Never Combine These Ingredients
If you aren’t an esthetic or a skin care consultant, then you should use ONE brand for all your skin care needs. Do not mix and match brands. Why? Because certain brands are designed to work together. Certain ingredients will interact together negatively. It’s similar to how you are never supposed to mix ammonia and bleach. When a line is created, the chemists make sure that all the ingredients are harmonious.
Tip 1: Vitamin C. Never, ever go out in the sun while using anything with Vitamin C. It will reveal age spots and hyperpigmentation. I never use products with Vitamin C because of the side effects. Experts recommend using a sunscreen when using Vitamin C, but that won’t prevent severe sun damage from occurring if you go sunbathing all day. IMHO, avoid products with Vitamin C.
Tip 2: Vitamin C: Do not mix Vitamin C and glycolic acids. Maybe you can tell I am not a fan of Vitamin C. It has a lot of rules. I think I’d rather just eat oranges. Vitamin C has a very low pH and glycolic acids have a higher pH. When mixed together, they increase the amount of pH, thus rendering the Vitamin C useless. There is a chemistry to cosmetics that, as consumers, we aren’t necessarily aware of.
Tip 3: Vitamin A, aka, retinols do NOT mix with alpha hydroxy acids (AHA’s) and beta hydroxy acids (BHA’s.) Both are used as exfoliants. Using them together can over exfoliate your skin.
The caveat is if you have acne and have been prescribed something from your dermatologist. There are products that contain both AHA’s, BHA’s and retinols, but they are formulated together so that the quantities work together. Buying two separate products where one contains retinols and the other AHA or BHA can lead to redness, super flaky skin and over drying because you don’t know the amount in each product. It’s best to just use one and not combine them.
Personally, I would avoid using them together even if they are combined in one product. Less is more.
Tip 4: Do NOT combine benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acids. When you have acne, you might find that one works better for your skin than the other. Using both can create more breakouts, massive red inflammation and itchy skin that is eternally dry and flaky. If you insist on using both because you find that they both work for your skin, then try one in the evening and the other in the morning.
