Effective Skincare Routine for Closed Comedones | Dr Sam Bunting 

A pleasure!

We'll add that one to the list! Thanks for your lovely words ❤

So pleased to hear it!

So glad the products are helping!!!

So I've been dealing with closed comedones on my forehead and cheeks for years and years now, and after going thru everything under the sun (retinols, retinals, differin, vitamin c, azelaic acid, bha, etc) and using them for over 6 months to a year each time, the thing that has finally FINALLYYYYY worked was to prioritize repairing my skin barrier. I stopped retinols, retinals, differin, etc. I switched from bhas (my skin doesn't respond to bhas) to ahas (only twice a week - it's very important to cut back on exfoliating). Stopped using my salicylic acid cleanser and am now alternating between a gentle cleanser and a benzoyl peroxide cleanser (I use micellar water to get rid of my sunscreen before washing my face). Added serums and toners that realllllllly focus on skin barrier repair. Layering snail mucin before my light weight moisturizer that has ceramides. Started spraying my skin with hypochlorous acid once or twice a day. Bought a blue light therapy wand thingy that I'm consistent with. Lo and behold - my closed comedones are slowly but surely disappearing. My forehead is almost completely clear, and so is my right cheek. I would also like to stress that I make sure all of my products are free from ingredients that can potentially clog pores! But yeah, tl;dr - focus on skin barrier repair, stop over-exfoliating, try ahas instead, and check the ingredients of your products before buying them! Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!

Are you by any chance double cleansing with an oil cleanser? I really saw a big improvement in my skin, when I had to cut out oil cleansing because I wasn’t allowed to get my face wet and I found out it was the oil cleanser that was causing most closed comedones. I now use Micellar water to remove makeup and sunscreen and then a regular cleanser and it has been working so well for me 😊

Same issue here. This is something I am working on

⁠@@lamencakecould you please give your product recommendations and how often do you use the benzoyl peroxide cleanser? :)

@@lamencake Oh wow sounds like a committed structured plan! :) Same here, decided to focus on barrier repair. Kelly Driscoll is a good one to look for tips on products for that specially Koreans, if some of you are searching for. I'm actually discovering it takes a lot of trial and error and needs patience to find out what works for us, specially when we have sensitive skin which tends to easily dehydrate and disrupt the barrier. I realised for example if I layer soothing an hydrating toners and am being consistent with barrier protecting products I can tolerate some actives I thought I couldn't. I'm purchasing loads of K-beauty barrier protective products rights now, but I started with the Geek&Gorgeous 5%Panthenol toner and their Happier Barrier moisturiser and I'm AMAZED by how good they are! I also LOVE the Q+A Azelaic 8% to start, as I tried the prescription 15% and could not handle yet - I think I will soon when my barrier is repaired. UPDATE: after doing a skin booster to deeply hydrate the skin I’m now tolerating both 15% AA (every day) and Differin (2x/week).

Daily if you can - but no rush to get there, go as slowly as your barrier needs.

Check out a video about why you might not being seeing results ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qfouZd1hq-M.html ❤

@@DrSamBunting thank you

No, she's not too young. Try Flawless Neutralising Gel in the morning with Nightly at night. Take our Routine Finder to get the exact routine and how to use everything together - hope it helps her!

another great dermatologist, dr Shereene Idriss, suggested that people with seborrheic dermatitis can use ketoconazole shampoo as a face wash and it should help, the same as it would on your scalp

Yes - try zoning. Use FNG where you have blemishes and Brightly everywhere else.

Good!

I don't think tranexamic acid is effective as a topical - it works best orally. More to come soon on this topic!

that's due to the spot, usually (rather than the retinoid).

A good barrier repair moisturiser and gentle introduction of actives - try the Routine Finder which has a handy advice sheet of how to gently introduce products into your routine drsambunting.com/pages/find-your-routine ❤

Azelaic acid is well tolerated. The Ordinary has an anhydrous salicylic acid serum that I'm in love with too. My skin barrier can't handle most leave-on salicylic acid products but this one has made my skin so soft&glowy in the morning!

As long as skin isn't drying out, yes.

@@DrSamBunting thanks

Yes!

Yapper

@@Muerte-Blanca I agree, she’s a yapper.👍🏻😂