Hey guys, my name is Dr. Sam and
I'm a family doctor based in New Zealand.
In this video, I wanted to show you how to
use differin gel for acne.
Now I'm really passionate about this subject,
because I used to have horrendous acne
when I was a teenager and I really wish
that this product had been around.
So let me fill you in on how differin works
and how it can work for you!
Differin cream and gel, which is also called adapalene
is a retinoid medicine.
What this means is it increases the
turnover of your skin cells to help
unblock pores and glands in your skin.
This helps to reduce blackheads, acne,
spots, redness and inflammation.
But there are a couple of tricks to
using differin and getting the most out
of this medicine.
Firstly, you need to use this on a regular basis,
because it doesn't work as a now and then
sort of product.
Think of it like brushing your teeth and if you don't do it
all the time, you don't get the benefits.
So now I'm gonna demonstrate how to use
differin cream on myself!
FYI - my skin is extremely sensitive,
so the products that I'm going to be
recommending and talking about are quite
specific for sensitive skin.
So you might be able to get away with other products
that don't have all the sensitive
hypoallergenic stuff in them.
Anyway, let's go through the process
step by step.
So firstly at night you want to take off your makeup,
as you usually would.
I personally recommend a gentle skin cleanser
to do this and my absolute personal favorite.
If I'm completely honest - it is!
Is this product called Cetaphil,
which is a gentle skin cleanser.
And you use a couple of pumps of this
and onto you wipe with some cotton pads,
circular ones from the supermarket.
So let's go!
Now, it's important not to be too harsh
with this process - so you want to be quite
gentle on your skin.
Do not have too much rubbing and
scratching on your skin,
because it will make the acne worse.
Okay and then you want to wet your face
with just some tepid, lukewarm water
and apply a moisturizer to your skin.
It's really important that your skin is wet,
when you do this and I just use any
old kind of night cream that I've got going
at the time. At the moment I'm using a
"L'Oreal Revitalift" laser x three night cream.
And you just basically put a tiny wee bit on there
Once you've done that, you really need to
wait for about five to ten minutes for
it to dry properly.
So it feels comfortably dry and in this time
I usually brush my teeth and read my book,
if I've got a little moment.
Then come back to it, so once it feels just
comfortably dry then you can actually apply the
differin cream.
Now, with the differin cream -
it's really important that you just don't use
too much, because otherwise you're just
wasting it and so with the cream:
Essentially, put a pea-sized amount on
your finger...so... like about that much.
And you want to put tiny wee dots
on your forehead, your cheeks and your chin
and just the top of your nose.
You really need to avoid the eye area
around the nose corners and also the
corners of your mouth, because that's where
the thinnest skin is and it's most sensitive.
And then, so you just gently rub this in.
Now, also a very important tip is
when you first start using adapalene or
differin cream, everybody pretty much
gets a reaction (a skin reaction) where
the skin gets much redder, drier and
more irritated. Particularly around the first
three to four weeks of starting using it.
And you've got to let your body, let your
skin, get used and adapt to the differin cream.
Remember that differin cream is
always working behind the scenes to
unclog your pores, really getting to the
root of why you have the acne in the first place.
So I know that it's really hard when it first
starts flaring up and you feel that
"I've just started this and it's so much worse".
It's actually a known reaction to the differin cream
and if you persist and persevere with it,
you'll get past it and your skin
will be looking really lovely.
The first thing in the morning,
when you get up you want to wet your skin.
So that again you're moisturizing it and
apply a sunscreen straight away in the morning.
My personal preference again because I
have sensitive skin and I've tried soo
many different sunscreens and I always
tend to react to them.
And finding something that doesn't
actually cause acne, as well.
This is my preference it's called
"Sunsense" sensitive invisible sunscreen,
It's non comedogenic, it's wonderful -
you can use it on babies, it's just the best.
I can't switch from anything now!
So again just applying a nice smooth layer to wet skin
so that it helps with the moisture.
Then you're good to go,
you can apply your makeup straight over top.
Now that you've seen my real self with no makeup on,
I'm gonna have to change back to
something a bit more presentable...so....
Oh! Thankfully, I'm back to my normal self
with all my makeup in place.
Thanks for watching and I hope you
enjoyed this video.
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