u/Fake_July

I'm going through a really sucky flare-up made worse by the fact that I quit vaping a week ago. I'm going to get some azelaic acid tomorrow on the recommendation of my friend who works at a dermatology centre

The odd thing however is that my skin used to be extremely reactive but this has actually improved? Eg I thought I developed an allergy to parfum yet i (tbh accidentally) bought a foundation with heavy fragrance. I couldn't even use foundation at all a couple of years ago? And besides the flushing, everything else is good: I don't have pustules or sores, I don't have itching or dermatitis-like symptoms and my skin feels really soft. I've been using a gentle cleanser and moisturizer every day plus sunscreen whenever I leave the house for a few months which I'm guessing is the reason, but how can the burning be so bad alone while the other symptoms (like sensitivity) are so much better??

Also potentially relevant, I started iron supplements a month ago however my ferritin was in single digits so it won't be anywhere near normal yet let alone too high

I'm trying to incorporate actives now that my skin barrier is nice and healed (I used to react to literally everything, even moisturizer/cleanser/sunscreen) but every time I try to design a routine I get stuck in a loop because eventually one thing can't be used with the others. I have rosacea so trying azelaic acid is very high on the list but it also seems to be incompatible with everything! I could not find a single toner that can be used with it!

I'm hoping to avoid retinols for now so I was thinking to try vitamin C (the suspension, same as the azelaic) plus the moisturizer with phytoceramides and the Milky toner. From what I've read online this should be okay, but the website says no (actually with some products, like the moisturizer, it says it can't be used with direct acids yet when I product match it says it's fine actually??). I was also thinking of the peptide under eye serum

Any advice would be hugely appreciated because I am literally going on circles!! 35F

Edit: silly mistakes like writing conditioner instead of moisturizer 😅