Decisions, decisions...

[skinlaced]

I need a little help, because the products are overwhelming me. I know I could easily sample everything, but even once they're in my hands, I'd still be completely overwhelmed by the possibilities. So, with that, I turn to you guys. I need help!

What would you recommend to someone with dry/combination acne-prone sensitive skin also with blocked pores on cheeks & nose. My dryness is mainly on my cheek/nose area. Acne tends to focus on my cheek area too. I'd like a free radical/antioxidant infused product, anything to feed goodness to my skin.

Let me list the items I was pondering, some of which I will mark (*) where I get confused on whether it's a good move for me or not.

• Green Tea and Aloe Hydrating Serum- seems like a good morning lightweight moisturizer/makeup primer for summer
  Apricot Cleansing Oil- nice light cleanser, also good for removing makeup without stripping my skin
  Facelift Vitamin C, DMAE & Peptide serum- Nighttime face, neck, chest
  *Super Serum- lightens scarring, which I have acne scarring. Possibly prevent acne. Don't know when I'd use it: night or morning. Alternate between Facelift & this? Opinions?
  *8% AHA Toner- Opinions?
  *2% BHA Toner- Opinions?
  *Microdermabrasion Gel- Help skin turnover on cheeks & help serums do their work. Not sure.

Any thoughts I'll appreciate. Thank you!

[Cupcake]

Hi, welcome. The first rule when treating skin is to address any sensitivity and as much as possible get rid of the sensitivity before you move on to treating other concerns. Your skin has blocked pores and dryness on your T-zone, then the sensitivy may be tied in to the oil / sebum balance being out of balance. I'd suggest getting the hydration right before moving on to more potent treatments, just incase the sensitivity interferes with the results that you would otherwise have and complicates things further.

I'd strongly recommend the Green Tea and Aloe serum to start with, along with twice a week gently exfoliating with the microdermabrasion cream or gel. I wouldn't use AHA / BHA yet until the sensitivity is balanced. You can use them now, but I'm recommending that you don't yet in your situation. You need something to exfoliate and they would be an alternative option to the microdermabrasion cream / gel. For you, you'd use one or the other. I recommend the other, the microdermabrasion, because it's manual - you can fully control how gently you apply it and instantly stop if it gets too much. With the AHA / BHAs, they're a little more difficult to control in that they may cause a stingy reaction or slight redness at first. The microdermabrasion would be easier to work with at first. The AHA / BHA would be great, either or together in a few weeks time if your skin responds well to getting the hydration balance stabilised with daily use of the GT&A serum.

Other than that, cleanse well - the Cleansing Oil is fine - and use a light moisturiser that you're comfortable with on top of the serum to seal it into the skin. You need a serum and moisturiser because the serum replaces and boosts the precious waters within your skin and the oils from the moisturiser help to seal them in. They work best together.

Try that for around a month and if you're seeing less sensitivity, more comfort and a balanced glow to your skin, come back and maybe look at adding in the VitaminC-Peptide serum to really get your skin glowing and deal with free-radicals etc. (After that, then go for Super Serum, but not yet... work up to it!)

Hope that helps. Good luck with it.

[skinlaced]

Hope that helps? You rock!! Really informative.

I took your advice and went with: Apricot Cleansing Oil, Microdermabrasion Gel, & Green Tea and Aloe Hydrating Serum. I currently use pure jojoba oil as a moisturizer, so it should layer well on the serum since they're similar, I hope. Also sample sizes of Facelift & Super Serum to have on hand if my skin cooperates accordingly.

Thanks again.