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Yes, I used to be a lot drier growing up, but then I started to have a skincare routine that I did consistently, which helped my skin stay hydrated. I’m normal-to-dry, though I have found that since living in Arizona, my skin feels more normal with only occasional dryness (typically from over-swatching).
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What’s your routine? Any products you’re loyal to and regularly replenish?
My face has changed a few times over the years. When I was a teenager, it was oily and prone to breakouts, as is pretty common, I think. Then as I grew up, it became quite dry all over. Now in my 50s, it’s combination—mostly normal-to-dry, but oily in the T-zone and my eyelids.
Same.
I feel like I have only every experienced different waves and variations of dryness..
Yes, my skin was very oily when I was younger but in my mid 30s my skin became dehydrated. I changed my skin care routine and it is now normal with an oily t-zone in my current climate. I notice it gets dryer in California and places with dry climates.
No, actually not really. It was oily and acne prone ever since I entered my teens and has stayed that way.
My skin was drier when I was younger, but that change could also coincide with moving from an arid state to a state with more than 10% humidity 🙂
Also my skin got much more sensitive after I turned 30, and I never had acne until then.
Yep. I had very acne prone skin in my teens. I never had what is generally considered severe acne, but my forehead always had a bunch of comedones, and I usually had a cystic blemish somewhere on my face. I tried a few medications from my derm, but none of them cured the acne and Differin in particular caused really nasty irritation. I wore heavy powder foundation all over my face. Around the time I started college, I cut way back on face makeup and stripped my skincare down to a mild cleanser and inconsistent use of a drugstore moisturizer with SPF. The less is more approach gave me great skin from my late teens through mid 20s, but it’s also possible my hormones had chilled out during that time too.
Then around 27 I learned what a dry patch was. I had always had very sensitive skin, but up until my late 20s it was always perfectly “normal” on the dry-oily spectrum. At 29, my skincare challenge is definitely dryness in cold weather. It’s a tricky balancing act because my skin is still prone to acne and irritation, and will break out or hurt if I choose the wrong moisturizer or overdo it on a rich one. It’s still a work in progress, and I’m a firm believer in making changes to skincare slowly and methodically. So far I really like Paula’s Choice Hydrating Treatment Mask because it’s rich but doesn’t stay on my skin long enough to cause any problems, plus I can get a little gentle manual exfoliation in by taking it off with a wet muslin cloth. I also use PC Barrier Repair Moisturizer at night, every 2-3 days in warm weather, maybe 4-5x/week in colder weather. Differin is way too strong for my skin and scared me away from retinoids for over a decade, but I tried the PC stuff without realizing it had a low concentration and was finally able to get the clarifying benefits I’d always heard about. As long as I don’t slather it on every night, it really helps my face stay hydrated and reasonably clear. I really like the PC CALM moisturizer for dry skin with SPF for day, but over the years I’ve gradually started using a lot more every morning, and it’s not very cost effective anymore, so I’m looking for something else next time.
Oddly enough my skin over time has gotten more oilier which I attribute to the fun of hormonal fluctuations, it gets so bad at times my makeup is sliding off me so I have to use products aimed at controlling my oily skin.
If I compare my now 58 y.o. skin to my 51 and younger, more hormonal skin, I’d say there has been a slow changeover to less severe breakouts, slightly dryer skin and finally some crowsfeet when I smile wide. But, overall, whatever changes are occurring are very insidious and slow. I’ve always had an oily t-zone with breakouts ranging from 1 or 2 per month now up to once cystic acne that left me with scarring. I get dry patches from breakouts healing and also random areas of eczema. As for how much is truly attributable to “aging”, or instead because of the much more heavy-duty skincare I now use involving retinol, peptides and vite C is anybody’s guess.
You definitely don’t look 58, praise God and keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, jel888!
I agree!! I always saw Nancy’s icon/photos on here/Facebook. And I thought she was younger than my mother! Then I found out her age was SHOCKED. Whatever you’re doing Nancy, it’s working!
(I also think your beautiful heart keeps you young as well!)
Yes, from combo oily to combo dry. Age I figure. 😉
Oh, m’gosh, yes! I’m 58 and everything has changed (those hormones never quit, even after menopause). I’m very dry (I was combo), I have slight changes in texture, a few wrinkles, a lot of sun damage/melasma (living where it’s sunny 340+ days a year isn’t all that), and my undertones have changed (I used to be more yellow; now I’m more neutral). The last leads to the biggest mistake older women make (IMO, besides wearing the same look you did at 25)–they think they can wear the same foundation/foundation shade forever, and you really need to be rematched and change the formula periodically as your coloring changes. Wear sunscreen every day and check your foundation periodically are my take-aways from the ravages of age. 😉
Kind of! Three years ago, I had SEVERE Cystic acne, caused by my PCOS. It was so bad, it hurt to lay on my side to sleep, it hurt to smile or raise my brows. My whole face was covered in large painful bumps that lasted months.
I went to the doctor, and got put on a topical anti acne gel for the skin, and I’m starting birth control for my hormonal condition!
It’s been a very long road. But three years later. My skin is the clearest it’s EVER been. I have scarring (its to be expected from the severity of my old acne) but I’m using peels and vitamin c and SPF to treat that.
I have never felt more happy with my skin. I go out of the house with nothing but a thick layer of SPF on all the time now. And I don’t feel awkward or shy.
My skin type has never changed though. I have always been oily!
Absolutely. I had constant oil-slick skin from age 12 until I was 45. My skincare routine and products got better, but the oiliness didn’t.
1) Hormone changes due to peri-menopause have changed my skin to where it fluctuates among a few types now. Usually it is still oily, but not to the degree it was. It’s much more controllable with skin care. Sometimes, it goes through phases where it’s more combo with an oily T-Zone. I even have rare bouts of normal skin.
2) Acne has changed over time. I had some bad facial breakouts in my teens. In my 20s and 30s, I got a lot of jawline stress-induced acne breakouts. I still get some zits, but now I’m much more likely to get hormonal cystic acne, especially on my jaw and chin.
I didn’t address body skin. It’s definitely gotten drier with age, though I’ve always had dry body skin and eczema. I slather on hand lotions and creams like crazy, but I still feel like my skin there is aging more than the rest of my body. 🙁
I have seen a lot of change over the years since my teens. I am 63 now and would be surprised if I didn’t have a lot of changes to my skin. In my teens I had combination skin with oily T zone and dry on the periphery. I really didn’t have any acne to speak of until I was in my early 20’s and it was mostly cystic acne. I discovered Benzoyl Peroxide after a couple of years and my skin responded really well to it. My acne completely cleared by the time I was 25 and I noticed an improvement in my skin texture. My skin remained combo well into my early 40’s. I was quite a sun worshiper for the first 25-30 years of my life and started seeing the first signs of sun damage in my early 40’s. I wasn’t particularly concerned figuring that they would be easy to treat and control and obviously that didn’t happen. In my mid-40’s is when I had my cancer. The combination of multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and stress took its toll on my skin. I didn’t have the physical or mental strength to think about it or really to even notice it. Following the two years of treatment I noticed that my skin was a greyish cast, dull in appearance, more hyperpigmentation and very, very dry. Noticing it didn’t give me any insight into how to deal with it and I just figured it was just the way it was. In my mid-50’s I noticed some Olay Regenerist Products at the drug store and picked up a few to try. I had really excellent results and my skin soon came into a more normal state. With the exception of the hyperpigmentation my skin healed. The hyperpigmentation only got worse and that probably was related to my not wearing sunscreen even after knowing that it was caused by sun damage. Now I wear sunscreen daily and use topicals to treat the hyperpigmentation but it is a slow process. If I were wealthy enough I would have laser treatments but I don’t see that happening. My skin is pretty dry but consistently dry, if that makes sense. I use multiple moisturizers and they help. I have the usual problems related to aging such as crows feet, smile lines, increased nasolabial folds, crepey, thinner and drooping skin. It seems like the remainder of my life I will be trying consistently to beat back these signs of aging!!
I’m only 24, but my skin has been consistently oily and acne-prone for as long as I can remember.
My acne really only stays around my chin now, though… And I think my skincare products are helping! I definitely noticed a change when I began using the Mario Badescu Special Cucumber Lotion toner. I also use a Biore Charcoal Cleanser (was using deep pore, now using the acne one) and the Neutrogena Rapid Clear Gel (the one with salicylic acid).
Yes, part of aging and chronic illness!
Most definitely – in the past 8 years or so, my skin has become a lot drier and dehydrates more easily.
Using oils – argon or chia seed has certainly helped. Drinking more water, using moisturiser and sunscreen during the day with serums and heavy duty moisturisers at night helps.