What i do to my skin...so far.

Hmm...Let me tell you something before I start, I have an oily skin, and I always have acne, zits, blemishes, pimples, breakouts, whatever you call it. I think it's something from my dad's side, coz my mom claimed she never had acne...or rarely.

So, I'm always dealing with acne...in many different extends, I've experienced all kinds of acne, from moderate til my worst. I tried many products, visited many dermatologist...the bad thing about dermatologists is they prescribed me with their products and I always ended up addicted to it, and somehow after a while they just stopped working on me. And also, I could not trace what's exactly in the products you know, it's their patents so I didn't wanna cross lines.

Recently I paid more attention on what I put on my skin, I read more about skin care, and I must say those really opened up my eyes and made me realized that there were so many steps I wish I didn't take.

Some interesting stuffs I found out about me & my skin:
1. I ALWAYS suffer from acne the worst during winter. I dunno why.
2. All my favorite foods, break me out.
3. Coffee breaks me out too.
4. Stress postpones my period AND breaks me out.
5. I realize "overdoing" my face skin care only makes my acne worse.
6. I should have been more careful with my makeups.

I had a very bad experience lately last winter when I had the so-called 'winter acne'. I tried ProActive's generic brand called AcneFree in set (which include 3 steps, just like ProActive, the cleanser, toner, and moisturiser) from Costco since they had discounts and thought the combination of Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid would help. Woah man, that was very wrong of me...apparently AcneFree dried up my skin too much and I ended up having more pimples than I did, therefore I got stressed out and popped my pimples.....which as now we all know, NOT HELPING AT ALL.

So my bf told me to stop using whatever I was at that time, and even he, also has acne once in a while, although these days he rarely gets them. I started reading more and more and switched cleanser to more mild ones, I started using my bf's which is Johnson & Johnson Purpose. I also read Acne.org and started following Dan Kern's regimen without having to buy his products (thats another reason I like about him, he gives alternatives), and started using just enough Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5%. AND, the most important thing, don't forget to moisturize coz no matter how oily your skin is, it still needs some natural oil and moisturizer helps out the skin from drying.

And after months of recovering from bad regimen, my skin is now getting better, at least back to where I was before the horror started. Also, I started wearing Mineral Makeups which played a very good role in making my skin better. So, that's a basic background of me, and I wanna stress that this is what works FOR ME and although ProActive or AcneFree or those kinds of treatment works for gazillions people out there, it simply just failed for me...so these are products which so far, helped me out alot:

Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash

this cleanser is very gentle and mild, although I've noticed it doesn't completely remove my makeups, therefore I need some sort of toner.

Calamine Bar Soap
Recently, after reading my beauty gurus blogs (especially Nessa's and Christiana's *thanx guys*) I decided to try out this pink soap, I sampled from Pure Luxe (cost me $2.00) and gosh, I love it...I started using it and have seen great progress. I am in PMS period now and I hardly see new pimples, which is amazing in my case.

The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil
First stuff that I tried was the middle bottle, Blemish Fade Night Lotion, which as I read in Makeupalley.com got the best reviews. It works as a moisturizer during night time since it doesn't contain any SPF. I loved the smell and since I'm a Body Shop member, and this month is my birth-month, I got a $10.00 free gifts and also a 10% discounts during March 1st - March 10th if I ask for any skin care consultation. PLUS, during that time Body Shop had "Buy 2 get 1" offer. YAY for me, thats why I decided to get these three at once and I only ended up paying $8.00 mwahahaha. I haven't tried the face cleanser but my friend is using it and his face has been cleared up just by using this cleanser. The small Tea Tree Oil works for on-the-spot treatment and it's been having a great job killing bacteria on new born pimples.

Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment I use all over my face (using Dan Kern's Regimen from Acne.org). It's very tiny and I must invest alot on this but it's the only 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide available over the counter, so yeah... It works very well but I need a moisturizer after that coz the B.P leaves my skin a little bit tight.

I like Olay complete in 'normal' although I have oily skin, I dunno...some girls claimed the 'oily' version break them out. This moisturizer is not greasy also doesn't break out on me, and it contains enough SPF 15 since I have a color skin (fairer girls should go higher, at least SPF 30). I would never go out of the house without SPF to prevent wrinkles and sunspots (yes, I'm still young but starting early wouldn't kill right?) The only cons for this moisturizer is sometimes it leaves white flakes when it's dry, I guess my Neutrogena also contributes to this matter. Oh, and it has fragrance in it, so if you don't like fragrance, make sure you get the "Sensitive skin" which is fragrance-free, instead of "Normal skin". I don't mind the smell.

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is a MUST HAVE, I swear by this, it shrunk my pores!!! I found this @ Walgreen for around $3.00 and they had a BOGO at that time, and I didn't even know hehehe so I was really happy. This mask also can be a spot treatment on flaming acne, just put it directly on the spot and leave it overnight. I guarantee the acne size is reduced the next day, or gone...better yet :D

Aquafina Skin Care Lines
I use the blue bottle, Daily Balancing Toner, for many purposes, as a toner after I washed my face and removed my makeups, as a MAC Fix+ (they have similar ingredients, although I have to pour it to the spray bottle), and foil my eyeshadows (but mainly for swatches). So yeah, it was a good investment and it hasn't break me out. Plus, the smell is sooooo refreshing, I dunno why so many people complained about it.

The Hydrating Facial Spray I just bought 2 days ago, and haven't got to use it...but I've heard good stuffs about it and I'll be using this spray to refresh my mineral makeups and set my foundations.

And of course, my beloved mineral makeups...which I'll be posting about my favorites soon.

I also ordered some stuffs from Garden of Wisdom *which are supposed to be here by now gahhhhh* for exfoliator and and a hydrating mist, also a dry cleanser from SoapalayaSoap which is good for oily/acne skin. It's so cute, the soap looks like a powder which will lather once you mix them with water:

The maker named Alex is really nice and helpful, she made a custom order for everyone if you tell her what ingredients you want to include or omit (if you're allergic to something), and she normally don't sale sample but she sent me a sample for $2.00 ^_^

Here's my Regimen:

Mornings

~ Wash my face with Purpose gentle cleanser or Calamine Soap, which I do more often now
~ Wait for a while, then put Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment all over my face (I gotta do it quick since it's a cream and it gets dry quick, so I wanna make sure it spreads out evenly before it got dried)
~ Wait for a while, then go ahead an moisturize with Olay (I apply thinner layer than my Neutrogena).

Evenings
~ Wash my face with Purpose gentle cleanser or Calamine Soap
~ Three times a week: I put a thin layer of Mint Julep Masque and wait for at least 15 mins, then rinse out with luke warm water...it leaves my skin really smooth and moist.
~ Sometimes if I wore makeup that day, I tone with Aquafina Balancing Toner (if I wear Mask, I would skip this toner...as I said, I don't want to overdo/overdry my face)
~ Wait for a while, then put Neutrogena On-the-Spot treatment all over
~ Put Body Shop Blemish Fade Night Lotion all over my face
~ With Q-tip, apply Tea Tree Oil on pimple spots. Again, no complaint about the strong smell, I kinda like it!
(Before I got this oil, I treated my acne spots with Mint Julep mask :D works just fine)

Phewwww what a long post eh? Oh well, I hope I made some good points and hopefully one or two things I wrote, helps someone out there. I know it helped me, reading people's experience and actually try it on your skin, believe me it takes time, and my skin has some ups and downs (most of the times hehehe), it's just a matter of paying more attention on what your skin loves and how it reacts to new products. As everyone says, don't bombard your skin with several new stuffs at once, coz it will react no matter what and it's harder to trace which or which works/doesn't. So be wise and take it slow !