hello all! (6th paragraph for the routine!). I am a boy aged 16!
I have to start this by saying the dreadful "what has worked for my skin may not work for yours" disclaimer.
My acne started when i was 15, i had breakouts for the first time around my nose and on my forehead nothing serious what-so-ever but enough to make me self-conscious. I started using the olay prox cleansing brush with various cleansers and clearasil rapid action pads, when my skin was clear i was using the clean and clear morning energy wash with the rapid action pads and garnier's dark spot correcting moisturiser. Using the olay brush of an evening after a run with a foam cleanser (can't remember which sorry!)
this started in october 2014 and i was officially clear by may 2015 no scars or breakouts!
Then... On july 20th 2015 i used garnier's oily skin bb cream on a hot day, sweated a lot and left it on for 20 hours! The following day would be my last day with clear skin. On july 22nd i woke up with acne everywhere. Large cystic bumps on my forehead, around my nose, around my chin and jaw and closed comedones along my jaw too. Places where i had never had spots before were now covered
i cried that day.
Since then i have spent over £500 on skincare products to try and find something that would fix my skin.
This is my current routine which is working to clear my spots, clear my acne marks and prevent new spots.
Morning:
Wash: Soap and glory peaches and clean. - does not dry out the skin like foaming cleansers which regulates sebum production.
Tone (sort of!): Bioderma's sebium h20 micellar water - contains zinc and copper which aid skin healing and bioderma's formula regulates sebum prodution.
Moisturise: La roche posay's effaclar duo + - lactic acid, salicylic acid, zinc. Aids skin renewal, unclogs pores and heals.
Bb cream (to cover hyper pigmentation to make me feel more confident
): Vichy normaderm bb clear - this bb cream is the one product i recommend you get if you have acne prone skin and want to cover it, it has fantastic coverage just make sure you moisturise as it gives a matte finish and don't apply too much as it can go orange if you apply loads. It has 2% salicylic acid and zinc and kaolin (clay) to really absorb that oil. Also contains spf 16 to avoid sun damage when going to the shops or walking to the town ect.
Night:
Remove bb cream: Soap and glory peaches and clean cleansing milk - contains fruit extracts to brighten and melts the bb cream which i then wipe away with a cotten pad.
Cleanse: Bioderma sebium h20 micellar water which cleanses the skin of impurities whilst regulating sebum production.
Treat and brighten (important step): Nip + fab glycolic fix extreme night pads. Contains 5% glycolic acid and salicylic acid and lactic acid to really exfoliate and brighten whilst getting rid of the present acne. They say to use 3x a week but i have read caroline hiron's blog and she says they are safe to use every day, in addition to this i have used chemical exfoliants before so my skin is more then used to them. Up to you!
Moisturise: La roche posay effaclar duo + again.
Extras: Mario badescu's drying lotion as a spot treatment.
Mario badescu's drying mask - (i like this alot it is drying on the skin but really does reduce inflammation and diminishes spots after 30 mins!).
Boot's acne relief herbal tablets.
This is what has been working for me. It sounds like a lot but takes around an hour and costs around £50 a month.
Even if you only take a snippet of the products from this list they all have their own acne treating properties and have really been helping me!
Thanks for reading
and remember to stay confident and know that tomorrow could be the clear day you've been waiting for so never give up!