So does this mean my skin is probably dehydrated?...

I am so confused lately about how my skin is. I know the weather is to partly blame, but we have also had a very very warm winter (it's going to get to almost plus 6 degrees celcius today)! Anyways, I have always had pretty oily skin, and I would say within the past 6 months I have noticed it can get dry quite easily and it's more like a tight-dry feeling. So I have tried to focus more on using products in my routine but I am finding out that some of them just seem to make me shiny (not really greasy) but my skin can still feel tight. I do get oily later in the day and if it's really bad I may have to blot my t-zone, but because of the tightness and just dry feeling, I am really not sure what skin type I am anymore. I would say combo, but I wonder if some of that oil is more from having to use products designed for dry skin.

Ugh, I am really confused about what my skin needs and why it could be doing this. I have never had such a drastic change in my skin due to weather as right now, which makes me wonder if my skin is just changing as I get older. And yet I still have pretty acne-prone skin, so obviously my skin can over produce oil at certain times too. I am almost 24 for reference. Any help or explanation would be so very appreciated!!

What products are you using in your skincare routine?

AM:

Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Scrub (actually extremely gentle for a scrub)

Neutrogena Healthy Defense SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer

PM:

Cetaphil Daily Cleanser for Normal/Oily Skin

Neutrogena Stress Control 3-in-1 Acne Treatment (supposed to be a gentle BHA)

Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (used to be only when dry, but now I use it every night)

I just started the scrub and the BHA, but in all honest, I have had this problem for months...long before I started using most of the products. I know scrubs aren't supposed to be used daily, but my skin looks ten times worse if I don't use a manual exfoliant everyday.

My skin is kind of like that. It's a horrible combo where it's dry and oily at the same time. I can only use a gentle scrub once a week or my skin acts up. Cetaphil is really great. You may want to try the sensitive skin one next time you purchase. It may be the combo of the BHA and scrub might be too much for your skin. Maybe you could alternate days with the two products. Use the scrub one day and then BHA the next and repeat.

You could try to spray some water on your face before applying your moisturizer. I also agree with the previous post.

oh wow. you really need to get yourself a good skin care regime and products!!

i myself have different products for morning and night, and theres like 5 stuff each haha. so my skin is always very moisturized! which is really important.

seeing your skin regime, it really lacks... basically your just using a lotion. :/

Products containing high alcohol content could be a culprit. My skin went crazy, it would feel very tight but so horribly oily at the same time. So, I slapped on more stuff on my face and it didn't get any better. Makeup foundation looked terrible because of my skin condition.

I started combing through my skincare ingredient lists and found one of the causes was the L'Occitane sunscreen, which has alcohol denat listed as the first six ingredient. After I stopped using it and a bunch of other products that had high alcohol content, my skin got a lot better and is beginning to normalise. I am a lot more careful with my skin care these days.

Hey thanks for all the good advice everyone. I slowly took certain things out of the regimen and I'm pretty sure that the Neutrogena SPF was the culprit behind my super strange skin. It felt quite heavy and greasy so I totaly thought it was moisturizing me (especially after all the great reviews about it too) but I'm pretty sure it wasn't being absorbed by my skin at all! I just stopped using it for now and am back to using the sensitive skin moisturizer from Neutrogena that I know moisturizes my skin very well. The thing with it is that I know I need to find good SPF eventually though, because I can't rely on getting it just from my makeup. But thanks for the good tips and everything. I hope my skin doesn't go back to that state though, cause then I will really be at a loss to what's going on!

Get a separate sunscreen, i think that remains the best option. I use one specific for the face, for oily sensitive skins, so it's very light in texture and sinks in quickly. I really hate having to wait until my sunscreen has been completely absorbed.

Hey magosienne- Can I ask what sunscreen you use? I am having a heck of a time finding one that won't make me greasy or break me out. I thought the Neutrogena would do that based on the reviews but obviously it's the complete opposite!

Me too, sadly i always go back to the same, it's Anthelios XL Fluide Extreme from La Roche Posay (i take SPF50).



(this bottle is the version for the face, you can shake it, the one with the cap is for face&body, it's fine but i find it a tad heavier). I really like this brand because it's also made for sun sensitive skins, and depending on where i am 10 minutes are enough to turn me into a tomato so with this one, i'm safe.

You could also try Vichy Capital Soleil, the price range is about the same, but i didn't like it as much as i like this one.

You can also try the sunscreens made for kids, no difference except perhaps in the formula.

Have you ever tried using a mineral mist before?

Acne home remedies:

Natural remedy for acne #1 - Squeeze an orange or lemon juice onto a cotton pad and then dab it onto the acne affected area. Leave it on for 20 minutes and wash off with water. This will minimize your acne marks and take the redness away after a couple of days.

Natural remedy for acne #2 – This is another simple yet effective way to minimize your acne marks. Slice a raw potato and rub it on your acne affected area. The vitamins in the raw potato take away all the redness and improve your complexion.

I agree with magosienne, I have super oily skin and have never been able to find a moisturizer with spf that doesn't make me an oil slick or cause me problems.

Shiseido spf for face (ultimate sun protection lotion spf 60 - and I think they just came out with a lower spf one, I used the 60 since I'm so pale) is expensive but fantastic for oily skin. If you have a sephora near you, you should be able to get a sample of it.

I really must try that shiseido sunscreen, every time the price tag makes me eek (what about the japanese lines like Anessa ?).

Be careful with lemons and oranges, they're citrus fruits which means they can be phototoxic. If you have to go out, be sure to wear a high spf sunscreen.

Ya, my skin is so sensitive, I would be quite scared to put even diluted lemon juice on it. I think I will have to take a look at that LRP sunscreen. I heard some people don't like the new Shiseido SPF 60 that has recently replaced the infamous SPF 55 one. I'm even more hesistant to lay down that kind of money on the Shiseido now I know the reformulated one doesn't get nearly enough love. Thanks though everyone!!

Oh now that I think about it, it is spf 55 that I've used, I haven't bought the shiseido with the new spf60. That's interesting, I haven't read any reviews on the new one.

But the spf55 is the best sunscreen I ever used and I've tried a bunch!

Arielle123- Ya, the only reason I know that is because another board I frequent on (MUA) has alot of people that are really upset over the new reformulation. They say the new SPF 60 is nothign like the old formula, and I think it's actually changed the overall sun protection. They mention something about it's PPD being lower even though the SPF is now higher, and from what I got with them PPD is the UVA protection number, which is actually more important in terms of wrinkling and skin aging. I don't knwo for sure, but if you can go on makeupalley I suggest doing a skincare board search about the SPF 60 and see the replies on it. Hope that helps

That does help thanks I need some new sunscreen soon so this thread has been helpful.

I suggest you try lemon juice at night, it helps with acne, and with patience it also helps scars fade.

About mineral mists, i like this idea, i'm not sure i can find some here. I did find a sunscreen from Avene containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide as first ingredients, the protection was great, but i had difficulties applying it evenly and it's so darn thick .