Newbie gal would love some problem skin advice!

craven20

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading my post, it would be brilliant if you could give me any advice on skincare. I have sensitive skin, and I often find my skin becoming red after using a cleanser/moisturiser. The situation was largely under control until I took an acne medication 7 years ago, roaccutane. Since then I have experienced ongoing dry skin on my forehead and nose in the main. I have also experienced a kind of rosacea/redness particularly on my cheeks and more recently experienced a blotchy, spotty reaction on my nose and forehead. I have used many different products to try and resolve the situation, possibly too many, but for the last couple of months I have been using trilogys very gentle cleanser and moisturiser without any noticeable improvement. Recently I started to wonder whether these products contained too much oil for my skin but maybe the products are getting stuck in the dry skin layer and clogging the pores causing the spots?

I have also had an ongoing flaky scalp issue, and spots on my upper body. I have been trying the essential care gentle herb shampoo every 3 days and essential care aloe vera wash in the shower. Neither really seem to have made much difference. My scalp is still flaky and I still have the spots on my upper arms and decolletage area.

Sorry for the length of this but I would really love to hear your thoughts on what might be a good cleansing/moisturising/body/hair routine for me. Many thanks!

Danielle x

bratz81

Hi Danielle,

I have rosacea too, and sensitive skin, and have tried EVERYTHING, including going to the doctor. I now have a cream called rosex I think to take away the redness but it does dry my skin a bit. I use really gentle cleanser and a gentle exfoliator once a week, and moisturise twice a day. Now...the cream I use is expensive but I think it's the best thing I've found. It's from Origins and it's £46 but it does last ages as you don't use much. Dr Weil Mega Mushroom cream, I think there's a lotion and a cream depending how dry/oily your skin is but I find it amazing.

I don't know how flaky your scalp is but I sometimes get dandruff and use T-gel shampoo for a while and it clears it right up. Might be worth a try and see how it goes.
Skin wise, have you tried body brushing? I've only discovered it recently and do it every morning before the shower - the condition of my skin has really improved. No dry patches, it's softer and I don't have as many red bumps on my upper arms as I used to.

craven20

Thanks Bratz, I'll look into the different products you mentioned. Really nice that you found some things that worked for you!

Evren

Nizoral for the hair (Might be misspelled) and a deep cleansing conditioner for the hair.
Go into Lush for skincare stuff, My skin has cleared up SO MUCH after it, the staff are usually more than happy to let you have small samples to try as well.

clairibel

Do you take any supplements? maybe an omega 3+6+9 is a good idea as it moisturizes inside out, plenty of fluids pref water to keep your skin hydrated. some people think oil is bad for oily skin but it can also help it, the oil cleansing method..big thread on here has helped many with spots, skin conditions etc.

I used to have really bad spots when i was younger but they went when i was 30 and after i had my child. i only wish i had known about all the different naturals ways of helping them instead i relied on the docs and they never completely cleared on antibiotics, pill, topical stuff etc.

I have dry skin and scalp, but also get dry eyes, lips etc and have found some relief with omegas. I also use shea butter on my face and treat my scalp with either shea butter or coconut oil a few times a week before i shampoo i use a laurel sulphate free shampoo as i find this really irritates my scalp and it itches off. I get good results with both of these measures but not everyone is the same. Its all trial and error unfortunatley

sarahfitz

I too have suffered with probelm skin all my life including flaky scalp and terrible spots and dry skin on my face, and now at 29, I have found some products that work wonders for me, I swear by them, a bit pricey but I saw such an improvement in my skin, and they last ages.
Liz Earle cleanse and polish for your face and decollatate area, lasts me about 2 months, you can get it in John Lewis or online below.
http://uk.lizearle.com/cleanse-tone-moisturise/cleanse-and-polish-hot-cloth-cleanser.html

Clinique dramatically different moisteriser, about £24 but lasts me about 5/6 months
http://www.clinique.co.uk/product/1687/5223/Skin-Care/Moisturizers/Dramatically-Different-Moisturizing-Lotion/Very-Dry-to-Dry-Combination-Skin-Types/index.tmpl

And I use Selsun on my scalp, a shampoo you can buy from the chemist over the counter.

May I suggest that you visit John Lewis and go to the Liz Earle and clinique counters and explian about your problem skin and you have been recommended these products and if they have any sample's that you can try before committing to buying the product in the full size, most will happly give you samples to try.

Hope this helps

sarahfitz

or look on ebay for trial sizes

madtrekker

I also have had problems with skin redness and blotchy / spotty patches and I took Roaccutance for acne (although my skin was perfect for the first 5 years or so after taking it, the problems appeared later on).

My GP actually recommended using NOTHING on my face for a few weeks to let everything settle down and rebalance. No soaps, no moisturisers, absolutely nothing except water (even to the point of trying not to let shampoo run down my face when showering etc.). I have to say, I thought he was bonkers and the first week or two was awful as my skin was really dry and scabby. I thought that everytime I smiled, my face would crack open!! However, by the end of the second week, everything started to settle down and I have to say it worked!

I think I was product-free for about 4 - 6 weeks and then started reintroducing things gradually, keeping them as natural as possible. For a face cleanser / scrub I used Lush's "Angels on Bare Skin" which is a fresh product made out of 100% natural and herby things. It was lovely and left my skin very soft. For a moisturiser, I found a 100% natural product from a company called Pure Nuff Stuff - I think it was lemon and geranium or something. To be honest, since the "detox", I've found I don't need to moisturise every day but this doesn't agrevate my skin at all when I do moisturise. Make up - I don't use all that often but started using a mineral foundation rather than a liquid one. I use Lily Lolo as it's all natural but there are others out there - just be aware that the "mineral" foundations from the big cosmetics companies usually have a lot of additives / preservatives in that may react with your skin.

My skin has for the most part been fine since. I didn't think once and used suncream on my face which gave me the worse spotty outbreak ever!

The scalp thing - again something I suffered with in the past and found T-Gel really good. I see that someone else recommended this. It smells yukky but worked really well. Just make sure you rinse and rinse and rinse again.

I would also recommend body buffing to keep spots / dry patches away on your upper body. This has excellent results for me (when I can be bothered - oops!).

suki1964

Nizarol for the scalp

Actually before you go any further pop along to your GP and get your scalp look at

From what you discribe I would be tempted to say Sebhorriec Dermatitis (no spell checker) but Im not a Doctor. But your problems sound very familier to me and I have Seb Derm as well as rosacea

I found that keeping the scalp clear, a lot of the other problems sort themselves out but I have also help myself by only using the most gentle of products on my face - in my case the OCM ( but liz earle is great as well)

Get the scalp looked at

craven20

Big thanks to everyone who posted advice for me. I've been offline for a couple of weeks because my mum has been unwell but im back now and wanted to give a big thank you for being so kind! I've got lots to think about but I'm feeling more informed!