My Stylish Skin Care Journey

Today's blog post has been a long time coming. I haven't shared it yet because I've truly been waiting until I have a set regime that I feel is worth sharing and I think I have finally got it. Today's post is long but I promise it will be worth it! I've shared with y'all before that I have had problematic skin my entire life and in the past 2 years it has been an even bigger challenge as I am dealing with much different acne than I have in the past. Not to bore you with the details but a quick recap. I went on birth control at the age of 12 due to my hormonal acne, started seeing a Dermatologist on a regular basis, tried every topical that was ever invented (and no I am not exaggerating, this is true) and then ended up going on Accutane... twice!

My skin was clear after the second round of Accutane until about age 24. Things started to get bad again, I was breaking out constantly, couldn't keep it under control, was getting these deep cystic like things all over my face, especially my chin area. Now I am going to admit from age 25-27 I was very stubborn. I refused to go see a dermatologist because I felt all they were going to do was put me on yet another topical and send me on my way. It wasn't until 2017 that my mom finally convinced me that I need to see some doctor so she suggested a naturopath doctor after she and a few of her friends had a lot of success with her. At this point, my skin was affecting my whole life. I didn't want to leave the house, I was ashamed of my skin and I was only 27 years old. That appointment definitely started the upward process of the healing of my skin. She immediately looked at my skin and told me I had a severe case of adult cystic hormonal acne. These are hard to treat especially if birth control isn't helping, so she suggested Spironolactone. This medicine on the surface is for treating heart failure, but it's been proven to also have an underlying affect on adult cystic acne. She started me on 50 mg and I increased to 100 mg after about 6 months. This honestly has been one of the only things that's ever worked. I used to break out on my back and chest and its 100% completely cleared it up. My face was at about 70%. 

After a year I went back to her and said what should I do to get me to the full 100%. She actually suggested going and seeing a dermatologist, just to see if they have a different opinion. The derm suggested I start Tretinoin on my face as well start 100mg of Niacinamide (Vitamin B3). She also gave me a Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask and said that blue and red light can help with the cystic acne coming back. This combination has changed my skin lightyears in just 3 short months. She did tell me that it can take 5-7 months for the Tretinoin to fully work (I started in April of this year) so while I am not at 100% I am far beyond where I ever thought I would be. 

I decided to share my (rather long albeit) story because I know I am not alone with my skin. Having bad skin does not define you, even though I thought it did. Always comparing yourself to the "perfect" people you see on social media, is only going to slowly kill you and once I realized that I finally began to heal.Now I am not 100% clear and probably will always deal with some form of acne for the rest of my life, but I know that if I continue to heal my skin and take care of it, I can get to what I feel is 100%. 

On top of sharing my story, I wanted to share my skin care routine since I feel like I've finally found some amazing products that really work. My regime is really basic and because my skin is so sensitive, I try not to add in a bunch of filler product which can irritate my skin. I do share some masks after my normal routine that I love to do once in awhile, but really I keep it the same not to mess with what I know works. 

^ This photo was taken 3 weeks ago. I can tell you right now I haven't seen my skin look this clear in 4+ years. I did minimal editing to this photo, nothing to my face and I'm wearing minimal makeup just a primer. 

I wash my face morning and night with this Derma E Acne Deep Pore Acne Cleansing Wash it has willow bark extract in it which is really soothing for skin that likes to flare up with acne

Every OTHER night I use my Clarisonic Mia in the shower with my cleanser. The derm told me if I use this daily it can really make you dry especially with the retinol. 

After I wash my face I follow up with the Derma E Radiance Toner with Glycolic Acid I actually just started using this about a month ago and its helped really brighten my skin it also helps get off any gunk that I may have not gotten off with my cleanser.

In the morning I use Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizer because it has SPF. I am actually allergic to sunscreen on my face so this having SPF in it is gold. At night I use Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Face Moisturizer Gel-Cream

I use the Light Therapy Acne Mask every other night now and its done wonders. I promise, I had little faith in this, but it's truly helped in just 3 short months. 

I am trying to introduce an eye cream as I am turning 30 next year and want to keep my fine lines and wrinkle at bay and I love this Dr. Brandt No More Baggage Eye de-puffing gel. I just started using this and really like it so far so we will see! 

A few of my other favorite items are below. I love using these when I feel my skin needs a little pick me up and I study each product to ensure that its not going to react badly with my skin. 

My skin care journey is definitely far from over, but I felt it was time to share with my readers what I am going through and I will definitely continue to keep y'all updated! If you've made it this far in the post, thank you for reading! 

So until next time... Live Stylishly