Originally Posted by spikeyli /img/forum/go_quote.gif I stopped using moisturizers. Made a HUGE difference. I used to have flawless skin, but when I turned 30 I panicked and started using high end moisturizers even though I don't have any wrinkles. I kept hearing how you need to start early with the moisturizers so that's what I did. It made a mess out of my face, all of the sudden I had acne problems, so I kept switching moisturizers because I also kept hearing if you got acne you really need to moisturize.
Well it got so bad that I went on Retin-A, which somewhat cleared up my skin but made it really dry and turned my face orange. Yes you read me right, ORANGE! So I had to get off that and switch to using BenzaClin, which didn't make my face orange and had decent effect on my acne, but it got my face so dry that it gave me wrinkles!
Finally I stopped all that and just used over the counter benzyl peroxide creams, but still had new breakouts. I kept switching moisturizers and even switch to using mineral makeup (I hate liquid foundation to begin with). My acne improved but I was still getting new zits. One day decided to just give it a rest and didn't put on moisturizer, I was reminded how wonderful it felt to just let my skin breath. So I decided to just put on the mineral foundation without moisturizer, kinda like dusting it on my face instead of giving it something to stick to. Guess what I found, my zits started going away and my face cleared up. Now I get a new pimple here and there but my face is pretty up on its way to its former glory.
So moral of the story, if you really worry about aging and wrinkles, do it when there's a real need. And limit the usage to areas that needs it, like around the eyes or mouth. Leave the rest of your face alone!
After reading this it reminded me of when I went to school to become an esthetician and I begna getting facials and really just focusing on my skin more than I had ever done before. After a few weeks it seemed like half the girls in the class started getting really bad skin issues and it seemed like the longer you were in the program the worse it got. You think getting facials once or twice a week is good and putting all these products are good but really you just need a simple routine, most of the damage and aging that your going to get on your skin is already done by the sun and genetics and the only thing that you can really do about it is protect your self from the sun and healthy living habits, but no amount opf creams is going to take wrinkles away or antyhing. And you'd be surprised sometimes the simplier you keep it the better.
