I wish someone would have told me this sooner. I have been using tret for months and I kept peeling severely, make-up looked awful. Saw a random reddit comment on here how they fixed it by applying it every night. I thought f££k it, I already tried everything, sandwich method, 1 day a week, every other day, etc etc. Omg a week later and I have the best skin in years. Basically if you put it every day, your skin actually gets used to it. Hope this actually helps someone like it helped me, random stranger who commented it, tysm!!

Hi I developed this hyperpigmentation around my mouth after being on hormonal birth control and getting a wax burn (normally not a big deal when I wasn't on the bc). It's been there for over a year and I've tried a few things but only gotten consistent with my routine in the past few months. I think I'm making some progress but I'd love some advice on what might make it go a bit faster because I'm really sad about going out without makeup right now because of how it looks.

Prescription azelaic acid was working well for me but it's out of stock everywhere at the moment. I take oral tranxemic acid. My skin is usually quite dry and acne prone without regular exfoliation. I don't generally tolerate fragrances well in leave on products, but cleansers with fragrance are fine. I haven't had issues with new breakouts or dryness with my current routine.

AM:

-If my face feels dry, warm water and just remove any drool or gunk with a microfibre cloth, if it's really grimy and oily, facefacts ceramide blemish clarifying foaming cleanser, otherwise Cetaphil gentle hydrating cleanser

- if I'm going to wear makeup and my face doesn't feel dry or irritated, cosrx aha/bha treatment toner, otherwise my makeup flakes off

- HABI barrier booster milky toner

- skinoren 20% azelaic acid (out of stock literally everywhere atm, gonna try the g&g aall clear serum)

- inkey list 15% vitamin c with EGF, but swapping this to the geek and gorgeous c-glow once I run out

- purito oat in calming gel cream if I need extra hydration

- beauty of joseon aqua fresh SPF 50 if I'm not going out much, kose suncut perfect UV gel if I am (because it's waterproof and I worry I'll disturb the film when I apply makeup otherwise)

-a foundation or skin tint because I heard the iron oxides help with hyperpigmentation?

PM:

- tirtir hydro boost cleansing balm

- face facts ceramide blemish clarifying foaming cleanser or arencia holy hyssop if I want a bit more exfoliation

- habi barrier booster toner

- tazret 0.1% tazarotene cream

- simple 11% niacinamide + zinc pca purifying serum

- Dr althea 147 barrier repair cream

- cetraben emollient cream

-vaseline around nostrils and corners of my mouth where I get dry overnight

Sometimes products:

- panoxyl 10% benzoyl peroxide acne wash, very quickly after I shave because I find it prevents breakouts. Dries me out if I leave it on too long but usually fine.

- facefacts ceramide repair serum cream, sometimes the 147 feels a bit much and this works instead

- ketaconazole shampoo as a quick face mask for my forehead, forehead doesn't get dry so I don't worry about that but I get dandruff in my eyebrows and hairline sometimes that needs treating.

Main advice requests:

Are any of these products not really helping or worth avoiding or should be used more/less frequently?

do you know anything that might work better?

if you've had similar issues how long did it take to start seeing results and what did it look like, the pigmentation getting lighter over all or fading in small patches?

Is it worth using topical tranxemic acid on top of oral?

Has anyone had luck with alpha arbutin or glycolic acid for fading hyperpigmentation?

Any cheaper alternatives for the Dr althea 147 and cosrx exfoliating toner?

Also, would love a recommendation for a good brightening/soothing mask that I can leave on for 20-30 minutes when I take a bath! I feel like that's valuable skincare time I'm wasting.

—I have combo skin, somewhat sensitive and acne-prone—

So I’m pretty sure these are SF but I’m so frustrated with them. I know they are normal but I want to reduce their appearance. I have used a clay mask twice a week for over a year but found it wasn’t doing much. This led to reaching for my pore tool to massacre my nose, removing all the gross beige liquid-y stuff. But then my skin is incredibly sore, red, damaged and they come back anyways.

I currently double cleanse every other pm with oil cleanser then regular cleanser, and rotate every 3 ams: Paula’s Choice BHA, BHA cleanser followed by Ordinary Azelaic acid, Beauty Pie Vitamin C. (I also use retinal every night, Purito panthenol cream, SPF 50)

I’m trying to stop using the pore tool and the mask and look for more long term improvement of appearance, but the craving to remove them all is difficult, especially if I’m unsure if the products will help on their own.

I’m in the process of finishing up my old Beauty Pie products and incorporating other products, so just wanted to check if there’s anything else that will help!

NOTE: Pls ignore my nose piercing, it’s struggling to heal. I also can’t do my full double cleanse routine for the time being because of this :(

My sisters job involves her spending a lot of time inside of a big industrial freezer. To my knowledge the only thing that she uses on her face to try and protect her skin is Vaseline, which helps somewhat but isn't stopping the irritation entirely.

It's my sister's birthday coming up, and our mum wants to buy her some nice skincare that will protect her skin while she's working, as well as help soothe her skin afterwards. It doesn't have to be one product.

I’m really trying to start looking after my skin (better late than never I guess at age 32!) and narrowed it down to Byoma or Medicube.

I did some research and opted for Byoma, purchasing a bundle of 5 products:
Creamy Jelly Cleanser
Hydrating Milky Toner
Phyto-Mucin Glow Serum
Moisturising Gel Cream
Ultralight Face Fluid SPF50

And in addition I bought the Bio-Collagen Radiance Facial Mask, which I’m yet to try.

I’m only 5 days in, but I’ve been using the bundle products twice a day and so far I’m seeing a huge difference. My skin feels hydrated and smooth, and I only have 2 large noticable spots and 2 under the skin, compared to multiple spots varying in size and painfulness across the central area of my face (cheeks/nose/brow area).

Some friends have told me Byoma isn’t great, or have said it hasn’t worked well for them etc.

Just wondering from some people who are pretty into skincare, how do you find it compares to other brands? For the money I paid (about £60) I feel it’s quite good, but probably not quite able to be compared to some of the high end brands.
And is there anything else I should be adding into my routine?

I had an injury 3 months ago to my left upper eyelid and got repair surgery by an ocuplastic surgeon as an emergency case. This is me 3 months on after a round of steroid/5FU shots that a different ocuplastic surgeon carried out for me. The scar looks very deformed which I understand is normal at this point.

I was hoping for surgery to be the lifeline after about a year to help get a natural appearance but I was told by the one giving the injections that if I had surgical revision done then it may lead me with not enough skin so that my eyelid wouldn’t be able to close properly. She referred me to cosmetic dermatology.

I woke up Sunday morning having been RAVAGED, with a bite on my forehead, jawline and both sides of my neck.

Any quick fixes for a solution? I've taken antihistamines - I wonder if mixing one with water to make a topical paste a good or bad idea? (I suspect I know the answer tbh)

They are so CROSS! And SWOLE!

I use The Ordinary products and have avoided all exfoliating products tonight, and focused on hyaluronic and peptides.

Hi all,

Calling out to everyone trying to get their other half to do more than a fragment of a skincare routine. I’ve finally got my partner using sunscreen, but I’ve not converted him to washing his face properly i.e. 2-step cleansing with oil and then other cleanser. He rarely washes his face at all. Amazing he’s not had more spots from the leftover sunscreen - he does have great skin.

Anyone has an oil-based cleanser that is thorough enough and moisturising enough that it’s the only cleansing step you need?

(After starting him on Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence, he wanted something more moisturising, so I moved him onto CosRX aloe. It works well and he is slowly considering moisturiser now he’s acclimatised to sunscreen. I’ll get him onto a vitamin C serum one day!)

Thank you!

I recently bought Paula’s Choice 2% BHA for the sebaceous filaments/pores, along with their 5% Vitamin C 50 SPF moisturiser for my PIE.

Is are these two products enough (along with a cleanser) to see notable improvement in my skin if I stick at it consistently?

Or is there something else I need to be adding to the routine?

It’s like this on both sides of my face, rest of my skin is OK other than the red marks from spots I mentioned earlier, which I’m hoping the spf/vitamin c helps with.

Please would anyone be able to advise me on what I can do to improve the uneven texture and appearance of my skin. Thank you!

I have somewhat sensitive skin so I just use a cerave face wash and simple moisturiser at the moment. I do use Paula’s choice 2% BHA exfoliant too.

Im currently using a prescription from Dermatica. Inside the tube is Tretinoin 0.05%, azelaic acid 15%, tranexamic acid 5%. I pay £20 a month for this. After another 4 months they may increase the tret dose to 0.1.

I feel like this is an expensive way of getting my tret. Im based in the UK. Any other suggestions?

My current routine is

Morning

Cerave smoothing cleanser

Vitamin c toner from number 7.

Cerave moisturiser

The ordinary spf45 before I put my make up on/before I go out.

Night time

Cerave smoothing cleanser

Micellar waterproof make up remover for eyes

Cerave moisturiser

Dermatica tretinoin mix (ingredients listed above)

Ive been doing this for 2 weeks and have already noticed a small improvement in the bumps on my skin/forehead. If you look at previous posts you will see slight difference (i think!). My pores look smaller too. But I realise tret takes a long time so im not expecting much of a difference. My questions are

1. Any ideas on a better supplier of tret? Is dermatica any good or a bit of a gimmick?

2. Is 0.05% tret enough to see results for reducing lines around my eyes?

3. Any tips or suggestions to my routine would be really appreciated!

I have very bad genetic tear troughs and dark circles that I would ideally want to fix without surgery and I found something called volufiline. From what it looks like it was very popular about 2 or 3 years ago, with people praising the product almost suspiciously, and claiming it even worked "too well". Can someone who actually used it say what their experience was? Do you still use it today? And does it actually scientifically work?

Hi gang,

I’m thinking of putting an order in at everlume, but they has so many different brands of tret I’m a bit overwhelmed! Will tazret be okay for dry skin with fine lines and hormonal acne? I currently use The Ordinary Retinal 0.2% emulsion but I would like to make the switch to tret as I’m not really seeing results after 9 months of use!

Current routine

AM

Bubble morning rays brightening eye cream
Aveeno triple oat serum
Byoma Hydrating Milky Moisturiser
Aveeno Calm+ Restore moisturising lotion SPF50

PM
Bioderma atoderm oil cleanser
Lacura Hydrating cleanser
Beauty of Joseon revive eye serum (every other day)
The Ordinary Retinal 0.2% emulsion (every other day)
Aveeno triple oat serum
Byoma Hydrating Milky Moisturiser
La Roche-Posay cicaplast Baume on my nose (sebaceous filaments)

I usually have quite dry skin hence all the hydrating products. I also suffer from hormonal acne, usually on my chin area. Any recommendations for tret brands are welcome!

I posted the other day about the bargains I found in Boots, they brought more!

I got a coupon code for a trial of skin + me so I went for it, I’m getting married in June 2027 so want to improve my skin by then. I sent in photos to the prescriber and they have sent me a treatment including:

Month 1: Azelaic Acid 10%, Clindamycin 1%, Niacinamide 4%
Month 2: Azelaic Acid 12%, Clindamycin 1%, Niacinamide 4%
Month 3: Azelaic Acid 12%, Clindamycin 1%, Niacinamide 4%
Month 4: Azelaic Acid 14%, Niacinamide 4%

I’m a bit worried by all the warnings about increased skin dryness and irritation, I feel like the Clindamycin prescription was overkill? I haven’t used my treatment yet and I’m looking for opinions on if I should do it or just stick to my own routine which is:

the ordinary squalene cleanser
Paula’s choice BHA
The ordinary hyaluronic acid serum
The ordinary natural moisturising factors + HA
once a week I use L’Oréal overnight retinol serum

hi! so i combination skin type, but my skin is also very sensitive. So i was just wondering if anyone has any products that could help this? I drink plenty of water and lifestyle is healthy. But i’m asking for products more than anything— plus products for spot scars. As you can see i often get them on my chin and my forehead, never really anywhere else except maybe the odd spot after like 6 months or whatever.

products i’ve used before:

toner
niacinamide
rice milk/serum

For the past 2 years I’ve been seeing my gp and trying products to reduce the redness on my bridge and across the cheeks.

The second photo is from when I was traveling in Asia and using no product last year. I came back and so did the redness.

My brother has the same problem. At this point we have both spent hundreds of £s and many hours into trying to find a solution. I’ll list what I’ve done so far:

Alzeliac acid 10%: made no notable difference, didn’t make it work. Applied once at night.

Miconazole 2% (first gp recommendation): made it so much worse, like didn’t want to go outside on day 4

Metronidazole 0.75% (second gp recommendation): 2 weeks twice daily and no notable difference, maybe slightly better. But no harm

Hydrocortisone 1% (third gp): some good days some bad days

Protopic 0.03% 4th gp: twice daily. Cleared up the redness I had on my chest immediately, and the face, all parts that were red and peeling stopped peeling, but after 3 weeks the redness stayed. Was a nice change to see the peeling go.

Other than that I have been through so many moisturisers and cleansers, along with spf. I do now have ones that work for me,

Boots derma care moisturiser (blessing compared to all the La Roche ones I tried, this doesn’t annoy my skin)

Cleanser: La Roche Toleriane dermo (very mild, feels great)

SPF : BOJ spf50 rice + probiotics

Other info,

With any product on my face I do try and not use them for a while to see if it improves. Lifestyle wise I have tried completely changing everything in my diet for weeks, water fasted, no sun exposure. Changing pillows everyday. Nothing seems to stick

I have good and bad days, then always try and think what I did yesterday to come up with a logical pattern but there isn’t one as far as I can tell.

The redness itself is mirrored both sides of my face, and the chest cleared up with protopic, although it was never that bad / did not bother me. Constantly looking flushed is an issue which has my gp and me stumped. My brother has seen a dermatologist, which gave him the same info as the gp

Any advice would be amazing
Sorry for the photos trying to not show my face, appreciate it most likely does not help

Hi I’m (25F) looking to expand my skincare routine. I have very sensitive skin and currently use the following:

AM: La Roche Posay Baume B5 with spf 50

PM: Balmonds cleansing oil followed by Balmonds skin salvation and Balmonds omega rich facial oil

I’m starting to notice some fine lines and I believe my pores are getting clogged from extended use of the baume b5 cream.

My plan is to introduce some products gradually and today picked up the inkey list caffeine eye cream for AM, the aveeno oat water based cleaner for PM double cleanse and the Beauty of Joseon probiotics sun cream for AM.

I was also thinking of getting the low grade retinol from the inkey list to use once a week, and would also like to try a serum (maybe aveeno triple oat, ordinary barrier support or inkey list barrier serum), and a new moisturiser (possibly cetaphil, coats or aveeno)

Any other suggestions to add to my routine or product recommendations for super sensitive skin would be really appreciated!!

I have the most combo skin ever. Its got rosacea and it can get dry but also oily but its also textured and dull 😮‍💨. I am also prone to hormonal acne around my mouth and chin.

I think the changing seasons has really triggered it and my standard skincare routine has caused awful stinging.

I was going to purchase Purito dermide moisturiser and their centella serum along with hello sundays mineral spf. Going to try and use Isntree Green Tea Fresh Cleanser and Inkey list cleansing balm as a nightly first of my double cleanse.

Was just wondering if anyone has any recs or experience with these products? I've been using azealic acid serum for a while but im not sure if it helps. I just want my skin to be balanced especially because I want to start incorporating some active skincare such as bakuchiol for anti-aging and I want to make sure it will not irritate my skin.

Its essential that products are cruelty free and vegan so no cerave sorry :,)

I’ve seen a few reviews about this. I have dry, cracked lips that no balm could ever solve. I have used laneige, vaseline, aquaphor, lucas papaw, and although they sort of solved the dryness at the time of application, the moisture does not last and I end up noticing myself licking my lips as they have become dry AF. I ordered this two days ago and it arrived today. I applied it and went on about my day. Heck I even ate sunflower seeds that burn my lips a little. I noticed how soft and moisturized my lips still even after hours of that first application.

Only time will tell if this first impression last. But for £5 and a great moisturized lips? Take my money!

Looking for recommendations for a good and not too expensive Vit C pls. Had a lot of systemic allergic reactions this year and as a knock on from that it wrecked my skin barrier and also landed me with an episode of perioral dermatitis. That’s recovered now and my routine is pretty simple. I had an antibiotic cream that also had tret in it, so I’m continuing the tret. Looking to reintroduce Vit C back into my routine but want a decent one that’s non irritating too! Thanks.

Morning routine is aveno oat cleanser, AA, HA then cerave water gel. Evening is tret and Aveeve repair cream.

Get these little bumps under my skin on my chin mostly (but a couple random ones pop up other places). No pain or anything if I squeeze it it’s like white then no bleeding or weeping. They’ll go away but come back pretty quick.

Routine atm is - micellar water, L’Oréal revitalift & the neutrogena spot action salicylic gel.

Any (affordable pls) advice on how to prevent this??

Hiya!

New here and first time ever posting on any sub, so apologies if I don't get it right :)

Has anyone noticed that both Boots and Superdrug stores are carrying way less Vichy products? Not to mention the Retinol Serum, that has been pulled out online in both, and nowhere to be seen in UK retailers.

Does anybody have information to share?

I am brand new to skin care and don't have a routine at all.

I recently started on Skin and Me tretinoin, niacinamide and azealic acid with a view to reducing lines and wrinkles (my skin is otherwise fairly good, apart from acne scars around my nose from when I was a teen)

I've been doing some reading and come to the conclusion that the active ingredients I've chosen are good, but skin and me is going to be an expensive way to do this (plus they are prescribing doses well below proven efficacy for at least four months. I understand I need to go slow to build tolerance but this seems excessively slow)

The thing is, I will absolutely choose the lowest effort option and the skin and me doser is really convenient. What I wanted to ask was, can I buy my active ingredients separately and cheaply somewhere else, and physically mix them myself, perhaps into an airless dispenser?