I would like to know what your routine is in general, but I’m also specifically curious about what products you use, if you use them, and what the rationale is behind each product.

My routine:

Morning

  1. Rinse face with warm water.
  2. Scrub face and neck with warm, wet washcloth.
  3. Apply facial moisturizer with SPF (I use CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30) to face, neck, and hands.

Evening

  1. Shower.
    • While in shower, scrub entire body with an exfoliating mitt (ie this one).
  2. Apply a retinol (I use Retin-A (tretinoin 0.05%)) to face, neck, and hands.
  3. Apply facial moisturizer (I use CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion) to face, neck, and hands
  4. Apply body lotion (I use CeraVe Moisturizing Cream) to whole body, excluding hands and face.

I have used, and considered continuing using a BHA (also AHA?) liquid exfoliant (I have read that it shouldn’t be used at the same time as retinol due to PH requirements, ie use it in the morning and retinol in the evening) (I previously used Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, but I no longer because I have lost trust in Paula’s Choice overall due to their borderline false advertising regarding their retinol product [1]), but I am unsure of what a good product would be, and the rationale behind it. I have also heard about Vitamin E, though I’ve never used it.

References
  1. “[Research] Study: The Ordinary and Paula’s Choice retinols are unstable”. toa20. r/SkincareAddiction. Reddit. Published: 2023-01-26T17:49:01.223Z. Accessed: 2024-10-29T05:16Z. https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/10lxshy/research_study_the_ordinary_and_paulas_choice/.
  • SwingingTheLampEnglish
    1·
    23 days ago

    Maybe it’s genetic, but also, my skin improved vastly after I stopped doing the things that harm it, primarily long, hot showers, scrubbing/exfoliating, and overuse of strong soaps. Plus, bonuses like no more oily hair, no more stinky socks, and greatly reduced pit odor. These things are backed up by good science; I just saw a WaPo article the other day with these recommendations from dermatologists. I see a lot of talk about exfoliating, and I know from experience that most people take long, hot showers, so I figure it’s worth passing that information along.