My skin doesn't like Vit. C and retinol...
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

free skin care · Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:43 am

And these two ingredients are probably the most efficient when it comes to preventing premature aging. So what to do? I can handle glycolic acid fairly well, but vit. C makes me itch (tried different formulations), and retinol is probably too drying.

My skin is fine, thin, dry/dehydrated, and mid 30.

free skin care · Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:17 am

Hi ...

What forms of retinoid have you tried? I've tried a few and fine that Green Cream works best for me. Have you tried Green Cream 3? Yesterday here someone recommended Avene products as well ... stating they were gentle retinoids. I am looking for a gentle one for my neck.

Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you!

free skin care · Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:57 am

It could be that your skin is sensitive. There are tons of retinal products on the market both prescription and OTC.

A good doctor can write a script for a less-strong form of Retin-A. If you want OTC, as 4sons mentioned, Green Cream and Avene are popular. Vit C can be easily mixed at home and is much, much cheaper than buying it. You can also formulate it for *your* skin.

Go to the "Do-It-Yourself forums and you will find lots of advice on makeing it yourself.

free skin care · Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:25 am

You might want to test a sample of the Green Cream to see whether it is too drying for you. It's in an alcohol base, which is supposed to enhance retinol penetration, but I found it too drying. I thought it was the retinoid that was causing dryness, but when I switched to Avene cream Ystheal, I realized that the retinoid (in this case retinaldehyde) wasn't the culprit. Since everyone's skin reacts a bit differently to actives, I'd experiment cautiously to see what works best for you.

free skin care · Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:43 am

Thanks, people. My skin is quite thin, and I normally react to alcohol, but I think I'll have a look at the Avene Ystheal lotion. I'm also curious about the ROC retin-ox line of products.

As for now, dryness is my main concern, but it would be nice to do sth. in terms of prevention. At least I can get better at wearing spf daily (chemical ss makes me itch!), and I haven't reacted to the multivitamin power capsules from Dermalogica, so I should probably stick to those.

free skin care · Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:54 am

Have you tried SkinMedica Vitamin C Complex & its Retinol Complex ? they are gentle to sensitive skin but effective.

free skin care · Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:43 am

have you tried Candessence's Firming Serum? It has rose hip oil in it and matrixyl 3000. I've seen good results with it and it's not irritating.

free skin care · Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:27 pm

flitcraft wrote:

You might want to test a sample of the Green Cream to see whether it is too drying for you. It's in an alcohol base, which is supposed to enhance retinol penetration, but I found it too drying. I thought it was the retinoid that was causing dryness, but when I switched to Avene cream Ystheal, I realized that the retinoid (in this case retinaldehyde) wasn't the culprit. Since everyone's skin reacts a bit differently to actives, I'd experiment cautiously to see what works best for you.

Will Avene Ystheal cause Epidermal thinning?

free skin care · Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:38 pm

lululun wrote:

Will Avene Ystheal cause Epidermal thinning?

I am pretty sure that retinol thickens the skin.

ROC made my under eye area crinkly (I tried it about 3 years ago).
Avene Eulage I find excellent for my under eyes.

Avene's retinol is good for sensitive skin - my skin reacts like mad with some things but loves the Avene).

free skin care · Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:05 am

Does anyone know if I need to apply a moisturizer on top of Avene Ystheal Cream?

free skin care · Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:25 am

Nemi, as you are only in your mid thirties, you should not have too much damage, so why not have a look at Remergent Barrier Repair and DNA Repair. These should not irritate your skin and should prevent any future damage as well as assisting to repair any current damage. Remergent also make very good sunscreens.

free skin care · Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:46 am

Nemi,

About retinol being drying -- I would recommend using a nice moisturizer afterward (maybe emu oil or your favorite). Based on my research, you only need to leave the retinol alone on your skin for 30 minutes for it to do the most work; after that it changes and becomes much less potent anyway. HTH!

free skin care · Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:58 pm

I think we have the same skin type. I also have fair thin skin that's dry.I can't use anything harsh on my face. So what I've been doing is making sure I always have sunscreen on. I also wear a hat if I garden or plan on being outside for long periods of time.Also maybe see a derm and let him or her evaluate your skin to see what it can tolerate.

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:40 pm

Me too.When I used retinol item,my skin is irritated with redness.And pimples happen on my face.I really worried about it.

free skin care · Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:19 pm

I found your post interesting. I have used Vitamin C and Retinol - a plethora of brands- and neither did anything for my skin. I am now using an AHA product that really delivers visible results. I am also of the opinion that because I really, really increased my water intake as well as upped my exercise program, that my skin overall looks better. One of the things that I have learned about my skin is that it truly reflects how I am living. What I eat, drink, how much I exercise and my overall state of mind contribute just as much if not more than piling products on my face. Right now, things are looking good.

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:29 am

I have similar issues, and I can't tolerate AHAs either. Here are a couple of things that actually seemed to help my skin without irritating it:

SkinMedica TNS Complex
Remergent DNA Repair

Both seemed to produce notable improvements without any irritation.

Oops, forgot to add that I've also done very well with Ice Elements Anti-Aging Serum.

I'm 49 by the way.

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:52 pm

Which AHA product are you using that is delivering good results?

Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:01 pm

This is my first post ever, so bare with me. Smile

Now I don't have sensitive skin, but I use a Vit. C that I got from skinactives, and it seems to be very mild. I mix it myself at home. Some of the posts mentioned trying different products and brands, so I thought I would give my two cents. I know someone also mentioned how inexpensive it is to mix the actives yourself, and boy is that true!

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2007 11:31 pm

truepinklove wrote:

This is my first post ever, so bare with me. Smile

Now I don't have sensitive skin, but I use a Vit. C that I got from skinactives, and it seems to be very mild. I mix it myself at home. Some of the posts mentioned trying different products and brands, so I thought I would give my two cents. I know someone also mentioned how inexpensive it is to mix the actives yourself, and boy is that true!

Not to say you aren't right but will they still be using the same home made mixture in 12 months or will they try a multitude of formulations to find something that actually does improve their skin. Many companies put a lot of research into the actual mix of ingredients to ensure the Vit C is optimised and absorbed sufficiently to actually do some good.

free skin care · Sat May 19, 2007 5:05 pm

ARRRGH. I've tried Cellex C and now I'm using a sample of PSF Vit C (new formulation). At first PSF felt great and my skin was smooth. But after a few weeks skin has progressively gotten worse. Today, I looked in the mirror and did not like what I saw! Bumps and spots and all sorts of nasties. I really think Vitamin C and me are not a good fit. I have to accept it and move on....

I've also got PSF Retinol (0.5%) sample. I will wait a few weeks until my skin is back to normal and give this a go. I'm getting very tired of being a guinea pig for skin products! I'm beginning to wonder if I wasn't better off before I started al this testing.

free skin care · Sat May 19, 2007 6:40 pm

BBD wrote:

I have similar issues, and I can't tolerate AHAs either. Here are a couple of things that actually seemed to help my skin without irritating it:

SkinMedica TNS Complex
Remergent DNA Repair

Both seemed to produce notable improvements without any irritation.

Oops, forgot to add that I've also done very well with Ice Elements Anti-Aging Serum.

I'm 49 by the way.

My pocketbook is sorry that I didn't break down and try Remergent DNA serum before now. I find that Vit A products just irritate my skin and I can only use some Vit C products. The only Remergent product that bugs my skin is the Barrier Repair which has Vit A. I also like Ice Elements AA serum and the Edelweiss serum is the best product I've tried for my neck.

free skin care · Sun May 20, 2007 7:44 am

smoky, the same thing happens when I use vit. c. Psf, jansen beckett, skinceuticals, etc.
I tried cps and they don't give me those bumps.

free skin care · Sun May 20, 2007 8:54 am

hi ya Smokey and others!

I feel for your frustration. However, I have been SO LUCKY with the PSF C, are you sure it's that and not something else you are using? Basically, everything gives me bumps, but my skin has never looked better since using their newer version. It' like my skin is glowing and my forehead bumps are no longer there and my pores are visible smaller (I always have a problem with HUGE pores and the exfoliating properties have done wonders for keeping my pores smaller and unclogged). I do also use the microderm creme and that too has really helped. LOVE that stuff! ARe you maybe using too many actives at once? Such as retinol? Because the two together will make me get dry and a bit peely.

I hope this may help before you give up on the PSF Vit. C. Especially since it was doing so well in the beginning for you. Typically if something isn't going to agree with me it happens right off the bat!

My best advice would be to only sample one thing at a time too, I used to be a sample junky and then when something would react I wasn't really sure which product and may have incorrectly blamed something that would've been a great thing to use. So I started sampling and testing only one thing at a time per month and the results are more true.

Good luck with your skin, hope it calms done for you! Know what you are going through...

Heather Very Happy

free skin care · Sun May 20, 2007 5:31 pm

doodlebug wrote:

hi ya Smokey and others!

I feel for your frustration. However, I have been SO LUCKY with the PSF C, are you sure it's that and not something else you are using? ARe you maybe using too many actives at once? Such as retinol? Because the two together will make me get dry and a bit peely.

I hope this may help before you give up on the PSF Vit. C. Especially since it was doing so well in the beginning for you. Typically if something isn't going to agree with me it happens right off the bat!

Heather Very Happy

Heather, thanks for the encouragement. I know I get myself in a quandry when using too many products and then not being able to determine which one is causing the problem.

I purchased PSF samples 1) green tea cleanser 2) perfecting day lotion 3) cranberry eye gel 4) vit c serum and 5) retinol 0.5%

Everything seemed to go well with the samples and I purchased the full sizes of 1, 2, 3. In addition I bought the HA serum and the firming facial toner (both of which I did not sample first).

Maybe I have too many new products on the go, and you're right that I may not actually be reacting to the Vitamin C, but possibly to the others.

Has anyone had problems with the PSF HA Serum for breakouts? what about the firming facial toner?

Looks like I will have to strip my routine down and start afresh to see if any of these are causing problems.

Another AAAARRRRRRGGG. Ah, I feel so much better!

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.