I realized that in my previous post I accidentally deleted all the text, so here we go again😅
I finally decided to post here, even though I feel very self-conscious, because everyone seems so nice and supportive. I have what seems like combination skin, the combination being dry/normalish sensitive skin combined with very dry sensitive skin.
For years ive had this problem of enlarged pores on the inner part of my cheek. It always bothered me, because the contrast of them to the other skin on my face (completely different skin texture, nice and smooth) felt really noticeable and just really made me feel not beautiful.
Two months ago I finally decided to try and do something about it, since it really affected my confidence and the way I viewed myself. So I went out and bought a bunch of skincare products, of which really, not a single one helped, and made things just way worse.
The first picture is before I even began to do anything (at the time my skincare routine was wash with lukewarm water in the shower a few times a week), to now, having tried all of the products I will tell you more about below.
So, starting with what did not work - toners. They were a disaster, and broke me out so bad that you can probably still see the red marks on picture two. I tried three of them, that were all supposed to be gentle - the dokdo toner from round lab, the isntree hyaluronic acid toner, and the etude house soon Jung 5.5 toner.
I also tried niacinamide, but even though it was a low 4 percent concentration (I used apoliva, a pharmacy brand that we have here in Sweden) I just got the creepy crawly feeling, and I could feel my skin did not like it, so I stopped after a few days.
Another thing that did not work were oil-heavy creams, and just oils in general. They were fine on the good parts of my face, but on the problematic part just seemed to irritate the pores, and make them red and enlarged.
The only thing that did kind of? work, or at least helped with the devastating effect these products had on my skin was hypochlorous acid. I use it under the round lab birch cream - the only cream that I tried that didin´t feel like a film on my face, and that my pores seemed to tolerate sufficiently well - together with water, to lock in the moisture. This Is my current routine, as well as the dr. Althea amino acid cleanser, which I use whenever ive worn makeup, which is not everyday (and I try to make it very light).
Without the hypochlorous acid though, even that cream causes my skin to become red for at least 15-20 minutes. It depends on the day, but still - even though it feels normal after a while, if I apply it without the hypochlorous acid, the first hour my skin is patchy and a bit red.
As you could have guessed, I am pretty desperate by now, as my pores after all of these products seem to have gotten even larger. Maybe, someone has skin similar to mine, or can relate to my symptoms, and can give some recommendations? I strongly suspect that I might have rosacea, so that is definitely another factor to consider.
As I said, this issue really affects the way I see myself, so any suggestions, diet, lifestyle, skincare, really anything would be much, much appreciated!!❤️