I need your help. With my face.
(I bet that’s not what you thought I was going to talk about right here. Feel free to be astonished and delighted at my cleverness.)
So, back in the day, I turned 12. As stunningly good looking as I was already in my blue plaid skirt and my L’ecole loafers and my Peter Pan collar and my red glasses and my PERM, I also started to break out. And pretty much my skin has been broken out every day of my life since then.
It’s never crazy broken out…usually one or two zits at a time, somewhere on my face, always in various stages of coming or going. And I am SO INCREDIBLY sick of it. I hate hate hate it.
I thought once I hit the ancient old age of thirtyish maybe I wouldn’t have the skin of a twelve year old anymore, but no. The zits keep on coming. The only thing that is different is that now my skin is also even more dry than before and it looks tired a lot more easily.
For a long time I used a cheap but somewhat effective routine of Clearasil face wash and Neutrogena Face Clearing lotion. Once in awhile I used some Aveeno Soy Skin Brightening Scrub. The cleanser and the lotion were full of salicyc acid, which works a lot better for my skin than benzoyl peroxide which doesn’t work AT ALL.
The main problem with this is that my skin started looking tired and old and I felt like I was maybe stripping it or taxing it or something or putting horrible cheap noxious chemicals on it and someday I was going to be PAY for using $4.49 face wash and since this is the year of the fabulous, I took the plunge and now my bathroom looks like a Philosophy warehouse. Right now I’m using the Purity Made Simple Cleanser every morning, then the Hope In A Bottle Lotion during the day. And then once a week these two part scrubby packet dealy things. At night I wash my face with my Clinique toner #3 and then if I remember I smear that freaky When Hope Is Not Enough serum on my face, slap on some eye cream, and then hit up whatever breakouts I might have with the Philosophy On a Clear Day zit busting magic.
I’ve been doing all this for a month and if anything my skin is worse. At best it’s no better. It think it looks less tired but I have tons of break outs and it feels really dry. I can’t use the scrubby stuff any more because my skin FREAKED out – it would be baby soft and glowing right after I did it, but then it would get crazy dry and break out like a mad man. I am totally not impressed with either the cleanser or the face lotion from Philosophy, and also, what gives with the smell? I also have a bottle of Hope In A Jar but it smells SO SO SO bad to me, I can’t use it.
So. I should probably add that the ONLY times in my life I’ve had great skin were when I was on the pill and when I was pregnant. So I totally believe this to be hormonal. I can’t go back on the pill because it makes me CRAZZZZZZZZZZZY and um, hi, I’m not getting pregnant just so I can have nice skin. It’s at most a side benefit, I think you’d agree.
I really would like to find a new cleanser and face lotion that actually works. Even if it’s marginal improvement, or just doesn’t smell like ass, that would be fine. I’m thinking Clinique, Aveda, Origins? Maybe Kiehls, but first I’d have to marry an oil baron or sell my teeth or something. Since I have no personal experience with any of these lines I am desperately looking for ideas or recommendations or raves or hates.
You may doubt me, but I am certain that the internet can come together and fix just about anything, including my eighteen years of problem skin. I do believe the internet can do anything.
YES WE CAN.
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Origins!!
Great stuff. I use the Dr. Weil Plantidote Mega Mushroom face cream and serum and I have been oh so pleased. About 6 weeks ago I was in the midst of a dry/crusty/angry/broken out face debacle, and I think Dr. Weil and his magical mushrooms cured me. I feel all glowy now!
I also use Checks and Balances face wash from Origins each morning and about once or twice a week I do a mask – usually You’re Getting Warmer. It smells like cinnamon! So yum!
Aveda makes good stuff, too. I use their Botanical Kinetics Purifying Gel Cleanser before bed. It’s very mild and works for combination skin. My facialist recommended it.
Good luck and happy shopping!
I’m with you. I don’t love my Philosophy products (I WANTED to love them though) and I’m looking for new things myself. I think I’m going to start with Origins because every makeup product I’ve used there I’ve loved and it has been kind to my skin (lovely Origins). After that, if it sucks it up, I’ll also go to Kiehls.
I’ll keep you posted and likewise, k?
Here’s to great skin before we’re 40!
It might sound like a cheap/stupid suggestion, but I have been using Oil of Olay Regenerist Daily Cleanser. It’s got soft little beads in it that aren’t harsh at all, but you can still tell your face is clean. Oh, and no weird tingly stuff happens after you rinse it. Just a fresh, clean faced feeling. Then at night I follow it up with Regenerist Night Recovery.
My skin has been drying itself out as I have been getting older, but the Night Recovery works really well.
Both, to me anyway, smell nice and clean. I found them at Publix looking for face washing solutions that didn’t smell like butt, and/or scrub the first two layers of skin off my face.
Good luck!!
Hi, Princess Nebraska! I visit you a lot, but I believe this to be the first time I’ve commented.
I’ve heard great things about Aveda’s acne line, Outer Peace. It is always, always, always sold out in the stores around here so I’ve yet to try it myself. I mean, I could order it online I guess, but I haven’t yet.
I personally love Yonka, but it’s a little on the expensive side. I used to use it religiously, but then I had kids and went broke. I swear I’m going back to it soon, though, as soon as my current bottles of stuff are empty. I love it so much, and it smells heavenly.
Good luck!
I used to work for Clinique… if you’re just using the toner to cleanse in the evening, then you’re not really getting clean because the toner has no cleaning properties. It’s actually intended to help with chemical exfoliation.
You need an actual cleanser for at night, and as someone with very similar skin, may I suggest the Body Shop’s Aloe Vera Calming Cleanser? Soothes my skin so much and oddly, seems to help with the breakouts. And I use Neutrogena’s Oil Free Gentle Scrub in the mornings… it has salicylic acid in it as well. Lovely stuff.
I use N. V. Perricone, but you would have to sell your child. I understand not everyone wants to do that. SO!
GET TO A DERMATOLOGIST! I had all manner of skin issues and tried every product under the sun, and the only thing that got stuff on track was antibiotics. I had hormonal acne- like you describe- never really that bad, but enough that it drove me nuts. Only a dermatologist can give you the best advice.
Plain, old cheap Cetaphil. It was recommended to me by a friend after I had a particularly nasty battle with some Shiseido products. The Cetaphil has stopped most of the zits and is the only thing that doesn’t completely dry my face out and give me red, itchy blotches everywhere. I use their lotion too. And, if you’re feeling really cheap (which I always am), any store brand will suffice! Publix, Wal-mart, Target, CVS.
And I just heard it also works wonders for cradle cap, so if your kid has that problem, smear some on his head too!
I got problem acne in my late 30’s !!! The only thing that worked was MINOCYCLENE, an antibiotic prescribed by a dermatologist/doctor…… most over the counter fixes DO NOT WORK….. but that’s just my opinion.
I read somewhere that “less is more..,” that skin, even problem skin, doesn’t need to be assaulted with an array of products multiple times a day. So I cut out my morning face-wash with cleanser and now just let the shower water run over it. After the rinsing-off I apply a thin swipe of my day face moisturizer, which right now is Dr. Andrew Weil For Origins Mega Mushroom Face Cream. At night I wash with Origins Mint Wash, which is middle-of-the-road as far as foaming cleansers go. It’s not too harsh and not too gentle. Then it’s a layer of Origins Night-A-Mins moisturizer and the occasional dab of Origins Spot Remover if I have a crop of zits going that need to be killed.
I also have Origins Checks and Balances foaming face wash for when I want a deeper clean, and Origins Modern Friction for when I feel I need a good hard exfoliation, or Origins Swept Away for more frequent exfoliation, and Origins United State or Oil Refiner (both alcohol-based toners) for when things are feeling a little oily. I have the infamous “T-Zone” of oil so I tend to avoid putting lots of greasy moisturizer on my forehead and chin and concentrate on the cheek area, which is where I seem to be driest.
I love Origins products (duh) but I truly think that the all-time best face wash I ever used (and I used it for years, and I don’t know why I stopped ) was Clarins Purifying Cleansing Gel (Gel Nettoyant Purifiant). That stuff worked like nothing else I’ve ever put on my face. It left it so clean, smooth, and not a smudge of oil appeared anywhere. I should go back to that stuff…