Uneven Skin Tone

*sigh*
I've never had "problem" skin persay - but I've never had great skin either. My skin tone is uneven, I have random freckles and moles and the errant pimples I get once every couple of months leave scars that seem to last for years - plus the scarring from the random ingrown chin hair (I know - real cute right).
My forehead also never seems....smooth. I never actually breakout on my forehead, the skin just isn't smooth.

I exfoliate (more often now that I'm 32 - I'd say 4x a week), wash with a pretty mild facewash, tone with witch hazel, moisturize with jojoba and argan oil at night and a neutrogena moisturizer with spf that's supposed to fade dark marks during the day.

My skin has been the same FOREVER - no matter what I've tried.

Side note: I'm a pretty healthy eater (I work on health and nutrition books for a living), drink plenty of water, I love fruit....

I guess I'm just looking for someone to give me a suggestion I haven't thought of yet

Thanks!!

Hey kuumba60,

Perhaps you're allergic to something you are eating, or you have hormonal imbalance? You might try seeing a dermatologist, who will likely give you prescription medication. If you don't want to go that route, you might try figuring out what the cause of your skin fluctuations are through traditional Chinese medicine. Take a look here and here to determine the source of your skin conditions.

From there you can search for remedies for your particular problem, be it reducing the number of products you use (overload), reducing stress, balancing hormones or candida overgrowth, or identifying possible food allergies. The High on Health site is a good source, although there are also lots of books about "tuning up" your body in general to get rid of skin conditions, fatigue, and other individually minor ailments that may all have the same root cause.

HTH

Gado - thanks for the suggestions. I might try the food allergy route first.

I'm going to check out those sites you linked to right now.

Gado,

Thank you! I'm going to implement some of these changes...

kuumba60 wrote:*sigh*
I've never had "problem" skin persay - but I've never had great skin either. My skin tone is uneven, I have random freckles and moles and the errant pimples I get once every couple of months leave scars that seem to last for years - plus the scarring from the random ingrown chin hair (I know - real cute right).
My forehead also never seems....smooth. I never actually breakout on my forehead, the skin just isn't smooth.

I exfoliate (more often now that I'm 32 - I'd say 4x a week), wash with a pretty mild facewash, tone with witch hazel, moisturize with jojoba and argan oil at night and a neutrogena moisturizer with spf that's supposed to fade dark marks during the day.

My skin has been the same FOREVER - no matter what I've tried.

Side note: I'm a pretty healthy eater (I work on health and nutrition books for a living), drink plenty of water, I love fruit....

I guess I'm just looking for someone to give me a suggestion I haven't thought of yet

Thanks!!

Neutrogenea products are harsh...*Opinion Alert* -----> you should scrap it. Neutrogena is no good.

Also, you may be over cleansing... you are definitely over exfoliation which causes irritation, dryness and break outs. YOu should exfoliate no more than 3 times a week. That extra scrubbing may be pushign your skin over the edge. What exfoliator are you using right now?

If you're using something with fairly large granuales in it..Consider switching to those that have finely granulated exfoliators such as rice bran, almond or sugar. Bliss Spa has a great one and Philosophy also has one of the best (to me) because it 's also a peel beacuse it contains citric acid.

Now that I think of it, you may need some resurfacing. I had that problem with my forehead a few months ago and I switched my exfoliator (that I'd been using for 13 years!) to Philosophy Microdelivery Exfolilating Face Wash. THE BOOOOOOOOMB! I saw a difference after even the first use. It will also help you get rid of hyperpigmentation.

Any exfoliator with say like Papaya enzyme or Willow Bark Extract (both natural exfoliants) are great and of course citric (lemon, lime, grapefruit) or glycolic acid (milk, yougurt etc.)

You may also need to detox your skin with a masque of some sort. If you're into natural only, Rhassoul Clay would be great for you. (Can be found online or at Whole Foods/ Trader Joe's) OR if you don't mind a few chemicals Queen Helene Mint Masque and the Gradeseed mask should work great in controling the breakouts.

For an examples of granuales that are too larger, take a look at St. Ives Apricot scrub and the size of the walnut shells...that's too large for what you need. You want to find a scrub that has granuales comparable to the size of brown sugar.

sorry to ramble on..i love skincare topics! :-)

hope this helps...

Our face skin is subject to a lot of abuse. Like the other ladies say, your products might be too harsh for your skin. Exfoliating takes off the surface of dead skin. Your skin needs a chance to regrow before doing it again. I would say once a week is best.

I would say my skin IS or was problem skin. Way into my forties, I had breakouts like a teenager. For years I treated my skin like it was difficult, bad, or problem rather than just sensitive. I started using a few products that make my skin happy.

Oatmeal - Grind whole rolled oats in the blender until it turns to oat flour. Note: Don't use store bought oat flour or the instant oatmeal. Rolled oats are cheap and easy. Plus you can eat it for good health. Keep it dry or it will mold. Take about a tablespoon, mix with a little water and smooth or pat gently on the skin. Let it sit for a minute or while you shower. Rinse with cool water, blot dry don't rub dry. Then use a mild astringent like pure aloe vera gel or witch hazel. Moisturise while still a little damp with something without mineral oil.

The oatmeal flour can also be used for a weekly mask. Mash your favorite fruit, honey and little yogurt into some ground oatmeal. smooth it on your face, relax and rinse it off with cool water.

Try the oil cleansing method at night for soft skin. Use a light oil like coconut, sesame or jojoba if you have oily skin. Olive oil, grapeseed, hemp if you have winter dry skin.

Invest in some baby type washcloths. Use these only on your face. Wash them separate from other clothes in hot water, no fabric softner. Get a lot and only use them once and then wash. Treat your skin gently like its "good skin". Baby it. HTH. Its really helped me and my nephew. I wish I'd known this years ago.