I am 44 years old and have oily skin that is easily irritated. I have large pores, blackheads, and am now getting slightly dry on the surface. My skin never feels comfortable. I have to wear foundation, which I hate. Otherwise as soon as the oil builds up on the surface, my skin becomes reddened and irritated.
I have never felt pretty and have always been very self-conscious about my skin. Although I do experience an occasional pimple, I refuse to use those harsh acne product lines. Can you recommend products that will help to balance and clear my skin? I would love to find a line that I could stick with that I was certain would be beneficial and not harmful to my skin. I really don’t know what to do with my skin.
Unfortunately,
these comments are true for many people. If you have problem skin, it
may be very difficult for you to find relief in the land of department
store products. These types of products are for the masses and don’t
necessarily have the capability to deal with real skin problems.
Additionally, the people selling the products aren’t necessarily the
most knowledgeable when it comes to skin and how to treat it.
I
am 44 years old and have oily skin that is easily irritated. I have
large pores, blackheads, and am now getting slightly dry on the surface.
My skin never feels comfortable. The oiliness and irritation
are the most important things to treat with her skin. To reiterate,
department store products probably aren’t geared to help this skin type.
The dryness she is experiencing may be due to ingredients in her
products meant to help with the oil by drying the surface skin out.
Again, something I talk about as being a poor way to treat a problem,
and consequently, causing her more angst.
I
have to wear foundation, which I hate. Otherwise as soon as the oil
builds up on the surface, my skin becomes reddened and irritated. I have
never felt pretty and have always been very self-conscious about my
skin. I’m not sure how foundation is helping her problem although it can certainly be contributing to her problem skin. To me,
using a powder would be more appropriate. Powders contain talc and talc
helps to absorb oil. Regardless of the past, I truly believe she can
get to a place where she feels good about her skin.
Although I do experience an occasional pimple, I refuse to use those harsh acne product lines. This is a smart, intuitive response that I’m glad she is listening to!
Can
you recommend products that will help to balance and clear my skin? I
would love to find a line that I could stick with that I was certain
would be beneficial and not harmful to my skin. I really don’t know what
to do with my skin. I would like to know the nature of the
irritation. Is it always there or do products incite the irritation to
appear? If the sensitivity is being caused by products, try to figure out
a common denominator and look for products that don’t have the known
irritants in the ingredient list. One way to find out what is causing the sensitivity is to take The 72-Hour Test (link below).
As far as the blackhead problem, doing The Extras (exfoliating along with using a clay mask) at least once per week (two or even three times may be necessary) will go a long way to help your skin stay less congested, which is important to help eliminate blackheads. Foundation, depending on its ingredients, may be furthering your blackhead problem. Since it is sitting on your skin all day, foundation can create not only blackheads but enlargement of the pores too. Using geranium essential oil on the spots (infected blemishes only) will help them to go away faster.
As far as the blackhead problem, doing The Extras (exfoliating along with using a clay mask) at least once per week (two or even three times may be necessary) will go a long way to help your skin stay less congested, which is important to help eliminate blackheads. Foundation, depending on its ingredients, may be furthering your blackhead problem. Since it is sitting on your skin all day, foundation can create not only blackheads but enlargement of the pores too. Using geranium essential oil on the spots (infected blemishes only) will help them to go away faster.
In
short, use products for oily skin that don’t have drying ingredients in
them. Try using powder instead of foundation. Along with The Basics for your skin type, do The Extras.
This program isn’t complicated, it just gets complicated by the
enormity of product choices available on the market. Narrow down your
choices (using products for your skin type only) to simplify your
program.
For more information, see:
For more information, see:
- The Basics 1-2-3 Program for proper skin care
- The Extras—Do more to have healthy skin
- Powder vs. foundation: which is better for my skin?
- Allergic Reactions to Products & The 72-Hour Test
