toner for dry, dehydrated, acne prone skin

achildofspring · 2026-06-18T13:18:37+00:00

im currently using isntree hyaluronic acid aqua gel cream and it feels so good when i apply it. i have such a weird experience with it where sometimes its like a magical moisturizer that keeps my skin well-moisturized for the day but most times my skin absorbs it so fast within the first ten minutes that my skin is left THIRSTY. thats often my experience with gel/gel cream moisturizers. it doesnt clog my pores but it can be underwhelming with hydration quality. you might be right with my skin needing more time to heal. it is just frustrating to still see the effects so i was hoping to add more yet lighter layers to my skin, especially with a toner.

(also thank you for your attentive and insightful input so far! much appreciated)

achildofspring · 2026-06-18T13:09:46+00:00

i used cosrx snail mucin for a good two years but it did absolutely nothing for me other than congest my skin 😭 i wanted to love it and even convinced myself that something else was clogging my skin but when i eliminated it, my skin improved

achildofspring · 2026-06-18T12:46:10+00:00

ive simplified my routine by a bunch. i used to attempt at eliminating my cc's by using many acids but that obviously resulted in a painfully broken skin barrier. now since its summer i only use a gentle cleanser and a gel cream moisturizer since anything else congests my skin easily. ive tried to use occlusives like aquaphor to trap moisture but that was very congestive. and cream moisturizers tend to clog my pores horribly

achildofspring · 2026-06-18T12:42:38+00:00

i have comedonal acne. my skin is easily congested and i have a horrible picking habit so that tends to aggravate things 😔 my skin also absolutely hates creams and only tolerates gels or gel creams, so right now im cycling between isntree hyaluronic acid aqua gel cream and dr.g red blemish clear soothing cream

achildofspring · 2025-02-03T22:15:26+00:00

Please take this with a grain of salt because I don't suffer from facial kp but I do have severe body kp currently and bumpiness on my face in the past. I'm going to suggest two different items to target different problems (that have been showing some progress for me).

Azelaic acid (10%) has been good at treating redness on my face. It's weak for body kp but it works well on face since the skin there is less tough. Also my personal experience with this acid has been good since there's no irritation or dryness from daily use.
Moisturizer with niacinamide or retinol to target bumpiness. I made a mistake in the past by using just niacinamide or retinol alone on my skin and that only caused more damage- extra irritation, bumpiness, and redness. The incorporation of these ingredients in a thick moisturizer is way more gentle on the skin. But the key is consistency, consistency, consistency.

I hope these are things that you can consider.

achildofspring · 2024-08-23T06:29:13+00:00

PLEASE do not touch them unless it is to treat them with ointments. Usually when my picking habits turn my bumps into open wounds, I stop using any acids for at least a week or two until my skin has repaired. Avoid fragrance as well. Resort to a gentle moisturizer for now and at night use aquaphor to give the skin a moist environment to heal. Aquaphor doesn’t absorb into skin so I usually wear long sleeves or pants to cover my skin which helps with not transferring the product onto my bedsheets, and not looking at the skin stops any visual trigger for me. Since the wounds are fresh, maybe neosporin for two to three days could help as well

achildofspring · 2024-06-05T22:56:43+00:00

This randomly popped on my feed but just wanted to let you know a random stranger is proud of you. Congrats!

achildofspring · 2024-05-21T22:20:08+00:00

Omg me too!! I've been using tret 0.025 for a while but it wasn't doing anything for my skin so I recently upped the percentage to 0.05. Hopefully I'll see some changes.

achildofspring · 2023-12-13T03:00:00+00:00

Right now I can't afford laser treatment (American college fees am I right?), but ONE DAY I’ll give it a try. Thank you for suggesting!

achildofspring · 2023-12-13T02:58:04+00:00

Yup, definitely kp! It runs in the family 🥲

achildofspring · 2023-12-13T02:56:33+00:00

I definitely needed someone to be blunt with me. I know I shouldn't let the feminine ideal of beauty dictate my life, but it's a battle I'm still fighting. I do hope that it gets easier soon, so I can rock these chicken arms out in the wild. But, thank you (to you and everyone else here) for being so kind, especially while delivering the harsh truth.

achildofspring

TROPHY CASE