen that comes in a peachy beige box and tube; it's a famously inexpensive dupe of Unseen Sunscreen. My current favorite mineral sunscreen is Native Unscented Sunscreen SPF 30, available at Target. But I regularly rotate through several sunscreens made by La Roche-Posay, Bondi Sands, Eucerin, and others. 

Re: Skin care advice

Hi @jomama44! I have sensitive skin too. It can be tricky to find products that work well for you, especially with sensitive skin. What’s your current skincare routine like? You might already have a few things in your routine that you can keep. 


A basic routine can consist of a cleanser, moisturizer, and sun protection. From there, you can build your routine to target specific concerns. Generally, you put them on from thinnest to thickest consistency. Here are a few that I use.

 

Cleansing

Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm 

The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Cleanser 5 oz/ 150 mL  

 

Redness

Tower 28 Beauty SOS Intensive Redness Relief Serum with Hypochlorous Acid 2 oz / 59 mL  

 

Moisturizer

SEPHORA COLLECTION All Day Hydrator Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer 1.69 oz/ 50 mL  

 

Sun Screen

Clarins Dry Touch Facial Sunscreen SPF 50  


You can also check out What works? 💜 Eczema, Rosacea, Psoriasis and Redness Support 

It’s for people who have certain skin conditions, but those conditions also usually mean skin sensitivity too. You may find a few products in there that will work for you too. 

Re: Skin care advice

@JoSometimes @Thank you for telling me about the @ and yes I’m near a store and I’ll be going tomorrow to try a few different things! I’ll keep you posted! Thank you! 

Re: Skin care advice

I use nothing for my face! I’ve only ever used water and whatever shampoo I’m using lol so yeah I gotta start using something that will help my dry aging skin! This is all new to me! Thank you for replying! I will get those products as well! 

Re: Skin care advice

Hi @jomama44. Are you near a store? Since you have sensitive skin, swatch them on, I would recommend applying a bit from the testers to yourself and see how your skin reacts to them. Good luck!

 

Also, a quick tip: use @ to tag people. Unfortunately, Sephora doesn’t automatically notify people when you reply and they might miss out on it. This is the best workaround that we have. 

Re: Skin care advice

To have a full regimen you need a cleanser- toner- serums - moisturizer and that's just the basics. You would need to know your skin type and figure out what you would like to work on. For example texture, pores, complexion etc. I would start with getting a few samples of each and doing patch tests to see which one doesn't cause a reaction. Good way to find all these things out would be to get a facial and ask your anesthetist to tell you what they think your skin need but beware they might try to sell you their over priced products. If you're looking for basic great priced products - mario badescu is amazing and one of my fav moisturizer is the IT cosmetics - confidence in a bottle. It's amazing or clinique gel mosturizer because I have combo skin. Hope this helps!!

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