Reddit mentions of Alpha Skin Care Essential Renewal Lotion | Anti-Aging Formula | 10% Glycolic Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) | Reduces the Appearance of Lines & Wrinkles | For Normal to Dry Skin | 4 Oz

As a start, you can use sunscreen to prevent further UV damage and use alpha hydroxy acid to reduce pigmentation caused by acne scarring. Note that sunscreen is an absolutely must.

When I was getting rid of discoloration i used AHA every night and sunscreen every morning. You don't want to use AHA in the morning because it makes you very sensitive to uv damage, source and most people can't handle application more than 1x/day anyway.

My favorite AHA

My favorite sunscreen

I use the Alpha Skin care 14% glycolic serum. I think jumping from 8% to 14% would be too big of a leap (it's a strong serum). They do make a 10% Glycolic lotion, which I used as an intermediate step up to the stronger serum and a 12% Glycolic cream, which I haven't tried.

For other AHAs, I've used the MUAC 10% Mandelic serum which is significantly less strong than the glycolic acid due to its penetration - mandelic acid molecules are larger and thus do not penetrate the skin as readily, and are also recommended for darker skin tones. I've also used their Fade Serum as a spot treatment. I dip a clean cotton swab into the serum and dab onto the melasma-affected areas of my face.

I haven't done a chemical peel in a while, due to starting a retinol, but I had good experiences with their 55% Lactic acid peel. Chemical peels require research, patch testing, following instructions, proper timing, and neutralizing, though, so you definitely shouldn't just jump into that pool.

CeraVe PM has Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramides, and Niacinamide - it's also a great light moisturizer that doesn't leave face looking greasy or shiny. That can cut a few of your extra steps out, plus it's perfect for daytime wear too, as long as you add in sunscreen. I think it might do more for dryness (and definitely for redness) than Neutrogena.

Here's a highly rated (and sidebar recommended) AHA at a good price:

https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Skin-Care-Fragrance-Free-Paraben-Free/dp/B01D2M4G0C

Good luck!

If you don't want to research I would recommend Curology. It's a 20USD a month prescription that comes with someone with some sort of medical-related degree to act as a dermatologist. Mine's a PA, and no where near qualified to be dermatologists, but for this purpose I find it's good enough. You upload photos of your skin and fill out a quick survey of your goals and you receive a 1 oz/30mL topical prescription with their recommended ingredients for you (e.g. mine's azelaic acid/clindamycin/niacinamide to target PIH and acne) that you apply once a day at night and usually follow up with a moisturiser. Because Curology is technically a prescription, you will also have access to tretinoin, which is one of the most studied retinoids for addressing anti-aging issues and can't be bought OTC in the US. If you want to add anything on top of your prescription, like a Vitamin C serum, you can also talk that over with your derm and they can recommend you products and talk about what to look for or tell you it's unnecessary. If 20USD a month is too expensive for you, then you can sign up for one month, receive the prescription topical treatment, and then cancel your subscription until you run out and then start the trial again when you need more product. The downside of this is that you won't have access to your dermatologist when your subscription isn't active.

If you're not interested in Curology, then to answer your questions

• Sunscreen: Yes, especially for anti-aging. I'm preferential to the asian beauty sunscreen recommendations. Just pick a random one--that's what I do. Biore Watery Essence is popular and available on Amazon.
  
• Moisturiser: CeraVe PM is a solid, no-fragarance no-nonsense moisturiser. I would apply twice a day.
  
• Retinoids: I don't know where you live but in the US most retinoid products by popular brands like Olay have very low concentrations. I would recommend Curology for this.
  
• Vitamin C: I recommend a 20% serum applied in the morning every 1, 2, or 3 days. This product is more effective if you apply it right after washing your face (your face should be dry though) and wait as long as possible, up to 30 minutes. Timeless is a generally effective one. Toss it it turns dark orange.
  
• Other Products: Some people like alpha hydroxy acids for anti-aging purposes. You could try out Alpha Hydrox lotion; it's got 10% glycolic. Nip+Fab is often recommended but it's like 2% and didn't do shit for me.
  
• Cleansers: I don't use a cleanser in the morning but I would wash your face with a washcloth/your hands in the shower. All you did was sleep so it's not like your face is that dirty. I would recommend washing your face at night though, so it's clean and the following products can work more effectively. CeraVe Foaming and CeraVe Hydrating are plain, effective cleansers.
  
• Other Products: If you have a slightly larger than drugstore budget I would check out Paula's Choice products. They make lotions/AHA's/Vitamin C/everything I listed above and people seem to find their products effective.

Prime

• Alpha 10% Glycolic Lotion fave AHA, I have dry skin so I like that it's a lotion and not a serum or gel
  
• Hada Labo Hyaluronic Lotion This is a Japanese product and the term 'lotion' is misleading, it's very watery and I use it as a serum
  
• Neutrogena Hydrating Cleanser My go to cleanser
  
• Avene Thermal Water Spray The only facial mist I've found that doesn't irritate my sensitive skin
  
  
  Not Prime
  
• NuFountain 20% + Ferulic First (and last) vit c I tried

Quick question regarding my routine - I have a lot of PIH left (mostly on my cheeks) so would this routine be okay enough until I go to a dermatologist later next year?

morning:

• scrub 2% salicylic acid
  
• AHA
  
• moisturizer
  
• sunscreen mine's actually spf50
  
  
  night:
  
  
• scrub 2% salicylic acid
  
• acne cream
  
• lotion.

I used to have this problem until I added a chemical exfoliant to my routine, especially around my nose. I use the Alpha skincare (formerly Alpha hydrox) 10% glycolic acid (not sure why it's so expensive right now, I think I paid $12) and then cerave pm because it has hyaluronic acid, which is great for dry skin. If my skin is really bad, I'll put Vaseline on top of the lotion. Since I started using that, I haven't had any flakes, even in the dead of winter. If you decide to try it, check out the section on ahas under exfoliants in the side bar and be sure and introduce it slowly so your skin doesn't get irritated (and don't forget to patch test!)

I used to use these Glycolyx 10% Glycolic acid 2% Salcylic acid AHA/BHA pads recommended by my dermatologist. Now I use this Alpha 10% Glycolic Acid lotion AHA and Strydex Red Box BHA in the morning. So far I like the product, I wouldn't say it's my holy grail. I'm sure there are better ones out there but it was pretty cheap and I was just getting into my skin care routine ~6 months ago. Bottle is still about half full. There are also a ton of other recommendations posted around here.

Yeah I'm looking for a cyst spot treatment. I'll look into the alpha beauty glycolic one!

edit: is this the right one?

Found out about AHA (Alpha hydroxy acid) on sca. Completely changed my skin! I even added dairy back into my diet. Got this one off amazon because the few products available in Canada are $$$.
https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Skin-Care-Essential-Glycolic/dp/B01D2M4G0C/ref=dp_ob_title_hpc
Warning: it can make your skin more sensitive to light, so wear your sunscreen. I also only apply it once at night.

The glycolic acid I'm using is from Alpha Skin Care...it is 10%. I don't use it regularly but trying to use it every other day or so.


The Niacinamide is from Amazon as well. It is insta-natural. I've used another from Skinlex (10%) I believe but it honestly broke me out but this product was much gentler. I pair it with hyaluronic acid from Trader Joes and it is very gentle and moisturizing on my skin. Finish it off with some Argon or Jojoba Oil.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D2M4G0C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/InstaNatural-Niacinamide-Face-Serum-Hyperpigmentation/dp/B00J5N0Y4U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8


Thank you so much!