Hi Allison,
Okay i will start from the beginning :chuckle:
I had mild to severe acne as a teenager, most propbably hormonal & not very educated in good skin care routines. I continued with moderate breakouts into my 17 & 18s & when i got pregnant i suffered extremely bad skin :yawn: Not fun ! I still did not have the best educaton in skin care then either which probably contributed as well as the raging hormones.
After my son was born & breastfeeding was out of the way, the Doctor put me on the pill (one that is known to help acne etc). Within a few months my skin was cleared up & since then (3 years) have only had the occasional minor breakout. I was only using supermarket brand skin care up until this year. I began using YUVA products from Pure Indulgence & then i was recommended to try Ultraceuticals & so i did, but into my second lot of products i began to break out horrificly. I first thought it was due to ultraceuticals, but now when i think about it, it is more likely due to stress. I am however not too fond on Ultraceuticals, the packaging, the smell & i saw no difference in my skin. I am currently back onto YUVA & i quite like their products, but not sure how great it is for my skin ??
Alot of the girls told me they LOVE Dermalogica, what do you think of there products compared to Ultraceuticals & YUVA ? & what are the necessities from the Dermalogica renge for my skin ?
Currently i am using YUVA foam Wash, YUVA oil control moisturiser, YUVA exfoliater scrub, YUVA eye cream & TN Dickinsons Witch Hazel. The witch hazel i find is great for drying out the acne & getting off all traces of residue. I also only use I.D bare essencuals foundation & MAC bronzer on my skin each day.
I would say i obviously have oily prone skin, works well with oil free moisture, but the ultraceuticals one was too drying, YUVA one is more moisturising. I have been a sunbaker for my whole life, & was a smoker so do want to work on anti ageing control also.
Thanks so much for your help Allison, hope this isnt a rambling mess xx Rebecca

Hi Bec,

now I can only give you my personal oppinon but dermalogica, from my training and experience, does not have the active ingredients that brands such as alpha h, skinceuticals, MD formulations, cellex c and ultraceuticals have.

I can recommend from dermalogica if you'd like me to though without a problem! It's really up to you and what you want from your skin care.

So you mentioned a whole lot of products some of which you are happy with and some not so much.

Sounds like the break outs are the major concern along with keeping your skin hydrated as well as age prevention (especially since you have smoked and tanned)

So for now what would you like me to recommend? I can let you know how to fit everything into a full program but if there are things that you don't want to let go of let me know and also your thoughts on what kinds of skincare you would like.

I am keen to know which ultraceuticals products you used and for how long being that you felt they made no difference..

xxx lady a

Thanks so much for your reply Allison.
My first lot of Ultraceuticals was the Ultra Milk Cleanser, Ultra Moisturiser & Green Tea Spritz, which i used morning & night. I got a free Ultra A serum with that also & began using it nightly, but only for about 3 weeks sporadically. On my second lot i decided to try the Gentle Clean Gel, as i didnt feel the milk cleansed thoroughly enough, & continued with the same moisturiser & toner. About the second week into my second lot of products i began breaking out in my eyebrows & around that area really badly & then i began to get tiny bumps sort of all over my face. So i went & saw the lady at the counter & she recommended i try the Oil free moisturiser, Exfolaint, clear skin tablets & i began to use TJ Dickinsons Witch Hazel also. That was about the beginning of April when that all began & since that time my breakout has cleared from my eye area but then got very very bad around my jaw area & cheeks. It is only sort of clearing up now :explode:.. it is alot better then what it was anyway. Now i am using the YUVA products, have been for about the last 3 weeks- the Foam cleanser, Exfoliate & Oil free moisturiser. I have the second lot of ultraceuticals sitting in my cupboard half unused as i accused that product of the breakout to begin with, but i am thinking more stress & smoking from stress now maybe the cause. I didnt love Ultraceuticals, i definitely did not like their oil free moisturiser at all & felt their exfoliant was too harsh. The packaging was dreadful on the face wash, broke both times causing the product to leak. I dont know wether i could go back to it, with the fear that maybe it did cause my breakout. I just thought Dermalogica would be the next best thing to try as everyone on here raves about it. Maybe there is another great product you would recommend instead ? I am open to anything.
Once again thankyou for your help :kissing: bec

Hey bec,

no wonder you were not happy with the ultraceuticals- it wasn't really a full routine.

You would have needed regular use of the even skintone serum or ultra a serum or ultra clearing gel in order to do any clearing.

How about this for starters:

am
Cleanse morning and night with Skinceuticals Simply Clean Cleanser: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=9013


follow with the ultraceuticals even skintone serum (this is great stuff for clearing- seriously! a few drops of this goes a long way): http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=1829
it has AHA and BHA to clear and work on skin texture

follow with the Alpha h balancing moisturiser: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=380
this has glycolic in it to really work on clearing problem skin while keeping it hydrated.

and you can finish with the dermalogica ultra sensitive face block: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=9582
(I am putting a couple of dermalogica products in that will work for your skin)

pm
cleanse as above

apply the skinceuticals .5% retinol: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=8601 (start on this every second day for the first week and then see how your skin goes with nightly use)

follow with the balancing moisturiser as in the am section.


You can use the dermalogica skin prep scrub two to three times a week:: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=9679

If you want look at masks you just can't go past the alpha h 15% hydrationg mask (glycolic helps to unclogg and clear) : http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=383 and the Alpha H purifying mask: http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=385

they can be used on the same day- purifying mask first and then the glycolic mask or you can use them at different points in the week.

So you have a few different brands in there but I have selected each for a specific reason (sometimes not everything in the way of ingredients that I want for your skin is in the same brand).

So any questions? let me know your thoughts or if you need anything else explained and I can get back to you early next week if you need me to.

xxx

lady a

Thanks Allyson, sounds really good. I may have to give a few products a miss due to low funds. But i will definitely incorporate the cleanser, even skintone serum, moisturiser & retinol. The alpha H moisturiser replaces the need to exfolikate is that right ?? i do still have my ultraceuticlas one left anyways. My makeup has sunscreeen in it (I.d Bare essenculas).
Is SkinCeuticals a similar concept to UltraCeuticals ??
With the active products, is there a chance they will make me break out ? I just cand handle anymore skin probs at the moment :(

Allyson, I have been using my ultraceuticals producst again just until i save enough to buy my new range prescribed by you :) The exfoliater & gel cleanser i dont actually mind them too much, think i just began to hate them due to how bad my skin was at the time.i also still have the ultraA bottle at home, still ununsed except for like 3 times. Should i keep this for future skin care ??

That's fine. Use up the ultra A serum first and then purchase the .5% retinol.

xx

Sorry one more question.
Can i use my ultraceuticals exfoliant instead of dermalogia skin prep ?

yes you can use up your ultraceuticals one for sure- it's a good exfoliant. In answer to Skinceuticals and Ultraceuticals both are cosmeceutical brands with high strength active ingredients. Both use the pure form of vitamin C and A but obviously both differ in products and I recommend from each depending on the skin I am working with.

I am a bit of a broken record when answering the make up question and SPF- no, it's not ok to rely purely on make up for broad specturm protection against UV rays. Rarely does anyone apply it down their neck and decollotage too and we miss bits out and not all make ups offer broad specturm protection against UVA and UVB rays : http://forum.adorebeauty.com.au/showthread.php?t=964 (take a read of this blog here)

the alpha H moisturiser does have an exfoliating quality to it, but I still like clients to exfoliate with a good quality beaded exfoliant two-three times a week. Chemical exfoliation (AHA/BHAs) is a bit different to manual (granulated beads) exfoliation but both work well to gain great results together.

Hope that answers your questions!

:glee:

Do i start useing the even skintone serum nightly or do i build up to that also as with the retinol ?
Thanks Allyson, your blogs are great by the way !! :)

thanks!! you can start on it every second day just to be sure that your skin is fine and build it up to every day as it feels ok.

:waving:

Allyson i feel so terrible for asking another question !! please excuse me (i am a blonde) haha.
Can i keep useing witch hazel as my toner or will it be too drying with my other products ?

witch hazel is pretty strong so I would prefer that you don't use it for now... no toner needed.

:glee:

here are some updates for this thread as responses have been posted in two other new threads. My really bad acne has now "all but gone" :clapping:
Am only getting a few breakouts or an occasional spot now.
I am only using my retinol & clear skin every 2 days, as otherwise i get peeling of skin on the sides of my face. My face does get a little bit of dry skin now, i guess from all the hard core acne fighting products.
But i am HAPPY to suffer from a little bit of dry rather then feral breakouts :explode:
Thanks so much Allison :kissing:

My really bad acne has now "all but gone" :clapping:
Am only getting a few breakouts or an occasional spot now.
I am only using my retinol & clear skin every 2 days, as otherwise i get peeling of skin on the sides of my face. My face does get a little bit of dry skin now, i guess from all the hard core acne fighting products.
But i am HAPPY to suffer from a little bit of dry rather then feral breakouts :explode:
Thanks so much Allison :kissing:

Now my skin is acne free I was wondering if it would be wise to switch cleansers?
Ultraceuticals is much cheaper then skinceuticals..
Is their cleanser similar?
I use the SkinCeuticals simply clean as present & the Aplha H moisturiser.
My skin has cleared up 100%, but is still very oily.

TIA :spin:

Hi Bec,

this is a new thread so I will have to locate our previous correspondance in the orginal thread but from what you have said the Ultraceuticals gentle cleansing gel will be great:http://www.adorebeauty.com.au/adorebeauty/viewitem.asp?idproduct=1821

I am so glad to hear that you have had such great results!!!!

:penguin: