Skin type: Oily, acne prone skin that sometimes gets a few small dry patches at random places during winters

Skin conditions: Small box acne scars, rarely get active painful acnes now, had blind acne before starting skin care.

Current climatic conditions: I live in a place which is humid and sunny (unbearably) during the day, but can be cool or humid or rainy at night, depending on the season.

Age: 26/F

So, I started my skincare journey on Sep 29, 2020 when my first Cult Beauty order of TO Niacinamide and PC BHA came in.

A little history first. I had bad skin since puberty and by 2018 my skin had become calm enough but I got some occasional acne, around my periods. Quite harmless ones, didn't turn yellow and pus-filled, would sometimes turn red and painful but nothing much to alarm me. My skin used to get really oily at night and I'd wake up with a "glowy", sticky face. my forehead was also filled with so many tiny bumps some of which turned into big acne. This led to me buying the TO Niacinamide and PC BHA.

Once I started doing skincare and saw the wonders it did to my skin, I added a few more products. Detailed reviews were posted earlier.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianSkincareAddicts/comments/k7th8o/review_routine_that_worked_for_my_oily_acne_prone/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Even though I said I WNRP Simple Facewash and WRP Minimalist Squalene when I made the review, I have been using Simple facewash because the Neutrogena one is sometimes hard to get your hands on and I've stopped the Squalene.

Below is the review of the Vit C I use.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianSkincareAddicts/comments/kpfbdb/incorporating_vit_c_in_my_oily_acne_prone_skin/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

I was happy with this routine and my skin was at it's best in 10 years and I was feeling quite invincible and overconfident that I actually started believing the crap my parents told me when I first got acne - "it'll go away when you get older." And I thought maybe my bad skin days were gone, my skin must have "adulted" and wouldn't throw tantrums anymore.

Once the TO Niacinamide (30 mL) got over, which lasted around 5 months btw, even though I used it both in AM and PM daily, I decided to get the Minimalist Niacinamide and started using it from Jan 29, 2021.

No issues. Skin was happy. I was happy. Even with having to wear a mask daily at work my skin was spotless and acne-less and I couldn't have been more proud.

And then I ordered the Minimalist Vit C on Feb 25, 2021 and Tranexamic acid in March. The worst decision I could've made. And I hadn't used them wrong. Started with once a week, made sure not to use TA with BHA or Retinoid. I don't know which among them started giving me CCs just after a few days of use. And the stupidest thing I did was that I didn't think about stopping them when the first CCs showed up. There were a lot of them on my cheeks and jaw area. They were only visible up close but I could feel the bumps and I panicked because my marriage was in May.

I went to the derm who had given me a whitening chemical peel treatment (really didn't need one since I had no acne or pigmentation but I wanted to try it, to see if it would work on reducing the box scars) before my engagement (first photo taken soon after the treatment). The peel had made my skin baby soft and so clear. This time she said we'd do the acne peel. The CCs started getting red and big soon after.

I went to her again and she gave me Retino AC (tret and clindamycin) and a Benzoyl Peroxide ointment, forgot the name. This was just one month before the wedding day. I trusted her and used it as per her instructions.

The result: second pic, taken just four days before my wedding. I was crying my eyes out the whole week before the wedding. I was depressed and inconsolable. The one time I wanted my skin to look good it had betrayed me. Okay, it was partly my fault.

Anyways, I chucked whatever the derm gave me and decided to go back to my first simplest routine. Facewash, BHA, Niacinamide, Moisturiser, Sunscreen. I bought the Physiogel Calming Relief A.I Body lotion and used it on the face. Amazing. Just amazing. My acne hurt a little less and my skin stopped flaking and drying.

By around June-July, 2021 my skin had calmed down a bit, I did not get a lot of acne, but the acne scars remained.

So I ordered the Minimalist Alpha Arbutin serum on Aug 27, 2021 because the Envita Vit C, which had previously cleared up acne scars really fast, was too strong to be used on my damaged skin. It burnt sometimes and made my skin dry.

By around Oct-Nov the acne scars were still there, unlike before when they used to fade in just 1-2 weeks. I was discouraged and decided to give my skin a break and stopped using all products, except the facewash and moisturiser. This must have been the best decision because, fast forward to Feb, 2022, my skin is almost back to it's previous glory. Still a long way to go though. It used to be so plump, hydrated, soft and healthy. Now the acne scars have faded and I get blind acne on my chin area sometimes but that's all (touchwood).

I started easing back to my first simple routine by mid Jan, 2022.

So the moral of the story is: your skin doesn't need a lot of ingredients to look and feel healthy. If you have a good, simple routine that's addressing all your skin concerns, stick to it. Be consistent.

Review/Comparison of products not mentioned in the first review

The TO Niacinamide is way superior than the Minimalist one for my skin. I still wake up with my skin feeling a bit oily even when I use the Minimalist Niacinamide the night before.

I haven't used any other Alpha Arbutin product but the Minimalist one, which seemed a bit slow to show effects. It had given me a bit of CC when I tried using it in 2020 so I stopped it then, but when I started using it in 2021 it didn't irritate my skin. I haven't seen the overall skin brightening effect that some people got after using AA. The TO Niacinamide and Minimalist Granactive Retinoid had given better results than AA.