I thought my skin was dehydrated. I was just washing it too much

Posting this in case anyone else is in the same dumb little cycle I was in.

For the longest time my skin felt tight after cleansing, looked textured, and somehow was still getting clogged on my chin and around my nose.

So naturally I kept responding by adding more hydrating stuff. More serums, richer moisturizer, barrier creams, mist, sleeping packs, all of it. And because my skin still felt gross, I was also washing more. Micellar water, cleanser, sometimes cleansing again in the morning because I woke up oily.

I really thought I had dehydrated skin plus stubborn congestion and needed to fix both at once.

What finally made it click was me being lazy for like a week. I stopped doing the whole production. No morning cleanse, no micellar water unless I had makeup on, no double cleanse unless I was wearing heavy sunscreen or makeup, and I stopped trying to get that squeaky clean feeling.

My skin got better. Fast.

The tightness went away first. Then the weird rough texture on my forehead. Then the little angry clogged bumps on my chin started calming down. I still get pimples around my period, but the constant background irritation is wayyy lower now.

Current routine is simple:

AM
just water
light moisturizer
sunscreen

PM
gentle cleanser
moisturizer

I think I kept mistaking irritated tight skin for dehydrated skin, and then I kept throwing products at a problem I was making worse twice a day.

Not saying this is everyone’s issue obviously, but if your skin feels tight, shiny, clogged, irritated, and somehow dry at the same time, maybe step back before adding another serum.