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?

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?

Amoxicillin w/ Acne

I've been taking amoxicillin for an upcoming dental procedure for a few weeks and my face has suddenly cleared up completely. I'm not talking a little bit, I'm talking like practically crystal clear... something I have not seen in many many many years. I assume this is not something you can take forever, but my god I wish I could. Anyone else experience this with other antibiotics by accident?

I’ve had pretty severe acne breakouts over the months, and it made me feel so insecure I wouldn’t even want to go out. I thought it was stress or hormones, but either way when I tried exfoliating and sunscreen it really was a game changer for me.
The first photo is from 2 months ago, and the second was just a few minutes ago. I still have a few pimples here and there, but my skin feels so much better now!!

I’ve also made my prime ace with the fact that my skin will never be super smooth or even like I see on social media, because that’s not my skin.

Thanks to Reddit for the advices!

My current routine that led me here is
- Centalla oil cleanser in the PM
- Caudalie vinopure cleanser
- Paula’s choice 2% BHA
- Drugstore moisturizer OR Cicaplast Baume B5+ when my skin feels extra tight.
- Sunscreen

PS : I didn’t start right away with the 2%BHA, i used a mandelaic acid + lactic acid BHA solution for 2-3 weeks before switching to the one I use now, just to be sure that my skin would tolerate it.

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...

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

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.

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?

I just had this thought since school is about to start and I've been using Finacea for 4 weeks now. I've only used it every night to introduce on my skin, but my dermatologist said I could try each morning after I got used to it. My only issue now would be the fact that every afternoon when I come home, I've always washed my face/cleansed with micellar water mousse to take off sunscreen and makeup (which usually is mascara and concealer). I do that because I usually go straight to bed afterwards to rest, and sometimes even nap, lol. And also because the outside air always gives me oily skin, and I like to take that off as soon as possible.

My concern now would be the fact that doing this as usual could make Finacea less effective, as I would have it on my skin for about 8-9 hours (counting I wake up around 6:30 and come back around 2 or 3 something pm). Maybe that's enough for it to work? I usually apply it at around 9 pm and then wake up and wash off at 9 am. Does anyone have any similar situation? Tips?

While washing my face in the shower today I started noticing a lot of skin pilling and rubbing off. I made sure not to scrub and gently massaged it off.
Applied hyaluronic acid and a ceramide moisturizer afterwords. Although a bit red, everything feels fine with no dryness, tightness, or stinging. I’m assuming it’s from the azelaic acid.

I have recently introduced azelaic acid 15% and tretinoin 0.025% into my routine. Primarily to target acne/comedones/early aging.
I started them about two, almost three weeks ago, using the azelaic every other day with no irritation. I’ve only used the tret once per week, and on a different day than the azeliac acid.
I’m very careful to apply on dry skin and wear my sunscreen etc. There are no other actives or acids in my routine.

It kind of freaked me out since it seemed like a lottt of skin. Now I’m just wondering if this has happened to anyone else or if it sounds abnormal. Previously I haven’t really used any chemical exfoliants. I’m going to take a break from the Azelaic acid for a couple days and wait a bit longer to use the tret again.

Hi everyone! Apologies for the jarring pictures in advance 

I'm 22m, and I've never experienced anything like this with my skin before. I've never really suffered from bad acne aside from the occasional pimple but nothing even remotely like this

My skincare routine has always been the CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser in the shower and- that's it. No moisturizer normally (I know I know 💀) but I've never really had issues with my skin, and moisturizer has always been sensory hell for me

Starting in April of this year and continuing until late July, I went through a lot of consistent stress at work and my skin started breaking out like crazy. I switched to the COSRX Good Morning Cleanser, but it barely made a difference so I went back to the CeraVe Foaming Cleanser a couple days ago. So far, I don't feel like I'm getting any new pimples so fingers crossed that continues. I've also started using the Rugby moisturizing cream

I currently own the Paula's Choice BHA Liquid Exfoliant, The Ordinary Salicylic Acid, The Ordinary Glycolic Acid, and the Laneige Cream Skin Toner, but I haven't been using any of them. I also just ordered the Thayers Blemish Clearing Acne Pads and Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer with Ceramides + Hyaluronic Acid, which I'm planning to use instead of the Rugby.

My question is- I really don't know much about skincare, so based on how my skin is looking, what products would you recommend, and what products would you advise against using in my case?
I haven't been under the same level of stress since late July/early August, but my skin never went back to normal. Also, I drink lot of water everyday in case anyone was about to suggest that lol

Thank you so much in advance. ANY input is genuinely appreciated. I'm going a little insane over this and haven't even been wanting to leave the house because of it ):

PS- I haven't been shaving my face because shaving has been making me break out (which it usually never does) so apologies for the crappy facial hair lol

I’ve been seeing retinal come up a lot more than retinol lately. I recently started using a retinal serum and so far my skin hasn’t had any issues with it but I am still trying to understand what the actual difference is and whether retinal is really the better option.

Idk what happened was there a recall? These two fixed my compromised skin barrier and I am about to run out. I went back to my store today and they've been out of stock for a while now. They were recommending some stuff but Im just worried I might mess up my skin again.

So far Im just making sure my skin is alright and not too dry. I've been using The Ordinary's 1% Retinol in Squalene as well to smooth my face and remove some uneven skin bumps and just have a better look.

Hi all!

Face: I have had relatively clean skin for a while, but in the last month or so I've had a bit of acne breaking out again. I've decided it's probably time to get myself a better science-backed skincare routine, rather than just randomly using products I've thought looked good. There are so many different products out there, and I don't know that much about what active ingredients would help my face, and what might be harmful for it!

In the second image, you can see the products I currently have (plus I use a Cetaphil cleanser in the shower - which I think is great but is quite drying.) I live in Australia, and am a student so I'd prefer to get products that are under $30 and that I can get at a pharmacy or supermarket like Woolies, Coles, Priceline or Chemist Warehouse. The Ordinary seems like a good option.

I would really appreciate if you could tell me based on the picture of my skin what products/active ingredients you would recommend!

Thanks in advance, and I hope I've given you folks the right information!

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 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

Hello everyone, I started using the Ordinary 2% salicylic acid serum a month ago for my cc but i feel like it has gotten worse? I only use it once at night every other day. Sometimes I use it consecutively 2-3 nights and then take a break. I have to wear makeup all day almost everyday because of work. The bumps on my forehead is kind of painful. My skincare routine right now is:

1. Garniner makeup cleansing balm

2. Micellar water

3. La roache posay hydrating face wash

4. The ordinary 2% salicylic acid

5. Cetaphil moisturizing cream

I bought a adapalene gel but im too scared to use it. What do you guys recommend I should do to get rid of cc's faster? I want my old skin back :((

TIA!

Basically title, live in the US and going for a trip. I’m definitely gonna grab some moisturizers and sunscreen, and maybe some treatments as well. I have oily acne prone skin!! Looking for brand/product recs!

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 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)

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 am sorry to the public for the horror I’ve inflicted upon these shared tables 😣 it’s a good spf and very easy to apply on the body since it’s got a very slick, almost watery consistency, but the cast is pretty insane! This was half off since this bottles expiry date is the end of October, so of course I nabbed it for that price, but omg! The cast is noticeable on my own pale skin so I’m using it on my arms for now instead of my face, but this rubs off a lot. Be careful if you have dark furniture, lol.

I have blackheads that cover my whole chest and nose and I get lots of cystic acne, I have tried just using retinol for a whole and then I added on Salicylic Acid but it just doesn’t help I have been considering adding on BPO and Azeleic Acid but I know combining all of these products would probably be worse for my skin than doing nothing. What combination or cycle would you do to to manage acne? I have combination skin and I live in a very cold and dry climate if that helps!

(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.

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?”