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Sat Nov 21, 2009 5:27 pm  |
Hi ladies,
It's been a while since I was logged in but still lurk now and again and hoping you can give me some advice.
Sorry this might be long but am really at the end of my tether now 
I always had dry/flakey but cystic acne prone skin with blackheads on the nose and chin - used Decleor rose products and Guerlain superaqua serum along with Dr Hauscka Rose for winter and rose oil underneath but wanted to try and stop the flaking and also stop the spots
Stupidly used PC's BHA 2yrs ago for a couple of months which made my skin go crazy flaky and the blackheads just went wild - went back to previous products but they never fully went away
This year I tried the Alpha-H liquid gold and Rejuv and my skin looked fantastic (no cystic spots or flakiness) for about 3 months until I noticed the blackheads were now literally everywhere and reappearing within days of removing or are too hard to remove, and several tiny red spider veins had appeared between nose and mouth which i had been warned was possible when using acid products
What on earth can I try now? Am currently using rose oil, decleor prolagene and essential balm at night or the liquid gold or dr hausckha rose cream to try and keep the flakiness at a minimum and alpha-h rejuv cream or weleeda iris cream during the day but neither are giving me moisture and if i go too rich the blackheads will get worse
inbetween i am using a charcoal mask twice a week but the blackheads are just too much (not a place on my face that isn't covered), the cystic acne is coming back and my skin is getting drier and flakier again
Any advice at all would be really gratefully received as have just turned 30 and totally fed up but also dont have the budget to keep buying products that dont work |
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Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:35 pm |
Hey manclass...so sorry for your skin problems! My first advice would be to visit a dermatologist. The next would be to get rid of the heavy and occlusive oily products you're using, and do some exfoliation with glycolic and salicylic acids (even some physical exfoliatition to start with). The more you exfoliate, the less flakey your skin will be, along with less blackheads. Keep your skin scrupulously clean. Your derm may want you to try some tretinoins for your skin. I think that'd be a great opportunity for you.
I'm not a licensed anything, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. My opinion is though, that you're using products that are overwhelming your pores and not letting your own skin oils flow... |
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Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:01 am |
Sadly Derms are like god dust in the UK and very pricey!
The doc gave me creams but they just made the skin even drier and had the added extra of bleaching my towels and covers so after a couple of months I stopped them
Is it safe to exfoliate manually when using acids products, as I was told that is why I have the spider/thread veins? |
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Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:38 am |
Yes, physical exfoliants can damage your skin if it's compromised. I also believe that too vigorous an exfoliation session can damage your underlying capillaries and cause spider veins. You might start with a Dermaligica product like Daily Microfoliant that's relatively gentle. Dermalogica also has a nice chemical exfoliant called Gentle Cream Exfoliant. There are many others on the market like this...pumpkin masks, etc. There are also many, many cleansers with glycolic or lactic acids that might be a gentle start to help clear your skin. Then of course, there are clay masks that really suck blackheads out of the skin. Be sure to find one with a buffer like glycerin or similar, because clay can be very drying.
Be gentle with your skin. I know guys like to do everything with exuberance, but keep the pressure you use in check when touching your skin, especially during any physical exfoliation.
Last, but not least, use your own judgement in dealing with your skin. If it gets dry or red, back off what you're doing and take it slower. Remember too, that your skin can get worse before it gets better, especially when uncovering clogged pores.
Best of luck to you! |
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Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:42 am |
| Oh yeah, your doc must have given you a benzoyl peroxide (BP) product or some other peroxide cream. I choose not to use that approach personally although many get good results from it. Look on acne.org for some discussion on a gentler BP solution. |
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Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:29 pm |
wow, your skin sounds exactly like mine. I feel afflicted with every facial skin issue possible. It sucks I have all this information from this site and no $ to buy stuff with right now! So aggravating! When I get a bit older I'll get the wrinkles to go with.  I got some melasma this year too...with no sun!! I literally pitched a fit when I saw it showing up.
Just an idea....but from my reading, you might should try a weekly lactic acid peel (~40%). These are supposed to be hydrating, smoothing and good for acne. So maybe you can get some good non abrasive exfoliation that won't aggravate broken capillaries or cause excessive drying. It might even make you more able to use the BHA, you'll have to change things slowly and see what your skin is trying to tell you. If not, maybe you can fool around with the base that your BHA is in, or its strength and pH...most people seem to be able to find some combo that works for them, it just takes some experimentation. You can try to take horse chestnut for capillary support too.
Make sure your makeup/sunscreen is not causing the issues with blackheads...that might not even be from your cleansing/moisturizing skincare products. Taking fish oil will help with the blackheads since it makes your sebum more liquidy and less waxy so it doesn't want to clog as much. You might want to look into a humidifier for your room at night too for flakies and try washing your face with a soft cloth and non-tap water if your water is hard and drying. Try putting your moisturizer on before your face dries all the way.
If none of that works...maybe you should look into some calming or skin balancing/pH balancing products.
I hope you find something that works for you! It's kinda exasperating trying to find a skincare routine with the plethora of issues people like us have, but it can be done 
Just thought of something else...if you find a cleanser you like that doesn't exfoliate and want a super gentle physical exfoliator if the acids don't work out for you, buy some jojoba beads from like a soap supply place and toss them in your cleanser. They are round and won't hurt your face or cause micro lacerations. |
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Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:25 pm |
| manclass wrote: |
Hi ladies,
It's been a while since I was logged in but still lurk now and again and hoping you can give me some advice.
Sorry this might be long but am really at the end of my tether now
I always had dry/flakey but cystic acne prone skin with blackheads on the nose and chin - used Decleor rose products and Guerlain superaqua serum along with Dr Hauscka Rose for winter and rose oil underneath but wanted to try and stop the flaking and also stop the spots
Stupidly used PC's BHA 2yrs ago for a couple of months which made my skin go crazy flaky and the blackheads just went wild - went back to previous products but they never fully went away
This year I tried the Alpha-H liquid gold and Rejuv and my skin looked fantastic (no cystic spots or flakiness) for about 3 months until I noticed the blackheads were now literally everywhere and reappearing within days of removing or are too hard to remove, and several tiny red spider veins had appeared between nose and mouth which i had been warned was possible when using acid products
What on earth can I try now? Am currently using rose oil, decleor prolagene and essential balm at night or the liquid gold or dr hausckha rose cream to try and keep the flakiness at a minimum and alpha-h rejuv cream or weleeda iris cream during the day but neither are giving me moisture and if i go too rich the blackheads will get worse
inbetween i am using a charcoal mask twice a week but the blackheads are just too much (not a place on my face that isn't covered), the cystic acne is coming back and my skin is getting drier and flakier again
Any advice at all would be really gratefully received as have just turned 30 and totally fed up but also dont have the budget to keep buying products that dont work |
If you have such flakey skin only thing I can think of is back off on the drying products. Sounds like you have product overload. Start over. Use a GENTLE non drying cleanser day and night and only one moisturizer. And exfoliate once a week by using the PC BHA on the nose. Thats it. Its all you need to do until your skin normalizes. |
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Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:34 am |
Well said, SusieQ!!  |
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Thu Nov 26, 2009 1:59 pm |
thank you all!
what would you recommend as a ph balancing product as i have always stuck to rose oil as that is meant to be the most balancing, calming oil - and jojoba -but nada - rosa masqueta makes me break out so i use that only around the eyes and even then sparingly as it causes milia
for cleanser i have been using guerlain cleansing cream which is really nourishing *normally* or Boots Time Delay which is a cheaper version of the Eve Lom packed full of essential oils but maybe it is too cleansing, as i think its meant to balance so could be stripping
the flaking is basically on the nose and then when the cystic spots start to heal the area all around them flake really badly rather than the whole face but it is defo all dry and tighter than normal
have got humidifiers in every room on every radiator and dont have any heating in the bedroom at all to try and counteract the heat
I was actually looking into horse chestnut but couldn't work out if it was better to apply the cream or take a supplement?
it is so frustrating, you think when you get older your teenage spotty yrs will come to an end and then it ramps up a gear! wouldn't be so bad if you only had one or the other, spots or dryness - men defo get it easy  |
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Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:26 pm |
| I overdid the retin-a a few months back and managed to give myself horrible open pores that were once invisible. My skin looked a mess. I cleansed with Dr H Cleansing Milk and used squalene to moisturize and left the retin-a for 2 weeks and it went back to normal. I think you have to wait for the skin to rebuid again - constant exfoliation is just going to keep taking you back to the same place. I would stick with squaline or emu oil while your having this trouble though - at least you KNOW there's nothing in them that could block your pores and they will protect the barrier that is in vulnurable state at the moment. |
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Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:34 pm |
| manclass wrote: |
thank you all!
what would you recommend as a ph balancing product as i have always stuck to rose oil as that is meant to be the most balancing, calming oil - and jojoba -but nada - rosa masqueta makes me break out so i use that only around the eyes and even then sparingly as it causes milia
for cleanser i have been using guerlain cleansing cream which is really nourishing *normally* or Boots Time Delay which is a cheaper version of the Eve Lom packed full of essential oils but maybe it is too cleansing, as i think its meant to balance so could be stripping
the flaking is basically on the nose and then when the cystic spots start to heal the area all around them flake really badly rather than the whole face but it is defo all dry and tighter than normal
have got humidifiers in every room on every radiator and dont have any heating in the bedroom at all to try and counteract the heat
I was actually looking into horse chestnut but couldn't work out if it was better to apply the cream or take a supplement?
it is so frustrating, you think when you get older your teenage spotty yrs will come to an end and then it ramps up a gear! wouldn't be so bad if you only had one or the other, spots or dryness - men defo get it easy |
Don't use anything else manclass. Especially oil around the eye area. I believe less is more. I also believe your skin will re-bound nicely once you stop what you are using now. Don't bounce around using this and that either. Get off your Eve Lom cleanser. Its greasy and clogs pores. Use a gentle cleanser with water twice a day and wash well especially around the nose area with a cloth. And than use a bit of moisturizer only on the dry spots. I think men have the same problems. Skin is all the same. Good luck to you my dear. |
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Sun Nov 29, 2009 1:37 pm |
i think i need to clarify that i am not a man  my username is manc lass - manc means manchester and lass a northern england term for girl
i bought the Simple balancing oil cleanser as its quite bland but seems similar to Dermalogica Microfoliant with the rice bran and promises a 64% reduction in blackheads, plus the Steam Cream which is a basic moisturiser with essential oils of lavender and chamomile but i do have jojoba oil that i could use instead, although it doesn't moisturise enough for the day under makeup
what is emu oil and squaline? |
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Sun Nov 29, 2009 6:23 pm |
I don't have skin like yours at all, but I am on a forum where some very knowledgeable people are. One is Dr Dan, I think he has a PHD in nutrition or something like that. He is great and will answer you, even directly and on the phone if needed. He is even in the UK somewhere, not sure what city.
The site is for Perfect Complexion Products and is run by an Esthetician that also makes her own products, they are amazing and very reasonably priced.
Other Estheticians also frequent the forum with good suggestions and knowledge. I am worried about the suggestions here of more acid right now. You may need a brief period of calming, also there are so many different types of peels and I think salicylic acid may be better for acne, but again I'm not a good person for that. Please go over there and see what Dan says.
Another thing Dan will be good for is that nutrition can really make a difference in your skin especially if it is troubled. Try to add fruits and veggies, lots of water and some ground flax seed, again Dan is a 'Dr.' and knows much more and will make you a personalized plan.
http://www.tca--blue-peel.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=2 |
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Sun Nov 29, 2009 10:15 pm |
So sorry for assuming you were a guy! My bad!
I still believe that if you don't get the dry skin off you face with exfoliation, you'll never get clear skin. You've got dry skin cells clogging your pores, yet you're putting oils(creams) on top of all that. Dead skin cells + oil = a cloggy mess.
When you get rid of the dry surface skin and uncover some "new" skin your face will look fresh and your creams will work so much better.
IMHO... :D |
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Mon Nov 30, 2009 1:52 pm |
| manclass wrote: |
i think i need to clarify that i am not a man my username is manc lass - manc means manchester and lass a northern england term for girl
i bought the Simple balancing oil cleanser as its quite bland but seems similar to Dermalogica Microfoliant with the rice bran and promises a 64% reduction in blackheads, plus the Steam Cream which is a basic moisturiser with essential oils of lavender and chamomile but i do have jojoba oil that i could use instead, although it doesn't moisturise enough for the day under makeup
what is emu oil and squaline? |
Emu oil is from the emu bird (does not appeal to me at all), squalene is an emollient and could come from the olive plant and is high in antioxidants.. |
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Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:36 pm |
manclass, I wish I could help you with a certain pH balanced product, but I have just researched this myself recently and I'm a noob on the subject...I really think they way to go is as natural as possible from what I know now.
Skin's pH is between 4.5 and 6. After 6, skin is usually diseased. Acne bacteria can start to get out of control at 5.5. The usual pH of tap water is 7..although it can vary greatly depending on what is in your local water. Soap is incredibly alkaline, and somewhere around 9-12. You can easily see what bad it does for your skin. So I think pH balanced products are a good place to start. Also, it is shocking what absolute crap is being put in skin "care" products for stupid effects like lather - which is not even needed for cleansing. I'm getting exhausted reading about all the garbage found in many products...I refuse to read about it anymore, so instead I'm looking for products that are natural, pH balanced, and rather than a laundry list of ingredients, contain just a few I can easily read about and decide if I think they are right for me. Even some natural products are irritants (I used to love the cooling of peppermint....but it is an irritant and I think probably something I need to avoid now) That's where I am starting. I'm gonna begin my search at the health food store, not the department stores - for my cleanser at least.
Look at your skin's environment and what is bad about it that you really can't do anything about (pollution/drying air conditioning at work). Think of your products as a way to treat what you can't change for your skin's environment. At the same time try to treat your skin first by changing what you do have control over like diet, and the humidity of your home, etc.
The horse chestnut I don't know about for sure....personally, I would start internally and supplement externally if I was seeing results but wasn't seeing enough results. If I wasn't seeing any results whatsoever with the oral supp....I might assume this was not helping the cause of the symptom you are experiencing....does that make sense? |
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Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:21 pm |
Just to update you all, over the last few weeks my skin has got worse however, my husband has bought me a Dr Kern Beauty lamp for Xmas and my local salon are offering thread vein removal at a ridiculous price - so am booked in for 4 weeks time!
Am so excited a) to get rid of the little veins (though i know they could well come back) but also about the beauty lamp as having researched on the net it has lots of positive feedback and is endorsed by the Acne specialist Dr Chu in London (with N-Lite being his other recommendation) so fingers crossed 2010 might just see the back of my acne! |
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