Recommendations for Your Products

Face Serum (B3, Glucosamine, Licorice Extract, Witch Hazel, Distilled Water)

It's great that your serum has prevented new acne breakouts! However, you still have small bumps (สิวผด) and blackheads, and your skin feels drier and tighter. C7 suggested adding moisture.

• Formula Adjustment: I recommend adding about 3% Panthenol (Vitamin B5) as suggested by C7. Panthenol helps to moisturize, reduce inflammation, and promote wound healing. This can help alleviate dryness and tightness and may also improve the small bumps.
• Green Tea Extract: Adding Green Tea Extract (such as Hi-EGCG) is also a good option. Green Tea Extract has antioxidant properties and can help soothe the skin. It can be used together with Panthenol.

Sunscreen (Titanium Dioxide, ZnO, Cyclomethicone, Silicone gel base, Jojoba oil)

You found your sunscreen to be sticky, hard to spread, oily, and feel heavy. This is likely due to the high amount of silicones and oils, which make it waterproof but can also feel heavy and greasy.

• Formula Adjustment:
  • If you want to keep the Silicone Base: As C7 recommended, try adding a LipidSoft (like LipidSoft C1215) at around 5% to help the texture spread more easily and reduce stickiness.
  • If you want to switch to a Water-Based formula: Consider using Warp Cream Maker as the emulsifier. Warp Cream Maker is a water-in-oil emulsifier that helps create a light, fast-absorbing cream texture while still providing good water resistance, which is suitable for sunscreens.

Makeup Remover (Makeup wash, Jojoba oil, Grape seed oil, Cyclomethicone)

You found that this formula removes little to no sunscreen.

• Formula Adjustment: As C7 recommended, this formula should contain appropriate cleansing agents. I suggest using MakeUp-Wash and Coco Wash as the primary cleansing ingredients. The other oils might not be necessary in such high amounts. If you still feel it doesn't clean well, you can add about 5% Coco-Betaine, which is a mild surfactant that helps boost foam.
• How to check if sunscreen is completely removed: Sunscreens containing Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide often leave a slight white cast. Try looking closely in a mirror, especially around pores, to see if there is any white residue or a feeling of something still coating the skin. If your skin feels clean and not slippery or greasy, it indicates good removal.

Pimple Wounds and Scars

Since you mentioned picking at pimples caused wounds and scars, adding ingredients that promote healing and reduce scarring to your serum or a separate spot treatment can be beneficial.

• Recommended Ingredients:
  • Panthenol (Vitamin B5): As mentioned for the serum, it helps with wound healing and reducing scarring.
  • Pure-TECA Centella Asiatica Extract: Highly effective in anti-inflammatory and promoting wound healing, reducing scar formation.
  • Licorice Extract: Helps reduce redness and inflammation associated with acne and healing.

Body Skin Issues (Upper arms, behind armpits: small bumps, dry/scaly spots, sometimes itchy)

The symptoms you described could be severe dryness or Keratosis Pilaris, which often appears as small bumps on the upper arms.

• Recommendations:
  • Focus on Moisturizing: Try the moisturizing gel formula C7 suggested: 5% Panthenol + 3% MOIST72 + 1% Pro Polymer + Water. MOIST72 provides long-lasting hydration, while Panthenol soothes and heals the skin. Pro Polymer helps create the gel texture.
  • Gentle Exfoliation: To reduce the bumps and uneven texture, consider adding a gentle exfoliant like ActiveRelease Salicylic Acid (BHA) or ActiveRelease Glycolic Acid (AHA) at low concentrations to the body lotion for these areas. These ingredients help to exfoliate clogged pores and improve skin texture.
  • Reduce Irritation: If you experience itching or irritation, you can add soothing extracts like Pure-TECA Centella Asiatica Extract or Licorice Extract to the body care product.

Face Wash (Cocowash, Glycerin)

• First formula (Cocowash 7%, Glycerin 93%): The heat you felt on your skin is caused by the very high concentration of Glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts water. At very high concentrations, it can pull water from your skin rather than from the air, leading to a warming sensation and potentially dryness, as explained by C7.
  • Adjusting the Glycerin + Licorice mixture: Don't throw it away! You can dilute the existing Glycerin + Licorice mixture by adding water until the Glycerin concentration is no more than 20%, as recommended by C7. You can then use this diluted mixture as an ingredient in other moisturizing products instead of applying it directly or using it in a face wash.
• New formula (Bha time release 3.3%, Makeup wash 6%, Cocowash 5%, Hydro protien 0.2%, Water): This formula uses cleansing agents (MakeUp-Wash, Coco Wash) along with ActiveRelease Salicylic Acid (BHA), which helps with acne and exfoliation. This is a good formula for cleansing and helping with acne concerns. The small amount of Hydrolyzed Protein (like Hydrolyzed Pea Protein) may not provide significant skin benefits in a wash-off product, as C7 mentioned, but it is not harmful. This formula should work well.

Product for Whitening Sensitive Areas (Groin, Underarms)

For sensitive and darkened areas, choosing gentle yet effective ingredients is important.

• Friend's formula (B3 4%, Glucosamine 4%, Xanthan gum 1%, Water): This formula is gentle and may offer some improvement in uneven skin tone due to Niacinamide (B3) and Glucosamine, but it might not be strong enough for significant whitening in sensitive areas like the groin and underarms. Xanthan gum is just a thickener. This formula is likely safe but may not be very effective for whitening.
• Recommended Ingredients: You should choose ingredients that specifically target melanin production and are gentle enough for sensitive skin:
  • Licorice Extract (Glabridin 4.5%): Inhibits tyrosinase, a key enzyme in melanin production, and also has anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Hexylresorcinol AF: Helps reduce dark spots and brighten skin tone. It works effectively at multiple stages of melanin synthesis and is known for its gentleness.
  • Kojic Acid Dipalmitate: A stable and well-absorbed derivative of Kojic Acid that inhibits tyrosinase.
  • Tranexamic Acid: Helps reduce melanin production and is suitable for various types of hyperpigmentation.
  • Caution: Always start with low concentrations and perform a patch test on a small area before applying to larger or more sensitive areas.

Exfoliating Gel (Gel with sea salt, Glycolic Acid, Silica, Centrimonium chloride)

You asked why Centrimonium Bromide is in the formula and if it truly exfoliates.

• Explanation: As C7 explained:
  • Silica acts as a physical exfoliant, like tiny particles, helping to scrub away dead skin cells.
  • ActiveRelease Glycolic Acid is an Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) that acts as a chemical exfoliant, helping to loosen and shed dead skin cells.
  • Centrimonium Bromide is a positively charged ingredient often used in hair conditioners to make hair soft and smooth. In an exfoliating product, it might help coat the skin to make it feel smoother after exfoliation.
• Exfoliation Effectiveness: Yes, this formula can effectively exfoliate the skin through the combined action of Silica (physical) and Glycolic Acid (chemical).