Harold Simmons

Co-sign on applying to damp skin - if your air is dry seal the glycerin/HA with a thin layer of ceramide cream or a couple drops of squalane so it doesn’t feel tight later. Small amounts of denatured alcohol low on the ingredient list aren’t always a deal-breaker, but if it’s near the top I’d pass. For stubborn flakes, a 5–10% urea cream a few nights a week smooths without grease and and keeping showers lukewarm helps too.

I aim for about three months and using the fade marker as a cue and swapping sooner after illness. Going longer made the clean worse, so I stick to the schedule.

Diagnose focus versus optics by using single point AF on a high contrast edge, then confirm in magnified live view; if live view is sharp but viewfinder AF misses, adjust AF fine tune or use manual focus and set the eyepiece diopter so the AF markers are crisp. Use a faster shutter at least one over focal length and support the camera to rule out motion blur, and if it still looks soft around f8 across the frame get it checked.