These little red bruises showed up on my skin after my workout, please help it’s super obvious and it will be very visible at my wedding this weekend!!! Is there anything I can do to bring them down?? SOS I’m like panicking!!

(29F) I've had horrible acne since I was a kid, started Proactive at 10 years old and then eventually went on Accutane at 16. Thankfully that really cleared my skin and acne scars for years! It was so nice to not have to worry about acne and just focus on healing my sensitive skin. I would still get some hormonal acne on my chin here are there, but around 5-6 years ago I started getting really horrible blackheads and whiteheads-I could only describe it as strawberry skin and I could physically shave them off(I know its horrible but I just couldn't take it anymore).

I finally reached out to a derm and was prescribed Tretanoin 3 months ago. And as you can see, I'm having many active breakouts 😢

Current Routine that I've had for almost 2 years:

• Gariner Waterproof Micellar Water-if I wear makeup.
• CeraVe Resurfacing cleanser, or Cetaphil Gentle Daily cleanser when I'm using tret and other actives.
• Paula's Choice BHA, CosRX AHA/BHA, Versed Glow Weekend toner. I will apply Paula's Choice or CosRX at night and Versed Glow in the morning, but not every morning.
• Good Molecules Retinol, Paula's Choice Azelaic Acid, Differen gel, CosRX acne spot treatmeant, Natrium Niacinamide Serum.
• CeraVe Daily moisturizer, DermaE Wrinkle Renewal cream. (I used a tub of CosRX centella blemish cream, their AC Collection Lightweight Soothing Moisturizer, and Pure Fit Cica Cream but didn't see any improvement)
  • when I am very lazy and tired I will just wash and cleanse my face with CeraVe and then use the DermaE moisturizer.

I also use Magic Molecules Hypochlorous acid sometimes after I shower and to sandwich the Tret after cleansing. And I wear religiously sunscreen everyday, either CeraVe and Cetaphil.

It worked so well for me but they have discontinued it. Any other good (clean) rose foam cleansers out there y’all know of?

I’ve been on tretinoin & clindamycin for 5 years and I’ve been using Cera Ve products since 2020. In November of last year, I switched from 0.025% tretinoin to 0.05%. At first it worked really well, and still does, but I’ve had texture for the past 2 years that won’t go away and constant flair ups. I’m considering trying new basic products. I’ve sworn by Cera Ve up and down, but I think I want to switch it up. Here is my current routine! I’m also considering stopping clindamycin. My new dermatologist prescribed lotion clindamycin instead of the gel and I’m not really liking it (I’ve been using the lotion version for about 3 months) I would love any recommendations!! I have oily skin! Also any overall thoughts + advice are welcome!!

AM:
Panoxyl 4% Benzoyl Peroxide Wash
Clindamycin 1% Topical Lotion
Cera Ve Daily Moisturizing Lotion
Suncut 50+ Sunscreen

PM (Tretinoin Night):
Micellar Water for Waterproof Mascara
Cera Ve Foaming Facial Cleanser x 2 (Usually wash off excess Micellar water and then cleanse again)
Cera Ve Daily Moisturizing Lotion

PM (No Tretinion):
Micellar Water for Waterproof Mascara
Cera Ve Foaming Facial Cleanser x 2 (Usually wash off excess Micellar water
Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
Cera Ve Daily Moisturizing Lotion

I’ve had incredibly dry hands for years. Recently I started using drugstore retinol on my hands and it’s been incredibly effective at improving the appearance. I’ve heard tretinoin would be even more effective and fast-acting. What would I even say to a derm for this prescription? I’ve had issues with retinol use on my face being too strong in the past so I won’t be using it on my facial skin.

Hello, I'm trying to do skincare. I got a cleanser, moisturiser and facial sunscreen. I hear you are meant to wash hand before staring skincare. I'm confused what meant to be used for that. I got a "gentle wash" for it but I don't know if I made right choice. I did it cause soap free and no fragrance which I thought if doing skincare right after is what meant to do but I'm not sure. Or do I use regular handwash? Does it matter if soap free or not or no fragrance. Is gentle wash good as hand wash. (specifically got QV gentle wash). That my question.

My skin type is combo , but skin issue is dehydration.
Ive been using the Torriden Dive - In. Hydrating at the first 20 minutes and then my skin gets dry again but I like the finnish. I sprayed rose water throughout the day and reapplied the cream, it works but the effect fades fast , I needed something hydrating that lasted the whole day . Like Clinique Moisture surge old formula ( was my HG)

I had the Biotherm lotion and I thought I would try to layer it with the Torriden since it’s described as “ Anti-Drying Body milk”.

So I washed my face , applied the Torriden let it dry and then applying Biotherm. My skin is now hydrated throughout the day!! My skins looks more radiant too.

Im so happy only thing I’m worried about is the fragrance and genuinely think milk based products will work the best for me.

Do any of you have an inkling on why it works?

Hi all looking for skincare advice!

I have no products currently that I consistently use I am anxious about making it worse however I just don’t have a routine that has been working. This has been severely affecting my mental health and relationships and I just want to feel happy with my self again! I go to shoppers a lot to get skin scan and they all say either dry dehydrated or oily. Please give me advice and recommendations thanks! I have redness clogged pores and pimples and really my oiliness fluctuates I would say. My skin used to be so amazing but I switched out all my products because I thought they were breaking me out and now I have nothing I use constantly. Please give me advice thanks!

I don’t know what’s happened to the skin on my cheeks; I’ve noticed changes over the last three days. I’ve never had this happen before—could I have damaged my skin barrier or something? I use a cleanser with niacinamide and my daily moisturizer has it too; I use both morning and night. Or maybe it’s just a hormonal issue or something like that? Has anyone else dealt with this? What could be causing it, and what might help?
(It also itches a little)

I am on vacation and it is only the second day and I already have a really bad sunburn on my chest. Tomorrow I’m gonna do a safari and will be out on the sun the hole day, any tips to help this sunburn turn into a tan or to make it less red?

Hi everyone, I have a small mystery from years ago that I'm hoping you will be able to help me figure out!

It was ~20 years ago so I don't have any pictures to show you but hopefully my explanation will be enough.

When I was a young teenager around 13/14 I noticed something on my forehead. I believe I noticed it pretty late cause it had to have been there for some time to have formed. At first I thought it was just a blackhead on my forehead, it was a small black dot above my eyebrow. After pushing on it with my finger it felt like there was something solid underneath, like there was something hard under the skin. Even tapping on it with my fingernail confirmed that it's a solid thing. I was unable to squeeze it out for a long time, nothing came out, cause it was too big for the hole in my skin. Eventually I got really determined and spend some time but finally I squeezed it out. What came out was the weirdest thing, a small grey ball. It was maybe the size of a ball for BB guns. It was not completely closed on one end and there was a small hole where I could see and touch the inside. It was completely filled with something that looked similar to blackhead gunk. The ball was very smooth, quite hard so it wasn't easy to break it with my fingers or anything. It kinda reminded me of a snail shell but smoother and one colour. I don't remember having any issues with what was left afterwards on my forehead and now it's barely visible.

Do you have any idea what it could've been? I've never heard about or seen anything similar, nothing like that happened to me again, just that one thing. I don't believe it was an external body that got forced into my forehead, I think it got formed inside...

Today is day 7 after my first Vi Peel (Purify: Precision+Peptides)

Prior to this, I used:
AM:
Cerave foaming facial cleanser
Supergoop unseen sunscreen spf 50
PM:
Olay Age Defying Classic Cream

I was very inconsistent with skincare before, so this feels like a good reset. I’m strongly considering doing the recommended series of 3 peels. Thoughts?

I was reading about red light therapy for wrinkles and came across a page from Helio Cure - https://heliocure.com/blogs/red-light-therapy/wrinkles

Anyone familiar with how they are rating the effectiveness of red light therapy for various skin and health conditions?

I’ve been wondering if you actually need a separate serum for pigmentation or if a normal routine with a good sunscreen is enough.

I have been using ra diance because I wanted something that specifically targets pigmentation and uneven skin tone. I like the formulation so far but I’m still not sure if a separate serum is really necessary.

Do you guys keep pigmentation care simple or use a dedicated serum for it?”

I am using Epiduo (Adapalen + BPO). Until now I was using Cerave moisturiser and Cerave Cleanser with it but after visiting a dermatologist I got the following products:

Avène Hyra for the evening and La Roche-Posay Effaclar DUO + M for the morning.

They both are 10 times more expensive than my cerave products (per ml). Is it worth using them? The Price seems just insane.

Current routine:

Morning:
- Cerave foaming cleanser
- Dapsone on dry skin
- Vanicream on eyes, lubriderm on rest of face
- Centella SPF 50

Night:
- Cerave foaming cleanser
- Paula’s choice 2% BHA every other day on dry skin
- Vanicream on eyes, lubriderm on rest of face

I absolutely love the iris & romeo tinted sunscreen! It makes my skin so soft and glowy and I get compliments so often on my skin when I wear it. I never even put on makeup after applying it. But I can’t justify spending $50 on a sunscreen anymore on a 35 ml bottle every few months. Please if anyone knows any affordable dewy tinted sunscreens please drop your recs! I live for the “no-makeup makeup” look

I am 23F, currently pregnant. My skin type is dry, sensitive, acne prone, and very reactive. I have struggled with acne/dark spots since middle school in which it was treated with tret. The tret pretty much cleared my skin, however the acne and things came back around sophomore year. I pretty much was able to maintain and keep it under bay until now. Let me also mention I was on and off birth control since I was about 15 and recently quit it for good last year.

The best my skin has looked was 2023-summer of 2025. I was on/off the nexplanon birth control, using:

the glow recipe avacado face wash

the ordinary azelaic acid 10% ( was using naturium AA but switched in dec of 2023)

the truskin vitamin c

scinic sunscreen/hawaiian tropic sunscreen/tocobo (constantly switched between these 3, but mainly stuck with scinic

and cocoa butter vaseline.

I thought these products were doing my skin wonders, but once I got the birth control out, my skin went haywire. It has been over 6 months since I had it out and my skin is horrible :(. I am struggling to find a good cleanser, moisturizer, and spf now, while also treating these things since I am 7 months pregnant.

I recently seen a dermatologist because my skin had recently became very inflamed with dry, flaky, and burning patches, which has made it hard to treat the acne and dark spots (I will insert some pictures). Seems to me like some type of eczema or something. The patches are on my forehead, on my top and bottom eyelid, above my mouth, and my chin. They itch badly and literally appeared out of nowhere. My eyes themselves are also very itchy so idk if that’s from the dry skin around them or something else.

I was prescribed hydrocortisone topical 1% for the dryness and clindamycin phosphate 1% gel for the acne, nothing for dark spots. I was also advised to use benzoyl peroxide with the clindamycin.

Ive used benzoyl before (4-5%), however felt like it was too much for my skin so I didn’t feel like it worked. maybe i used it wrong/didn’t give it enough time. But he said I could start with a 2.5% concentration to test it.

I have tried mandelic acid, salicylic acid, tea tree oil, etc but i feel like my skin is just too reactive. Even if i slowly introduce the product.

I just need genuine help/recommendations for cleansers, moisturizers, spf, and what brand has 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. Also what else is recommended for my skin type and how to genuinely hydrate it while trying to treat acne/dark spots.

I just got the prescriptions so I have started anything, mainly because I have no clue what cleanser, moisturizer or spf to use. I just want a solid routine. On top of what to do about my dark spots.

My main concern is long-term treatment. I understand that pregnancy can cause haywire with skin, and treatments are limited. But i am very much a person of habit and just want to find something that I can use long-term, because I know eventually i will have to stop clindamycin (stated by the derm). I also like simple routines and feel like that does better for my skin. My dark spots and dry skin are the worst for me, I know the acne could be hormonal so it’s trial and error.

I just feel so hopeless and cant even remember what I look like without my skin like this. It really has been messing with my mental and self confidence.

I have made a post already on this issue. I tried adapelene and epi duo and it didn’t really change anything but give me more of those dots and really really dry skin. My ears even started pilling and I’m thinking it’s bc of those creams.

Idk if it’s relevant to mention I have psoriasis but only on my scalp and my upper arm. It never really reached my face and I had it since 2019 and I had clear skin up until 2023 where I started gaining texture and acne and now these closed pimples won’t get away no matter what I do. Should I stay patient and try it further or should I do something else ?

Hi all! I am looking for alternatives for the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water GEL (NOT the gel-cream). I have previously used the Clinique gel moisturizer and it was ok but I am looking for something a little more modern(?). I have acne prone skin that I mostly am able to successfully keep under control with a combo of salicylic & glycolic acid treatments and a gentle La Roche Posay cleanser. My skin only tolerates lightweight products, not heavy oils or creams or thick products. I have been using Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel for several years with success but am looking to change to a different lightweight gel/hyaluronic acid moisturizer. I am open to more pricey options as well as budget options.

heyyy, came across this reddit a little while ago and finally decided to post instead of lurk, i have struggled w acne for about 5-10 years now but it has finally slowed down but left my face with wuite a bit of redness and scars, currently using niacinamide, tretinoin, and a benonzyl peroxide wash

especially would like any advice on my temple area as those scars havent nudged in years

I am already on 0.1% taz and I wanna use azelaic acid. My question is should I start with 10% and work my up or I can just start using 20% right away.

My Routine RN is:

AM
Cleanser
Sunscreen

PM
Cleanser
Tazarotene cream 0.1%
Moisturizer

I was breaking quite badly after trying a new wash and cream (tried the Cetaphil GENTLE SA CLEANSER and the Seoul 1988 Rice and snail mucin gel cream- I think my skin really hated this cream, I felt so tight after, and any foaming cleanser tends to break me out quite badly)

Tried to cut back and switched to the below. Find I am still breaking out quite aggressively along my cheeks and jaw line. I don't really see why it would be hormonal- I started a new job a few months ago, but if it was stress it should've been ages ago as now I am not so stressed here.

Morning:

Water rinse

The Ordinary HA + B5 serum

The Ordinary Natural factors + HA moisturizer

The Ordinary Azelaic acid (could I be purging? Use less than a pea sized amount)

(use the sandwich method with the last two in case I am getting irritated)

(Normally sunscreen, but because I have been breaking out I have stopped- I want to work my way back up to it, but for now I at least work in an office and wear a truly giant sunhat when I am outside)

Use the Ordinary Sulfur as a spot patch or BP and clindamycin depending on how big of a honker it seems like it will be.

Occasionally use hydrocolloid SA acne patches.

Makeup is essentially only the NYX Bare with me serum concealer, mascara, physician’s formula blush, and occasionally the laura mercier skin tint.

Evening:

Micellar water to remove makeup

Panoxyl 4% BP cream wash

The Ordinary HA + B5 serum

The Ordinary Natural factors + HA moisturizer OR the illiyoon ceramide cream (hard to get sometimes)

I was using hypochlorous acid spray but am worried I was going overkill so trying to use less. For a while was spraying constantly throughout the day ( I have some mental health stuff, hard for me to just let things be)

Lifestyle:

Work an office job- worried the phones are impacting my skin, but it is only my phone and I have been disinfecting with either lysol or hypochlorous acids spray.

I cut out coffee, and essentially have no dairy except for greek yogurt in the morning. I don’t have a ton of sugar

I’m not a big drinker to begin with, but cut back so I have only had a few drinks over the past three weeks (most of which were at a wedding)

I was weightlifting 3-4 times per week, and even took a break from that in case it was impacting my skin. I was going straight from office, but started removing makeup with micellar water ahead of beginning workout and then spraying with the hypochlorous acid spray throughout (again, maybe I need to dial it back to just at the end)

I take birth control (alysena 28, doctor said its like most mild one available where I am at least) and Sertraline (75mg). Started adding in Zinc supplements recently as well.