Hi Nhan, I’d love to help, but I can’t give an opinion without knowing your skin type, concerns, goals… Please book your skincare consultation here so we can go through it together and create a better routine for you: https://www.beautifulwithbrains.com/skincare-consultation/

Evening
Cleanser (cerave foaming cleanser)
Salicylic acid 2%
Hyalunoric acid+b5
Niacinamide
Neutrogena water boost
*acid lactic: 2x/ week in replacement of salicylic

I would be very grateful to hear your opinion about my routine. Recently, I have my skin broken down but I don’t know what’s wrong with this routine :((

ME: 44 year old, combination skin; main worries: 1. loss of firmness 2. tiny closed comedons or white heads that make for an uneven skin texture all along my cheekbone from ear to corner of mouth: I´ve been advised to treat these with adapalene, a synthetic retinoid gen 1 (Differin gel 0.1%); 3. little holes on the skin: probable acne marks? or super enlarged pores? 4. enlarged pores 5. aging: expression lines around eyes, nasogenian sulcus . Other cons: smoker : /
AM_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. CLEANSING: is micelar water enough or is a foaming cleanser a must?

2. EXFOLIATING: ok with Paula´s choice bha 2% salycilic, but i´ve found other products I´d like to use and this is my question: if they contain salycilic as well, should i skip the exfoliating step because it will already be covered afterwards?

3. ANTIOXIDANT SERUM: thinking of Endocare Vit C Ferulic serum; looks like a lower priced replica of Skinceutical´s.

4. HYALURONIC SERUM: either la Roche Posay Hyalu B5 or Eminence Rhuibarb Hyaluronic, which contains salycilic from strawberry and ascorbic acid (vit C) from rhuibarb; honey, aloe and antioxidants. Is is too much? Do you favour botanical ingredients against synthetic ones?

5. MOISTURISER: would like to use Korres pomegranate pore blurring gel moisturizer, for the enlarged pores and oil control on T zone but it does also contain vit A, C and salycilic,

So that´s the question I mentioned earlier: would using hyaluronic and oil-control moisturizer both with salycilic allow me to skip step 2? or would you stick to step 2, hyaluronic alone and no further oil-control stuff? (that actually sounds better)

SUNSCREEN: any oil-free mist that you´d recommend?

Then i´d use just a tiny bit of my primer for oily skin, Bobbi Brown´s Vitamin Enriched Face Base – with vit B, C and E and Karite Butter. Foundation stays a lot longer but I´m wondering if it may be occlusive and contribute to my white heads?? should it stay or be replaced, and what for?

PM:________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. CLEANSING: I wear make up every day and use only micelar water (non oily). Sounds like it´s not enough but, realistically, at night i´d need something i could just fetch from bed and not have to rinse off. Would adding purifying toner work?

2. RETINOL SERUM: either La Roche Posay Retinol B3- pure and slow release- with niacinamide! or The ordinary, which is pure retinol (never used retinoids before and can only find 1%, no chance of testing it now). I´m astonished is 7€. There´s this psychological price thing…!

Re retinol: I´m currently using Caudalie´s Resveratrol Lift and Retinol cream for eye contour. Does the Retinol in a cream only work as a moisturizer on the upper layer of the skin? Should I go for a retinol eye serum?

4. NIACINAMIDE MOISTURISER: since there is already niacinamide on La Roche´s serum, would I still need The ordinary´s 10%? and would I still need a moisturiser if I´ve already used Hyaluronic at night too?

Thank you so, so much for reading this! Very much appreciated 😀
Eva xx (Spain)

Maya, hi! I’d love to help you create the perfect skincare routine for you. 🙂 You can book your consultation here: https://www.beautifulwithbrains.com/skincare-consultation/