I have written 450 blogs now and while a huge chunk are sunscreen, a fair number are also on skincare!!
And this is what you would expect from an independent skincare blogger…Anywho, I was at a wedding in India recently and as soon as I told people my actual age, they stopped right in their tracks. The one incident was a make-up artist that actually spelt out my age, while precariously dangling a mascara brush a bit too close to my eyes.
In today’s blog, I am going to highlight some of the routines and suggested changes I made. Enjoy!
Person 1:
- Male, thirties,
- Been a smoker for most of his life,
- No skincare routine to speak of
- Does not use sunscreen
This is what person numero’s skin looks like. Is concerned about acne.
Requirement
Cheapest routine possible and does not care about harmful chemicals at all
My suggestions
“I think there is a fair amount of dead skin accumulating on skin that may look like acne. So we are going to try something:
- Every day wash your face twice a day.
- 3 – 4 times a week put this face pack in the evening. Wash your face gently before you do with the cleanser.
- You can use the same moisturizer for both night and day.
- Its essential that you use sun protection every day without fail, but its important that you use a cleanser in morning and evening to remove sunscreen.
Face pack: 1-2 tsp of yogurt + pinch of tumeric + 1/4 tsp of powdered neem
The face pack contains yogurt and it will loosen and remove dead skin; the turmeric and neem are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. If this is a minor case of eruptions, then this should reduce them.
Shopping list
As person numero wants the cheapest skincare routine available to man, I have suggested cetaphil. Unfortunately, my generosity does not extend to sunscreen and I’m going with Re’equil.
Cetaphil have a combo of an Oily Skin cleanser and Moisturising Lotion for INR 870 on Nykaa. Re’equil sunscreen costs INR 460.
Person 2
I met person 2 a couple of years ago and suggested she start using a skincare routine that also includes sunscreen. She embraced this wholeheartedly experimenting with different products.
- Female, mid- thirties,
- Skincare routine is as follows:
- I met a dermatologist and they suggested differin gel as a topical retenoid. I have used the lowest dosage of differin and and it’s led to a lot of redness and dryness and patchiness. I think it seems to be settling now
- Cleanser (morning and evening) is Cetaphil, but mostly ground almonds, followed by an oil, serum, Vitamin C and moisturiser from the Ordinary
- Sunscreen from green people
This is the latest reaction to topical retinoid
Requirement
What changes do I need to make to my routine? Does not care about harmful chemicals and just looking for products that work…
My suggestions
- “You need to STOP using ground almonds if you are using Vitamin A products. The purpose of Vitamin A is to accelerate cellular turnover. And the ground almonds are also an exfoliant. Therefore, you are likely over-exfoliating, which is causing more dryness.”
- Cetaphil facewash is a firm favourite of retinol users because its very mild
- The Ordinary moisturiser is not going to cut it. My suggested alternatives are below.
- The order of application of products needs to be WATER based products FIRST and then OIL based products SECOND.
- Something like this: Cleanser, serum (assume water based), Vit C, oil and then moisturiser. The oil and the moisturiser contain occlusives, which form a temporary barrier preventing the penetration of other ingredients…
- Reduce differin to once every 10 days (reader wrote once a week appears to be working)
- Must wear a sunscreen every day
Alternative moisturisers for retinol users
In order of decreasing preference these are:
- CeraVe PM Facial Moisturising Lotion
- Cetaphil Moisturising Lotion
- Eladi Hydrating cream from Kama Ayurveda
- 72H Moisture surge from Clinique
- Hydraphase from La Roche
Closing
Always happy to answer queries on skincare. Please drop me a line at email@happyskindays.com or leave a comment! A photo of your face and a description of your routine would be very helpful!