Olivia Says: My face is starting to look really bad, it’s dry, and I’m breaking out badly on my cheeks and forehead. What type of cleanser should I use? (I’ve heard that plain soap dries out your skin.) Also, what kind of facial mask should I use?
The Right Beauty Brain Replies:
It sounds like you’ve got combination skin issues; we’ll tackle how to cleanse your dry skin first. For skin like yours, you need to avoid harsh cleansers. While it’s difficult to recommend specific products without more information, we can tell you what to stay away from. Avoid plain soap or products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate or alcohol. These can make your dry skin even drier. Make sure these ingredients are NOT listed on the back of the product before you buy anything. For more help, here’s a great place to learn about proper skin cleansing.
Your other problem, breaking out on your cheeks and forehead, is a little bit trickier to handle. We recommend Acnenet for a detailed discussion of options for treating acne. You can read about benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid (the most common tools used in fighting acne), as well as other available therapies including treatment by a dermatologist. We like this site because not only does it tell you what ingredients work, it also tells you what ingredients DON’T work!
In answer to your last question about which facial mask to use, we’d say stay away from masks until you get your dry skin under control. Most masks, especially the clay based products, can dry skin out even more which could cause you additional problems. If you feel you must use a mask, look for one that does not contain clay.
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SSF Says:
I have the same type of skin and I absolutely love Cerave hydrating cleanser. It’s not strong enough to remove makeup (probably because it does lack the SLS) but it’s gentle and not drying.
Emily Skin Soothers Says:
A few more really helpful tips for the dry aspect of your skin are:
1)after using a gentle, natural soap, apply your moisturizer to the skin while it is still damp to help lock in more moisture.
2) wash less often–all soaps bond to dirt, make-up, but also your natural oils to wash them away.
3) wash in warm or cooler water. Water that is too hot will strip your natural oils further.
I’ve recently posted an free, informational site with a page just about washing with these tips and more at: http://www.myskinbetter.com/washing
Hope this helps–Mike
Red Queen Says:
Oh I have exactly this type of skin and the drier my skin gets- the worse I break out.
I have found that using an oil cleanser with 2x weekly exfoliation works really well. You can spend a ton of money on an oil cleanser, or make your own. My recipe is 3 parts olive oil, 1 part castor oil and 1 part tea tree oil. Massage the oil into your face very well, then remove with a hot washcloth.
Afterwards I use Stiefel’s salacylic acid bar soap to get rid of any greasiness and to help with the breakouts.
Then to get rid of any dry skin build up I use Booths green apple microdermabrasion scrub about every 3 days.
Doing this has made my skin super soft and stopped most of the breaking out.
Good luck. It took me ages to find something that worked.
theresa Says:
I thought you guys were beauty brains! Dissing on “plain soap” is a really bad idea. A good natural plain soap would probably be great for her skin. Note I said natural, not commercial. Please discern!
thebeautybrains Says:
As “brains” we make our judgments based on evidence and the scientific evidence doesn’t demonstrate any greater benefit of natural plain soap versus commercial soap. Do you have any scientific evidence to support such a difference? We’d love to see it and be persuaded otherwise.
Why is dissing plain soap a “really bad idea”?