weird artifact

I got an Lk5pro as my first 3d printer, and I have been experiencing 2 things that I don't think are supposed to happen: 1, there are big inconsistencies with layer height/width (see attached), although it is something global and not local as it happens across multiple filaments (note: they are all different colors of polyterra pla) and across multiple different objects. I have looked up the reasons for this prior, and didn't find anything that fixed the problem I've been having. the second thing is that when the extruder does non-print movements, it skims the top of what it printed and gives it a bad "finish", I want to know if there is a way to prevent this without making it raise .1 or 2 mm during retraction. thanks in advance

Edit: I have just decided to make the nozzle raise on retraction, and it has fixed the problem, although I am still having the layer inconsistencies