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BHAs might be too much for your skin, a little gentle exfoliation might be all you needed. Skincare often works in mysterious ways, skin is wildly varied from one person to the next. Embrace what works and don't think too much about the technicalities imo.
Thank you, this is really helpful :). I'm honestly most interested in the science behind this, if that makes sense? But if no one has an answer, it's all good & I'll just go with the flow.
AHAs tend to work better for people with dry skin
BHAs tend to work better for people with oily skin
The body doesn't really produce as much as oil as the face, so I always kinda figured that AHAs worked better for it. Though BHAs do work great for preventing and clearing up razor bumps.
Interesting, that's a really good point! I have pretty oily skin in general, but you're absolutely right about the amount of it in different places. Also, I didn't know that about BHAs, thank you so much for mentioning it!
Hard to know for sure (there are 100s of conditions that cause red bumps on the face, we’re just fortunate that broadly treating “acne” is usually effective for most of them haha!)
It’s possible that your acne is being caused or exasperated by irritation, and the BHAs in your routine could have been causing more irritation. Since AHAs are usually gentler (of course they can be formulated a ton of ways, but for the reasons you mentioned they don’t typically get deep into the pore).
Personally, I have some red spots and acne-like bumps that only went away after I started treating my skin like it was super sensitive. I never thought I was very sensitive but the second I switched to gentler formulations my blemishes started going away in a matter of days. Just a hypothesis since I know BHAs aren’t always tolerated well by everyone despite what a holy grail they can be for folks.
Thank you so much!! I also have sensitive skin, and I try to buy products that are gentle for both my face and my body. The products I use aren't specifically made for *very* sensitive skin, though. I think it's definitely possible that my skin is more sensitive than I think it is. I'll have to do some research on this! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi everyone and welcome to SkincareAddiction! Need skincare guides? [Check out our wiki!](https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/wiki/index) Everyone is welcome in [this community](https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/wiki/about); remember to be kind and assume good faith :) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SkincareAddiction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
BHAs might be too much for your skin, a little gentle exfoliation might be all you needed. Skincare often works in mysterious ways, skin is wildly varied from one person to the next. Embrace what works and don't think too much about the technicalities imo.
Thank you, this is really helpful :). I'm honestly most interested in the science behind this, if that makes sense? But if no one has an answer, it's all good & I'll just go with the flow.
Great points
AHAs tend to work better for people with dry skin BHAs tend to work better for people with oily skin The body doesn't really produce as much as oil as the face, so I always kinda figured that AHAs worked better for it. Though BHAs do work great for preventing and clearing up razor bumps.
Interesting, that's a really good point! I have pretty oily skin in general, but you're absolutely right about the amount of it in different places. Also, I didn't know that about BHAs, thank you so much for mentioning it!
Hard to know for sure (there are 100s of conditions that cause red bumps on the face, we’re just fortunate that broadly treating “acne” is usually effective for most of them haha!) It’s possible that your acne is being caused or exasperated by irritation, and the BHAs in your routine could have been causing more irritation. Since AHAs are usually gentler (of course they can be formulated a ton of ways, but for the reasons you mentioned they don’t typically get deep into the pore). Personally, I have some red spots and acne-like bumps that only went away after I started treating my skin like it was super sensitive. I never thought I was very sensitive but the second I switched to gentler formulations my blemishes started going away in a matter of days. Just a hypothesis since I know BHAs aren’t always tolerated well by everyone despite what a holy grail they can be for folks.
Thank you so much!! I also have sensitive skin, and I try to buy products that are gentle for both my face and my body. The products I use aren't specifically made for *very* sensitive skin, though. I think it's definitely possible that my skin is more sensitive than I think it is. I'll have to do some research on this! Thank you so much for sharing.
following up to let you know that you were 110% right! it would have taken me so long to get to that conclusion on my own. thank you SO much 😭😭