Hydroxy acid question & skin care regime suggestions
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Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:07 pm

I have read a lot of fabulous advice, hints and tips on this forum but still have a few questions to people who have tried and tested products and regimes.

First a hydroxy acid question.

What is the difference between an hydroxy acid chemical exfoliant lke Exfol cream (often suggested on this forum to use with Super CP Serum) and a hydroxy acid serum (which is suggested to use with Super CP Serum)?

Secondly I am looking for answers and suggestions on skin care regime with products I have purchased (see below)

I have purchased a Rejuvenating Cream with 10% Glycolic Acid with Vitamin C from Alpha-H and am not sure where it fits in to a skin care regime, with Super CP Serum. Is it an exfoliant? It says to use day and night.

I've also purchased Vit C & Hyaluronic Acid Serum to use it daily in the morning on my face but wanted to know if it mattered if I also start to use Super CP Serum on my decolletage in the morning would the two products effect each other even if used in different areas at the same time.

Do people use Vit C on their necks and decolletage ever?

Do I use the Alpha-H Rejuvenating before or after the Vit C & Hyaluronic Acid Serum in the morning? Can I put Super CP serum on after both these products

I also have 0.05% Tretinoin cream that I am going to alternate use with the Alpha-A's Rejuvenating Cream with 10% Glycolic Acid with Vitamin C.

Is it ok to use EpidermxII microdermabrasion pro-treatment each night whilst using all the above products? And can it replace a cleanser?

I want to use these products to prepare myself for my 1st glycolic acid peel. I have brought a 30% peel. Do I need to dilute this or can I put this % straight onto my hands, face, neck and decolletage?

I have purchased emu oil to use on top of Super CP Serum and also cucumber ice sorbet cooling gel mask to use after a glycolic peel to reduce any redness or inflammations I may have happen with my 1st time using treatments.

Wow that is all my questions....I think. Last bit of relative info is that I'm 38 yrs old and although not born or brought up in Scotland, I live in Scotland now but lived in South of France for a few years too and have a 1 small dark sun spot on my face and a few on my decolletage due to not using sun protection whilst working abroad.

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:36 pm

Hi there and welcome to the forum! Wow that is a lot of questions, but I can only answer some of them as I'm not familiar with every product that you're using... hope this helps

jaxanne wrote:

I have read a lot of fabulous advice, hints and tips on this forum but still have a few questions to people who have tried and tested products and regimes.

First a hydroxy acid question.

What is the difference between an hydroxy acid chemical exfoliant lke Exfol cream (often suggested on this forum to use with Super CP Serum) and a hydroxy acid serum (which is suggested to use with Super CP Serum)?
There's two different types of hydroxy acids - beta and alpha. Beta is what is in the Exfol cream and is best for people with blemish-prone skin as beta hydroxy acids can exfoliate inside the pore and on the surface whereas alpha acids only exfoliate the surface. The difference between a serum and cream is simply the texture for the most part - serum may be better suited for oily skin and cream for dryer skin. And I do believe serums absorb better

Secondly I am looking for answers and suggestions on skin care regime with products I have purchased (see below)

I have purchased a Rejuvenating Cream with 10% Glycolic Acid with Vitamin C from Alpha-H and am not sure where it fits in to a skin care regime, with Super CP Serum. Is it an exfoliant? It says to use day and night.

I've also purchased Vit C & Hyaluronic Acid Serum to use it daily in the morning on my face but wanted to know if it mattered if I also start to use Super CP Serum on my decolletage in the morning would the two products effect each other even if used in different areas at the same time.
No they will not interact with each other if applied to different areas but obviously the closer you apply them, the more likely they can "migrate" - but not by much. However, vit c and CP's can neutralize each other so be careful how close you put these two products on. AHA's can also neutralize CP's. More info on this topic: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=37752

Do people use Vit C on their necks and decolletage ever?
Yes, some people even spray it onto their whole body

Do I use the Alpha-H Rejuvenating before or after the Vit C & Hyaluronic Acid Serum in the morning? Can I put Super CP serum on after both these products

I also have 0.05% Tretinoin cream that I am going to alternate use with the Alpha-A's Rejuvenating Cream with 10% Glycolic Acid with Vitamin C.

Is it ok to use EpidermxII microdermabrasion pro-treatment each night whilst using all the above products? And can it replace a cleanser?

I want to use these products to prepare myself for my 1st glycolic acid peel. I have brought a 30% peel. Do I need to dilute this or can I put this % straight onto my hands, face, neck and decolletage?
It depends if you can tolerate such a high concentration or not. If you can tolerate it, then it's fine to put them wherever you feel like it

I have purchased emu oil to use on top of Super CP Serum and also cucumber ice sorbet cooling gel mask to use after a glycolic peel to reduce any redness or inflammations I may have happen with my 1st time using treatments.

Wow that is all my questions....I think. Last bit of relative info is that I'm 38 yrs old and although not born or brought up in Scotland, I live in Scotland now but lived in South of France for a few years too and have a 1 small dark sun spot on my face and a few on my decolletage due to not using sun protection whilst working abroad.

Hopefully that answered some of your questions. I'm not familiar with some of the products you mentioned, but if you can tell me the active/main ingredients in them, I could probably help you out more.

Last bit of advice: take it slow! It seems like you're incorporating a lot into your regiment and it's best to do things one at a time or else you might "shock" your skin and make it look worse. Also if your skin is already looking fine (just assuming this because it seems like you're adding these things as a means of anti-aging), then you really don't need much else aside from retin-a and vit c serums.

Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:52 pm

Thanks heaps Oasisjc for being so prompt on responding to my erm essay and explaining the difference between AHA and Beta acids. And also for the CP thread - I have searched on the keyword copper peptides on this forum but never found that thread - full of info relevant to me.

One thing is obvious is I need to buy the Skinbio's standard CP serum (diluted) and start with that and not the Super CP Serum.

Yep your correct I am adding all this items that are in my post as a means of anti-ageing and because up until a year a go I have smoked since I was 14 yrs old so have larger pores than my non-smoking friends in their early 30's and deeper brow lines than them too. Also I work as a freelance model and would like to continue to do so into my 40's.

I am not going to rush into anything though - I have actually had the products almost 3 months now.

What products were you not familiar with out of interest? Just they all have heaps of ingredients listed. I find it hard to find things from the UK and Europe due to regulations on Vit C and tretinoin %'s. I got some products from Australia and the USA which always costs ridiculous amounts for international delivery.

One thing I'd like to ask you is what type of sun screen works with Vit C and CP's? I use No7 ANti-Dark SPot Facial Sun Protection which is 50+ and 5 stars on UVA. It contains Optisol but I have not looked up what it is yet.

I can see me being hooked on this forum.

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:06 pm

Pretty much the questions that I did not answer were the ones where I wasn't too familiar with the products you mentioned.

What do you mean by what sunscreen "works?" As in which ones do not have interactions with vit C and CP? No sunscreen ingredients interact with vit C that I know of, but since you're from the UK, I believe you have different chemical sunscreens so I can't say for sure. Vit c is usually put into sunscreens though to boost their efficacy so I don't see a problem with that. Many people on here prefer to use physical sunscreens like zinc and titanium oxide for various reasons. As for the CP's, you should just keep reading that thread I linked because those people on there know more about them than I do. I'm still very new to the whole CP concept myself.

Another piece of advice is to not put on so many layers of products, even if you're adding them on very gradually (e.g. a span of 3 months). It not only makes it harder to absorb the layers on top, but you may also congest your skin in some way or another. A popular method is to put one type of product in the day and another one at night.

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:06 pm

Or wait at least 30min-1hr before applying your next layer to give the previous one some time to absorb completely.

Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:28 pm

Yep that is a very valid and useful CP thread you linked me to, a big thank you.

With the sunscreens I had been looking at buying the French one Anthelios as it has higher factors which are not easily available in the UK shops and I had wondered if the metal oxides in Vit C or CPs degrade the physical sun filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that are included in Anthelios.

Thanks also for the layering advice - I did read somewhere about also watching the consistency of layers too, as in not putting a thick consistency underneath a thin layer of another product as the thin layer will not absorb through a thick layer into the skin and therefore although some products suggest what to use them on top of, the consistency should still be taken into account.

Right I am off to bed for the best beauty therapy - zzzzz's, as I have a charity shoot in Glasgow tmrw afternoon. Then I will be glued to this forum again tmrw night Smile

free skin care · Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:13 pm

You're welcome Smile

Let me know if you have anymore questions

Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:35 pm

I want to buy Alpha hydroxy tetronic acid. Can anyone tell me who sells it? Rolling Eyes

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