My skin was very dried out and damaged last year from extreme use of chemical acne products. It's much better now but my cheeks are still very sensitive and there's still some discoloration and redness. Exfoliation has been the hardest thing for me to figure out when it comes to healing my skin, cause I know it helps to renew the skin but because my skin is so sensitive it's so easy for me to irritate it.
In the summer I put manuka honey on my skin every night for an hour for one week and it was disastrous, my skin got really irritated (luckily it healed in a couple of weeks with aloe vera and emu oil). More recently I tried a tumeric, honey, and lemon mask for just 15 minutes and my skin did seem to look a lot better after the first mask but then when I did it again a few nights later my face got irritated.
What role should exfoliation play in a regimen for someone who has dehydrated damaged skin and is looking to restore their skin's barriers/moisture? Should I do gentle exfoliation maybe just once every week or two? Should I leave it out entirely?
Your skin will heal itself. Best thing to do is just wash your face with Luke warm water, and moisturize. Let your skin heal itself. Use natural oils for moisturizing that will aid in the healing process.
Thanks for the response. I've been using emu oil these last couple of months but I'm thinking of switching to Rosehip Oil since I already have a bottle in my closet and I heard it might be better for repairing the skin, do you know anything about that?
To me moisturizing is always a trigger to clogged pores. Wash with distilled water and very diluted ACV, every other day. Take a high quality fish oil that will lubricate your skin from within.
Ive tried about every oil as well, including emu, tea tree, etc and use all sparingly. For me they were magical when I started using them but its like your skin builds up a tolerance, and then you try more and it just makes matters worse. If anything I use tea tree oil only directly on a spot and only once then let it heal. and I do think straight up tea tree oil is the best of all to use. Manuka oil worked incredible but is ridiculously expensive, about 5x the price of tea tree and emu if not more.
To me moisturizing is always a trigger to clogged pores. Wash with distilled water and very diluted ACV, every other day. Take a high quality fish oil that will lubricate your skin from within.
Ive tried about every oil as well, including emu, tea tree, etc and use all sparingly. For me they were magical when I started using them but its like your skin builds up a tolerance, and then you try more and it just makes matters worse. If anything I use tea tree oil only directly on a spot and only once then let it heal. and I do think straight up tea tree oil is the best of all to use. Manuka oil worked incredible but is ridiculously expensive, about 5x the price of tea tree and emu if not more.
Thanks! I've been using straight tap water which I know sucks, I'm gonna buy some distilled water from the store. What's ACV?
Also, has anyone ever used Vitamin C serum for restoring skin?
ACV is apple cider vinegar. Get the braggs kind with the mother. As for the distilled water just buy a gallon from walmart or something, its 85 cents. Use a tissue, napkin whatever tissues are the softest and easy on your skin, put some ACV in the water, and use that to massage your skin, like I said every other day, this is what I have been doing now for probably a year and a half and i still believe it is the most effective topical way to cleansing skin for anyone, acne or not.
That gallon will last you a longggg time. At least two months, I keep mine in the fridge, then when I use it I pour some into a cup.
ACV is apple cider vinegar. Get the braggs kind with the mother. As for the distilled water just buy a gallon from walmart or something, its 85 cents. Use a tissue, napkin whatever tissues are the softest and easy on your skin, put some ACV in the water, and use that to massage your skin, like I said every other day, this is what I have been doing now for probably a year and a half and i still believe it is the most effective topical way to cleansing skin for anyone, acne or not.
That gallon will last you a longggg time. At least two months, I keep mine in the fridge, then when I use it I pour some into a cup.
So when washing with the distilled water I should just pour some on a napkin then gently rub the face?