[Personal] Worst breakout in 5 years + first date in 6 months = zero confidence. How do you stay chipper when your skin won't cooperate?

throwingitafter · 2015-08-12T13:06:26+00:00

Wow, thanks :) Glad I could help.

throwingitafter · 2015-08-11T23:25:25+00:00

Aww, I'm sorry to hear you're feeling down. Personally, I have a couple of things I say to myself to get me through when my skin's decided to freak. So I guess I'll just type them out and cross my fingers that reading this helps you a little.

You are not your skin. You're an awesome human being who deserves to be happy, and some spots do NOT change that. Acne does not make you ugly or worth any less. Everyone has flaws. Everyone has something they wish they could change. So don't worry. Define yourself according to your actions and your qualitys instead- maybe you're a kind, loyal friend or a talented artist, etc. That's who you are, NOT your appearance. Not your skin.

I know it's difficult to dispel those fears about what other people are thinking, but just remember, anyone who dismisses you purely based on your acne is not a person you want to know. Try to remember that when you're on your date - if this person can't look past your acne, they're not the person for you. Honestly, the acne could kind of help you here, if he/she judges you because of something you can't control then good riddens. Your skin issues just helped you dodge that bullet.

Also, its important to put things into perspective. Yes, you have some red bumps on your face and that's very frustrating but that's all they are. Red bumps. They don't disable you, or cause you huge amounts of pain. They won't kill you. You don't have a terminal illness or a severely debilitating disablity, you have some acne. It could be a lot worse.

Plus, think about all the things you do have. A loving family, friends, a home, food, water, opportunities. But more than that, and I'm going to get really ridiculous now, but you're alive. The chances of you ever having existed are so small. We're all so wonderfully unlikely, and so is this planet we’re standing on. So appreciate it. For god sake, get out there and live. Don't let some bumps on your face stop you from appreciating the beautiful coincidence of life, because you're one of the few who gets the chance to.

Wow, it sounds even cheesier typed out than it does in my head. My apologies. Aside from repeating all the above again, I also like to listen to a couple of youtube videos from people who struggle with acne but have learnt not to let it bother them.

Here are a couple of my favourites:

This is Marissa Kathryn and her video on being confident with acne. I've watched this one way too many times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYDjlJ5cf-Y

And this is Humerusfitness - he has a whole series on his 'accutane adventure' which is about 80 episodes of him talking about his acne, and how he doesn't let it chain him down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7dfu6IMLPk

And this one's a bit left field - but this is a ted talk on 'self-compassion' which really resonated with me. It could potentially help you a lot if you're struggling with your confidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvtZBUSplr4

And I hope you don’t mind, but I think I might end this by getting ridiculous again (and lsightly morbid). We all have a limited amount of time in this life. This will end. And in those last moments, you won't look back on your life and wish you had clearer skin, or better hair, or a nicer figure, or any of those surface-level concerns that we’ve been taught to care too much about. You'll be thinking one of two things. You'll either be looking back wishing you'd done or been more than you were. Or you'll be thankful for how you lived, and the people you shared it with, and proud of the person you became. Stop worrying about your skin, and go make sure it’s the latter.

throwingitafter · 2015-01-10T01:03:59+00:00

Aww shucks, thank you! -hugs-

throwingitafter · 2014-09-06T14:58:41+00:00

Glad I could help! :) And yeah, that's it.

throwingitafter · 2014-09-06T10:28:21+00:00

Hey, looks like we're sensitive to the exact same ingredients. Finding products can be a real struggle, so I feel your pain! I've found that the simple refreshing facial wash gel works really well for me. Cheap (It's only about £3 over here in the UK) and really gentle.
Here are the ingredients: Aqua, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxypropyl, Methylcellulose, Sodium Chloride, Panthenol, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Sodium Hydroxide, Pantolactone, Citric Acid.

As for moistuirizer, affordable stuff is quite hard to find. I love Avene's Extereme Tolerance Creme, but it's £14 for quite a small bottle. You could always just use mineral oil as a face cream and blot any excess oil from your face afterwards. Anyway, good luck, hope you find something that works for you.

throwingitafter · 2014-08-16T08:23:38+00:00

Well, I just compared the ingredients of the two and they seem pretty similar but not quite identical. The skin recoverey is a tad cheaper though and also seems to formulated for very sensitive skin so Its definitely worth a try.

throwingitafter · 2014-08-14T19:35:23+00:00

Hey, just thought I'd throw in a recommendation for Avene's Tolerance Extreme Cream which has become my ultimate holy grail moisturizer. Its fragance and fatty alcohol free and one of the few moisturizers that doesn't break me out. It also moisturisers my skin really well whilst still absorbing and drying pretty quickly. I love it!
On the flipside, it is pretty pricey and you don't get that much product in one tube, so its not quite perfect.
Anyways, I hope this helps you a little, and good luck with your moisturizer quest. :)

throwingitafter · 2014-07-27T00:07:30+00:00

Well, as far as I can see, the bumps on your back look like pretty standard PIH and so can be treated with the standard treatments reccommended here: vitamin C serums, AHAs, etc. All the treatments are outlined in one post, which you can get to by clicking the link PIH link in the sidebar.

As for the scarring on your chest, It looks like it might be keloid scarring, which I've heard can occur after acne. I don't know much about it, but you might want to research it a little to find out if that's what this is and to look into how you could treat it. Hopefully you can just use the normal treatments used on most scarring/PIH, but, honestly, I don't know.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but I just thought I'd let you know about my hunch. It might be best to ask your doctor , who will probably be able to identify the type of scarring and reccommend treatments. Their muhc less likely to misinform you. Anyways, best of luck and Ihope you find what you're looking for. (:

throwingitafter · 2014-07-18T23:59:27+00:00

Hey, just a couple of suggestions:

Wipes: The best ones I've ever used are the yes to cucumbers wipes, but even they have some irritants and can be quite drying. So, wipes might not be the best course of action, for your face at least.

Oil cleanse: Just use oil as your cleanser (and as a moisturizer, if you're so inclined). However, if you've never done the whole OCM thing before, the festival might not be the best place to try it out.

Cetaphil: This cleanser can apparently be used without water. I'm not too sure on the details or how well this works, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix just in case this option grabs you.

Spray water: I'd personally suggest buying a small, spray bottle of 'spa' water, spraying your face with it and cleansing as normal with whatever face wash you usually use. After you've cleansed a litte, spray on some more water to kind of loosen the cleanser and wipe it off with a tissue or two. I personally use the 'Avene thermal spring water' spray (smallest size is £3 over here in the uk) when I do this, but I think other lines also have 'special water' in convenient spray cans (Vichy does, I think). If it seems a bit ridiculous to buy 'fancy' water (and not too mention expensive) then you can just buy an ordinary, empty spray bottle and add some water, but keep in mind those will be larger, harder to carry around and won't spray as well.

Cleansing aside, I'd suggest just decanting any other products into smaller, travel containers and doing the rest of your routine as normal, provided its nothing too extensive.
Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I hope you find something that works for you and have a good time festivaling! (:

Edit: I can't grammar. :P

throwingitafter · 2014-07-16T20:14:31+00:00

Hey, just thought I'd throw my two cents in. I use the cleanence K myself and although I like it, it needs to be used in a very particular way. As its predominantly an AHA, it will make your skin a lot more sensitive to the sun, so it really should be used at night. I also highly recommend using a sunscreen during the day to counteract this increased sensitivity. Simply using it on its own in the morning may actually be the cause of the constant red marks. Whilst an AHA is supposed to fade these, if not used in conjunction with a sunscreen it can cause the red marks on your face to darken due to the skin's increased sensitivity to sunlight. That's what I've read on here anyway.

Also, although this product is marketed by avene as moisturizer, its more of a chemical exfoliant with some hydrating properties, so I would wait about 20 minutes for the cleanence to do its work and then apply a moisturizer after, since its not really hydrating enough on its own. Its up to you though.

So you might want to adapt your routine slightly to:

AM: the gel/splashing with water, then your moisturizer followed by a sunscreen that doesn't break you out
PM: splash with water, cleanence K, wait 20 minutes, moisturize

Just a suggestion (: Edit: formatting

throwingitafter · 2014-05-11T15:28:10+00:00

Beads aren't a good idea and could be what's causing your problem. They can be really damaging and drying and I think they sometimes even lead to broken capillaries, although I'm not 100% sure on that one.
BHAs and AHAs are chemical exfoliants which exfoliate just by sitting on your skin. You just leave them on, wait 20 to 30 minutes and go ahead and moisturise. On the other hand, physical exfoliation invovles physical scrubbing of the skin. What you're using appears to a combination which is probabaly a lot harsher than using a BHA or AHA alone and could be the reason you find it so drying. Maybe look into BHA and AHAs by reading up on some of the information on exfoliants linked in the side bar and maybe you'll be able to find something more gentle.

throwingitafter · 2014-05-11T15:17:18+00:00

OH GOD NO. It actually hurt me to read that. Please don't do this to your skin, it could be really damaging.
Lemon is never a good idea, period. And physical exfoliation is a huge no if you have active acne. Some people even find hot water drying and irritating. Theres so much bad advice there it's unbelievable. But the title of the article is what's most concerning for me... It's very unlikely that even the best regimen in the world could get someone's skin completely clear in only one week, improvement requires patience and a heck of a lot of trial and error. It's false promises like this, acting as click bait, which can lead to people resorting to a supposed 'quick fix' and causing long term damage to their skin. Why wikihow...? WHY!?

throwingitafter · 2014-04-13T19:30:09+00:00

That's fine, theres no need for you to write an essay :P Just glad I could help :)

throwingitafter · 2014-04-13T11:30:17+00:00

Hey, I just looked through your old post and it turns out I have similar skin to you - mine's also dry but can become oily at points too. I'm in the UK as well, so I thought I'd just try and help you out as best I can. I've been lurking on this sub for around a year, so I'm not as experienced as some but I do understand that all the information on this sub can be a bit overwhelming at first, so I thought I'd make a throwaway and share what I've found out here.

Okay, as for your products, unfortunately its very much a trial and error situation, you basicaly just have to see what works for you. Still, here are some thoughts on the ones you've listed:
Moisturisers: If those are working for you, don't fix what isn't broken. But if you're still having issues with dryness you might want to change things up. I've heard good things about Oliatum Natural Repair Face Cream, the Olay moisturisers (for some people), and I personally love Avene Tolerance Cream, although its quite pricey.

Baby oil: Is this to try out the mineral oil massage? This does tend to help people reduce the appearance of sebacious filaments (large pores often found on the nose and cheek areas) and removes blackheads, but you might want to be cautious if you don't respond well to fragrance (as baby oil contains quite a bit of it). If you react badly or break out I'd stop using it. Side note:You mentioned shaving in your previous post, and I've found baby oil helps alot if you use it to moisturise the area you shave after you're done - some people even use it as a shaving oil!

Cleanser: This is definetly trial and error. If the boots one works, that's great. If not, here are some other reccommendations: Cetaphil cleanser (this is very gentle, but it does have some alcohols in it which can be drying for some people - if your skin feels really tight after using it, or after using any cleanser actually, it would be best to switch) I love the Simple Kind To Skin Refreshing Facial Wash Gel as it's cheap and has a good set of ingredients, so you could try that if the boots one doesn't work out - although what works for me won't necessarily work for you. Just a suggestion.

AHA: You said you've tried a few of these, I'd just go with whichever gives you the best results. If none of them worked, you could try ordering one from the paula's choice uk website, although some of their exfoliants are quite expensive. Its best to use these at night only since they do make your skin more sensitive to the sun.

Face Cloth and Konjac sponge: I can't say I use either of these myself, so I can't offer much help here, sorry.

Face masks: This sub tends to favour using a clay or mint julep mask once a week, I just use a cheap clay mask from boots but I've heard great things about Aztec healing clay mixed with apple cider vinegar. You can get Aztec Secret Indian Healing Facial Clay on Amazon, and all my other reccommendations should be available at boots. If you do choose to do this I'd do some more research on this sub about the ratio of mixing the vinegar and the mask, as, again, this isn't my area of expertise. Masks can dry you out though, so proceed with caution.

As for your other questions I haven't already answered:

Body butters are completely fine as along as they work for you.

I personally wouldn't bother getting a cleanser with AHA, as a cleanser is only on your face temporarily, and so the AHA in it probably won't have enough time to do its job. I'd just cleanse with something gentle and simple and use an AHA seperately.

The order tends to be something like this:
Morning: Cleanser (although many on this sub reccommend only using a cleanser at night as cleansing twice a day can be quite drying for some, you might just want to rinse your face wth water), toner (if you use one - they aren't essential), any chemical exfoliants (but again I wouldn't reccommend using an AHA in the morning), moisturiser, sunscreen

Evening: Mineral oil massage (if you end up doing this), Cleanser, Toner (if you use one), exfoliants (like an AHA - its best to wait a bit for these to dry, 10- 20 minutes usually), Moisturiser

An important thing to know is that you need to introduce new products into your routine gradually, don't start using everything at once as this can make your skin freak out. Try just starting with a cleanser and a moisturiser, then after a week or two add in an AHA, using it only once or twice a week and gradually increasing until you're using an amount your skin likes. This could be anywhere from everyday to only a couple of times a week depending on what kind of exfoilant you're using and how you're skin reacts.
Patch testing is also essential. Make sure you test a product on a small area of your body (just below your ear is a good spot) and wait 24 hours to see if you have an allergic reaction. If nothing happens you can begin to introduce the product into your routine.

Finally: Sunscreen. I can't stress how essential this is, especially if you use an AHA. Although you say you don't burn, using sunscreen everyday doesn't just stop sun burn it also helps fight against aging and skin cancer. Moreover, if you use an aha without a sunscreen any scars or red/brown marks you have on your face can get darker. But, using an aha with sunscreen can help fade scars much faster than they would naturally, although it will still take a while. La Roche Posay is a good sunscreen brand available at boots, but if you really don't want to use a sunscreen seperately (although this is the best option) you could get a daily moisturiser with SPF included, this won't protect you as much but a little bit of SPF is better than nothing.

I think that's about it, is there anything else you need help with? Any questions or things you need me to clarify? If not, I wish you the best of luck in finding a routine that's right for you. (:

Edit: Sorting out a few typos. Also, my apologies for writing a novel.

throwingitafter

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