Teaching some of you to suck eggs probably but here are a few things I've done recently to improve my skin. Here in the UK you can get a jar of Q10 moisturiser from Aldi for only £1.99. I'm 41 and have suffered with bad skin since my teens and it has left me with very 'battered' skin - lots of open pores, red marks, scars and so on. My skin is still very oily, my nose and forehead are absolutely swimming in it sometimes. This moisturiser has actually decreased the oil levels on my face, it's calming down the oil production quite well. I've tried other moisturisers in the past and I've not got on with them but this one seems be actually doing the job. It dries pretty quickly to a matt finish. They do two versions, a night one and a day one. I find the night one works better for me, it's thicker than the day stuff but doesn't clog my pores up. I put it all over my face at night after a wash, and after my morning wash I use it on my nose, forehead and under my eyes. It's stopping my under-eye skin from getting dried and wrinkly too - something I think was being made worse from BP creeping into into that area over the course of a day from using it on my nose.
Before I found this moisturiser I was using Quinoderm BP 5% on my nose all the time and some of the time on my forehead. It did stop my pores from getting clogged but my nose still got very oily and I was a bit worried about using BP long term. Then there was the bleaching of pillow cases and clothes, awful. I'm convinced BP does age the skin, I'm sure I'm wrinklier than I should be. I'm glad to have stopped using this. If I've got an actual big spot that looks like it's going to grow and grow I'll dab a bit of Quinoderm on though.
Along with balding (the joys of getting older), my scalp has become more and more acne-prone in the last few years. I tried the Quinoderm on my spotty bald bit and that barely worked. It was probably bleaching what was left of my hair too but I didn't know what else to try until I stumbled across another product recently - Alphosyl shampoo. It's medicated with "alcoholic extract of coal tar 5% w/w". It smells very chemical but this has definitely improved my scalp acne - no more itching, pain and the odd popped mess of blood and pus found on my fingers as I poke around. It's about £6.50 on Amazon, a bit pricey for a small bottle of shampoo but I'd say it's worth it.
What else? Omega 3 capsules, I think they do help with skin health and they're not that expensive. A daily walk and early nights (easier said than done). Avoid overdoing sugary stuff. You all know the drill!
Anyway, here's the stuff. It's got "retinol complex" in it too. I just hope they don't stop making it:
And the noggin wash:
