My skin is not sensitive at all, but rather hardy and oily in T zone. The routine below is instrumental in maintaining my current satisfactory skin condition:
Morning:
1. Wash with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser:
With just 0.5% of SLS, it's quite mild. First and foremost I want to minimize irritation. Wet face with lukewarm water, then gently massage skin with it. After which rinse off and splash face with cold water. It's actually kind of fun.)
2. Moisturize with Cerave Cream:
Dab a few dots on forehead, cheeks and chin. Then I gently even it out with back of my hand. Softly, I stress. Because I used to wonder why my face get so red and flushed after putting on the moisturzer, it turned out I dragged my hand across face like a tractor. Now I konw better.
3. Protect with Sunscreen
I wear sunscreen daily, rain or shine, indoors or out. Force of habit I suppose. Most importantly, and I put on lots of it. (Don't be scared now folks) Again, I gently even out the sunscreen, and leave it be to sink in on its own.
Evening:
1. Wash with Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser For Normal to Oil Skin:
Gentle Skin cleanser doesn't cut it now. Instead, Daily Cleanser dissolves away all the sunscreen I slathered on effortlessly. No greasy residue either. That's all I expect from a face wash: cleans well, rinses off well. No fuss, no muss.
2. Moisturize with Cerave Cream:
It's a rather bland moisturizer, no irritation, no visible benefits either. Just very... bleh. Am I committing cardinal sin by expecting too much out of a simple moisturizer?![]()
3. Moisturize with Paula's Choice Exfoliating 2% BHA Lotion:
It received good reviews for ridding black heads, though frankly, I haven't noticed any difference.
By the way, I also have Daniel Kern's BP gel, but I get so little pimples, besides, it doesn't correct red marks, so I rarely use it. But it's effective against occasional zits.
Topicals I'd like to try:
1. Retin-A:
Acne reducing, red mark lightening, real anti-aging, (Not just the "appearance" of aging) what can be better? I received a bunch of Retin-A gel from AllDayChemist.com, and can't wait to start reaping the benefits. This what the tube looks like:![]()
By the way, I used Retin-A 0.025% generic cream some months back, but discontinued using it after a while. Didn't experience any negative side effects at all when I started though, weird.
2. Tazorac:
Retinoid with the similar effects as Retin A, except more effective with shrinking pore size reportedly.
2. Avene Diacneal.
Mixture of 0.01% Retinaldehyde and 6% exfoliating Glycolic acid. Reportedly just as effective as 0.05% Retin-A, but a lot less irritating. Avene also incorporates their patented active ingredient Retinaldehyde in their Eluage, Ystheal and Retrinal (available in USA) lines. But Diacneal is the most potent and promising.
3. Azelaic acid
The active ingredient in Skinoren cream and Finacea gel. It has anti-bacterial and lightening properties to improve red marks leftover from acne. And it speeds up skin turnover. Just what I need. Can be used during the day. This may provide more bang for the buck than any moisturizer.
4. SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic serum
An antioxidant serum that improves complexion and combats sun damage? I'm sold. Though I probably won't try it until I got the more important stuff like sunscreen and retinoid out of the way.
Diet to be incorporated into the routine:
1. Green Tea
I like how tea's fresh clean taste lingers, and it has antioxidant properties. Woo hoo! Let's see if I can keep it up.
2. Fruits and veggies
I'm pretty bad in this regard, my grandma once said I'm a carnivore.)
This is about it, my goal is to have a smooth, even, acne-free complexion with minimum efforts. Too ambitious? We will see.



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