One thing I’ve learned over the years of trying and testing just about every beauty product line I can get my hands on is that there’s no one-size-fits-all: what works for your skin-care routine might not work for someone else, especially when it comes to mixing and matching skin-care ingredients.
You need to proceed with caution when it comes to using a hybrid of formulas. “Some active ingredients used in skin-care products can act as irritants when mixed with others, particularly in individuals with sensitive skin,” dermatologist Joyce Imahiyerobo-Ip, MD, tells PS. For example, retinol and hyaluronic acid go great together, while retinol and glycolic acid do not – and that’s only the beginning.
That’s not to say you can’t use more than one line of product – it’s just that you have to consider which ingredients each product and brand contains and whether or not that combination could wreak havoc on your skin. Combining skin-care ingredients that don’t go together can lead to more than just breakouts and greasiness, but also redness, flakiness, burning, or, at the very least, will cause the ingredients to cancel each other out, leaving you without so much as a little added moisture at most. To help you achieve a healthy, clear glow, we asked skin-care insiders to reveal the ingredient combinations that are more powerful when used together and the ones that lead to adverse effects when slathered together.
Experts Featured in This Article
Joyce Imahiyerobo-Ip, MD, is a dermatologist and the director of cosmetic dermatology at South Shore Medical Center.
Dendy Engelman, MD is a dermatologist in New York City.
Joshua Zeichner, MD, FAAD, is a New York-based dermatologist.
Ramya Viswanathan is a product development manager at Biossance.
Rachel Nazarian, MD, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City
