Ch.2 A year update on my acne journey

 Hi guys! 

It's been almost a year since I wrote about my struggles with acne, so I just want to update you on how the journey has been. Here's the link to my last update! 

But first, an update on my life! 

I am currently a Junior majoring in Health Communications and is on the Chiropractic path. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 I will be spending my first semester of Junior year online. Which is pretty sad, since it is my college experience... 

Here is a picture of me during a internship shadowing field trip 

On the more positive note, because of  COVID-19 I took up embroidery and gardening (call me a plant mom!) 

A family portrait with my two sunflowers, I'm starting on a new plant project with lavender 

 

I'll put up another post about my embroidery hobby,  since it'll take up too much space and I'll get sidetracked. 

 

Alright, enough update on my life~ let's start taking about my acne journey! 

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Last update was Freshmen year when my face look liked this-

 

 

This is the right side of my face

 This is the left side of my face

 

 

 

 

This is what my face looks like now- 

This is the right side of my face

This is the left side of my face

 

 As you can tell, there is a slight difference in terms of redness and occurrence. 

 

After freshmen year of high school with no improvements with the antibiotics medication, zinc pills, and the fact that I don't want to start taking birth controls, my mother introduced me to a dermatologist. 

Dermatologists are expensive, and I finally realize the impact of the saying "Everyone's skin is different". I tried out all the natural ways of fading of acne scars, calming cystic acne down, even tried different products like The Ordinary, Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Gel etc.

 

My dermatologist recommended me to do a laser therapy called Pico, which is something similar to microblading: poking tiny holes and injecting cellulite. I did this treatment 3 times within the span of three months and did not continue as the treatments were too expensive. However, I did notice a great improvement in my skin (less redness)and I think this procedure has made my skin rejuvenate on its own. 

Routine Changes

Another tip my dermatologist recommend was to stop putting primer on when applying makeup as it was like "putting cement over a rocky pavement", I'm covering the pores. Since my skin is combination, she also taught me to only put moisturizer on the days that my skin feels dry or else my skin would overproduce oil. During this time I've also switched out my liquid foundation to powder foundation so that it won't mix with my face oil and create dirt.

Currently my skincare routine looks like this: 

 

Let's break down this clump of skincare-

 

My makeup remover hasn't changed, it's still the Pluryal Micellar Water 

My cleanser has changed, and I've switched out to La Roche Posay as the previous one was drying out really bad. I've honestly tried out all kinds of cleanser like the Pigmentclar, Toleriane and the Effaclar line and I really like the Effaclar face wash. The reason why I'm hesitating on the Toleriane wash is because since there was no bubbles/ foams forming (as it was a gentle wash) I don't know if it's actually cleansing my face. 

Usually I would wash twice as a double cleansing process but to comfort my speculation, I bought two face wash to double cleansing. I use the Toleriane as a face wash to rinse off the remaining makeup then use the Effaclar as the second step of cleansing. 

I've also started to use cleansing pads to exfoliate and to clean the remaining dirt (I guess?), this was the cleansing pad from the dermatologist but a dupe for this would be Aveeno Clear Complexion or RoC Daily Resurfacing Disk. 

For moisturizer, I switched to Clinque Moisture Surge. This is a more thinner material and I only apply it during the winter as my skin is more dry.

 

For topical ointment, I'm still using the Epiduo cream and Fucidin (antibiotics). 

And last but not least sunscreen, I'm using the Skin Aqua Tone Up UV in purple tone to whiten my skin before applying makeup, I actually like the green tone more but they don't have any in my hometown.

I've been trying out a new product which is apple pectin.

I've been drinking apple pectin for 3 days now and also put the powder mix with water as a facial mask. 

Another new thing I've been doing is drinking 2.5L per day, I even bought a nice water bottle as well since there's this ongoing joke that people tell us to drink water whenever we have a pimple, I've decided to put this experiment to test. Besides Apple Pectin and water, I've also been working out a lot (to get rid of the toxins).

 

I'll continue to update you on my skin journey and whether or not does apple pectin works as I currently need to wait 3 weeks before I see an improvement. 

 

But for now, hope you enjoy my yearly skin update! 

 

 

I'm out--->