Facial care: order of use?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Well, I guess the title says it all, literally.

The way beauty people always told me was this order: cleanse, exfoliate, pat dry,apply astringent/toner, moisturize, apply makeup.

2

Oops…

That’s what I get for hitting “submit”, then not paying any atttention to whether or not the thread actually went through.

Basics:

New skin care program for me, and it does seem to be helping with this stupid adult acne.

The main new products are a tea tree oil facial wash, used twice a day and tea tree oil dabbed onto zits twice a day.

I continue to use a medicated exfoliant containing salicylic acid twice a week, but this morning I realized that I didn’t know if using it before I wash my face is the best thing - because aren’t I then washing off the medication part of the exfoliant?

But, at the same time, things are getting better with my skin - a very noticable decrease in the severity of the zits (it’s the horrid cystic kind too, so it’s very apparent with my pale skin). Should I switch the order of the exfoliant/wash or should I stick with the way it is, since it seems to be helping?

3

I wash with gentle cleanser, pat dry. Use toner to remove makeup traces. Then I exfoliate using 2% beta hydroxy acid. If my skin has a breakout, I’ll use benzoyl peroxide on the zit. Then moisterizer.

If I were you, I’d use the medicated exfoliant after washing my face rather than before.

Here’s a great skin care reference:

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/learn/article.asp?PAGETYPE=ART&REFER=SKIN&ID=6

4

Hey monster, we must have similar skin :slight_smile:

I use gentle cleanser for oily skin…at night I cover my face with benzoyl peroxide to prevent the ever-present zit-threat, and then 2% beta hydroxy acid. In the morning, I just use the 2% beta after washing.

Since I started using a gentle non-drying cleanser, I’ve found that I don’t even need moisturizer…

Lsura, I think that a good approach is starting with the fewest products possible, then adding products that help. If a program is working, it may be on account of only one of the products, so the others may be just a waste of money.

cosmeticscop.com (see monster’s link) has great advice for acne-prone skin. I found a (pretty simple) routine that worked for me immediately–I had pretty bad adult acne on a regular basis, I’m fair-skinned, and it’s been about 4 years…I hardly get a zit. I had to try some different stuff to find out what worked for me, but I think once something works, you’ll know it immediately.