Skin help

[Jackaroe]

Hi I am having a lot of problems with my skin and could use some help!
I basically have had a constant state of red dots, small pimples and under the skin chin cysts since my dd was born 20 months ago. It gets worse with my period as well. I'm still breastfeeding so I know my choices are limited but it's making me feel so ugly. It's also not easy to cover up and I don't like much make up anyway. It goes in a u shape starting st one cheek down to the chin then up to the other cheek.
I am very sure it is hormonal and I'm hoping dd will wean soon and maybe it will go away but my cycle is still affecting it so idk.
I'm just hoping someone else has experienced this and could offer some solutions or anecdotes!
My current skin routine is :
Am : wash with Burt's bees soap bark and camomile cream cleanser, moisturize with face lotion with coq10 and spf ( and a couple other things in there but I forget)
Pm: same except the moisturizer is specifically for the nighttime so no spf.

[sakura]

I’m so sorry, I understand how heartbreaking it is to have problematic skin. My skin was terrible while I was breastfeeding both of my kids, but to give you some hope, it did get better after we weaned. It did take a few months for hormones to settle down, and then my skin was better.

While I was breastfeeding my son I started getting into Asian skincare and beauty. There were a few things that helped - they didn’t completely clear my skin, and I still got blemishes, but they were smaller, they went away quicker and left smaller red marks that faded faster.

1. I started double cleansing only at night. It’s where you use an oil-based cleanser first to dissolve the junk in your pores, and then you follow it with a water based cleanser to wash away anything left.

2. I started using a snail cream. Snail mucin has so many beneficial qualities for the skin. I know how gross that sounds, but in a cream you don’t know there’s any snail slime, and there’s no smell.

3. I used the niacinamide + zinc serum from The Ordinary on my oily areas. Niacinamide helps reduce sebum production and zinc is helpful in wound healing.

4. I used benzoyl peroxide cream.

5. I used Alpha Arbutin serum from The Ordinary to help heal dark marks faster.

The best advice I can give you if you’re going to try something new to your routine is to only add one new thing at a time, and to start by patch testing the new product for a few days before applying it to your whole face. It’ll let you know if you’re going to react poorly to something without your whole face freakin out. I would wait a week and a half between starting a new product and adding another one.

Feel free to join us in the Asian Beauty thread, we talk about the products we’re trying and what we like or don’t like about each 😊

**niacinamide seems to be a product that people either really love or they hate it and their face hates it, so definitely be sure to patch test it first**

I hope that helps!

ETA I used a dot of salicylic acid serum from The Ordinary on under the skin bumps. Don’t use it on white heads, it will make them worse! I know salicylic acid is not recommended when breast feeding, but I personally felt that small of an amount was an acceptable risk. That is entirely up to you, and I would also run it by your doctor if you’re thinking of using it while still breastfeeding.

[Jackaroe]

Sept 15, 2018 5:48:24 GMT -6 sakura said:

I’m so sorry, I understand how heartbreaking it is to have problematic skin. My skin was terrible while I was breastfeeding both of my kids, but to give you some hope, it did get better after we weaned. It did take a few months for hormones to settle down, and then my skin was better.

While I was breastfeeding my son I started getting into Asian skincare and beauty. There were a few things that helped - they didn’t completely clear my skin, and I still got blemishes, but they were smaller, they went away quicker and left smaller red marks that faded faster.

1. I started double cleansing only at night. It’s where you use an oil-based cleanser first to dissolve the junk in your pores, and then you follow it with a water based cleanser to wash away anything left.

2. I started using a snail cream. Snail mucin has so many beneficial qualities for the skin. I know how gross that sounds, but in a cream you don’t know there’s any snail slime, and there’s no smell.

3. I used the niacinamide + zinc serum from The Ordinary on my oily areas. Niacinamide helps reduce sebum production and zinc is helpful in wound healing.

4. I used benzoyl peroxide cream.

5. I used Alpha Arbutin serum from The Ordinary to help heal dark marks faster.

The best advice I can give you if you’re going to try something new to your routine is to only add one new thing at a time, and to start by patch testing the new product for a few days before applying it to your whole face. It’ll let you know if you’re going to react poorly to something without your whole face freakin out. I would wait a week and a half between starting a new product and adding another one.

Feel free to join us in the Asian Beauty thread, we talk about the products we’re trying and what we like or don’t like about each 😊

**niacinamide seems to be a product that people either really love or they hate it and their face hates it, so definitely be sure to patch test it first**

I hope that helps!

ETA I used a dot of salicylic acid serum from The Ordinary on under the skin bumps. Don’t use it on white heads, it will make them worse! I know salicylic acid is not recommended when breast feeding, but I personally felt that small of an amount was an acceptable risk. That is entirely up to you, and I would also run it by your doctor if you’re thinking of using it while still breastfeeding.

I will definitely try to buy and use some of these products, thanks for the advice and help! Do you know where I could find some of these items? I live in Ireland and can get most beauty products through boots.

[sakura]

Sept 15, 2018 7:08:49 GMT -6 Jackaroe said:

Sept 15, 2018 5:48:24 GMT -6 sakura said:

I’m so sorry, I understand how heartbreaking it is to have problematic skin. My skin was terrible while I was breastfeeding both of my kids, but to give you some hope, it did get better after we weaned. It did take a few months for hormones to settle down, and then my skin was better.

While I was breastfeeding my son I started getting into Asian skincare and beauty. There were a few things that helped - they didn’t completely clear my skin, and I still got blemishes, but they were smaller, they went away quicker and left smaller red marks that faded faster.

1. I started double cleansing only at night. It’s where you use an oil-based cleanser first to dissolve the junk in your pores, and then you follow it with a water based cleanser to wash away anything left.

2. I started using a snail cream. Snail mucin has so many beneficial qualities for the skin. I know how gross that sounds, but in a cream you don’t know there’s any snail slime, and there’s no smell.

3. I used the niacinamide + zinc serum from The Ordinary on my oily areas. Niacinamide helps reduce sebum production and zinc is helpful in wound healing.

4. I used benzoyl peroxide cream.

5. I used Alpha Arbutin serum from The Ordinary to help heal dark marks faster.

The best advice I can give you if you’re going to try something new to your routine is to only add one new thing at a time, and to start by patch testing the new product for a few days before applying it to your whole face. It’ll let you know if you’re going to react poorly to something without your whole face freakin out. I would wait a week and a half between starting a new product and adding another one.

Feel free to join us in the Asian Beauty thread, we talk about the products we’re trying and what we like or don’t like about each 😊

**niacinamide seems to be a product that people either really love or they hate it and their face hates it, so definitely be sure to patch test it first**

I hope that helps!

ETA I used a dot of salicylic acid serum from The Ordinary on under the skin bumps. Don’t use it on white heads, it will make them worse! I know salicylic acid is not recommended when breast feeding, but I personally felt that small of an amount was an acceptable risk. That is entirely up to you, and I would also run it by your doctor if you’re thinking of using it while still breastfeeding.

I will definitely try to buy and use some of these products, thanks for the advice and help! Do you know where I could find some of these items? I live in Ireland and can get most beauty products through boots.

A lot of the Asian skincare products you can get on Amazon. The specific cream I used was Mizon all in one snail repair cream, but CosRx also makes a snail serum a lot of people really like.

You can order The Ordinary products from Deciem.com - in the drop down menu you can go to brands and then select The Ordinary. They also make an azelaic acid cream, which is good for acne and I believe is ok while breastfeeding (but double check that!). It does sting quite a bit at first, but it gets better as your skin gets used to it.

[Jackaroe]

Sept 15, 2018 7:49:28 GMT -6 sakura said:

Sept 15, 2018 7:08:49 GMT -6 Jackaroe said:

I will definitely try to buy and use some of these products, thanks for the advice and help! Do you know where I could find some of these items? I live in Ireland and can get most beauty products through boots.

A lot of the Asian skincare products you can get on Amazon. The specific cream I used was Mizon all in one snail repair cream, but CosRx also makes a snail serum a lot of people really like.

You can order The Ordinary products from Deciem.com - in the drop down menu you can go to brands and then select The Ordinary. They also make an azelaic acid cream, which is good for acne and I believe is ok while breastfeeding (but double check that!). It does sting quite a bit at first, but it gets better as your skin gets used to it.

Thanks so much!

[sakura]

Taitai just posted a great post about skincare in the Asian Beauty/skincare post with a bunch of links. You should check it out! She is much more knowledgeable than I am, and the links will help you explore more 😊

[Taitai]

Jackaroe I am so sorry to hear your skin troubles. I agree with sakura and it sounds like hormonal acne to me too. sakura has fantastic suggestions. I would highly recommend switching to a double cleansing method. It will gently keep your skin clean without using harsh products that can actually cause your skin to over-react and make more oil/sebum.

I’d also suggest using a BHA on your trouble areas. Just make sure to follow it up with a light, non-clogging moisturizer, so you don’t get too dried out.

Another suggestion- have you ever tried sheet masks? I find that Hyaluronic Acid sheet masks really help to hydrate my skin, which can also ease breakouts. Snail products or sheet masks are also great for this.

Come on over to the AB thread if you have any specific questions! Don’t be too hard on yourself- hormonal acne is hard, but often it is temporary. Hugs.

[Jackaroe]

Sept 15, 2018 22:06:34 GMT -6 Taitai said:

Jackaroe I am so sorry to hear your skin troubles. I agree with sakura and it sounds like hormonal acne to me too. sakura has fantastic suggestions. I would highly recommend switching to a double cleansing method. It will gently keep your skin clean without using harsh products that can actually cause your skin to over-react and make more oil/sebum.

I’d also suggest using a BHA on your trouble areas. Just make sure to follow it up with a light, non-clogging moisturizer, so you don’t get too dried out.

Another suggestion- have you ever tried sheet masks? I find that Hyaluronic Acid sheet masks really help to hydrate my skin, which can also ease breakouts. Snail products or sheet masks are also great for this.

Come on over to the AB thread if you have any specific questions! Don’t be too hard on yourself- hormonal acne is hard, but often it is temporary. Hugs.

Thank you so much that is really helpful!