Skincare questions galore

May 12, 2017

Taylor G.

Hey Beautylish community!
So recently I've been wanting to get really into skincare. My skin has finally cleared up and I want to take care of it as best I can.
My main concerns are some remaining dark spots and I have some little baby wrinkles popping up (mostly in the smile lines area!) I guess I should call them fine lines instead of wrinkles.
I've received some suggestions for vitamin c serums before (but feel free to throw in any suggestions anyway!) but I also want to know what I should do for the fine lines or how to prevent more.
Lastly, there are sooo many skincare products out there that I don't know what I really need to invest in and what order it goes in. What sparked this was receiving a sample of the Drunk Elephant Framboos Glycolic Serum. I really loved this for the few uses I got out of it! So I looked it up on Sephora and I was wondering, is it similar to a vitamin c serum? Could I/ should I use both that and the c serum? Looking into the Framboos serum led me to the Virgin Marula oil from the same brand. It said that it was a good way to follow up the Framboos and that it helped with fine lines, firmness, etc.
Basically, I'm curious about what is worth investing in and how best to apply it. And from any brands that you know and love, I just happened to be looking up this brand because I've heard good things about it. Skincare can be so overwhelming but I'm ready to learn!
Also, my skin is combo/oily and can be slightly on the sensitive side (but not too bad!)

May 12, 2017

Taylor G.

I guess I should add my current routine also: I use Cetaphil daily facial cleanser, Mario Badescu rose water spray afterward, and honestly my moisturizer changes every time I finish a bottle. I've been using Cetaphil moisturizer but I don't really like it. It feels too greasy. I do face masks once or twice a week. So I have a very basic routine I guess lol.

May 12, 2017

Leuca S.

To answer your question about the Framboos Serum - no, it is not a concentrated vitamin c treatment. It is a 10% glycolic acid solution combined with 1% salicylic acid, meant to chemically exfoliate the skin so that you do not need to use harsh abrasives. These have the added benefit of being minor humectants, and salicylic acid is even a mild antibacterial agent and anti inflammatory in smaller % concentrations. The primary function of a chemical exfoliant is to keep the surface of your skin free of excess dead skin, while stimulating collagen production. Every type of acid has its own unique benefits; you will get the best results not by selecting a certain acid that is superior to the others, but by selecting the one that is best for your skin type.

For what it's worth, you can get comparable exfoliation from products at a fraction of the price. For glycolic acid options, Alpha Skincare has a host of products in various textures, and they're great about nailing the correct PH for proper exfoliation.

For BHA/salicylic acid options, I cannot repeat enough how much I love the Paula's Choice line; they were really one of the first companies to really nail a well-formulated BHA product, at least on the US market, and their selection has only improved.

The Ordinary has a few chemical exfoliants. I haven't tried them myself, but their science is more often than not correct so I doubt they would mess them up too badly. My issue is that it's generally a good idea to use chemical exfoliants all over, and the Ordinary line comes in very small sizes for such products.

Having the correct PH is essential because if it's too high, it won't work or will even be alkaline and damage your skin, while a PH that's actually *too* acidic will more or less burn you. For general purposes you should be looking for products at or above a PH of 3.2 and no higher than 4; that's the goldilocks zone of exfoliation.

Back to Drunk Elephant as a brand; I think their two standout products in terms of being unique on the market are the C-Firma Serum and the B-Hydra gel. The former for its very complex formula housed in air-tight packaging, which is rare on the market when it comes to products containing l-ascorbic acid. The latter I enjoy for its completely unique gel texture that is perfect for layering with other skincare. I haven't seen anything else they make that can't be duped, including their "luxury" marula oil, which the Ordinary has essentially created a copy of for literally about 15% of the price.

In order to really recommend products, I'd need to know your budget, how much time you are willing to commit each day/night, and what kind of sensitivities you are aware you may have.

May 12, 2017

Leuca S.

To address the products you are already using; you can easily outperform the cetaphil cleansers with anything by CeraVe. My personal favorite for most skintypes except extremely dry is the Gentle Clean Foaming Face Wash by Olay. I've tried much more expensive cleansers and very little even comes close to the value/performance.

You can ditch rose/rosewater products; they have no documented benefit for the skin. The only "rose" ingredient I want in my products is rosehip seed extract/oil, which lacks the fragrant compounds that the rest of the plant has. An excellent face spray/toner at a great price is the NuSkin NaPCA Moisture Mist. It comes in a giant 8 oz bottle (more than double most comparable products on the market) and it's about 10-12$ USD on Amazon at any given time.

A slam dunk drugstore moisturizer that I'm sure almost any skincare junkie here will recommend is the CeraVe PM Moisturizer.

As for SPF, that depends on what kind of aesthetics you are looking for, as well as whether you prefer chemical or physical actives.

May 12, 2017

Taylor G.

Thank you Leuca! Wow, so much information. It's so impressive you know all of this! So the Framboos serum is along the lines of the BHA/AHA products from Paula's Choice? I've had Paula's choice recommended so many times and am planning on purchasing something soon.
As for my budget, if it is truly a great product that will give me results, I'm willing to shell out a little more money. But also, thank you for the cheaper options! If I can save money, that's great but I am willing to spend more on good products. And as far as time I'm willing to commit, I guess as much as I need to? How long does your routine take? I guess I'm more willing to spend time at night than in the morning. In the morning I'm more apt to go ahead and sleep through the time allotted for skincare lol.
As for sensitivities, the only things I've ever had reactions to are strong acne products. I'm not even sure what ingredient would have caused the irritation.
Thank you for the new recommendations! I'll definitely be looking into those, especially for the moisturizer. I had no idea rose water was useless, now I feel stupid! Lol
What's the difference between physical and chemical actives?

May 13, 2017

Leuca S.

Precisely. I also think that the Framboos serum is quite expensive for what you get. Being generous in application can help some exfoliants work better unless they're at really high % concentrations (10% glycolic acid is not an absurdly high amount), and the amount of product you get for the price discourages liberal application, much like if you were spending 80$ on a sunscreen, which absolutely needs to be applied generously to get proper effect.

I like to say allot yourself about 5-10 mintues if you are doing anything more than just the bare minimum of cleanser/moisturizer. Since my skincare includes layering, I like to have enough time to both spread products and allow them to absorb as needed before I move on subsequent steps.

My guess is that you probably have reactions to high concentrations of ingredients like benzoyl peroxide. If you do incorporate something containing it, I would look for something with a 2.5% concentration.

In terms of sunscreen, you have two main types of actives, being the aforementioned categories of physical and chemical filters. Which one you choose will depend on what you are most concerned with in your products.

Physical sunscreens tend to be a little less cosmetically elegant on their own in that they can leave a white cast, be a little bit drying in a formula that doesn't balance them out, and can contribute to clogged pores if your routine is neither diligently performed nor equipped to properly exfoliate.

Chemical actives tend to have a more elegant texture on the skin, do not leave a white cast, and for people not sensitive to them are arguably better for those prone to breakouts. However, the combination of ingredients required to stabilize them for proper use can be sensitizing to some people, and they tend to have more of that "sunscreen smell" that most of us associate with the stuff we wear at the beach.

Physical sunscreens (particularly zinc oxide) tend to have a slightly better range of protection from the UVA/UVB spectrum, but this difference is ultimately negligible in the long run and shouldn't be something you're using as a deciding factor when selecting products.

If you can list what your primary and secondary concerns are, along with what you think your skin type is, I'd be happy to give you a small list of products to get started with.

May 14, 2017

Taylor G.

Thank you Leuca! I'll definitely be choosing Paula's Choice over the Framboos then. I'm excited!
Which type of sunscreen do you prefer?
And thank you! My main concern are old acne scars/ dark spots, and the fine lines in my mouth and forehead area. And my skin type is oily (around the t zone) and normal everywhere else.

May 14, 2017

Leuca S.

Even though my skin is acne prone, I still prefer physical sunscreen actives because my skin is quite sensitive. I make up for it with a consistent routine of exfoliation which more or less keeps my skin pretty clear, and I keep the rest of my routine to mostly water-based hydration to as to reduce the risk of congesting my pores, etc.

During the winter, I like to use Paula's Choice Resist Super Light SPF 30, which is just slightly tinted so that it doesn't leave your face white, but it doesn't add coverage either. I will layer this over multiple light layers of hydration as a final step. During the summer I actually like to mix it with the Pure and Free SPF 50 liquid sunscreen from Neutrogena and use that for my entire face except under the eyes, which get the slightly more hydrating formula that the Resist SPF 30 has on its own. My neck gets a combination of Paula's Choice Calm SPF 30 for Dry Skin and the aforementioned Resist SPF 30. I tend to set everything with powder as if it were foundation, because even though I normally don't wear foundation anymore, I still like to use things like highlighter/blush/eyeshadow. This also has another perk of keeping my oily skin at bay for at least a few hours, though I tend to blot my t-zone once about halfway through the day or when I think I'm just too shiny.

For red/dark marks of hyperpigmentation, a combination of vitamin c, chemical exfoliation, and diligent sunscreen use will address all but the most pigmented dark spots in a reasonable amount of time. I can attest to the efficacy of the Drunk Elephant C-Firma serum, but you can get a potent vitamin c treatment from either Timeless Skincare or Complete Skin Solutions via Amazon. I find these work best by mixing them into a moisturizer/serum of your choice, then applying that all over your face. This will allow the product to distribute evenly while also minimizing chances of irritation from high concentrations of vitamin c by essentially buffering the product. If you do end up going with the Drunk Elephant, a single pump of the c-firma should be sufficient once a day. These products all use the l-ascorbic acid form of vitamin c, which has evidence supporting its ability to help collagen production.

I will say what the Amazon-available options have as an advantage is the ability to control precisely how much product you use; this enables them to be used as targeted treatments as well as mix-in products, whereas I think the C-Firma lends itself better to all-over use. The less expensive options typically come in a dropper, which means the product will not last as long in its packaging due to l-ascorbic acid being highly unstable; once it starts to darken in color, it's time to dispose of it.

For a BHA exfoliant, I feel like I'm one of the few people who's ever tried the Paula's Choice Clear Body Spray as a face product, and after more than a year I have yet to come across anything that beats it in terms of results, texture, and ease of use. Her other BHA products either come in lotion or a liquid without a spray cap, but I particularly like the spray cap because it lets you customize your application. You can measure out by pump how much product you need so that you aren't wasting any, regardless of your preferred method of application (I actually do spray this on my face sometimes, but I usually spray into my hands and then apply to face/neck). I find it soothing, slightly hydrating without being greasy, and it layers well with other products.

For fine lines, an entry level retinoid like the Ordinary's Advanced Retinoid should do the trick, but don't expect to see immediate results; real skincare cannot do that for you very quickly, as your skin does not produce collagen fast enough for that to ever be the case.

May 14, 2017

Leuca S.

To clear a few things up ahead of time that you may run into later if you ever do some internet research, here are a few guidelines.

If you are new to potent actives (high concentrations of retinol/retinoids, vitamin c, chemical exfoliants) it is better to start slow and let your skin adjust. I usually recommend introducing these products one at a time, no more than once every other day or night, then adding a new product once you're sure your routine isn't causing any problems and you're up to daily/almost daily use.

Retinol, vitamin c, and chemical exfoliants all play nice with each other; it's just a matter of if your skin has acclimated to all the active ingredients. There is actually very little in the realm of skincare that you can't/shouldn't use within the same routine. You'll see some companies like the Ordinary say you shouldn't mix things like vitamin c and niacinamide; this is based on a very bad interpretation of a chemical reaction that takes place when these substances come into contact with each other. Read about it here from an actual cosmetic chemist: http://kindofstephen.com/can-you-use-niacinamide-and-vitamin-c-ascorbic/

When you come across a claim that seems odd or extreme, but doesn't have any linked research supporting it, always look into it yourself. Examples include talc/parabens/etc causing cancer.

Don't mix your sunscreen with anything besides other sunscreen unless it's literally something like a drop of pigment (eg cover fx custom cover drops); you don't want to mess with the protection or it's completely moot.

May 14, 2017

Taylor G.

Thank you so much Leuca! Yes the only the only thing I was worried about would all of it being overwhelming for skin. But I'm going to take it slow like you said.
Thank you for all the awesome product recommendations! I'm going to look into them all and decide which ones I'll purchase for now :)