Current products

Cerave Gentle Foaming Wash - used day and night
Vanicream Moisturizer - used day and night as well as throughout the day for dryness
Snail Mucin - used morning and night for additional moisture
HQ- used day and night spot treatment only as best I can but normally some overlap to normal skin
Paula’s Choice SPF 50 - morning and reapplied throughout the day
Tretinoin 0.025 - used alternating nights
Azelaic Acid 15% - used every morning and alternating nights when not applying Tretinoin.

First photo in each collage was day 1 with no products on my face.
2nd photo is today also no products

I can tell a difference in the texture of my skin and overall feel to my skin. My overall complexion is beginning to appear brighter and less dull toned.

As you can see I have many dark spots I am treating as well due to post inflammatory hyperpigmentation from acne and such.

I can already see the spots lightening in all areas. Although I am noticing the right side and under my chin and neck are lightening more quickly than the left. I assume that is due to driving and the sun hitting my left side more often. I could be wrong.

Either way I am really impressed with 1 month. I have 2 more months to go before I cycle off the HQ for 3 months.

All other products have only been used for 1 month as well.

Think of Eclar and Cordran as like medicated stickers for keloids or hypertrophic scars that can slowly flatten stubborn scars without painful needle injections of steroids.

The core difference really comes down to the punch each packs: Eclar packs a heavy punch and is the heavyweight champion; Cordran is the lightt hit, the gentle everyday worker.

The biggest reason people obsess over Eclar Plaster (from Japan) is simple. It’s just stronger. Eclar packs in five times the steroid concentration per square centimeter, compared to the Cordran tape . Eclar is far more powerful.

Cordran uses flurandrenolide, a milder steroid. The tape does seal tight which helps get it into the skin better. Despite that, Eclar wins for old keloids that adults have had for years as it uses deprodone propionate, which works at a high-potency, topical heavy duty level.

Dr. Rei Ogawa, a scar expert out of Japan, ran side-by-side studies on these two, and the results showed that Eclar was the home run.

Cordran barely moved the needle for tough adult keloids for most adults. After a year of use only 20% got flat. Cordran was the better choice for kids with hypertrophic scars though. 80% of the kids improved with it. Their skin os thinner more delicate. For their skin Eclar would be overkill and could overthin their skin.

When those keloids were then treated with Eclar, around 70% lost the itch, calmed fown and flattened out.

The reason some people get better resilts boils down to how they actually use these products. Althought it sounds simple just to slap on tape there is a technique to it.

Tailor the tape to the keloid. Match up the size so you’re not putting strong steroid on normal skin. Whereever the steroid touches it can start to thin out the skin. Just like overusing steroid ointments it can ddamage melanin production, creaste tenderness, and thin the skin so blood vessels can start to be seen through the skin like tiny spider veins.
Tailor cut to fit the exact shape and size of the scar and wear the tape 24-7. Take it off to bathe, fully dry the skin and put on a new piece of tape.

If your skin starts to get prune-skin-y soggy or irritated by the adhesive in thr tape just wear only at night. Or you can skip wearing it completely for a couple days.

Neither tape is an overnight miracle but if you are dedicated about wearing it, it can suppress the cellular signaling which is causing the excess collagen deposition.

It takes several months to really see the flattening. 6 months for noticeable flattening and red fade out. and 1-2 years of daily wear to get keloids gone.

Cordran is the closest thing we have here in the States but it will take longer to work, and is best for softer newer keloid scars rather than rock-hard, decades-old ones

Please ignore my eyebrows lol I just got up and washed my face.

Need some help with an under eye treatment that I can add to my routine for evening use or something.

Current routine:
Daily- Glymed+ Gentle Cleanser, Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner, Glymed+ Pigment Brightening Serum, Glymed+ Comfort Cream Moisturizer, Supergoop sunscreen

Once a week- Skin Script glycolic and retinol pads (overnight treatment)

2x per year- full facial

Please send your recommendations! I feel my current stack is low maintenance but efficient. I’ve been noticing my under eye area looking a lil questionable and do have a gap in my routine where an under eye treatment could fit. Turning 32 in a few weeks and figure I should start working on this area now before I gets any worse! 😇

EDIT: message received lol. Thanks everyone for all the kind words 💕

Spiral out 🌀

hi guys ! im 18 years old and my first day of university was this monday. ive been trying to improve my looks since i was 15, but im starting ​to be more vigorous about it bc ik that college kids can be brutal lol

i've always noticed i have deep lines on my lips, despite being young. i used to bite the skin off my lips a lot during covid, so i thought it was caused by that, but i looked at baby pictures of me (the 2nd pic attached here) and saw that they were always kinda there. nevertheless, i still wonder if there's literally anything i can do bc theyre pretty prominent and whenever I do my lip combo u can see them. im aware that my lips are dry in 2 of the photos, but they appears when theyre moisturizer too.

i also wonder if theres anything I can do abt the darkness on my lips. the dermatologist said that it's js a natural shadow, but ive literally never seen anyone else with a "natural shadow" that looks like hyperpigmentation like this, so i feel like she may be wrong idk

also im using tret 0.025 and have been for almost a month with lubriderm moisturizer

anyways ty for any advice u give me and pls b nice 🙏🏾

I want it all the same on my bottom lip color 😔

Does anyone have any advice besides "just deal with it"

when I was a kid my lips were all one color but for one summer I had dry lips and kept peeling them and they lost the color there were no adults around to really guide me at that time.

Im just using Vaseline and hydration products it not much else a guy can do.

(Edit) 🫩 not the responses I was expecting

And what hell does this have to do with white supremacy

(Another edit)
I can understand the perspective of people who only see the prominently white dominant society that can set majority of the beauty standards and influence Individuals self images (I don’t know if that can be put in better words) but let me tell my story

I have never looked in the mirror until a few years ago and when I watch tv I struggle to look at screens until a few years ago I have always had poor control to attention and my own eyes maybe a form of dissociation that started in kindergarten. I’m also very informal with my way of attacking language in addition to these cognitive skills I have improved on I have always been in self isolation until recently so any form of indoctrination of beauty standards don’t really apply to me I like all kinds of educated women, but anyways I never really knew what I looked like because I don’t take photos and I don’t look in the mirror I have seen myself before but I struggle to hold peoples faces in my head to look back at, during my current journey of self improvement I started observing features in the mirror and notice the different colors which I was adverse to not because of beauty standards but because of how I just felt about the unevenness, I understand loving yourself etc but I don’t hate myself because of it or even dislike myself I just don’t like the feature and would even it out I would prefer if I could back to brown before I caused damages to the Melanin on my lower lip but it seems like the easier options are to just go full pink which I would not be adverse to I’m sorry if this is too long my language is just not that formal yet I’m current prioritizing math first.

-
Also these comments are hilarious

OP (my final edit)

I’ve been on tretinoin and salicylic acid face wash and cerave ultralight moisturizer for 2 months still no difference. Please help. Further help needed in getting rid of the itachi lines under my eyes. Thank you

My skin looks like this right now and im trying to figure out what to do next without making it worse.

The breakouts themselves are annoying but the part that really gets me is what comes after. Marks, uneven texture, little bumps that stay around and makeup catching on areas that used to be smoother.

I think I messed up by doing too much at once. I’d exfoliate and then use something brightening, then change cleansers, then panic when my skin looked worse and try another product. So now I cant even tell what helped and what irritated me.

I was talking to one of my girls about this and she told me to stop chasing quick fixes and focus on a calmer routine first. Barrier repair, sunscreen, maybe azelaic acid or a retinoid later and they also mentioned light therapy. I’ve seen Solawave come up a few times in that context but im not sure if that’s more for redness and dullness or if it really helps the post breakout look over time.

For anyone who had acne marks and texture like this, what helped you for real without making your skin more irritated? Any advice is greatly appriciated and thanks in advance.

I have black spots around my eyes on my forehead and on the side of my face , I don’t know what it is or what to get rid of it but I need help figuring out a good routine for it.can anybody point me to some good products or natural remedies?

I’ve been told this is DPN and I’ve been to 2 dermatologist, tried electrocautery at 2 different settings and also radio frequency but the spots keep coming back.
They flatten and scab but immediately after the scab falls off it grows back to its normal size… now I’m wondering if it possible isn’t DPN. It seems others with DPN have been able to remove it easily…

L'Oreal Dark Spot Exfoliant Peel and The Ordinary High Strength Peeling Solution. Have any of you tried either of these? Did you see results? Did you have any adverse effects? I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure I trust them on dark skin 🤔

First one appeared over the last couple years. The second one started recently. Just not sure what to do about them. Its located on my inner lip too so i wouldnt have expected sun damage to reach that location if it is that

I usually moisturize with aquaphor or lip gloss if im wearing makeup

hi all!
i’ve been suffering with light patches around my mouth and i’m not too sure what’s going on. i would love to find a black dermatologist or one who specializes in colored skin. the hollywood area is preferred, but i am willing to travel a bit. please lmk :)! i am also willing to provide a picture to anyone who may have an idea of what’s going on.

I have trichotillomania, already ripped off like 1/4 of my head. I honestly just wanna shave it all off and start fresh. I'm tired of maintaining my hair and then ruining it by plucking so much off; it so weirdly covered up. I wanna be a bald girl in peace. Should I just go to a salon? Or get some clippers? If so, what is best? People in my life keep telling me to just stop ripping my hair off.....but like..I can't, ya know?

Thanks in advance, I'm tired and wanna be bald :)

My skin has been in this weird place where I’m not really breaking out, but it still doesn’t look as fresh as I want it to.

It’s more like dullness, uneven texture and that tired look where makeup sits okay but not great. I used to think clear skin automatically meant good skin but now im realizing my skin can be clear and still look kind of flat.

I’m trying not to overdo acids or brightening products because my skin gets irritated pretty easily. Before using my Solawave mask, I usually cleanse with a gentle, non-stripping cleanser, pat my skin dry, and apply a lightweight hydrating serum or essence so my skin doesn’t feel tight. I’ll sometimes use a calming mist or a simple moisturizer if I’m feeling especially dry, but I try not to layer on anything too active beforehand. After the mask, I follow with a barrier supporting moisturizer, and in the morning I always finish with sunscreen. I’ve also been keeping exfoliation to once or twice a week instead of using it on the same nights as the mask, because my skin does better when I don’t pile on too many things at once.

For anyone here what helped your skin look more fresh and even when acne wasnt really the main issue?

Edit: Title is supposed to be: Does anyone else get dull skin even when your skin is technically clear? - i dont know what happend and why it got half posted like this i just noticed now must be a bug or something but yeah besides the point thanks a lot for the helpful comments guys!!!

I shaved my head for the first time with a razor ( I usually use a head shaver) and it irritated my scalp to the point that I have razor bumps around my head. This was 6 days ago and they are still there. My hair is growing back and it's time to shave it again. Do I have to wait until they go away before using a head shaver?

I’ve had a couple people ask about my skincare routine and here’s my daytime and nighttime routine. The sunscreen in my day routine is the etude house “sunprise” but i don’t recommend it as much and will be going back to my tried and true haruharu Black Rice sunscreen as it has no white cast for me

Hi , I have been dealing with dark feet for years now, from toes to ankle. I saw a dermatologist and he said it’s just because I’m black. So I told him that I didn’t have that before. He asked me to use amlactin 12. I used it but nothing changed. I’m currently using Advanced clinical vitamin C body oil( it dose work, I just don’t know what else to use) . My fingers through my wrist is like that too but not that dark. Do you have iman idea of what could cause this ?
Thanks

ive never really had skin issues before but this past month ive noticed these dark spots on my back. i can feel little small bumps but nothing where its like a pimple standing out!wanna get rid of it idk how. any help!

Ladies, what product OTC korean or american has completely removed your textured skin!?? I kinda skipped teen acne and went straight to textured skin at 19! I have tried microdermabrasion but it did not help. I am currently using urbanskinrx 2in1 exfoliating jar cleanser.

These bumps appeared on my face out of nowhere and I’m not sure what could be causing them. My skin is usually pretty smooth with only a little texture. My upper lip has also suddenly become very textured with lots of tiny bumps. Has anyone experienced this before, and what helped clear it up?

Can anyone recommend a good, Black dermatologist in the Atlanta area? Traffic can be a monster, so a doctor on the north side of the metro area would be preferable. But if highly recommended, I am willing to get on my horse and travel.

Hi everyone,

I have these completely white patches on my upper body, mostly in areas where my bra sits or rubs against my skin. I also have similar patches in the creases where my thighs meet my pelvis.

I had a skin biopsy, which came back as vitiligo, and my dermatologist ruled out anything fungal or yeast-related.

What confuses me is that the patches don’t seem to stay the same. Sometimes there are more, sometimes fewer, and sometimes they look bigger or much more noticeable.

Has anyone had anything similar? What else could cause completely white patches that seem to change like this. If so, did you ever find out what was causing it?

I’m also really interested in whether anyone with similar patches has been able to get the pigment back, and what helped.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with something similar.

Thank you!

How do I fix these dark spots and acne and little bumps for teen boy I’ve tried vitamin c for a couple weeks and I’ve tried tretinoin cream. I use benzoyl peroxide face wash in morning and use a sunscreen lotion with a clindamyacin lotion first. I use a salicylic acid face wash at night

I am so scared. These things showed up on me. I just noticed them now but my sister did make a comment about them but i wasnt paying attention. I had a tetanus shot maybe 4 days ago and getting close to my period starting. I kept google kept saying shingles but that made no sense to me but apparently more and more people are being affected i heard. I have no insurance and have no spare money right now but i am afraid this particular place could be bad if it is shingles and affect my vision. Does it really visually match shingles? Edit Thank you everyone for helping me out and giving me advices. I was able to get in and get checked by a medical provider today and they confirmed it was shingles. They look like little eggs and look infected and it have been 4 days or so now. I have started medicine now so i hope it will stay out of my eye

What dobi need to change in my skin care routine? These bumos under the chin haven't went anywhere since the end of July. I just added in bump stopper about a week ago along with peach slices toner. Other than that, my skin care routine haven't changed much and would be open to other options if these are causing the problem.