hi there! ive been trying EVERYTHING: seeing a dermstologist, tretinoin, azelaic, moisturisers, etc, i just cant figure out what causes them, sometimes there s none and some days i wake up with the face full like in the picture, always jaw/mouth/neck area. any advice?

Hey everyone!

I recently started using Duac in the morning and Adapalene at night, as prescribed by my dermatologist.I’m curious to know how others use these two together. Do you apply them daily (Duac in the morning and Adapalene at night), or do you take 2-3 day breaks in between to avoid purging or irritation?

Any tips or experiences on balancing these two treatments would be really helpful! Thanks in advance! 😊

Please note, I use the Paula's choice and Medik8 Retinal not on the same night, every other night. No7 cream seems to be not highly rated either?

My dry but very acne-prone skin loves shea butter and I always love how rich and hydrating it is without being shiny or slick or sticky. My favourite old one was the discontinued Kiehls Ultra Balm if anyone remembers it. Anyone got any favourites I should try? I don’t like pure shea. Thanks :)

Hi everyone! I’m curious about your experiences with blackhead and pore care. My skin isn’t too bad overall, but lately, my blackheads and pores have been a lot more noticeable. They didn’t used to bother me, but it’s definitely been on my mind this year. Is it really impossible for pores to go back to how they were before? I’ve read that skincare can’t truly shrink pores—just give a temporary effect. Some people recommend skincare for elasticity, but those products tend to cause breakouts for me. Do any of you feel the same way? If you know of any effective ways to care for pores, please share! Thank you!

This red mark appeared inbetween my eyebrows, I feel like it's not a pimple so I'm concerned as I can't seem to get rid of it

Hi i have active acne (mild) and scarring on my face and looking to try some chemical peels to help with the acne and scars, does anyone know of any salons or medical places in london that does this? There is Skin but they seem very expensive…

Thanks

I smelt the body lotion the other day and I was like omg I think I like this then smelt the wash too but was in a rush so didn’t purchase it. I saw mixed reviews on the range especially the oils and was wondering if anyone has tried it or still uses it? I specifically liked the anti fatigue concept as I deal with chronic fatigue and need something to wake me up but also ground me during my skincare routine. Is there something that has done this for you that’s better than this? Wanted to know before ordering it☺️

Hey all.

Just a quick background, I have super reactive skin, I've even tried brands like cetaphil Pro and cerave and my skin still reacts, I often notice that they list one of the usefulnesses that I'm looking for but what I'm really trying to find is a moisturiser that lists all the 3 useful functions. I've found a cleanser that I feel works, its a 3% sulphur face wash, that really makes a difference immediately to my redness but then I apply even the most sensitive of moisturisers and redness starts to re appear!

Hi All. I’m (36M) looking for anti ageing and fine line removal eye serum and moisturiser/antiageing cream suggestions for myself. I have a few fine lines but no crows feet thankfully.

In addition I’d like same suggestions for my partner (30M) but he has crows feet and slight dark circles that he’d like to target.

Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

I’m feeling a bit desperate and would love to hear your experiences with using Duac gel (with clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide) alongside adapalene.

I’ve just started using both – Duac in the morning and adapalene at night – but I’m a bit anxious about the purging stage. For anyone who’s tried this routine, was it worth it in the end? How long did it take before you started seeing improvements? And how bad was the purging phase, if you went through one?

Thanks so much in advance!

Any advice or tips would be hugely appreciated!

I recently started Q+A Azelaic Acid and winter is starting to creep in so I'm fighting my skin to stay hydrated.

I need a night moisturiser that's not too thick but super hydrating as I'm acne prone. Tight budget so preferably something I can pick up at superdrug/boots.

Even doing my full night routine I woke up with dry patches this morning, and I hate using my SPF day cream at night.

Current Routines; Morning Rinse with just water

Hada Labo Tokyo Premium Hydrator

Q+A Azelaic Acid

Optimum Day Cream

Night Simple Hydrating Cleansing Oil(inconsistent, mostly on makeup days or if I'm feeling congested)

Simple Moisturising Face Wash(may also change this)

Azelaic Acid

HLT Hydrator

Vaseline most nights

I’ve had a breakout of spots over my face so I’m trying to not wear makeup but I want my skin to still look moisturised. I’m currently using La Roche Posay Effaclar moisturiser but my skins looking dry again by lunchtime….

Bonus points if we can recommend a good lip oil too. I basically am just fed up of feeling dry all the time

Seen a content creator's vid on tiktok and she was in Boots. A pump bottle of cerave was £24?

Has anyone found an alternative to Nivea since they changed to a new vegan formula?

The new formula dries out my skin more quickly and makes it feel tighter. Also, Nivea tests on animals, so it doesn’t make sense to switch to a vegan formula.

If you have any recommendations for alternatives, I’d appreciate it.

Is it worth buying and what were the custom/import charges? I keep reading amazing reviews but I also see soke reviews or posts that ask if this is truly effective or sites are being spammed by bots with amazing reviews

So I want to try out Skinandme, I went through the entire online consultation etc. got to the checkout screen. But it didn’t ask me for photos? Sorry if I’ve missed something quite obvious but I thought the point was you give them photos of your skin so they can look at it and make a routine but I just answered some vague questions and it spat out a checkout screen 😭

Edit: Solved! Thanks all ❤️

Hey guys so alittle background, I am a 36 yr old male with a genuine skincare addiction. However I'm trying so hard to reduce my excessive skincare consumption and to tighten my purse strings alittle. And need help.....

As we navigate through Christmas and new year, brands obviously ramp up advertising and I must say.... This time of year is when I feel my weakest and more subseptable to excessively buying skincare. The gift sets, the value, the post Christmas sales and discounts. I become well financially irresponsable. This is not good financially for me and for the future it like I forget the value of money this time of year.

Does anyone else have this problem and learned how to navigate through a testing part of the year that makes me weak to excessive spending.

Thanks all x

Hi. So I have always used traditional hand soap before cleansing, as I am pretty conscious about germs and what not.
My acne isn't bad, but I get the occasional spot (one or two a week), that leave red marks while they disappear.
I am currently using epiduo forte as per a boots prescription.

I recently stayed at a hotel for a few days and, as with I feel most hotels, they only had bar soap. So I had to use this as a replacement for the normal liquid pump soap you'd normally use. I have noticed by skin has kinda notably improved, as well as not getting any breakouts. Despite not sleeping that well and eating foods I wouldn't normally eat (this was a business trip for a course/certification).

So my question is, could my handsoap be causing this, or is it simply a coincidence? Shall I try a normal soap bar say from Dove, or do I go for something marketed towards this kind of stuff?

Thanks for any help!
I'm willing to answer more questions about this as I didn't want to make this post really long.

I didn't do anything different afterwards and stuck to my routine which consists of moisturiser and Hyaluronic acid

I have used this for years but I know everything has been repackaged with FaceTheory now and some products have also been reformulated. Can anyone tell me if the new version is as good? Do you have an alternative suggestion? TIA

So I've been dealing with acne for half of my life. In that time I've used BP, duac, acnecide, epiduo, tetracycline (through GP) and now aklief (through derm). Nowadays my acne reduced in terms of breakouts but the cysts remained.

This July I went to the dermatologist through NHS which took about a year of waiting. They pretty much told me my acne wasn't severe enough for isotretinoin (accutane) and gave me a new medication called aklief (trifarotine) and 3 months of Doxycycline (aka 'i do nothing but give you the shits'). They told me to give it a try and that they're not abandoning me or whatever. I got a 6 month patient-initiated follow-up plan to call if things aren't going well, after which they probably drop my case and I have to wait a year at the GP again.

I have to say my acne does feel reduced since then, but I'm still getting cysts at an average of like 1 a week or two (which is the same as before, but maybe less bad. Hard to say in 4 months). These are big red bumps that either don't form a head or take ages to do so, and they become the defining feature on my face every time. They take ages to heal and by the time one is in the pigmentation phase another is forming ready to take the throne. In the picture is the pigmentation caused by an awful cyst I had about 2 weeks ago, a small pimple forming right beside it and another pimple forming on my upper cheek. Both of these could fade away or become monstrosities, who knows. The rest of my skin looks pretty good (jinxed it, here comes the breakout), other than the scarring caused by all the cysts I got over the years. On my other cheek is a healing scar and that's it for now. I finished my Doxycycline cycle and have been on aklief for 4 months, so I'm assuming I'm past the 'purge' phase (I never purge though) and this is how my skin is expected to be under the new medication.

So I'm at a bit of a crossroads here. I know if I call them they'll just say my acne isn't bad enough but I reckon I could force their hand because it's distressing me and is persistent. However, I know isotretinoin has a laundry list of side effects and I'm not sure if my condition is bad enough to go on it. I have like 2 months left to decide. I've been thinking about this for a long time, but I'd like some opinions from people who have gone through similar stuff or have been on isotretinoin.

Not sure if I need to post my routine, but here it is so my post doesn't get removed: cetaphil gentle skin cleanser morning/night, astral moisturiser & vaseline morning/night, Nivea SPF50 sunscreen in the morning, aklief at night before moisturising.

Hello, I [33M] have almost no idea about skincare and don’t have a routine per se. I’ve moisturised daily since I was about 20, and use sun cream moisturiser when I’m out and UV levels are above 2, but that’s the limit really. I’ve been told I should be using retinol because…well I’m not sure really, so I’ve been using this Skin Saints cream overnight for the past 4 or 5 months. I don’t see any difference, but I also don’t have any wrinkles and my skin isn’t bad, so I’m assuming this is kind of like daily vitamins where you just hope it’s doing something good but won’t find out for another 30 years.

My question is, Skin Saints retinol is only £4, so is it any good? Why does my wife pay over £20 for a tub of retinol stuff (she doesn’t know the answer to that either)? Is the one I’m using pointless?

Hey, check out this product https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/313946289

Hey everyone. Recently I’ve been finding that a few hours after doing my routine in the morning, i’m finding little clumps of it rubbing off my skin, almost like there’s a film settled and something hasn’t absorbed properly. I googled a little and apparently it’s called pilling. I’ll pop the products I use below and if anyone has any advice/reccs on how to stop it, it would be really appreciated!

• I tend not to cleanse in the morning as i have sensitive/dry skin (though i am prone to some hormonal acne around my chin)
• Garnier rose water toner
• inkey list caffeine eye cream
• purifide post-breakout serum (only on chin/breakouts)
• superdrug own brand (Calm) soothing serum with aloe vera and oat extract
• CeraVe moisturising cream for dry to very dry skin
• Inkey list polyglutamic acid spf 30

i’ve been using cerave retinol for a good 6 months minimum now, and built up to daily use. i feel i need to go up a step in strength. what suggestions do you have? something not too pricey ideally, anything <£20! thanks

I've just signed up for skin and me. I have sensitive, eczema prone skin. I'm 36 and noticing fine lines. I have a pretty good skin care routine (always have) but just wanted to step things up a bit. Anyway, skin and me say I have ACNE. I have no spots. No scars. Just dry, sensitive skin. They've prescribed Azelaic Acid 10%, Clindamycin 1%, Niacinamide 4%. Can I actually use this? I've got in touch and they've changed it so there is no Climdamycin. But the original daily doser turned up this morning and I don't know if it needs to go straight in the bin?! Please help! ~