u/Unique-Face-2500

okay so i know this is probably really common but im kind of spiralling so bear with me.

turned 33 three months ago and my skin has just started behaving completely differently and i dont know what to do about it, like i feel like i am dealing with a strangers skin and nothing i know applies anymore.

what is happening:

• dry patches on my cheeks that were never there before, i have always had combo to oily skin
• my foundation looks cakey and patchy by midday and it never used to do this
• fine lines around my eyes and mouth that definitely werent there six months ago
• skin just looks tired all the time even when i have slept well
• the products i have used for five years have started feeling wrong, like they sit differently

i have not changed my routine, have not changed my diet, have not changed anything, my skin just decided to change on its own and i am not handling it very gracefully lol.

i know this is probably hormonal or just normal ageing but i genuinley feel lost about what to do, like do i add hyaluronic acid, do i switch moisturiser, do i start retinol, do i see a derm, i have no idea where to start and i dont want to make things worse by doing too much at once.

started taking monthly photos to track whats happening bc i figured if i am going to figure this out i need to actually document it, been keeping them in skinpalai bc they kept getting lost in my camera roll and i wanted to be able to compare properly, at least now i have a record of what my skin looks like at each stage so i can see whether whatever i try is actually making a difference.

has anyone else had this happen around this age and what did u do first that actually helped?

okay so i want to preface this by saying i still believe in cleaner ingredients and i still prefer products without unnecessary chemicals but i had to learn the hard way that natural does not automatically mean gentle or safe for ur skin.

made the switch to all natural about two years ago, felt really good about it, essential oils, botanical extracts, plant based everything, thought i was doing the absolute best thing for my skin.

within about three months my skin was more reactive than it had ever been, randomly stinging, flushing, breaking out in places it never used to, and i kept assuming it was a detox reaction and pushed through for way longer than i should have.

eventually saw a facialist who looked at my routine and said ur using four products with essential oils in them and ur skin is reacting to them, she explained that essential oils are actually really common irritants and sensitisers especially for people who use them every day, they can cause cumulative sensitivity that builds up over time before becoming obvious.

the natural products i trusted completely were the thing causing the problem.

switched to fragrance free and essential oil free formulas, still clean ingredients, just without the botanicals that were triggering me, skin calmed down within about six weeks and has been the most stable its been in years, been logging everything in skinpalai bc i wanted to track the recovery properly and make sure i wasnt adding anything back that was causing a reaction, the pattern of what was aggravating my skin became really clear once i had it written down day by day.

natural is not the same as gentle and fragrance free matters more than organic when ur skin is reactive, i wish i had understood that distinction before i spent two years making things worse.

has anyone else gone through this with natural or organic products?