Toners, moisturizers, and me

[landmouse]

I accidentally found Silk Naturals and have fallen in love with the KISS cleanser w/ foaming bottle! After reading this forum for the past 3 hours, I am finally putting together a sampler order of the things advised here for my skin type: Acne-prone, sensitive, and maturing with large pores. (OK, I'm having to hold off a bit on the maturing part til I find a routine that works for the other three!)

I have three questions:
1. Hemp moisturizer has been presented as the most acne-friendly, but it is still an oil. I've been told since I was young that any oil + acne-prone skin = disaster. Is this a misconception?
2. When I think of an exfoliator, I think of something like the microdermabrasion cream; however, the BHA toner is listed under this category also. Is this an either/or situation?
3. The BHA toner is also listed under the toner category, but the Pore Refining Toner really interests me as well. Can they be used together? (I do realize that the BHA should only be used 2-3 times/week at first.)

Thank you, Karen, for making your skin care line available in sample sizes so that we may test them before we commit! And thank everyone in the forums for being so helpful and friendly.

[JenW]

For quick and specific answers, I am going to follow your numbers......

1. Misconception. Most people use oils in moisturizer form (meaning it is emulsified in water using some kind of waxy substance to hold it there). The type of oil is very important. Lighter oils usually fare better for those who are acne prone (hemp, jojoba, grapeseed, to name a few). Some can do fine without oil....it really depends on your skin and the climate. If your skin is dry and acne prone, you will benefit from hydrating your skin and sealing the water in with some kind of acne-friendly oil-based product.

2.The two exfoliators do different things. The Microdermabrasion products work on the surface, where the BHA Toner actually works inside the pores. There is a place for both, but you have to be willing to watch the reactivity of your skin, and be willing to back off of exfoliation when necessary. It will take some time to build up to using both..and I don't recommend uing them both on the same day.

3.BHA is really an exfoliator, and not a daily toner. The Pore Refining Toner can be used daily. Yes, they can be used together.

[landmouse]

Wow, you get up early! Thank you for your replies.

If it's alright, I'll give my skin specifics and the products I had decided to try based on posts here. I'm 32 and have NEVER given much thought to my skin. I only recently began making an effort to look my best and am currently using Kiss cleanser, Thayer's Alcohol-Free Cucumber & Aloe Witch Hazel Toner, and Oil of Olay spf 15 Oil free Moisturizer. I also can count on fingers and toes the number of times I wore makeup last year. This is where I'm coming from and why I had to research this stuff! I'm trying to transition to more natural products also.

Skin type: Acne-prone combination. Oily + dry, sometimes even in the same places! I've read this means dehydrated. It is hot and extremely humid right now where I live, if that makes a difference. Breakouts occur on forehead, nose, cheeks (the part closest to the nose), chin, and now the jawline. The breakouts are NOT limited to TTOTM, but they're not considered severe either.

Certain products in the past have caused redness and itching on my face, but mostly because they were too harsh or my skin was too dry at the time. I still try to be careful when testing new products, though, and I know to add only one at a time.

Skin age: Maturing. Strangely, pores are larger than they used to be, and I'm seeing fine lines around my eyes and on my forehead that weren't there 5 years ago. No real wrinkles yet, and only two small dark spots.

Products to sample:

• Pore Refining Toner - do I need this with the Thayer's? Can these be layered?
  BHA to help w/ acne - night only, every 3 days to start
  Green Tea and Aloe Serum - morning and night
  Hemp Oil Moisturizer - night only. I'll probably keep using the spf moisturizer in the morning until I run out.
  Eye Lash Conditioning gel - because I just can't resist the rave reviews on the boards
  Smooth & Full Black Label Lip treatment - more irresistible awsomesauce

Does that look good to start? Are there products that would work better that what I've listed for my skin type? Anything else I should sample? Anything I should leave out? Thanks again for all your help!

[rymorg2]

I've actually recently bought all those products myself. I don't use the BHA toner daily....BHA's usually sensitize my skin so I use it several times a week at night only. I use the Microderm cream once a week, on a night that I don't use BHA. I use the Pore refining toner fairly often, morning or night. And the Hemp moisturizer is the BEST! It does better at controlling my oil than the oil control serum does....because I'm not stripping my natural oils now, my skin doesn't feel it has to overproduce it now.

[JenW]

Wow, you get up early! Thank you for your replies.

If it's alright, I'll give my skin specifics and the products I had decided to try based on posts here. I'm 32 and have NEVER given much thought to my skin. I only recently began making an effort to look my best and am currently using Kiss cleanser, Thayer's Alcohol-Free Cucumber & Aloe Witch Hazel Toner, and Oil of Olay spf 15 Oil free Moisturizer. I also can count on fingers and toes the number of times I wore makeup last year. This is where I'm coming from and why I had to research this stuff! I'm trying to transition to more natural products also.

Skin type: Acne-prone combination. Oily + dry, sometimes even in the same places! I've read this means dehydrated. It is hot and extremely humid right now where I live, if that makes a difference. Breakouts occur on forehead, nose, cheeks (the part closest to the nose), chin, and now the jawline. The breakouts are NOT limited to TTOTM, but they're not considered severe either.

Certain products in the past have caused redness and itching on my face, but mostly because they were too harsh or my skin was too dry at the time. I still try to be careful when testing new products, though, and I know to add only one at a time.

Skin age: Maturing. Strangely, pores are larger than they used to be, and I'm seeing fine lines around my eyes and on my forehead that weren't there 5 years ago. No real wrinkles yet, and only two small dark spots.

Products to sample:

• Pore Refining Toner - do I need this with the Thayer's? Can these be layered?
  BHA to help w/ acne - night only, every 3 days to start
  Green Tea and Aloe Serum - morning and night
  Hemp Oil Moisturizer - night only. I'll probably keep using the spf moisturizer in the morning until I run out.
  Eye Lash Conditioning gel - because I just can't resist the rave reviews on the boards
  Smooth & Full Black Label Lip treatment - more irresistible awsomesauce

Does that look good to start? Are there products that would work better that what I've listed for my skin type? Anything else I should sample? Anything I should leave out? Thanks again for all your help!

Looks very good to start. You should be able to layer the Thayers and Pore Refining Toner, if you want to. At some point, you might want to consider the Vitamin C Peptide Serum.

[Ladybug914]

You have gotten Jen's expert advice, but I just wanted to add my personal experience as someone with oily/acne-prone, maturing skin. I, too, used to be afraid of using oil on my skin, but since discovering SN's skin care, I have now realized that a lot of the oil production I was experiencing was due to my skin being dehydrated. I now use the Apricot Cleansing Oil at night, along with a serum (love GT&A) plus one of the various moisturizers (Hemp is one of my favorites, but there are a couple others I also really like). The results are that my skin is nowhere near as oily as it used to be; my pores are so much smaller; and I don't have flaky dry patches anymore. I also don't feel it necessary to use the Oil Control Primer, or the Oil Control Blur. Regular Blur works just fine, and I even really like the All Purpose Foundation.

I still have breakouts, but those tend to be more hormone and stress related, and happen no matter what skin care I am utilizing.

[landmouse]

Thank you all for your guidance!

*runs off to place order*

[frckls]

I am still 23 but 2-months ago I developed acne all-over my forehead which are healed and disappeared completely after 3 sessions of facial in a skin clinic. But after the 2 sessions my cheeks flared up. They are now greatly reduced by am still struggling with the post acne marks and several other acnes.

I know GT&Aloe is supposed to help with sensitive, acne-prone skin, but somehow I found Oatmeal really helped big time, combined with Super Serum and VitC-Peptide. And I live just a little below the equator line. I skip moisturizer though.

However, the combination really quickly dries up any new zits and post facial marks, and at the same time brighten up my face. I have acnes alright and still under derm treatment, but I love my skin because it looks healthy and dewy and fresh.

SN's serums rock.