What face products should i use

Here, Barba breaks down the best skin care products for your 20s that every woman should be using before she turns 30—but those 30 and older should also take notes. From cleansers to sonic devices to scrubs, if you use one exfoliator on top of another, the skin can become irritated and raw. I love bars like the Dove Beauty Bar for Sensitive Skin , which is well priced and cleanses and hydrates at the same time. Everyone should know that sunscreen is not a complete block. I love to look for the ingredients zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which create a nice even finish and can cause fewer breakouts in somethings.

Pick a mild, over-the-counter retinol product that is not irritating or too exfoliating and start using it every other night, and you can mix a little moisturizer with the retinol to make it more tolerable.

The goal should be to start in your late 20s and get used to the effects so that you can work yourself up to prescription-strength retinol by your late 30s or 40s. I like to rotate creams with different active ingredients to work out the different layers and structures of the skin. For example, starting with an eye cream that has a little retinol to build collagen, and after finishing that jar, switching to a more hydrating formula with hyaluronic acid. Instead, our editors and experts are stepping in to offer you more individualized guidance.

We put all of our skin care and product know-how into a more streamlined system for you, in the form of an interactive skin-care quiz. It was created based on a need we see in both our audience and ourselves — the need for some guidance in sorting through an endless sea of skin care products in order to create a routine for yourself that feels both purposeful and custom.

True to our standards, we did our due diligence before giving our recommendations: All of the skin-care products featured in the quiz have been tested, reviewed and approved by Allure editors. Is it oily or dry in certain areas? Are you sensitive to any specific ingredients?

Is your biggest concern developing fine lines, fading dark spots, or something else entirely? While you should apply serum twice a day, you shouldn't be using the same formulation. During the day, she likes to choose serums with antioxidants that protect skin from daytime stressors like free radicals caused by UV rays , pollutants, and blue light. The most popular ingredient for this is vitamin C, which you will have no problem finding in serum form.

Just make sure to choose one that's properly stabilized for maximum effect. At night, opt for a serum with peptides and growth factors to repair skin. For both daytime and nighttime serums, Rabach also has a general list of ingredients she likes to look for across both formulations: Niacinamide to reduce redness, hyaluronic acid to pull moisture into your skin, and alpha and beta hydroxy acids AHAs and BHAs , which help boost collagen and even out skin pigmentation.

Ciraldo further splits up her preferred serum ingredients by skin type. And for hyperpigmented skin, look for vitamin C. Retinol truly deserves its own essay , but the short version is this: The vitamin A derivative boosts collagen production and increases the rate of cellular turnover. Whether you want to clear breakouts or fade fine lines—or basically do anything to your face—retinol is your friend. On the flip side, this is a strong ingredient, and beginners should proceed with caution when adding to their routines.

Potential side effects can include flaking, dryness, retinol burn, and increased sensitivity to the sun, which is why you should stick to applying it at night. Dermatologists often recommend easing into daily application slowly. From there, you can gradually increase the frequency of application. Most will apply their retinol layer after their serums and before moisturizer, but there is one exception.

If your skin has trouble tolerating retinol and you want to minimize its side effects, you can buffer it instead. Retinol buffering refers to a technique whereby you mix your retinol with your moisturizer and apply it as a single step. This helps you still get the benefits, but decreases the potential for irritation.

To take it a step further, you can also apply retinol over your moisturizer. Experiment with this step, and see where it fits best in your routine.

Moisturizers are there to simultaneously hydrate and seal in hydration, which is why these formulas tend to be heavier than the layers that go underneath. Ciraldo says that many of her patients prefer to use separate formulas for their morning and nighttime routines.

This has more to do with how moisturizers feel than anything else. You can use a lightweight formula in the morning that blends better with your makeup and reserve a heavier cream for evening. Ciraldo's additional tip is to double up on your serum and moisturizer actives. For example, if you use a vitamin C serum in the morning, you can layer a vitamin C moisturizer right on top to boost the benefits.

You need to use spot treatments on active breakouts only, but if you're experiencing acne, you can apply a leave-on spot treatment both morning and night to speed up its healing cycle. According to Ciraldo, you should spot-treat after you've applied your moisturizer, not before.

This helps make sure the product stays on top of the pimple, and doesn't go on the rest of your face. You'll also dilute its effectiveness. Wait for your a.

The two most common over-the-counter ingredients for spot treatments are benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Rabach differentiates them like this: Benzoyl peroxide helps kill acne-causing bacteria, while salicylic acid gently exfoliates and dries out your oil glands. If there's one step in your daily skin-care routine that surprisingly divides experts, it's face oil. The most common recommendation is to apply it last at night and second-to-last before sunscreen in the morning.

That's because oils are occlusive, says Mona Gohara, M.