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…is what I want! No, not this type of Celebrity Skin!
This type…
Unfortunately, I am not one of the blessed few with good skin, much less great skin. I started breaking out early and often, and just remembering those times makes me cringe (senior prom with very red skin from the Accutane I was on—ugh). Now I am approaching 30 with pores large enough for their own zip code, a few milia around my eyes, some acne, general unevenness, and dry skin. My wonderful cannot-say-enough-good-things-about-her esthetician Claire at Carolina Medi-Spa told me I have the most unusual combination skin where I am almost always both too oily and too dry—at the same time. Thank you, gene pool!
Having good skin is pretty much always a battle for me, and now that the engagement shoot is coming up, the stakes are higher! I’m not trying to have spotty engagement pics. Enter Secret Weapon #1:
You know those electric toothbrushes that get your teeth oh so clean? Well this is the same thing, ’cept for your face. It’s like the best at-home exfoliating brush for your face…ever. Or is it?
I started using it a couple nights ago and used it with a really mild cleanser:
But after using it, I noticed I was really flaky, like, peeling. This might have been due to a salicylic acid facial I had had a few days previous. (I told you, I’m not messing around.) It’s making me break out (eek!), but Claire the esthetician said that is to be expected for several weeks as it is “bringing all the gunk to the surface.” OK, but gross. I’m gonna hang in there and hope it’s true. I’m noticing smoother skin from all the exfoliation, but big, bad breakouts. So, maybe it’s kind of working? Stay tuned…
Here are ALL of the products I am resting my faith in. Please feel free to feel sorry for me and my poor, sad skin.
Cleansing:
Dermalogica Clearing Skin Wash and Ultracalming Cleanser, depending on whether I’m breaking out or dry.
Exfoliating:
Dermalogica Microfoliant (a very light rice-based microfoliant…best product ever!) and the Clarisonic Brush (verdict still out on this one).
Moisturizer:
The Elta MD lotion is good for warm weather—light but still moisturizing. Since I am using Retin-A (see below), my skin is very sensitive to the sun and I really have to wear a sunscreen. As a girl who grew up at the beach, this has been a tough lesson to learn, but I am finally into wearing sunscreen…I even slather extra on the backs of my hands to prevent aging.
In the winter, I need double the moisturizer so my face doesn’t flake right off. So I use both the Elta MD and this SkinCeuticals product.
Spot Treatment:
That’s right, I said spot treatment like I’m British…or like I’m treating a stain.
Clearasil Rapid Action Tinted Cream and/or Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel. I actually don’t think either of these is awesome. Do you have a good spot treatment?
Prevention:
Retin-A is supposed to change my life skin. I am still waiting, although my skin has evened out a bit. I try to use it every night but skip it if I am too dry. Also, I learned that you should not put it on when your face is still wet from washing. Let your face dry for ten to fifteen minutes, otherwise your skin will absorb too much of the Retin-A too quickly, and you might flake up.
SkinCeuticals Phloretin - CF is a very expensive product that I got for free during a promotion. I have no idea what it does, but I know I am supposed to use it in the morning.
Notice what’s missing? An eye cream! I just cannot deal with another product right now!
Anyone else have such a ridiculous arsenal of products they actually use ever day? What do you use to keep your skin clear and glowing? And if you say you just use Vaseline or Irish Spring bar soap (true stories—I have friends with perfect skin who use these), I will scream!!!
Whoa, that’s definitely quite the arsenal! I hope you find a combination that works for you. 
So, I’m 27 and still go to the dermatologist regularly for acne. Purple Retin-A (the stronger version; the one in the grey package is less harsh) is what I use for spots, and if it dries you out when you use it too much I wonder if you should maybe try using it just for spots as well? Clearasil, or any over-the-counter spot treatment is probably not going to be anywhere near as strong or effective. The best thing I’ve found to use on my skin all over for prevention is sodium sulfacetamide, which has to be prescribed by a dermatologist and is a clear lotion (it can be tinted but the clear is best!) that’s not harsh at all, I use it all over my face and on my chest/shoulders at times.
Don’t know if you’re aware of this, but DON’T wax your face on areas where you use Retin-A! Your skin will peel off in strips, it’s no bueno. Also, this isn’t good long-term but for horrible breakout times (like right now, when I’m 36 days from the wedding!) I get an antibiotic prescribed from my dermatologist that will get rid of acne quickly…it’s not good to be on antibiotics constantly, but for short term it might do a great job! He gave me 11 refills but I’m just planning to take it for a month for some helpful wedding skin prep.
i’ve found that simpler is better.
every night, i use Almay oil-free eye makeup remover pads and then wash my face with Purpose Cleansing Wash. For morning cleansing, I alternate between the Purpose and St. Ives Apricot Scrub.
Morning and night, I use Burt’s Bee’s Naturally Ageless Eye Cream. In the morning, I use their Radiance Day cream, and at night, I use their Naturally ageless Night cream.
I switched my routine to this after a more intense regimen that I followed for years, and my skin has really never looked better!
keep at it with the clarisonic! i totally broke out for the first few weeks too but it definitely goes away.
Agree—don’t give up on the Clarisonic! Same thing happened to me and I completely freaked out…but kept at it and it eventually kicks in to do what it is supposed to. Good luck!
I, too, would like to find a good spot treatment as I have come to terms with the fact that I will always have a breakout.
I definitely understand, as I’ve had my skin woes for years too. The only thing that finally worked for me was Rx gel that I put on once at night. Combined with a good cleanser and mosturizer, it’s finally gotten my warward skin under control.
I have very similar troubles as you. It infuriates me that I can be breaking out/oily, but my skin is so dry it’s flaking off at the exact same time! I have a similarly sized arsenal, and it drives me crazy.
Another tip on the Retina-A– you are also supposed to wait 15 minutes after applying it before applying moisturizer. On the plus side, it is also supposed to be a good wrinkle-prevention treatment!
My roommate said she used to have the same problem (simultaneously flaky/oil) and did the accutance, retina-a, BC thing. But now her miracle routine has completely changed, and though it is a pricier initial investment, it’s gotta be cheaper than retina-a.
Her face wash is Origins Clean Energy gentle cleansing oil– yes, she washes her face with oil. I know it doesn’t make sense but it works.
Her moisturizer is Origins Dr Weil Mega Mushroom Face Lotion.
That’s it. She went from a pharmacy shelf down to two products and her face is now perfect. I plan to follow suit soon.
That army of products would send me to the poorhouse every month. Goodness gracious - your poor skin!! 
Hoping it is under control very soon and cooperates for the wedding.
I hear you on skin issues!! I’ve been contemplating the Clarisonic (the Amazon reviews are so positive), so please let us know how you feel about in a few weeks. You might just persuade me to get one!
I LOVE THIS SONG.
Lovely looks (on everyone except Courtney, ha). Wish I could do the dewey celebrity thing all the time.
I’m such a creature of habit and have used Neutrogena’s Deep Clean Gentle Scrub paired with Oil of Olay for years. With regards to the Retin-A, does it leave stains your pillow? Mr. T was using Proactiv for a while but it would basically bleach our pillowcases.
I have combination oily/dry skin too and it is such a pain. I constantly was trying to get it evened out but it never seemed to work right, I’d always end up at one extreme or the other. I had so many products it drove me crazy.
So now I’ve been just been being bad and cleaning my face once or twice a week tops and only putting moisturizer on when I go outdoors. Surprisingly my acne has actually been better with me doing next to nothing. I did just order proactive, I’ve never tried it before and figured it was worth a shot before the wedding.
Best of luck with figuring it out. I hope your skin starts behaving for you!
It’s a good thing you have enough time to breakout and then clear up before your wedding. I became so lazy and refused to pay for the ever miraculous, but oh, so increasingly expensive Taxorac for so long that I started breaking out again. You know how it is: you wait too long, you have to start all over. That’s when I realized I was too close to the wedding to start the treatment again and clear up on time (and I just didn’t have it in me to have worse acne than my teenage students). So I decided to go back to Proactive, which I already knew worked like a charm. Still does, and will not make you break out like crazy, not even at all. It is really smooth and works very quickly. Makes you feel like you are on a beauty treatment, rather than an acne one! Have you tried it?
Also, for spot treatments, I think I have the ultimate weapon for you. Recommended to me by a pharmacist, anything with Hidroquinone in it will clear you face magically. I use Nadinola (has 3% Hidroquinone), which I got at Walgreens for a few bucks. I use it like a moisturizer before makeup in the morning and it literally clears your acne spots in a week, or even less! FI could not believe it. Proactive has one with the same ingredient which I think should work too.
Hope your smooth and shiny soon! Well, not shiny, but good luck!
@Mrs. Pin Cushion: I’ve been using the Clarisonic for awhile now, and it is amazing! I think there are less expensive versions out now though…not sure how they compare….
@Mrs. Taco: Me too! It’s my go to karaoke song!
@blanket: I am gonna check that out for sure!
I can totally relate I’m a skin freak and will do anything for good skin
It’s so nice to hear I’m not the only one rocking ultra-combo skin!
The only thing that has calmed my face is Lush’s UltraBland cleanser with the Imperialis moisturizer (Lush.com). My skin has never been clearer, never ever flakes off (it was horrific!) after using this for two months exclusively.
When my cystic acne rears it’s ugly head, it’s easier to manage with an OTC spot treatment like Clearasil.
Max Clarity is my life-saver! I know, I know- sounds too easy and the fact that it is something you can only buy online sounds fishy, however, there are 10 of us from work that have awful skin issues- varying from oily breakouts to super dry breakouts and everything in between. We all bought Max Clarity and within 3 days, our skin started looking better.My friend Mike has been using the longest, and his skin looks AMAZING- healthy and smooth! It doesn’t dry you out much at all, with a sensitive skin moisturizer + sunscreen you are set to go! It is definitely worth a shot!
Took me years to figure out that a gentle cleanser and moisturizer are key when using an Rx-strength acne fighter. I use Kiehl’s cleanser and cream every day and night. The topical prescriptions I use are Benzaclin every other morning, and Retin-A (pretty much) every night.
I’ve tried everything you mentioned–Dermalogica, an expensive microdermabrasion set with cleansers that a co-worker swore by, Mario Bedescu, Avon, Proactiv, pretty much any expensive OTC acne system out there. Honestly, for spot treatment, nothing beats the stuff you get through a dermatologist. As far as cleansers go, be careful. Too harsh of a regimen can cause your oily-prone skin to freak out and produce even more oil. And I know when you’re breaking out, the thought of using moisturizer couldn’t be less appealing, but your skin will look better and thank you for it! Just make sure it’s oil-free.
For an occasional deep cleanse, I steam my face (carefully) and use a nourishing seaweed mask from Lush.
I recommend going to acne.org this product was recommended to me, big time. I just received it in the mail today and cannot wait to give it a shot. I’ve got about 3 months to achieve flawless skin. Good luck, I feel your pain.
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Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NC Age and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social Worker Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Researcher Engagement Date: December 1, 2009 Wedding Date: October 2011 Venue: Barn at Valhalla About Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
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