Hi John,

I hope you can help me. I am a 22-year-old female and I am having huge trouble with constant blockages on my face, which then turn into pimples. I find that when I use cleansers that are made to unblock pores or to clear up blemishes they dry out my skin and then make it extremely greasy. At the moment I am using Superdrug's tea tree and aloe vera foaming face wash for sensitive skin, I also have the scrub that I try to use once a week. My moisturiser is an aloe vera one from Holland and Barratt. I also apply aloe vera gel to healing blemishes. (I also take aloe vera capsules as I have heard aloe is very good for the skin!) Over all I have noticed since using these skin care products that my skin is over all healthier, but every single pore on my face is always blocked! (Sometimes big) I don't know what to do with it anymore, I have tried all sorts of products but I find that I am constantly trying to squeeze them out (naughty I know) Is there anything you can advise me to do? Skin care products or herbal tablets? Or a routine that I should carry out at home?

Thanks in advance,

Denise

Denise,

This, believe it or not, shouldn't be that hard to sort out. The problem is that when you try to deep clean a skin that is not really oily, you strip it of the natural oils. The pores become very taut and immobile, but the skin tries to make up for that tautness by producing oil. But since the pores cannot move properly, the oil oxidises and creates blackheads. If there is a hormonal imbalance - or any other trigger - you will get a proper spot. This is the simplest explanation for a complicated skin reaction! To cut a long story short, you need to start treating your skin as if it were normal. The skin needs to be clean yet pliable so the pores can clean themselves. Regular steaming will help to loosen the pore openings and a deep cleansing mask to draw out the blackheads that are there already can follow that. Pore strips will also work provided you prepare the skin first by steaming it and making sure the pores are soft and warm. You might also find a glycolic peel product would work wonders. The only issue with these is that they will be a little bit more expensive. Mind you...it sounds as though you are bothered by the problem enough to splash out a bit.

There is an excellent product by Dr. Lewinn's called Peel and Reveal. It works wonders to rid the skin of the blockages immediately and help to refine the pore openings. Then it will be a matter of maintenance. A good antioxidant moisturiser should help to keep the oil from oxidising in the pore openings. Look for a product in your price range with vitamins E, C, and A. The Aloe capsules and a thin film of an aloe gel underneath the moisturiser to help the skin heal is a good plan as well - and a double-pronged approach is never a bad thing. Lastly, if you are really impatient, you could go and have an extraction facial. You will have to phone around local salons or facialists to find out if they do them (not everyone does). Extraction facials involve the facialist physically removing all of the blockages with a tool or a vacuum to get you to a clean slate. A lot of information in a small space, but all of the above should really help to get you "in the clear"!

Good luck Denise,

John

Hi John

I have loved and used your excellent advice for many years now so thank you so much for that. I am 37 and I have really dry skin, my job doesn't help as I am a community nurse in and out of the car (heater on full blast), peoples houses (hot and cold) and my skin really suffers. It is visibly dry and flaky by the end of the day. I am not able to drink lots of water as public toilets these days are few and far between. I cleanse morning and night and use Dior skin products including hydrating mask under my moisturiser some days and Arden's Eight Hour Cream, but still have really dry skin, any suggestions?

I also have a really deep wrinkle in between my brows that I hate what would you suggest? Sorry to kill two birds and all that but these two problems are driving me MAD!!! Would love your advice...

Many thanks in advance - love,

Clare

Clare,

Thank you so much for your kind words and I hope I will not disappoint you! What you really need is a product that will maintain the moisture level of your skin throughout the day and night so the temperature fluctuations don't wreck such havoc on your skin. But these are few and far between. One of the best I have ever found is a product by Osmotics called Crème Extreme. The only problem is they have gone out of distribution in the UK. The GOOD news is that you can order it via the Internet. Followed by the BAD news that you will also get stuck with customs and duty on it! I found a good deal on it at skinstore.com for you where they give 10 per cent off of the $75.00 price and offer free shipping over $49.00. What is very unusual about this cream is that is actually repairs the barrier function of your skin and "cures" chronic dry skin. I used to give this product to people who worked in the flight industry and people who swore they had to reapply moisturiser several times during the day. With Extreme, the problem was solved. Every time. It feels really thick and stodgy for a moment or two and then your skin recognises the building blocks of the cream are identical to the skin itself - and then it just disappears. Once you are used to it, the absorption is even faster. This is really worth the effort to get, Clare.

Another excellent product is one by an American pharmaceutical company called Strixaderm AquaScoop. This one is available from better department stores and is a 24-Hour skin hydrator. Much lighter in weight than the Osmotics product and it does help to keep the water level in your skin at a constant. You might find that using this one for the day under makeup and the Osmotics at night is a perfect combination. It is certainly one I would recommend to a client who came to visit me in the Studio. Like you, I am dreadful at drinking water. Not only because of the bathroom problem, but because it is a much more boring beverage than Coca-Cola! Awful but honest. LOL.

And then for the crease between your brows: two recommendations. One is Lauder's Perfectionist Deep Wrinkle Filler. It "fills" the line to make it less visible, but also treats it long-term and helps push the line out. It is in a wand applicator and you use it sort of like...well, polyfiller. Less expensive is a new-ish product you can get at Boots called Tri-Aktiline. Similar sort of product but in a squeeze tube. Both highly effective and backed up by trials. So there you go, two birds with one stone. A large stone, but a stone!

LOL,

John

Hi John

Please help. I am so fed up of my red, dry face. It seems to react to everything from weather, temperature and products down to what I eat. Can you recommend a moisturiser that will help cure/alleviate the redness? I am 44 and should probably use an SPF as well.

Thanks,

Joanne

Joanne,

I have recently been recommending the new Clinique Anti-Redness range with fantastic results. It is a complete product line from cleansing to an extra help emergency product. There is a day product with and SPF, and slightly richer night product, and one for when your skin flares up. Prices are very affordable and they help to re-train the skin to be less reactive. There are also anti-redness ranges from Decleor and Darphin, but I would have to say for the price and the results, I am sold on the Clinique.

All the best,

John

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