The Guardian | 30.04.22 | SATURDAY | 87LIFESTYLE BODYBODY
Do active
ingredients
irritate your
skin? Try a
moisturising
buff er
T
he sensitive-skinned
are often fearful of
active skincare
ingredients, and they
have some reason to be.
It’s fairly common for
retinol in particular to cause some
redness in the early weeks of use,
especially on skin already affected
by rosacea, acne, menopause or
general sensitivity.
My skin is like asbestos
(thankfully, since it allows me to
do my job), but even I fi nd my neck,
eyelids and a little patch under
my mouth invariably object to any
new course of retinoids. This is so
common as to almost be expected –
but there is a very eff ective way of
dealing with it. It’s called buff ering,
and I recommend it to anyone
starting to us e an unfamiliar
active-ingredient product.
The idea is to reverse your night-
time routine by laying down a gentle,
cushioning, bland-ish moisturiser
(normally your last step), beforeT h e h a c k
Make a blusher out of dark pink or red
petals and corn fl our.The promise
Less a TikTok trend and more
something from the pages of a
Georgian romance novel, this involves
making your own rouge by mixing
ground rose petals with corn fl our.The test
The recipe I’m following uses fresh
rose petals, pulverising and then
baking them. But I opt for ready-dried
Persian rose petals, as they’re a nice
bright pink – and hacks are meant to
make your life better and easier, right?
As instructed, I make a powder from a
handful of petals using a pestle and
mortar. The result is a little grainy, but
passable. This forms my main pigment
base, and to this I add quarter of a
teaspoon of corn fl our at a time, testing
the formulation on my skin as I go. It
needs some patience and dedication,
but I found that my tone warranted no
more than half a teaspoon of cornfl our
for the right blend. While this mix
showed up well on my skin ( this was
my main concern), it was a little lumpy
and patchy.The verdict
I love the idea of this, but it’s a lot of
hassle for very little reward and also
quite dry. You may prefer a cream
blush formulations such as Typology’s
Tinted Balm in Coral Orange (£14.50 ),
which gives that fresh, Jane-Austen-
esque appeal.Apply moisturiser to
creases, as a decorator
might apply masking
tape to skirting boards
before painting a wall
Anita Bhagwandas
Trends on trial
Can you use
rose petals to
make a blusher?
Illustration: Edith Pritchettlotion or cream you like , but I favour
something with ceramides and
hyaluronic acid. CeraVe PM Facial
Moisturising Lotion (£13.50) is great
and reasonably priced, but any
pharmaceutical-type brand
specialising in sensitive skin – Avène,
La Roche Posay, Eucerin or Vichy for
example – will generally be a safe bet.
Placing a physical buff er between
face and retinol will weaken the
impact of the active ingredient,
exposing tetchier areas to less
concentrated amounts. Skin will
acclimatise over time: you may feel
you can lose the buff er altogether in a
few weeks, but there’s no harm in
using one for ever if you don’t.
Buff ering like this quickly becomes
second nature. My bedtime routine is
simple: cleanser, moisturising buff er
to eyes and neck, then a retinoid
everywhere over the top. It works like
a charm in preventing fl are-ups, and
makes using retinoids – proven,
eff ective, reliable but undeniably
daunting – a relative breeze.Sali Hughes
On beauty
applying your retinol. Think of your
skin as a mattress and this innocuous
cream as a mattress protector,
shielding it from anything laid on top.
If your skin is generally sensitive,
use the moisturiser everywhere your
retinol will later go. If it’s more hardy,
focus on anywhere with creases and
crevices in the skin (eyelids, neck,
between the nose and cheek, for
example), as in these places the
ingredient will pool and sit overnight,
making irritation more likely.
Apply the moisturiser to the
creases, the way a decorator might
apply masking tape to skirting boards
PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES before painting a wall. You can use any