I would like to know what your routine is in general, but I'm also specifically curious about what products you use, if you use them, and what the rationale is behind each product.
My routine:
Morning
- Rinse face with warm water.
- Scrub face and neck with warm, wet washcloth.
- Apply facial moisturizer with SPF (I use CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30) to face, neck, and hands.
Evening
- Shower.
- While in shower, scrub entire body with an exfoliating mitt (ie this one).
- Apply a retinol (I use Retin-A (tretinoin 0.05%)) to face, neck, and hands.
- Apply facial moisturizer (I use CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion) to face, neck, and hands
- Apply body lotion (I use CeraVe Moisturizing Cream) to whole body, excluding hands, and face.
I have used, and considered continuing using a BHA (also AHA?) liquid exfoliant (I have read that it shouldn't be used at the same time as retinol due to PH requirements, ie use it in the morning and retinol in the evening) (I previously used Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, but I no longer because I have lost trust in Paula's Choice overall due to their borderline false advertising regarding their retinol product [1]), but I am unsure of what a good product would be, and the rationale behind it. I have also heard about Vitamin E, though I've never used it.
References
- "[Research] Study: The Ordinary and Paula's Choice retinols are unstable". toa20. r/SkincareAddiction. Reddit. Published: 2023-01-26T17:49:01.223Z. Accessed: 2024-10-29T05:16Z. https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/10lxshy/research_study_the_ordinary_and_paulas_choice/.
You can use a chemical exfoliant and a retinoid in the same routine. You don't have to worry about pH once the product is on your skin and absorbed. One concern is just that both can be pretty irritating, so using them together might be overly harsh on your skin. Maybe start slowly introducing them one at a time until you're ready, and always see how your skin is reacting. If you decide to exfoliate in the morning, keep in mind that AHAs make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so sunscreen becomes extra important.
Your CeraVe Moisturizing Cream contains tocopherol, so you're already using it. I don't think you need to seek out a separate product.
I was more meaning like one after the other. The alternative that I was inferring was, say, BHA in the morning, and retinol at night.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of this — I know that retinol does that, but I didn't know that AHAs did that as well.
Which one? I looked at the ingredients of each and I couldn't find it. Though, it's quite possible that I am simply blind.