A C T I V E S
W H A T A R E T H E Y A N D H O W T O
L A Y E R T H E M
I would like to talk about layering active ingredients. Which you can mix together and which you can't, and how to do it.
Layering actives, what is that mean? You know I like to focus on specific ingredients that give really good benefits for your skin. And all of this are considered as actives. So is like exfoliating ingredients, niacinamade, retinol, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, all of these are actives. There is a myth that many of actives you can't mix together no matter what. And that is just simply not true. When it comes to the world of skincare it is barely black and white, or right and wrong. All depend on percentage, dosages, what types ingredients they are, there are so many different things to take to consideration. And the reality is that most actives you can mix, but that does not mean it make sense for your skin to mix a lot of actives , it depends. Every skin is different. Some people's skin can handle a lot, and some people's skin can't handle that much.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, AND SOMETHING WHAT I'M CONSTANTLY SAYING - BE CAREFUL AND BE GENTLE WITH YOUR SKIN. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SKIN AND WHAT IT IS TELLING TO YOU.
IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.
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Be very careful and deliberate about what you are mixing and putting on your face.
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Some of popular active ingredients;
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NIACINAMIDE, great for people with sensitive skin because it reduces redness and sensitivity. Also brightens the skin, any dark spots and hyperpigmentation you have will be faded. It controls excess oil and sebum production. It is well tolerated by all skin types. Gentle and effective ingredient on the skin. It can be use in the day and night time. You can layer at any point on your skincare routine.
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SALICYLIC ACID (BHA), ingredient I absolutely love. Great for people with active prone or acne prone skin. It goes deep into the pores and exfoliates all the dead skin and excess sebum and oil out of your pores make sure your pores are clean and healthy. BHA can be use every single day but I recommend using them every other day because it is exfoliating your skin and I do think your skin needs a break from exfoliation.
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RETINOL, the best skincare ingredient available on the market because it has the most research backing it up . Retinol is amazing for acne scars, finelines, ageing dark spots, hyperpigmentation , scaring or other problems retinol will help to resolve this issues. But retinol is very tricky ingredient, and it can be sensitising to the skin. Which is why it is important to make sure what you can mix with and what not to mix.
HOW DO YOU APPLY RETINOL? I always apply retinol at night. Because it will make your skin very sensitive to daylight. And not only that , you want also to benefit the best and the night time is the time when retinol can perform best. Retinol is ingredient you want to slowly introduce to your skincare routine. Starting once every two weeks, then every week, and maximum 3 times a week. When applying always make sure your skin is dry when you're putting on retinol because when you apply on the wet skin it actually can make the retinol penetrate deeper which will be really sensitising to your skin and you can experience redness and flakiness. Make sure your skin is completely dry.
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ALPHA HYDROXY ACIDS (AHA), amazing for ridding of your dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. These can be used during the day time or the night time. Personally I recommend using the at night because they will be the most effective and I recommend using them 3-4 times a week. You do want to give your skin a break too.
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HYALURONIC ACID, Popular ingredient, humectant. Help to hydrate and plump your skin. Hyaluronic you can mix with any of the active ingredients. Hyaluronic acid is technically an active treatment and very well tolerated by any skin types. MY RECOMMENDATION IS IF YOU LIVE IN A DRY CLIMATE AND YOU HAVE DRY SKIN I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND HYALURONIC ACID BECAUSE IT IS SUPPOSEd TO DRIVE MOISTURE FROM THE AIR INTO YOUR SKIN AND IF THERE IS NO MOISTURE IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND YOU HAVE DRY SKIN THEN IT POTENTIALLY MAKES YOUR SKIN EVEN MORE DRY.
Does that mean that hyaluronic acid is bad ingredient- of course not, you just need to be mindful how to use it.
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VITAMIN C, the final and most controversial active ingredient. Vitamin C is known as antioxidant, has benefits of being able to protect your skin during the day, brightening the dark spots, preventing and decreasing ageing within the skin. Specifically I'm talking about ascorbic acid. In my opinion if you want to introduce your skin with vit C you should go for ascorbic acid, which it really is. Because this is that one which has a lot of research backing up and everything else is just a question mark. Ascorbic acid is very unstable when exposes to light. When using make sure it is not too brown. Vitamin C has a little bit light orange texture or brown colour but if it is dark brown that means the product has changed and will not be as effective as could be. Vitamin C can be mixed with most actives, but personally I don't recommend mixing vit C with other products unless is specifically formulated as a mixture of multiple active ingredients. Let me explain, for example serum with vitamin C oil is primary just focused on vit C and some other hydrating ingredients. It will work great to brighten the skin, you will make sure you get full benefits from vitamin c and not risking any other active ingredients disabling the effectiveness of vitamin C. And if you are using it I recommend to use on its on without adding any other active ingredients at the same time. That would make sure that your skin will benefit fully from vitamin c.
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Ph is very important to consider when you are using and mixing a lot of active products on your face. That's why I feel more comfortable using product.
MY FAVOURITE COMBOS
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NIACINAMIDE & BHA
Great combo. They work great not only to reduce the oiliness and sebum but also exfoliate the skin. Sometimes using them at the same time can cause sensitivity . As I said they can be used together but the perfect combination is niacin amide serum in the morning and BHA exfoliant at night. Niacinamide is great ingredient to use in the morning to help you control oiliness and sebum.
NIACINAMIDE & RETINOL
They can be great together, Niacinamide will help to reduce the redness and irritation on the skin which is common side effect of using powerful ingredient like retinol.
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NIACINAMIDE & AHAs
They work great together. You can mix them without having any problems. They are playing very nicely. Niacinamide will help with the redness which sometimes can come from using glycolic acid.
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AHAs & BHAs
Yes you can mix them together and they really work great. They will give you ultimate glow and they can be used up to 3 times a week. Just keep your eyes on concentration level if is not too high.
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BENZOYL PEROXIDE
Common alternative ingredient to salicylic acid. Incredible to getting rid of acne and acne scars and is typically found in cleanse for which is usually where I recommend. It's very powerful brightening agent and it's better to alternate the days.
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