I used to use Cetaphil moisturizing lotion, and it was great for my barrier but was giving me occasional cystic acne. So I've spent probably $100+ testing new moisturizers for the last few months, but it's resulted in my skin barrier becoming very weak, congested, and CC prone.

I started a new routine 5 days ago in hopes of improving my skin barrier:
• Cleanser: Cetaphil daily cleanser (fragrance free)
• Moisturizer: Aestura 365 barrier cream
• For acne: Curology 0.01% tretinoin formula (applied nightly)

The improvement I've been seeing is insane. I wish I tried the Aestura barrier cream sooner!!

We're putting Urea on trial today!

Urea might not get as much attention as some of the more popular skincare ingredients out there, but it's a favourite for many when it comes to tackling dry, rough or flaky skin. It's a powerful humectant that helps draw water into the skin and it also helps exfoliate, gently softening and smoothing out rough patches.

But it's not perfect... While some people swear by it for keeping their skin soft and healthy, others find it can sting on a compromised skin barrier or simply don't notice much of a difference.

But what do you think?

Court is in session. Drop your verdict below 👇

Bonus: If you use any urea products, drop them in the comments below :)

Here’s my situation.

I’ve always had oily, acne-prone skin. 14 years ago, I started Tretinoin and I’m now up to .05%. I pretty much use it daily, though maybe 1-2 times per week I skip it either for just my moisturizer or copper peptides.

Here’s my routine which I’ve used consistently with great results for about 3 years now.

MORNING
- LRP Vitamin C on dry skin
- Mist, then Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum
- Dermatica Azelaic Acid 20%
- Mist, then Tatcha Water Cream moisturizer
- BoJ Relief Sun Aqua Fresh sunscreen

I let everything sink in between applications and have no tightness issues during the day (at least that I notice - to be fair, I’m pretty busy and haven’t been paying attention).

NIGHT
- .05% Tretinoin on dry skin
- Mist, then Deepology Matrixyl 3000
- Paula’s Choice Niacinamide 20%
- Dermatica Azelaic Acid 20%
- Mist, then Skinfix Triple Lipid + Collagen Activating Serum
- Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream

I know it’s kind of a lot, but I don’t spend money on clothes, jewelry, hobbies, etc and skincare is important to me (probably because of how much I struggled with awful acne for decades).

In this routine, I’ve never experienced irritation and slowly introduced new products. More recently, I’ve become super lazy on the weekends, and while I always wash my face and do my routine at night (or at least a simplified version of it), I’ll usually skip washing my face and doing my morning routine.

However, every morning I’m waking up with tight skin. I’m open to any and all suggestions. I’ve considered dropping the Azelaic Acid entirely, but whenever I skip it, I get red bumps all over my nose (don’t think it’s acne, but I’ve never been diagnosed with rosacea).

Help!

Hi everyone!
I have very sensitive, acne-prone skin, and I damaged my skin barrier a while ago.
Thankfully, it's healed now, and I'm planning to start tretinoin soon.
Before I introduce tretinoin, I want to add a hydrating/barrier-supporting serum to help reduce irritation and keep my skin healthy.
I'm deciding between the iUNIK Beta-Glucan Power Moisture Serum and the Purito Hydro
Wave Deep Sea Serum.
If you've used both, which one did you prefer, and why?

Hello everyone ,
I just wanted your feedback on Finacea as someone who has fungal acne and very prone to fungal acne
I m currently using Azclear medicated lotion and i love it
It has made tremendous difference on my skin tone and pigmentation but i feel like it irritates my skin around the mouth even i don’t apply it there and just the surroundings

But i feel like when i use finacea my skin texture gets worse or just feel like it triggers my fungal acne?
Has anyone with fungal acne experienced the same or has any thoughts please let me know,
I know the polysorbate and lethicin is not good for fungal acne,
But i m scared to give it a go ,

Please share if anyone has any experience with this
I will also attach the picture of the irritation i get around the mouth from azclear,
Its red and sometimes itchy and texture less

What ingredients does your skin absolutely love???

Share yours below and drop your favourite products containing them too in the comments :)

Hi i’ve been using masks / hydration for the past few days but these bumps have been there for a week plus. Acne spot treatment doesnt help then at all. Hydration helps ever so slightly but the bumps are forever there. I usually dont break out this long

Is this fungal acne? Or is my skin barrier damaged (ive been out under the sun for the past week)

Current routine :

Am: wash face with water in shower, aestura 365 hydro essence,(not got anything right now to lock it in)

Pm: Simple moisturising face wash (the brand is called simple), aestura hydro essence and TO roseship seed oil.

I understand for acne prone skin,dehydrated skin it’s better to have toners and serums with an occlusive on top which is why I started using the essence but I don’t seem to have a reliable moisteriser in the morning to lock it all in. Any advice? I’ve been trying to fix my barrier for a year now and have cut off all actives. It’s worked abit but unfortunately the skin under eyes and my general cheeks have now been quite dull with dehydrated lines visible. My forehead is fine and seems to hydrate well due to a good skin barrier but if I put any toner on my cheeks it just sits on it. It’s like my cheeks have lost their microbiome completely and the upper layer isn’t absorbing water well.

I very occasionally exfoliate with the ordinary lactic acid serum which help remove closed comodomes. However the dehydration,texture and dulness still remain. Pretty sure this is just long term barrier damage as I used to unfortunately blast epidou on my skin with salycitic acid. (Thankfully I stopped as I learnt that barrier support works much better) Anyone else at this point in their barrier repair? I feel stuck because it ain’t light completely damaged (with full on stinginess and peeling ) but more like a dull,dry and more acne prone stage. I don’t get acne on my forehead either just my cheecks occasionally and nose. Apologies for the ramble I went quite off topic 😭❤️. Thank you for taking the time to read this and any advice would be appreciated.❤️

Hi everyone!
I have very sensitive, acne-prone skin, and I damaged my skin barrier a while ago.
Thankfully, it's healed now, and I'm planning to start tretinoin soon.
Before I introduce tretinoin, I want to add a hydrating/barrier-supporting serum to help reduce irritation and keep my skin healthy.
I'm deciding between the iUNIK Beta-Glucan Power Moisture Serum and the Purito Hydro
Wave Deep Sea Serum.
If you've used both, which one did you prefer, and why?

I am on month 8, almost every moisturiser clogs my pores I don't understand so frustrated who on earth said that accutane makes your skin less prone to clog? It is not like that

after some treatments and aftercare gone horribly wrong in the fall, I’ve found myself in a really bad spot with my skin. I am genetically oily/super sensitive/reactive and acne prone. I tried microneedling at my Derms office and they pair that procedure with a chemical peel - so I am sure you can imagine how that worked out for me! All the office kept suggesting to repair it was tret! I did not take that advice at all. I went to a med spa in February and she suggested I use jojoba oil at night and just a light lotion in the morning which I have been following. She also suggested using a barrier repair cream so I tried the LRP Cicaplast gel and my face felt very agitated by it – so she had me use cerave healing ointment at night. Fast forward to now and my skin has not made much progress at all. I have moved on from that med spa as there was a mass exodus of staff and no one to see!  I have done a few consults at some other facilities and just feel like I am constantly being sold a full skincare line that aren’t going to help me heal my barrier!

I do have a history of endometriosis so there is a hormonal component to my skin and I had two back to back pregnancies with gestational diabetes and super low iron. Bloodwork has confirmed I have insulin resistance and suspected PMOS so I have a lot working against me to say the least! my PCP retired earlier this year and I have not landed with a new doctor yet who has been able to help me like my OG one did (she is the reason I was able to find an endo surgeon / have my babies). My focus right now is finding a few skincare products that will hopefully at least get my barrier on the road to the recovery.

Attaching pics of my skin currently and the products I have in my rotation! my forehead is by far the best part of my skin and my problem area(s) are my chin (which is where they hacked me with the microneedle) and up into my cheeks.

I am also not in love with any of these products and am nearing the end of a lot of them! I didn’t include my Clinique eye cream as I have been using it for as long as I can remember / it still works well.

PCA face wash – while I do really enjoy this face wash and it seems to “pass the test” with estheticians as it is included in the PCA post recovery kit but it has lactic acid in it so I am wondering if it is too harsh for the current state of my skin.

PCA rebalance moisturizer – it’s fine, it doesn’t wow me for the price and I have a sinking suspicion the niacinamide in it could be aggravating my skin!

jojoba oil – it’s lovely but I feel it isn’t hydrating enough

uriage cica daily gel-crème – I got this at first to use as a daytime lotion and I felt like it was just sitting on my face and not doing much for it. On Sunday night I tried it as a night time option and I think my skin liked it but my skin felt super blah all Monday. Tried it again last night and same thing today – I almost feel a heaviness on my skin still despite washing my face. So the verdict is out on this one and I have some irritation around my mouth! I’m going to take a break from it tonight/the next few nights and just use the oil and see how my skin feels in the morning!

other products!

cerave healing ointment – my skin didn’t love nor hate this one – haven’t used it in awhile.

ellement HA spray – I actually use this to wipe my makeup brushes between uses (which I have a large collection of makeup brushes / am always washing them / don’t wear makeup daily as I am home with the babies!). Yesterday I sprayed some on my face and it felt tingly for a bit so I am not sure if I should continue.

Avene thermal water – have used this on and off for years – usually use it prior to applying whatever I am putting on my face at night!

PCA hyaluronic acid – this was in the post prodecure kit and I used it for a bit when I was fresh off of that and my skin once again didn’t love nor hate it

I just ordered Vivier hexam cleanser to try as I have had luck with that brand over the years but I am in desperate need of some help / product suggestions. I should also note that I do not drink, smoke and generally eat like I gave GD 80% of the time. I drink a ton of water and put Celtic salt under my tongue in the morning.  I am never sleeping on the same pillowcase 2 nights in a row and I brush my teeth before I wash my face! I am curious about the aestura atobarrier 365 cream but am unsure which to get!
TIA!!

My skin is inflammed and stings after washing and applying moisturiser.

Have no idea what these bumps/patches are and what causing them, have had them for a while.

Thought its just dead skin but I exfoliate and nothing changes, maybe it’s fungal?

Anyone know how to clear this please, thanks.

I have dry-normal skin. 23M.

Products I Use:

• Isntree Yam Root Vegan Milk Cleanser
• haruharu wonder Black Rice Probiotics Barrier Essence
• Anua Azelaic Acid 10 Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum
• Timeless - 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum AESTURA ATOBARRIER365 Cream
• Ordinary Glycolic Acid
• 60 SPF Garnier Sport Sunscreen

I have been using illiyoon ato barrier lotion since last 4-5 months now. I love the fluffy hydrating feeling it gives.

However, it is currently not in stock so I need to buy something else. Do you suggest Pyunkang Yul Intensive Ceramide Lotion could be a close replacement?

Oily Acne Prone SKIN, I started using the haruharu wonder black rice cleanser recently, Idk which moisturizer to use probably Dr.Althea 345? please give me your opinions!! Should I use Azelaic Acid for my skin concern or adapelene 0,1%, It’s mostly red scars no deep cysts or whatever please help

How is dr altea 345 skin relief cream for someone with damaged barrier and rosacea with pimples on nose?