If you've followed me long enough you probably
(or not lol I use foundation almost everyday and facetune is my friend) know that I've struggled with acne for most of my life.
Ever since I was 13, I would have what we would call "pimple popping sessions" every other day with my older cousin or my aunt. That session is like those korean extracting spas except I scream the whole time because the needle poked me too hard or my cousin screams because the puss would quite literally squirt on to her face.
It was a painful process that my entire family convinced was good for me and would yell at me if i complained.
They would use one of these bad boys and poke the absolute sh*t out of the pimple, then use the ring to press it out and the pimple would either pop out like a gopher from the ground, or be so deep into the skin that blood comes out and a ring indentation would form on my face.
This would lead to dark red acne scars from damaged epidermal tissue so I also suffered from hyper pigmentation.
Along with popping acne, we HAVE to talk about the "you're not washing your face clean enough" and the "you can't eat that because you have acne" (which is partially correct except if you have hormonal acne like I did) .
Anyways, this is what my skin looked like in late 2017
I had oily, acne prone skin with hyperpigmentation, clogged pores, little bumps under the skin and zits around my cheeks and my jawline
From what I remember, it was MUCH worse in 2013 and fluctuated throughout the process
These are all the acne products I've tried with no positive results.
Now I've tried SO MANY ways to get rid of my acne from diy masks, to aloe vera to this weird concoction my mom read about online where you grab weeds from your backyard, crush them and apply them to my face. Of course my acne became inflamed because who DOES that to skin?? but my mom was convinced that "its working damnit"
I've tried rosehip oils and deep pore cleansing masks in addition to Centella Asiatica (a popular korean ingredient used to heal your skin) and Troiareuke to heal this mess but my skin was like a stubborn bull and just will not disappear darn it
I also tried keratin and biotin vitamins that a friend said would work but I would just forget about it because of my busy schedule or my nails would turn too frail so I had to stop ingesting it.
Because my mom insisted that it was because of my use of foundations, I stopped applying it (it was a painful time let me tell y'all..from using it everyday to cutting it out cold turkey...a nightmare)
while consistently using my skincare AND washing my brushes every week but again with no avail.
After that, my mom insisted that I use this Vietnamese cream that I literally have no idea what it is?? It was a yellow thick cream that has a consistency of refrigerated butter and has no words or ingredients on it but has a picture of a bird on the packaging and if someone random handed me a jar of that I would never think that it would go on my face (again no positive results)
Finally I decided to try Curology (not spon) and after that free trial, the little bumps under my skin around my cheeks disappeared (without popping it out!!) and I was finally seeing the light. Unfortunately, the rest of my acne didn't heal so I stopped using it. After that, I've stopped having the small bumps under my skin (thank the lorrrd)
To the tackle my mom's "you're using too much foundation and not washing it off correctly" assumption, I would use a bb balm which has acne fighting and hyper-pigmentation lightening properties. At the and of the day I would use baby oil, rub it ALL OVER my face, concentrating it around my eyes then wash it off with a general (not acne fighting or scrubs; Cetaphil does the trick) twice. After hopping out of the shower (which is when my pores are open) I would use a textured cloth (cotton is good too! I just think about the waste I'm creating if I use it every day) , douse a corner of it with micellar water and use my finger to direct it all over my face, concentrating it around the perimeter of my face, at my pores and finally, around my ears. 95% of the time,there is still remaining makeup after I was my face and this removes all that gunk.
For my skin care routine, I used to go in with the a toner (usually Clinique, Neutrogena, The Face Shop) an oil (Acure, Centella Asiatica), a serum (hyaluronic acid or vitamin C serum) and AHA/BHA spray (Cosrx), but after not seeing any improvement I almost gave up hope.
Until one day I just stopped drinking milk and ingesting dairy products because it wasn't convenient to bring it to school. It was also winter so I didn't think of eating ice cream or yogurt and I noticed that the painful acne that painfully forms from under the skin for 2 days straight has decreased significantly.
I continued avoiding dairy products and kept my skincare simple just to let my skin breathe (apparently that's a thing). At this time I'm using the No 7 beautiful skin moisturizer for daytime and nighttime and although it's good, it stings my eyes if I apply too much. At this time, I only have hyperpigmentation and clogged pores because of my oily skin.
Later that month an acquaintance told me that she healed her hyper pigmentation by using the a Vitamin E oil that has the highest amount of International Units so I've been using a 24,000 IU vitamin E oil twice a day (it kind of looks like I'm sweating a lot but you sacrifice beauty for beauty I guess). This oil is also really good under foundation because its moisturizing and doesn't emphasize dry spots.
Soon after, I was doing research on my oily skin and long story short, you have have both oily and dehydrated skin which causes acne so I after I finished my No 7 moisturizer, I purchased pure hyaluronic acid and used it as a moisturizer and toner.
Currently my skin care routine looks like this
and my skin looks like this
and I'm satisfied with the progress!! Currently, there are some redness leftover, most of it went away along with my jaw acne and the clogged pores on my cheeks! There are no longer signs of under-the-skin zits (unless I consume dairy) and overall my skin looks so much glowier with very little texture (except the crater scars which I heard dermarolling helps).
So moral of the story is you have to try different things to see what works for you (and it might a couple, or in my case, 8 years). I'l admit that I haven't used african soap or that one really strong clay mask that is all over amazon and that might cut back those 8 years to mayne two is I used those products lol. It is also important think about other factors that affect your skin (weather or the drynees of the air, diet, exercise etc). Last but not least the tip I'd like to give you is to not give up hope
on your skin!! Good things in life take time and if you're patient with your skin, good things will come!