My Skin Care Routine

My skin is very unpredictable, it changes with season, places I reside and water hardness. It behaves best when I am in my home town, Water there is very soft and probably i have been accustomed to the weather there. We cannot have all the good things all the time :-/ .

My current skin care routine is what I would like to share with you, as I have recently moved back to India and my skin had to face some drastic weather changes. It took me around 2 months to get my skin accustomed to these changes. But now it’s doing pretty well. So here is my Basic routine.

Foreword:

I am living in a very humid climate down south (no winters), my skin had been very dry earlier, i had acne breakouts instantly as we reached here. Oiliness (majorly because of humidity), open pores, white heads and black heads became a regular problem.

I had a talk with my dermatologist before I started with this regime. I suffered from all the dreadful effects of the key ingredients, majorly skin redness, peeling and burning sensation as few ingredients were new to me and for others concentration was increased. I took all the possible precautions and overcame the effects.

I have been using Glycolic acid peel (35%) since last 3 years and my skin loves it. Glycolic acid peels refreshes my skin, exfoliates, removes tan, white heads, blackheads and kept my skin soft and supple over these years. I was particularly impressed by the way it has kept my skin wrinkle free. (Touch wood).My Doc here, asked me to continue with my fortnightly glycolic peel regime along with an additional lower concentration (10%) daily usage.     

I used Salicylic acid 2% as an active ingredient in my face wash every day since last three years. Juggling between two products of major skincare brands. My Doc here asked me to increase the concentration to 12% ointment to be used once a day for 2 weeks.

Benzoyl Peroxide is a new component my dermatologist added to my skincare regime. She asked me to use 10% benzoyl peroxide directly onto the acne as spot treatment. This was to be used once a day for 2 weeks in a row.

Hydroquinone was given to me as an anti-scar solution for the nasty mosquito bite scars I had developed in initial days of my stay. (I guess mosquitoes were lured to a fresh supply of blood and therefore decided to bite me more than anyone else in home). I have been applying this on the scars of my hands and legs with definite improvement, but I have yet to see them gone.

My Routine:

Morning:

Step 1. Face wash (Garnier Pure Anti-Blackheads Deep Pore wash, I bought this one in U.K., but I have found exact product in India too, see here. It’s probably one of the best face washes I have ever used; it contains Salicylic acid and Polyethylene particles.)

Step 2. Toner ( Rose water or Alum, Depends on the weather, if it’s too humid I like using alum for not more than 1 min and it takes away the oiliness for few hours. Otherwise, Rose water)

Step 3. Sunscreen (Lotus 3-in-1 Matte Look Daily Sunblock)

Step 4. Salicylic acid Ointment (Salicylix SF 12*, it’s a 12% concentration ointment, it caused me lot of burning sensation at first, but my skin got use to it, if someone who is new to salicylic acid this high concentration is not advisable. I use it as a spot treatment on my occasional acne, whiteheads and blackheads).

Step 5. Moisturizer ( De Tuinen aloe vera hydraterend Day & Nacht, bought this from Amsterdam, and I love it, its light and moisturizing)

Evening (before bed time):

Step 1. Face wash

Step 2. Toner

Step 3. Glycolic Acid Ointment (Glyco-A*, its glycolic acid 12%, to be used on entire face. I don’t see a lot of difference with this product but other products better in conjugation with this one).

Step 4. Benzoyl Peroxide Ointment (Persol Forte Cream*, this is 10% benzoyl peroxide with added benefits of Sulphur 5%, to be used as spot treatment on acne, I used this over my open pores and whiteheads, this caused me extreme peeling and dryness, but when the dead skin peeled off, it reduced the appearance of open pores by 90%, blackheads too are totally eliminated, but whiteheads still persist but have reduced to an extent. I have stopped using this product after two week exactly and I don’t have any breakouts later. But again it is a very high percentage for new users or one with sensitive skin).

Step 5. Hydroquinone Ointment (Lomela*, this is 2% concentration ointment, it has reduced the mosquito bite scars, but I guess I need a higher percentage to get rid of them. I scrub my hands and feet mildly with a pumice stone while in shower to remove the dead skin. And have used Glycolic Acid peel 35% twice in past one month, I haven’t used it on my face, but I guess it’s good to use on acne scars as well, but u have to be very careful with this, it should not be used on open wounds or sensitive skin. Plus it should not be used along with Benzoyl peroxide as it can cause extreme burning, redness and peeling).

Other Skin care stuff I use:

1.  Lakme Winter care lotion and Botique Morning Nectar Lotion as my body lotion.
2. I have used Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Gold Ultra Restorative Capsules Intensive Treatment and loved it, but can’t afford it usually.
3. I have used H2O Plus Sea Results Overnight Perfecting Peel, it was the first product which introduced me to Glycolic acid, loved it, but it’s kind of mild for me now.
4. I occasionally use Biotique Fruit Face pack and Biotique Milk Protein Face pack.
5. Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream (not available in India) is the best cream I have ever used; I have asked a relative returning from US to bring it for me.
6. I don’t use any fairness product and I am strictly against it.
7. I have given up on treating my dark circles as they are hereditary, I still use Biotique Almond undereye cream before makeup if my skin is very dry. 

P.S. Anyone who wants to try the above stated products should try it on their own risk, this post is solely my skincare routine and i don't advice anyone to follow it blindly. 

* marked ointments are prescribed by my Doctor and can be found only in medical stores.

Stay Beautiful :)

Shweta 

Open Pores

Many of us have this problem of "Open Pores". But what is actually these open pores and how can we remove them? I say the answer is very simple, Please let me explain .. 

A normal pore on skin is very tiny, you can barely see it. If there is a clog in the pore the actual size of the pore will become larger depending on the size of the clog. A program of regular exfoliating and cleansing can actually shrink and dissolve the clogs, and if the clog dissolves, the pore size gets small. As a matter of fact when people use steam in shower or steaming that temporarily increases the size of the pore a little bit, so at this point of time you can use your granule cleansers to get the granules into the clogged pores to help them clean them out much better.

So, do the pores actually open and close, the answer is No! it is just the size of the pore which changes due to the clogging in the pore. It gets bigger if there is clog in the pore and it can get smaller when the clog is cleaned out.

What causes Clogging of the pores?

Clogged pores look like dark dots or light dots. The real reason you see enlarged pores is because they cast shadows as there are little holes in opening of the pore. Those enlarged pores are caused by oil trapped inside. The round circle you see is the end of a tube which comes from the oil gland below the skin( the tube comes upto the surface of the skin). The purpose of the tube is to conduct the oil up from the gland and out to the skin. That tube has inner skin which has dead cell too. And as the oil comes up through the tube, it mixes with these dead cells. If it mixes with too many dead cell you get a clog. This causes enlarged pores.

What can we do to get rid of these clogged pores?

Simple exfoliate! Steam your face for about 2-3 minutes or may be take a hot shower. The steam will help you loosen up the pore. Take a gentle granular scrub and massage gently for no more than a minute, wash off and pat dry.

There is one more step you can take after this, take a glycolic acid based cream (strength 8-10%) or salicylic acid based cream (strength 2-3%) and apply on your face and leave it. These two acids are the chemical exfoliants. These work better than the granular exfoliators.

Do this step everyday for two weeks and you will notice the pores get back to normal. 

Product to use?

Please refer to my earlier post Troubleshooting Exfoliation  

Stay Beautiful :)

Shweta