Starting Paula's Choice (Need Tips!)

[pockyreiko 0]

For the past year I've been using Dan's products for my face. This is my regimen:

Morning:

Cleanser

Benzoyl Peroxide

Moisturizer

Night:

Cleanser

Benzoyl Peroxide

AHA + Lotion

I've heard Paula's Choice products, the BHA liquid in particular, are really helpful for getting rid of blackheads, which I still have a lot of. I was wondering if I should follow Paula's 5-step regimen or just try to fit in the BHA liquid into Dan's regimen. Also, I heard salicylic acid is good for getting rid of blackheads, but I read on the site that it's bad for your skin, so I'm kind of confused...

Please help! Thanks!

[Moonface 0]

I tried the 2% BHA liquid and gel on and off for the last 2 years. IMO, it's only suited for people who have a few clogged pores and not for people who have a real blackhead problem. For some reason, it makes my nose look worse.

Maybe you should try Dan's SA+. It has the same amount of salicylic acid, but I've heard people say it's more efficient.

[LionQueen 39]

SA isn't "bad" for your skin. It's just hard to use it in tandem with benzoyl peroxide, because you run the risk of red, dry, irritated skin.

I've never tried Dan's SA. The Paula's Choice products are extremely well-formulated and many people find them effective and non-irritating. Unfortunately, many people give up on them too early .... blackheads appear larger as they begin to surface, which will make your skin appear temporarily worse. It's a good time to get extractions, actually.

I have no experience using BP successfully, so I am hesitant to give advice here. If you do try to incorporate SA into the regimen, I suggest easing into it slowly ... once every 3 days to begin with. Pay attention to your skin; if you have trouble with dryness or irritation, back off on the products.

Also, be sure to leave the SA on your skin for at least 30 minutes before applying anything else over it; otherwise you interfere with the absorption and exfoliation process.

[pockyreiko 0]

Thank you for the feedback! I'm thinking about going on Dan's SA+ only because his products have been working pretty well for me and I'd rather not have to split orders between websites. I've noticed that my blackheads have been looking a lot bigger lately, and I guess that's a good thing. I've tried Biore Pore Strips to extract them, but then I read another article saying that it's a bad idea to extract blackheads and that the pores would easily get clogged again.

I don't really know what I'm getting at here...does anyone have any successful stories dealing with blackheads? My complexion also SUCKS. I dunno if SA is supposde to help that.

[Wynne 129]

Salicylic acid nicely exfoliates the skin and it also exfoliates inside the pore. It has helped many people get rid of blackheads. Different things work differently for different people though. I use glycolic acid with success.

If you're going to use SA with the DKR, please ease into the SA usage as LionQueen recommends or you risk irritating your skin more than helping it.

Pores will fill up again but they will look smaller if you continue to use SA as it will help keep the pores from clogging up so badly.