Skin feels very tight and dry after morning application

Update: Definitely cutting down on glycolic and retinol for the time being. Thank you all. Let’s hope my skin barrier isn’t too damaged !

Hello,

I’m a complete noob to skincare so if I’m clueless about certain things or terminology my apologies.

I have been using this AM and PM routine recommended to me for the past week and a half

The week was fine and my skin felt and looked great but this week my skin has begun to feel dry and tight after I apply the morning products. It has also gotten very flakey and I have gotten some wrinkles in areas too.

Anyone got any help or suggestions? Or what products may be causing this? Thank you!

The routine in question:

AM

• Cerave Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• The Ordinary Glycolic Acid (started using 1 week ago)

• The Ordinary Niacinamide

• The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid

• Cerave Facial Moisturizer AM

PM

• Cerave Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• The Ordinary Retinol 1%

• The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid

• The Ordinary Caffeine Solution

• Cerave Facial Moisturizer PM

If this routine sucks, doesn’t make sense, or needs something for me to add to it /remove please let me know too!

Is this your routine every day?

If so, drop the glycolic acid and retinol for everyday use. You do not need to be exfoliating every morning and retinol every night could explain why you feel so dry and flakey. Try exfoliating once or twice a week with the glycolic acid and using the retinol every other night.

I’m also not sure about the caffeine serum used at night makes sense. It works to temporarily depuff the eyes, so I would use that in the AM.

If your skin is really dry in the morning, you can try just cleansing with water! I have found that helps me when my skin feels dry. I then apply a hyaluronic acid or hydrating product to my damp skin.

Thank you for the detailed reply and yes the routine is daily.

Noted everything written here and will keep them in mind next time I’m doing the routines.

I’m a complete beginner at skincare so all of this is new to me, thank you again

Are you using hyaluronic acid when your skin is damp? It’s a humectant so it will pull the moisture from your skin if you’re not applying it to damp skin.

Thank you for the reply and hmm, maybe. After washing my face (before the routine) I’m more or less patting my face softly to dry it but I might be leaving some wetness on there by accident and not realizing lol.

I think you might be misunderstanding - your skin should be damp when you apply it. You don’t want to be drying your face.

The commenter above is saying that if you apply it to dry skin, it will pull any remaining moisture out of your skin.

Yeah I missed the “not” near the end of their comment lol my bad. Thank you!

You’re right, I may not have explained it the best lol. Thank you!

You totally did! Don’t worry.

Hmm, so the ordinary glycolic, niacinamide, and retinol are all on the stronger side. They’re good products, recommended often, but can be quite potent.

I think both glycolic acid and retinol have a getting used to it period especially. There are pretty varied recommendations on how to use these. But you can try:

  • use retinol once a week for a month
  • use glycolic acid once a week or twice a week for a month

Then:

  • use retinol twice a week for a month
  • use glycolic acid once a week or twice a week for a month

Then:

  • Use retinol three times a week for a month
  • use glycolic acid twice a week for a month

After that, you can rotate retinol and glycolic acid on alternating days.

Right now since your skin is dry you can take a break from actives for a couple of days until your skin has its normal texture again.

Retinol and Glycolic acid on the same day every day is A LOT. I would stop using those completely until your skin stops being so tight and flaky. Pick one to add back in and do that every 2-3 days, and then do the other one on alternate days. I do glycolic once a week on Sunday.

It sounds like you have a damaged barrier from the acids. Here is some more info about that, and what to do about it. https://jordansamuelskin.com/blogs/news/skin-barrier-basics

Any timeline of how long the process of repairing the barrier will take? I first started this routine last week before noticing damage the other day

What product(s) should I add to the routine to help repair too?