My lesson on over-doing skincare and damaging your skin barrier

Two years ago I had the worst breakout of my life, new acne daily for months. I tried everything -- niacinamide, vitamin c, retinol, tretinoin, azealic azealic acid, etc. and nothing worked. I was going through 2 boxes of pimple patches every month (btw they're amazing!).

What I didn't realize was that my panicking was actually the reason that led to all the acne and breakout. I was over-doing my skincare (multiple actives), and over-doing it even more once the pimples started appearing which completely damaged my skin barrier. Buying more products just made it even worst - at one point my skincare routine was 10 (10!) steps.

What finally worked for me was when I took a break from tretinoin and skincare completely. It was hard to skip it since I was getting skincare anxiety but I had a feeling that my skin barrier was damaged when putting moisturizers used to burn my face. I took a break for ~4 weeks and then started incorporating it back slowly every 3 days, then every other day. I'm still only a every other day schedule (not strict so if I miss it some days, do it back-to-back etc., I don't mind) and my skin is the best it's ever been!

If you're struggling with acne even though you have an immaculate skincare routine, your skin barrier might be damaged. Take a break from skincare for a few weeks and simplify your routine.

Just a heads-up for any new skincare newbies.