Skincare Advice for Acne-Prone, Sensitive, Oily but Dehydrated Skin

It sounds like you're dealing with a common challenge: acne-prone skin that's also sensitive and oily but dehydrated, likely due to the effects of acne treatments and past reactions. Strengthening your skin barrier is a great goal to reduce sensitivity and improve overall skin health.

Let's evaluate the ingredients you're interested in and the suggestions you received:

Your Proposed Ingredients:

• Pure Aloe Vera Gel (ID 80): Excellent for lightweight hydration and soothing irritated skin. Generally non-comedogenic.
• Ceramide Complex 5% (ID 46): Crucial for repairing and strengthening the skin barrier, which is key for reducing sensitivity and dryness caused by acne treatments.
• Beta Glucan 10% (ID 221): Provides soothing, hydrating, and skin-repairing benefits, helping to calm irritation.
• Rhamnose 3% (ID 770): Offers soothing and anti-inflammatory effects.
• Allantoin (ID 75): A well-known soothing and healing agent that reduces irritation.
• Bisabolol 1% (ID 78): Provides strong anti-inflammatory and soothing properties.

This combination is highly suitable for your goals of counteracting dryness/irritation from acne treatments and strengthening a sensitive barrier. These ingredients are generally lightweight and beneficial for reactive skin.

Additional Suggested Ingredients (from C7):

These ingredients are excellent for balancing oily skin and addressing acne inflammation:

• Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide) (ID 74): Helps regulate oil, reduce inflammation, improve barrier function, and can help with acne marks.
• Licorice Extract (ID 69): Soothing and anti-inflammatory.
• MSM (ID 212): Anti-inflammatory, reduces redness.
• Zinc PCA (ID 252): Controls oil, antibacterial properties.
• AcneBee (ID 674): Suggested for acne treatment/balancing.
• Rice Vitamin (Inositol) (ID 410): Helps balance oil and hydrate.

Suitability and Oiliness:

The ingredients you selected are generally lightweight. Combining them in a gel or light serum base would be ideal for oily skin. The concentrations you mentioned are reasonable. Adding Niacinamide and Zinc PCA (from the suggested list) would further help manage oiliness and acne directly, complementing the soothing and barrier-repairing ingredients.

Recommendation:

Your plan to test these ingredients as testers is wise. The combination you proposed is a great starting point for soothing and barrier repair. Consider incorporating Niacinamide (ID 74) and Zinc PCA (ID 252) as they directly address oiliness and acne inflammation, which are also key concerns for you.

Focus on creating a lightweight formulation. If irritation persists, it might be necessary to discuss adjusting the strength of your acne medications with a dermatologist, as they could be contributing significantly to your skin's sensitivity and dehydration.