I would like to know what your routine is in general, but I'm also specifically curious about what products you use, if you use them, and what the rationale is behind each product.
My routine:
Morning
- Rinse face with warm water.
- Scrub face and neck with warm, wet washcloth.
- Apply facial moisturizer with SPF (I use CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30) to face, neck, and hands.
Evening
- Shower.
- While in shower, scrub entire body with an exfoliating mitt (ie this one).
- Apply a retinol (I use Retin-A (tretinoin 0.05%)) to face, neck, and hands.
- Apply facial moisturizer (I use CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion) to face, neck, and hands
- Apply body lotion (I use CeraVe Moisturizing Cream) to whole body, excluding hands and face.
I have used, and considered continuing using a BHA (also AHA?) liquid exfoliant (I have read that it shouldn't be used at the same time as retinol due to PH requirements, ie use it in the morning and retinol in the evening) (I previously used Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, but I no longer because I have lost trust in Paula's Choice overall due to their borderline false advertising regarding their retinol product [1]), but I am unsure of what a good product would be, and the rationale behind it. I have also heard about Vitamin E, though I've never used it.
References
- "[Research] Study: The Ordinary and Paula's Choice retinols are unstable". toa20. r/SkincareAddiction. Reddit. Published: 2023-01-26T17:49:01.223Z. Accessed: 2024-10-29T05:16Z. https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/10lxshy/research_study_the_ordinary_and_paulas_choice/.
I have atopical dermatitis so besides the good old showering and applying shampoo twice, once to get the hair clean and the second time to keep the product there while I clean the rest of my body, I use some speficic products concerning the affliction.
For the shower, I use a highly moisturizing gel from the local store combined with one that's supposed to be special for the skin that costs 20 times as much, and Blue Cap as a shampoo recommended by my hairdresser to help with dry scalp.
I usually shave in the shower with hot water so I don't really need any aftershave cream but I have one for when I dry shave.
Besides that, I have some local moisturizing cream to be used occasionally when the skin dries too much, and the occasional cortisone paste for eyelids and specific body parts that like to specially dry and have bad reactions.
When I feel specially oily (which is almost never because yay atopical dermatitis) I tend to buy some natural exfoliant shower gels and then apply moisturizing cream afterward to "replace" bad body oil with good cream oil I guess xD.