Vanicream - huge improvement

I recently had a bad reaction to another popular mainstream brand and decided to drop everything in my routine and just use Vanicream face wash, the cream, and the body bar for the rest of my body. Within two days, I'm truly amazed at how improved my skin has become. I have tried Vanicream face wash periodically over the years and was convinced that it was irritating my skin. But it turns out that it was likely the moisturizers I was using at the time. Flakes gone, baseline redness about half of what it was before, even bare-faced with no moisturizer my skin doesn't feel tight or dry.

YMMV of course, but for me after years of trying dozens of products (my bathroom cabinets look like a CVS!) including many of the "barrier repair" prescription creams, allergy patch testing, and general exhaustion and stress from the constant burning/stinging facial skin this has been such a welcome change.

AM routine: Vanicream face wash, pat dry with a towel, Vanicream cream on some of the dry areas

PM routine: Vanicream face wash, pat dry with a towel, Vanicream cream (heavier amount), azelaic acid rx (slowly reintroducing-also has the effect of helping the cream dry down a bit nicer)

I have also sometimes used the bar soap on my face and like it almost as much as the face wash.

My biggest complaint is that the cream is really not cosmetically elegant, the feeling of stickiness on my face is not comfortable. I have tried the lotion too but it's a bit too thin for me.