What the heck is wrong with my skin?

Question

I can never figure out how to make my skin look decent, its oily, but easily gets dry or iritated. The worst is that my pores are huge, I have acne and my face is always red and blochy. I have tried clinique, proactive, murad, and others I cant remember. The only luck I have ever really had is with cetaphil, but I still have blochiness and acne...what the hell do I do.

(note, with acne treatments like proative, the acne goes away but my skin is red and blotchy and my pores are huge! Oh and I am VERY fair skinned.)

Grrrrr. Any help would be apreciated.

Answer 1

My skin does the same thing to an extent. I have a problem with blackheads on my nose and chin, pimple on my forehead, and dry, red, patchy areas on my cheeks. In other words, the dreaded combination skin! You just never seem to know what to do for it. Either you by products for dry skin, and get more breakouts or you buy products for oily skin and have flakes and redness.
My solution hasn't been an expensive one. A lot of experts are against the use of St. Ives products but I use the non-medicated apricot scrub for my morning wash, an astrigent in the T-zone only, then a light layer of Clean & Clear daily pore toner, after all of that MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE. I use St Ives Collegen Elastin. I am only 25, but it's never to early to start protecting and preventing aging skin.
My evening routine is St Ives Facial cleaner and makeup remover to wash away the makeup and/or dirt accumulated throughout the day, astrigent again but all over face and neck, another light layer of toner, and once again, moisturize! About twice a week I use one of St Ives two exfoliating masks.
I also have sensitve skin and have breakout from eczema, and none of these products have caused me any irritation. They are not expensive at all. In fact, I buy the moisturizer and apricot scrub in 10 oz tubs for under $5. The facial cleaner and makeup remover (it is a single product) and the masks are about $3. You can use any brand astrigent. I use Walmart's Equate that has the same ingredients as Sea Breeze, but it only cost $2 for a 10 oz bottle. Clean & Clear's toner was about$3. The reason I use these products is because I get a great price and great results.

Answer 2

well, obviously it also depends on your skin type, I have combination skin and went through a phase where breakouts were happening everyday and I tried everything until i slowly narrowed it down to a 10 step routine, this is what I do,

1. Change my sheets every week, if this is not possible at least change the pillow sheets
2. Wash my face twice a day, no more, no less, too much washing make your face dry and easily irritated making it prone to further breakouts, I use Clarins men
3. Exfoliate once a week, i also use the clarins men exfoliator
4. Apply a mask once a week, I think the Origins White Clay Mask works wonders, it really cleans and clears up clogged pores
5. MOISTURISE - I apply Clarins face gel (use the cream version instead if u have dry skin), then a layer of sunscreen (SPF 30+ preferably and find a brand thats not too oily)
6. SLEEP!!! - at least 8 hours a day
7. I also use Clarins Night Cream that gently exfoliates your skin as you sleep accelerating the removal of any scars
8. Oxy cream on any breakouts and
9. Pore pack to remove any blackheads followed by an astringent and toner
10. I squeeze any breakouts, no point leaving them there imho and they scar either way anyway imo, I normally dap a cotton wad in some disinfectant and press it against the area where the pimple has been removed to prevent the bacteria form spreading
11. Exercise - sweating gives the opportunity for your pores to sweat out all impurities, just make sure you shower after, and it helps making your skin glow

There you have it, sounds extensive but the pay off is that you can be confident that you will always have healthy looking skin at all social occasions

Answer 3

This is my skin regimen and I am fair as well. I wash my face with the acne apricot scrub. Don't rub hard. When I get out of the shower I put clearsil on the trouble spots and then I use a retinol cream to prevent wrinkles. After that I use Oil of Olay moisterizer. Every week I use a mask. Queen Helene's mint julip mask to reduce pores and clean out black heads. Then I use a cucumber peel mask to clarify my skin. This regimen really keeps my skin feeling healthy and looking great.

Answer 4

Try changing your diet to help with the acne. I have always found that drinking a lot of water and eating fruit and less candy or sweets really helped me. Biore makes a line targeted at red blotchy skin and acne, I tried it and it seemed to help. It seemed to help even out my skin tone. I don't know if it will help you. Plus sometimes if you aren't hydrating your skin enough then you will over produce oil and that can cause breakouts. Good Luck I know how hard it is to have acne hope it all works out.

Answer 5

go fragrance free whenever you can-which is different than unscented-to help with the sensitivity (that's why cetaphil is working for you). to help with the pores, try adding sugar to the cleanser. it'll help unclog and won't hurt your skin. i have eczema in the winter and use sugar and olive oil to keep it under control. and with the moisturizers, i have to mix my favorite 2 equal parts in one bottle (clean & clear dual action with olay complete oily spf 15). but i don't really have acne. the salicylic acid keeps pimples away and the olay keeps me moisturized and protected from the sun. "beauty: the new basics by rona berg" has some great recipes for facial masks and a list of ingredients to watch out for if you're sensitive.

Answer 6

some people have tried a lot of skin care products like proactive....i heard it works great....but when i tried it....it made my skin break out again.....so proactive didn't work out for me....then i tried using this stuff called esthederem from institut......i used the osmoclean which is a gentle deep pore cleanser......the cream becomes thick when you put in on your face and then you rinse it off like soap.....then i used this other cream.....i can't remember what it's called but it's the same product that goes with the osmoclean......it helps reduce shiny skin and it really cleared my face a lot.......you should try it....i'm fair skinned to and if it works for me it will work for you.....

Answer 7

go to a dermatologist and ask about : benzaClin and differin.
to make the pores smaller try Microdermabrasion. this takes off the top and dead layers of your skin revealing smaller pores. after a few treatments you will see a difference.

Answer 8

You may have eczema or rosasea. Go see a dermatologist and have them diagnose the problem. You may have really just irritated it really badly and needs to be left alone to normalize for a while. See a professional who can look at you and help you out.

Answer 9

I hear vitamin E is good for dry skin. I took it when i was on acutane(sp?) and it seemed to help with the dryness.