Thank you so much!
Absolutely. So, there are two non-negotiable things you’ll have to do in order to heal your skin barrier:
- Stop all active ingredients.
- Scale back your routine to include only gentle, moisturizing products.
For a period of ~8 weeks, I cleansed my skin with a gentle cleanser. I used Avene Cleansing Foam. In the morning I used a bare bones moisturizer (I don’t remember which one I used at the time, but one by LRP should be good!) and I finished off with sunscreen.
My nighttime routine was oil cleansing, my gentle cleanser, and I LOADED up on the moisturizer.
I think it’s so important to know (and something that a lot of people don’t tell you) is that you will likely break out more during this period. I had SO many whiteheads and acne. But you need to look past that and look at the quality and health of your skin. Does it feel dry? Look flaky? Or does it feel comfortable after cleansing?
If you still feel dry, tight, and/or irritated after cleansing or throughout the day, your skin is telling you that you need more moisture & hydration. For example, you could add a hyaluronic acid serum or a heavier moisturizer.
When I started feeling like my skin felt better, I started incorporating ONE active ingredient AFTER my moisturizer, twice a week. For me, that was benzoyl peroxide. You could use salicylic acid, sulfur, azelaic acid, or whatever active you’re comfortable trying.
Once I saw some improvement after 4 weeks, I increased the frequency of the active. No improvement at all? I would go back to my base routine for 2 weeks and try something else.
It’s so important to go slow, patch test new products, and add in 1 thing at a time. That’s why a science-based approach works. It takes a long time, but you’ll understand exactly what your skin needs!
Let me know if you have any questions! And you can always message me in the chat if you want to talk more.