ME & MY ROUTINE
THE HISTORY OF MY SKIN
Throughout high school, my skin was actually pretty good. Puberty only gave me occasional red spots that healed very quickly on their own. I thought I would enjoy such skin-ful bliss for the rest of my life, but once I hit my twenties, it was like all hell broke loose!
I don't think a day went by without me getting a minimum of five new pimples. And five new pimples every day, added onto the five pimples that popped up the other day, added onto old pimples that just won't heal and red marks left behind...led to a very unappetizing pizza face. I couldn't figure out if products were making me purge or actually breaking me out. I didn't know what to put on my face anymore. I wanted to stay home all the time. I never looked anyone in the eye. Needless to say, I felt really ugly.
However, after years of experimentation, my skin is finally under control! *knock on wood* I thought I'd share my trial-and-error experience on Skinacea.com so hopefully those who are suffering from acne won't have to go through as much as I have gone though.
WHY I KEPT GETTING ACNE
I discovered that I kept breaking out for the following three reasons: 1) using too harsh of a cleanser, 2) popping/picking at spots, and 3) hormones. No matter what kind of acne treatment I used (either over-the-counter or prescription), my skin was always dry, flushed, pimply, and very unhealthy looking. However, after finding remedies for the above three problems, I stopped breaking out and my skin cleared up quite nicely.
- Stripping My Skin Away
- Picking My Skin Battles
- My Hormonal Balancing Act
As far as the cleanser goes, I could never find one that cleaned well without being overly stripping and I was always too scared to use oil-based cleansers (like cream or milky cleansers) for fear that the oils in them would break me out, so I always stuck to foaming cleansers, thinking that if anything else, foaming cleansers did a good job cleaning (I wanted to kill all bacteria and remove all oil build-up) and I could always use a moisturizer to make up for any natural moisture stripped away. And that's what put me in a catch-22 situation. I'd use a foaming cleanser, dry out/irritate my skin, slap on a moisturizer, break out, wash my skin to get rid of the greasy moisturizer, over-strip it again, put on moisturizer to re-hydrate, break out.....It was a never ending cycle.
No moisturizer left my skin feeling completely hydrated without feeling heavy or greasy and even the gentlest foaming cleansers left my skin feeling tight immediately after rinsing. Such years of foaming cleanser abuse left my skin in a very dry, disturbed, and unhappy state.
With such poor skin barrier function, no wonder I kept getting pimples! However, after making the brave switch to a no-rinse oil-based cleanser, my skin started to soften and actually look healthy. I stopped getting clogged pores and things started to improve.
I suspect that with such dry skin, I had too many skin cells shedding (or not shedding), blocking my pores and giving me lots of clogs and potential breakouts. Without natural moisture, my skin was also not able to function at its best, so my old spots wouldn't heal and I kept getting new ones. I now know how important it is to be gentle with your skin because no moisture is as good as the moisture your skin naturally produces.
Popping and picking at spots also really kept me stuck in an acne cycle....so don't do it! I always picked and popped my pimples because I thought that even if it left a red spot, at least it would be flat and easy to cover up with makeup. Better than a weird looking bump right? And if I squeeze the junk out, it'd help the pimple heal faster right? Wrong and wrong!
Although popping pimples might make them look flatter, you run the risk of scarring, having the pimple come back the next day, and worst of all, having the pimples spread. I started to take pictures of my skin everyday and realized that the places where I picked at the most were the places I got the most acne. The places I never touched or squeezed stayed relatively clear. So that made me realize that picking my skin (even though it may seem like a temporary fix) was really prolonging my acne battle in the long-run.
That was enough to make me stop squeezing right away. It was hard at first, but if you think about it, it's just as easy to pick your skin as it is to leave it alone. All it takes is some determination and will power.
If you want to pick your skin, go ahead. It'll be flat and red for about a day, but you'll be broken out for many more weeks. If you leave your skin alone, you'll look nasty and broken out for a few days, but you'll be better off for many weeks after. This is what I learned the HARD way, so please, don't make my mistake! You will be lengthening your struggle with acne instead of shortening it by popping your pimples.
If you need an incentive to not pick, here's what I did to help "reward" myself for not doing it. Every week I set aside $20. For each pimple I picked at, I "fined" myself $1. Whatever was left at the end of the week, I could spend on anything I want. So I stopped picking and bought myself some new clothes and accessories!
I used to continually get new pimples, even before old ones healed, but after throwing away my all of my comedome extractors, lancets, and magnifying mirrors (these are unnecessary evils by the way), I stopped getting new pimples after the old ones went away.
I also found out that my acne was hormonal. I tracked my menstrual cycle for many months and marked down each time I got a breakout. I discovered that my breakouts started when I ovulated and cleared up when Aunt Flo came to visit. Although birth control pills can help with hormonal acne, I was reluctant to take any kind of oral medication, so I turned to lifestyle and dietary changes to balance things out.
I started to take omega-3s and a multivitamin to help naturally regulate my hormones. (Some people say they break out from omega-3s, but it may be because the omega-3 source isn't pure or fresh enough or they may just have an allergy towards it.) I cut out junk food and skipped unnecessary sugar highs. I started to exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes everyday to improve blood circulation. And I went to bed early and woke up early.
Basically, I started to live a very automatic and boring, scheduled-life. But you know what? I don't care if I'm boring because the trade off is clear, radiant skin that gives me a ten thousand times boost in my confidence levels!
Therefore, by being gentle with my skin, leaving it alone, and changing my lifestyle habits, I finally, finally, finallllllly defeated the skin condition that had cursed me for so many years. I had always hoped that I would just "grow" out of my acne, but at 25 and still getting massive breakouts, I was definitely growing "into" acne instead of the other way around!
I've learned that you pretty much have to let acne runs its course. If you get a breakout, there's only so much you can do until your skin pushes the blockages out on its own. Topical products definitely help to refine your skin, but only to a certain extent. Along with acne treatments, you just have to figure out what other things you can do to make your skin happy. You have to be calm (not-frustrated or angry), level-headed (mind-over-matter), and even somewhat scientific about treating your acne.
MY ROUTINE
For those interested, here's the routine I've been using for the past year that keeps my skin 98% under control (I have dry, acne-prone, clog-prone, pigmentation-prone, redness/flushing-prone skin):
AM
Cleanse with Albolene (wipe off with tissue)
Wipe with Stridex 2% BHA Alcohol-free pads
If feeling greasy, splash face with some water
Apply Shiseido SPF 55 Lotion
Apply makeup and concealer if going out
PM
Remove makeup/sunscreen with Albolene
Wipe with Stridex pad
Rinse with some water
Apply Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid (just trying to use this up)
Skinoren Gel 15% or Differin Gel 0.1% on any spots
Aloe vera gel (if my skin's feeling red/hot)
Other
Once a week: Homemade Vitamin C Mask
Once every two weeks: Aztec Indian Healing Mask
Once a month: 40% lactic acid peel
Daily supplements: omega-3, multi-vitamin
Hygiene Habits
Every day: Wash glasses with old cleaners
Once every two days: Change pillow case cover
Once a week: wipe down everything with alcohol pad (cell phone, keyboard, mouse, steering wheel, etc); clean makeup brushes and other beauty tools
Once every two weeks: Wash sheets
Once a month: Deep clean room and house