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How to get a good, flawless, red/pore-free skin?

how do I get my radiant skin back?

  • The skin on my face has not been as smooth and radiant the last couple of years. I am 26, female. What can I do to get it back to normal, or if this is the new normal, how can I prevent it from getting worse? Up until a couple of years ago, I had awesome skin that strangers would compliment me on. I've been on the pill for many years, which prevents most acne, but even when I had a few breakouts, the rest of my skin was just nice - smooth, radiant, healthy looking. Now it just looks.... older, kind of "meh," I have some tiny little blackheads that are not too visible but overall make my complexion worse, and even though I break out less (hormones must have finally calmed down?), overall my skin just looks duller and worse. No wrinkles yet, but one definitely doesn't immediately think "oh that girl has really nice skin" when they look at me. Some info: I am 26. I've worn powder on my face since I was ~16, since my skin has always gotten really shiny and oily. The ironic thing is that only in the last couple of years is when I became diligent about using sunscreen on my face every day - and my skin has been getting worse and worse! Is it just unavoidable because I am getting older? Is the extra product getting rubbed on my face what is making it duller? The women in my family who have nice skin even when they are much older have never used anything on it - makeup or sunscreen, and have always believed "don't put anything on your skin, it'll make it worse than it is when it's all natural." I prefer to keep using sunscreen because, well, that's supposed to be good for me, I guess? Although I am really tempted to go sunscreen-free and makeup-free for a month now that the sun is getting weaker to see if that makes a difference. Is a month enough time to see changes, if the problem really is caused by too much stuff applied to my face? What can I do to get a healthy glowing face again, or to prevent it from getting worse? Is this what facials and chemical peels are for (I've never had either one). If yes, what kind should I get? How long would the effects last? Is there some magical product that I should be using? Are there specific ingredients in makeup that I should avoid? I get enough sleep, drink more than enough water, eat mostly healthy (at least I get enough fruits and veggies even on days that I eat crap food), exercise a lot, wash my face twice a day, I'm not under any stress.

  • Answer:

    I'll dissent a little and say that if you want truly great skin, you may have to stop wearing make-up or toner or anything. Make-up is actively damaging to skin; the only women I know over 30 with clear, wrinkle free skin have worn almost no make-up for years, wear hats against the sun and wash with water or (at most) a mild soap. My mother is 54, and has fewer eye wrinkles than I do, and since I have very similar skin the only reason we can think is that she often wears a hat in summer and she has never worn eye make-up (whereas mine appeared for the first time when I started wearing eye-makeup). But of course, that's a pretty big decision. My mom doesn't believe in make-up, so not wearing it is her default. Me, I think it's lots of fun, but seeing the effects has made me consider make-up as a sometimes-fun rather than an everyday thing. Sunscreen - I don't know about. It may be that part of your "radiance" was actually some light tanning, so the sunscreen (while certainly a healthy choice) has stopped that from happening.

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Exfoliate. Try that before anything else. You can probably switch up your foundation/powder too, but try this first: Almost-free method and amazingly effective method: put some baking soda in the palm of your hand. Put a drop of whatever facial cleanser you use on top. Add a couple of drops of water and rub all between your hands to mix. Apply to face with both hands, massaging into skin for 30-60 seconds. Do NOT scrub, just massage. Rinse and follow your regular moisturizing routine. Expensive but worth it method: Use the http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P72504&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3866. Switch your daily cleanser to the http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P184109&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3866. Seconding using a good moisturizer. Go to Sephora and ask for some help and request samples of the various types they recommend so that you can try them out first.

mireille

I was in the same place earlier this year with my skin - had always looked fine, just felt kind of dull, plus sensitive to a lot of products - and based on the compliments it had gotten both here and elsewhere, I took the plunge and bought a Clarisonic Mia. It's awesome. I went home over the summer after I'd been using it for a couple of months, and EVERYONE asked me what I'd been doing differently to my face. I use it with Cetaphil daily face wash (I wash my face once a day) followed by Cetaphil moisturizer with sunscreen, which seems to be enough for me since I don't wear makeup apart from the occasional lip gloss and mascara. My pores are shallower and less noticeable, my skin looks healthy instead of dull, and most importantly it feels better to me. YMMV, and it's certainly an investment, but for me it was totally worth it.

amy lecteur

Or rather, keep up the healthy-ish diet, and maybe try and stay super healthy for the month and avoid all crap all together.

smartypantz

The women in my family who have nice skin even when they are much older have never used anything on it - makeup or sunscreen, and have always believed "don't put anything on your skin, it'll make it worse than it is when it's all natural." They're right. Learn to love your hats.

flabdablet

What sort of moisturizer are you using? You might find a daily moisturizer with sunscreen and AHA (alpha hydroxy) helpful in fighting dullness. Neutorgena has a http://www.neutrogena.com/product/healthy+skin+radiance+cream+spf+15.do?sortby=ourPicks you might like.

ThePinkSuperhero

I'm also one for not wearing too much on my face. I wash my face with my shampoo and use a damp, warm washcloth for exfoliating. I, if I do say so myself, have really nice skin and only a couple wrinkles around my eyes and I'm 44 years old. As for sun - I use sunscreen when I know I'm going to be in the sun for a while, but I'm indoors 99% of the time and don't use it then. All that said, remember a lot of it comes down to genetics and age and some things just can't be fixed without going to extremes.

deborah

Alpha Hydroxy Acid. You can get high quality in bulk at acne.org.

porpoise

caster sugar = baker's sugar, or superfine. Not powdered! Regular table sugar works too, but the smaller the crystals, the more surface area in a volume of sugar. It feels softer as well.

oneirodynia

You don't need to buy any expensive exfoliants if you want to try that. 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar in a little bit of jojoba or almond oil is a very effective and gentle exfoliant. I disagree that you shouldn't wear powder or makeup ever if you want to have nice skin. If you live in a city, your skin gets covered with city crud every day. Powder or foundation is not only a barrier to that getting on your skin, it can also be a light sunscreen and/or moisturizer, depending on the formula. As long as you're washing your face at night, I don't think you need to altogether avoid makeup or sunscreen as long s the formula are not causing you particular problems. If you smoke, you should stop if you want to keep nice skin. Smoking reduces blood flow to the skin, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410808_2. I just started using this http://www.skinactives.com/Collagen-Serum-Let-s-Make-Collagen.html and have been very happy with how even, smooth, bright, and smaller-pored my skin has been looking. Their products are really well priced for all the good stuff that is in them.

oneirodynia

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