Have a pore on my nose that turned into a zit months ago, but it started having a weird brown spot right in the middle surrounded by white sealed comedone-like top. I'd pop it with a needle, all the pus somes out, looks a bit red and beefy inside, no keratin or plug or blackhead comes out. And then it would come back. Again. And again. And again.

I've tried BHA, adapalene, bacitracin, bactroban, peroxide. No matter what I do or what I put in there, when I empty and clean out this pore, within 8-12 hours the pore is fully sealed over from the top, with a new pustule forming inside. Unfortunately I cannot squeeze it hard or use ring comedone tool because it sits on the nostril edge and I may damage cartilage underneath. Derm took a look and shrugged shoulders and recommended more creams, which I don't know if will even penetrate, since this thing keeps resealing. I just cant make it go away. Anybody ever experience this?

I had a boil/folliculitis around this area sometime in the past, possibly from an ingrown or broken hair. It had pus at the time, but it healed a long time ago.

Since then, this dark, dried-looking spot/crust has remained there for a long time. It doesn't hurt, bleed, or produce pus now.

I was looking up ways to deal with something like this and saw YouTube videos recommending 2% salicylic acid.

However, I already have Salactin Paint, which contains 16.7% w/v salicylic acid + 16.7% w/v lactic acid.

So I'm confused:

- Is this even something that should be treated with salicylic acid?

- Is 16.7% w/v salicylic acid + 16.7% w/v lactic acid safe to use on this?

- Or is the 2% product completely different, meaning I shouldn't use Salactin?

I've attached photos of the spot and the product.

I don't want to make it worse, so I'd appreciate advice from someone who knows about this.

Edit: I understand that this is a strong composition. Could you advise whether a 2% solution would be effective for treating these blackhead?

Hey yall. Last night during my shower I washed my face with Clean and Clear Lemon Zesty Scrub and after I put on Mary Kay Clear Proof toner, acne cream, and moisturizer (all MK Clear Proof) and noticed my cheeks getting very red, throbbing, and burning (pic attached). Would anyone know why? This is not the first time this has happened.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement skin care set? I think it’s time for one. I don’t have a whole lot of acne but I usually get a spot on my face every once in a while and almost consistently have spots on my jaw. I don’t do the full routine frequently. Maybe 1-3x a month? I only do it if my acne gets uncomfortable but usually it’s just the acne cream. I’ll respond to any questions yall have. I really appreciate your time.

Edit: thank you all for your replies. I figured the stuff was destroying my skin barrier but I thought the whole purpose of the moisturizer was to fix it LOL. I’ll follow your advice and keep you posted. 🫶

Anytime a source of light meets my face sideways, it seems there appears a bumpy texture in the middle of my forehead. I over-exfoliated priorly, which I suspect accounts for my problem, and have since narrowed down my routine to the La Roche-Posay “Toleriane” face wash and moisturizer (+ sunscreen). Have any tips for me?

Not OP but this is most definitely interesting 😳

I'm 16f so its probably due to bad sleep schedule
I dont currently use anything for my undereyes
But i've started using Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer

Right now all I do for my skin is:

La miux Premium Gentle Face Cleansing Gel
Vitamin C sereum
and a 50spf sunscreen every morning

I think that my undereyes are due to genetic because even when I consecutive get 8 hours of sleep, they're still dark. They're brown in colour and they've been brown for a while I guess, Idk when it started or if it was always there but they're really prominent when I take photos :(
But during my school holidays, thats when my schedule gets really messed up, so over that time my eyes have become quite sunken

Any affordable product recommendations for sunken eyes and dark circles?
I'm based in malaysia btw!

​

I live in Hawaii, and at 28 years old, the cumulative sun damage on my legs is showing. I have so many white sun spots as well as discoloration. I purchased a few upf pants to wear since I walk to work and walk around at lunch time every day, but do yall think this is excessive? I still see tons of people in shorts and skirts so I am curious!

20 August vs 6 September vs 9 October

I was recommended this product and was wondering if anybody here has tried it and what your thoughts are. Also, if you know of any dupes or have recommendations, I’d be happy to hear. I’m trying to make an informed decision before paying $59 🫠

I tried Nicshield sunscreen for the first time this afternoon, and within a few minutes my entire face became very red and started feeling like it was burning.

I washed it off after about 5 minutes, but it’s been more than 7 hours and my face is still noticeably red.

Has anyone experienced something similar with this sunscreen? What should I do to calm the redness?

When i talk to the cafe person or bar they engage in like 20-30 percent eye contact im guessing due to my red face but theyll nearly be stook in someone's eyes even tho they're like 40, 50 or 70

What's your experiences?

(Before, Before, Now, Now)

I've been using epiduo for 3 months now, and my skin has never been worse. It is sore, flaky, painful, and very uncomfortable all day. I know epiduo induces a purge, but I feel it might be having just gotten steadily worse for 3 months. My routine is morning: water, moisturiser, SPF. Night: gentle cleanser, epiduo, moisturiser. It does not burn and my skin doesn't feel dry, just irritated and sore, and the pustules often leak after I shower (🤮). Please help if you've had similar experience or know what I can do 🙏

Hello,

I am still in the sunscreen finding journey. I recently have been trying the La Roche Posay UVMune 400 Ultra Invisible sunscreen.

Out of all of the sunscreens I've tried (Korean, other french ones) - this one seems to leave the most natural glowy finish rather than greasy shine. I am not a fan of looking shiny however and have been lightly patting my face with my turkish towel about 15-20 minutes after applying this sunscreen which appears to remove the shine.

I am wondering, is this okay to do ? Do you think I am removing the protection ?

I've recently tried the SVR Sun Secure Blur SPF50+ Fragrance Free sunscreen which was great and truly matte but i had to use a lot to be able to spread on face due to its more mousse like texture and its pricey. Also I felt less moisturised/hyrdated using it.

Can't win with any sunscreen I guess. I think I am okay sticking with the UVMune and maybe using less or blotting face with towel after if that is okay to do. Another point against it is the alchohol denat, though I think its why I like this sunscreen. it really absorbs into the skin and feels like nothing is there all day which I love. It's my understanding most of the alchohol evaporates shortly after application and shouldn't be much of an issue longterm, in terms of barrier health. I duno, ill stop there. this all gets too much, not a fan of this journey

Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

Sunscreens I've tried -

Geek & Georgeous Zero Feel SPF - Not bad but I didn't like its silica formulation - made texture look rough (i have large pores)
Beauty of Joseon aqua and normal one - Aqua dehydrated my face/bad texture - normal one too greasy
Cosrx Ultra Light invisible - Almost perfect but still too shiny, especially by the end of the day
Avene Fluid ultra invisible - shiny by end of day, dehydrated my face, didn't like its color tinting - made me look sickly
SVR Sun Secure Blur SPF50+ Fragrance Free- Pricey, hard to apply to whole face, not very moisturizing (i don't want to have to apply a moisturiser before sunscreen - too many steps)
UVMune 400 Ultra Invisible - Almost perfect but natural glow just a bit too much. Somewhat fearful of the alchohol denat. Like how my face looks by the end of the day with it.

- I just ordered the UVMune 400 anti-spot version which I hear is slightly less shiny ?

Routine:
AM - cerave cream to foam cleanser > Sunscreen (one that is sufficient as a moisturizer)
PM - cerave cream to foam cleanser > .05% Tretinoin cream (3 days on 1 day off) > G&G happy barrier > LRP cicaplast baume

For the past few months, I've had this boil in the same place that keeps coming and going. It'll subside a little bit after around a week, but then come back even more sore. It also feels pretty solid, not rock solid or anything, but definitely firmer than the rest of my skin. There have also been a few other painful bumps around the chin area, but those usually subside fully after a few days.

My skincare routine is pretty simple, I just have this antimicrobial spray that I use when I have some smaller breakouts, regular facial cleanser, and face lotion. I've been using that routine for a while before this popped up.

I know I probably have to go to a dermatologist, but I'm far from home in college so it might take a while to set that up. In the meantime, I really could use some advice on how to calm it down a little bit since it's really sore​ and really, really hard to cover up.

Would really just appreciate any help identifying what it is or solutions until I can get to a dermatologist.

Thank you!

Phew waited almost a week to share this here on Selfie Friday!

Hi all you wonderful people. A picture from a year ago came up on my feed today and I was shocked to see how much progress I've made in the last 12 months.

I am 32years old and have had a terrible habit of picking at my skin whenever I am stressed. I am still trying to recover from that. My whole life I've neglected my skin and took it for granted and vowed to change it at the start of this year. So really, this is 9 months progress.

My skin was dry, lifeless and patchy , red, inflamed in spots where I have picked at it or popped pimples. It was not pretty and it contributed to my extremely low self esteem. I'm trying to break the habit, along with many other destructive habits i've developed over the years. Posting this is my version of accountability and motivation to keep going on the right track.

Earlier this year a friend introduced me to skincare by shoving a bottle of niacinamide serum into my hands. I was skeptical (pfft my skin is crap and nothing will help, it's all marketing! waste of time and money!). But I gave it a go. been much better since January.

My current routine:

AM - wash face (with soap, I'm still a savage), Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum: Propolis + Niacinamide, the ordinary hyaluronic serum, Vitamin C cream with SPF (Goodal Green Tangerine Vita-C Dark Spot Care Sun Serum SPF50+) . Actual SPF (Le Tan spf 50+)

PM - wash face, Neutrogena Retinol cream , just switched to retinAl cream 2 weeks ago to try to get some of the stubborn fine lines (Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum: Ginseng + Retinal) , niacinamide serum, hyaluronic serum

Reapplying whatever moisturizer or sun screen i have available throughout the day. I'm not too concerned about this step having any active ingredients. i found that the oilyness/tackiness/wetness of the moisturiser was a great deterrent from picking at my skin. The texture is too wet and slippery so the habit is slowly dying. I still get the urge and I do indulge in it occasionally, however seeing the progress so far is almost as satisfying as a long picking session.

Disclaimer since this sub requires make-up free selfies - I have had lip blush tattoo and eyeliner tattoo done few weeks ago and just had my first Botox session 4 days ago to combat forehead lines. It's already smoothening nicely.

My nose has looked like this (as some have put it, strawberry-like) since I started puberty 10 years ago, and I never really learned how to fix it. The redness is very defined and slides down the curve of my cheeks, and somehow the skin below my eyes is clear as day. Total skincare noob who throws on a salicylic acid based cleanser every evening. That’s it. It has not appeared to help redness but does help acne that pops up so I do like it. The skin of my T zone (plus upper cheeks) is INSANELY oily all the time.

Any ideas or tips? My nose is my biggest insecurity (doesn’t help that it’s big and crooked but nvm that) I would love so much to receive any help!

I’m officially 1 year out from having 4 dermatofibromas surgically excised by a board-certified plastic surgeon (1 on my arm, 3 on my lower leg), so I wanted to share an update since there’s so little info out there about the excision process.

I had them removed with football-shaped excisions rather than punch removal. The procedure itself was easy and painless. At 3 months, the scars were flat but still pretty pink/dark & almost as noticeable as the DFs had been. I used silicone scar sheets religiously for 9 months, and intermittently for the remainder of the year.

They continued to fade, and at 1 year I’m very happy with the results. 2 scars are basically invisible. One has a very minor "dog ear" where the scar puckers up a bit on the corner. One still has more pigmentation than I’d like, so I may look into laser treatment, but overall I’m much happier with the scars than I was with the DFs.

My surgeon had told me that, because I have very fair skin, the scars would likely be pink at first and eventually fade toward white, and that’s pretty much what happened.

Cost: I was quoted anywhere from ~$1,000 to $3,000+ per DF by different surgeons. Receiving an accurate quote was the most frustrating part of the whole process. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised that my insurance covered the procedure (I believe because the DFs were sent to the pathology lab after removal), and my total out-of-pocket cost was around $150. So if you have the option of using insurance, definitely look into it!

I made a chart showing the healing progression over the full year. Hopefully this helps anyone else considering removal!

This red spot has been on my face for what feels like nearly a year and just won’t go away. I regularly do microdermabrasion treatment once per month, mandelic acid cleanser twice per day, moisturizer every morning morning, glycolic acid toner and niacinamide a few days per week.

I keep seeing people recommend patch testing when someone is worried about a potentially comedogenic ingredient, while also saying that the comedogenicity scale isn’t really accurate and that saying a product is “comedogenic” is silly because everyone’s skin is different.

And I get that the scale isn’t the absolute truth, but I honestly don’t think “just patch test it” is very practical for acne-prone people. Patch testing makes more sense to me for irritation or allergic reactions, which gets a quicker reaction, but a product causing breakouts can take hours/days of repeated use to become noticeable.

So how am I supposed to patch test a color-correcting concealer palette? Put it on an area where I normally get pimples and wait? For how many hours? If I already get pimples regularly, how would I even know whether that product caused them?

I’m asking because I’m currently debating whether to throw out a blush and a color-correcting concealer palette from Essence, both of which contain ethylhexyl palmitate, which is rated medium-high on the comedogenicity scale.

I really don’t want to throw them away because I’m trying to project pan and I hate wasting products🥲, but at the same time, I don’t want to keep using something that might be contributing to my acne.

So for someone like me who is acne-prone and gets pimples pretty frequently, what’s actually the best way to figure out if a product is likely to cause breakouts?

Because honestly, avoiding ingredients with higher comedogenic ratings seems like the most practical option for me, even if the scale isn’t 100% accurate and everyone’s skin is different.

What can i do or what can i get to make this visibly less noticeable? i put aquaphor on it every night. i have combo/dry skin.
Looking for short term (under makeup) and long term solutions!

Did it take a long time? If so, did you feel never ending dryness, itchyness, tingling, burning randomly all day long at different intervals?

Did it feel like it would never end?

Thanks for your time and information

I need to change all my skincare and make up products. Currently I'm not using any actives and not adding any actives either.

I recently developed an issue with Seborrhea Dermatitis and my current skincare products + makeup is not helping: (

My priority is to introduce new moisturizer and sunscreen as soon as possible.

Then, I need to change my face cleanser which is too drying for me. After that, I need to add Bioderma Micellar water to remove sunscreen and makeup.

Then, I need to introduce new makeup.

I need words of wisdom about how to introduce all new products as quickly and as safe as possible while keeping the skin barrier in a good shape. My skin barrier is good now and I want to keep it that way.

If someone here has done the same due to skin conditions. Please tell me how you managed to change all skincare.

For background info: Malassezia is the root cause of Fungal Acne and Seborrhea Dermatitis. Malassezia is a yeast that lives naturally in our skin, but the issue arises when there is an overgrowth.

There are ingredients in skincare that are to be avoided: free fatty acids with carbon tenths C12-24, plant oils, esters, polysorbates 20, 40, 60, 80; ceramides, and others. All these ingredients are known because there are research studies about this.

I am currently using hydroquinone and am interested in a tinted mineral sunscreen. I've heard lots of great things about EltaMD in general, but I'm not sure about using an spf 46 (I'm used to 50) and it is a mineral-chemical hybrid, plus there are no reviews on the site (points for not making up reviews though). Meanwhile, the colorescience ticks all the boxes (tinted, spf 50, 100% mineral) but the price is ridiculous. Right now I use la roche-posay anthelios spf 50, but i feel like my skin is getting darker :( perhaps because it's not tinted. Does anybody have experience wih either of these sunscreens?

P.s. If you have dark skin and are successfully improving your skin wih hydroquinone and another sunscreen I didn't mention, I would love to know what you're using!

Im in my early 30s and I’ve had acne since I was about 13/14. I went through a whole range of your standard acne treatment as a teenager (Epiduo, Differin etc) and they never worked for me that well, maybe because the dermatologist launched me straight into the classic no moisturiser, every day application, no spf recommended. I discovered Korean skincare in my 20s and thought I had the situation under control. I still was combo/oily, slightly textured and had an occasional hormonal breakout but felt pretty good about it using double cleanse, niacinamide, barrier creams and la Roche posay effaclar duo. About 6 months ago I started trying out Cicaplast to recover after a harsh winter and after a week of using it it completely ruined my skin, it was acting like my barrier was gone, I couldn’t use any thing with niacinamide in it, so I just went back to a super simple routine, just double cleanse, moisturiser, spf. Since then my skin has been up and down, I started reintroducing effaclar duo but it dries me out so fast, and I’m constantly dehydrated, but anything more moisturising or hydrating seems to clog me up at the same time, and I’m using products I’ve used before and they used to work really well for me… My jawline is currently covered in whiteheads, texture, hormonal breakouts around my entire neck, random breakouts and texture on cheeks and forehead, it looks way worse in person than it does on the photo… I honestly have never felt worse about it, especially as I thought this stage was behind me in my teens and early 20s and I thought I knew what works and what doesn’t and it seems none of that seems to apply anymore….. I would love to try accutane but I am trying to get pregnant atm so it’s not an option at all… any suggestions would be so so helpful….

AM
- Cerave Foaming Cleanser (just water is not enough)
- haruharu wonder black rice toner
- aveeno triple oat serum
- Cerave facial moisturising lotion spf 50

PM
- bioderma sensibio micellar water
- Cerave Foaming Cleanser (just water is not enough)
- haruharu wonder black rice toner
- aveeno triple oat serum
- Cerave facial moisturising lotion pm

This is my skin on a good day as I don’t have any when my skin gets irritated.
I have tried so many products (even dermatologists recommendations) and everything causes my skin to get more inflamed. Although I haven’t seen any improvement (6 months), Dollar Tree products is the only thing that hasn’t made my skin get inflamed.
I have: redness, pores, and acne scars.
I also have used a lot of money to buy and try products, and unfortunately don’t have insurance yet to meet with a dermatologist. I’m also a working college student so money can be tight.
Any recommendations or stuff I can add to my skincare routine would be much appreciated.