Acne and I have not been on good terms for…hm, what, 10 years already? We are not friends whatsoever, but here we are… clinging on to one another anyway… During middle school is when my acne became horrible and painful. I was alright though, I already knew that this was because of puberty and I was waiting for this to come to an end when I became an adult.
It didn’t end though, and still hasn’t ended. That’s okay though! Very recently I found out I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS for short. According to my doctor, this is a hormone imbalance and the ovaries have many small cysts (it doesn’t sound like fun, I know). Also, your ovaries can still be normal, but you can still have that hormonal imbalance, which is my case. Usually women with PCOS experience irregular periods, excess hair, acne and other symptoms. Of course, if you have any of those it doesn’t ALWAYS mean that you have PCOS. Please talk to your gynecologist if anything. I am just speaking about my own personal experience. Remember, everyone is different!
Aside from the PCOS talk, this is what helped me realize that my acne was not going to be leaving anytime soon. Of course, there are other reasons for people’s acne to not leave them either. That being said, I’ve actually been able to combat my acne with my current favorite products.
Now combined with acne I also have oily (sometimes combination) skin which creates, even more, acne and it sucks.
To start off, I’m the type of person who needs to exfoliate my face. I know it isn’t good to do it every day, but my face needs to get rid of the grime. I probably exfoliate 3-4 times a week and I do not recommend everyone to do this. Like I said, we all have different skin in the end. My skin may be able to handle certain things other people can’t. Stick to exfoliating 1-2 times a week instead. What I use is St. Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub. Before I would use Clean and Clear or Neutrogena scrubs, but they use microbeads and I remember in class someone spoke about the harms microbeads do to the creatures of the sea. Apparently apricot shells are much better since they are obviously not made out of plastic. This scrub is not a gentle scrub so be careful. However, it is oil-free and non-comedogenic so your pores will not get clogged.
Next, I use the Clinique liquid facial soap that is solely for combination oily to straight up oily skin. I swear this leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft and balanced. It doesn’t give you that drying cracking feeling that sucks up the moisture from your face. It also doesn’t leave a greasy film on your face, (we don’t need that, oh no). It’s also 100% fragrance-free which is great for acne-prone skin. Fragrance can be an irritant and cause more breakouts to happen.
There are two products from The Body Shop that I switch up on some days. When I go out I use their seaweed oil-control lotion that contains SPF 15. The BEST thing about this lotion is that it mattifies, yes, MATTIFIES your skin. I looked at my face after letting it sink in and oh man it left me looking shine free. The other one that I use when I’m indoors, and mostly before going to bed, is their tea tree skin clearing mattifying toner. Yep, mattifying again cause I don’t like looking like an oil slick. If I want a glow then I’ll trust my highlighters for that. Tea tree is amazing for acne so I 100% recommend this product as it helped balance my skin and cleared a few enemies that decided to chill on my cheek. It also doesn’t leave you dry and tight.
Finally, for stubborn acne that doesn’t want to leave, I use the Clearasil rapid action treatment cream. Apparently, it visibly reduces redness and acne in just 4 hours. (Funny, thing is that I’m using it while writing this article and timing it because it never occurred to me to actually do that, haha). I recommend to not use a lot of it because the ingredient is benzoyl peroxide 10% and too much will DRY your skin out so badly. Take it from me because no moisturizer helped me after that mess…my skin looked all scaley…ugh. Please just spot treat your acne with this cream.
OPTIONAL! On a day where you just wanna kick back and chill, use a face mask! This isn’t a peel-off mask, and to be honest it doesn’t even dry down either. At first, I didn’t like that it didn’t dry down, but my skin felt pretty great after this. This face mask is by Jean Pierre cosmetics and it is a charcoal mask that helps unclog your pores and removes impurities. This is perfect because they’ll just create further problems if left untreated. Just remove the mask with lukewarm water and pat, NEVER rub, your face dry. After this mask, my face feels incredibly fresh and even brighter looking. I swear I look like I just had 7 hours of sleep instead of 3.
Of course test in small areas to see if something does not work with you. Good luck on battling those small enemies! I hope some products, hopefully all, work for you! May we win the battle!
Gif courtesy of Contour and Confessions