Dealing with acne and Hyper pigmentation: October to November Update

Sorry for the radio silence, I work freelance so my work load varies from job to job.  And because of that I have been a bit lax with my picture taking and blogging. 


My skin has been behaving lately, last winter was rough as hell, I had acne under pimples under acne under cystic acne. These days I only break out around my period. 


As for my hyper pigmentation, I feel like I'm on a diet and unable to shift the last few pounds to get to my goal weight. I'm still using Retin-a as part of my nightly skin care regimen so, I'm hoping I'll see result during my December update. 


Finally, I'm changing my moisturiser again, I HATE to do this. I love the two I've settled on - Good Things Stay Clear and La Roche-Posay Effaclar M (review up soon). But, they do not have SPF and I feel that is one thing I've been slacking off with. I'm switching to Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Skin-Brightening Moisturiser, I've used it in the past I loved it and I was sad when it ran out. But, it was quite hard to find in the UK, so I went with something I could easily pick up at the drug store. Now, I've discovered I can get it from boots online, so I'll bulk buy (2-3 bottles), the same time I order my Dark and Lovely body lotion. 



MORNING
La Roche-Posay EFFACLAR Purifying Foaming Gel
Home made toner
La Roche-Posay Effaclar M Moisturiser




NIGHT
Any face wipe I have at hand to take off make up
Dark Angels cleanser
home made face mask (I'm experimenting with this, but will share the recipe)
Retin - A




WEEKEND
Queen Helen Mint Julep face mask.
Vitamine E oil (taken off with steam/hot cloth).

Dealing with Hyper pigmentation: Home-made spot lightened facemask.

 So, I did this on a whim, I was shopping for natural haircare products when I came across a pack of lemon peel powder and I added it to my basket along with Bentonite Clay. My intention was to make a turmeric face mask out of Bentonite Clay and Turmeric. 


But, I got thinking of all the stuff I have read about skincare and fading spots and came up with a mixture of Tumeric, Bentonite Clay, Milk and Lemon Peel powder. The first mix was fine, but the consistency was off and I wasn't 100% satisfied, I kept thinking of replacing the milk with sour cream or yoghurt - which ever one had the highest lactic acid connect. 


Long story short, I feel to have figured it out now. Unfortunately, I don't have exact quantities or step by step pictures because I didn't think I would be blogging about this.  These are guestimates based on eye-balled quantities. 


4 tbs of lemon peel powder.
3 tbs of turmeric.
1 tbs of Bentonite clay.
1 tsp sour milk.
dash of lemon juice




Optional: Your favourite face oils.
I went with castor, vitamin E and Jojoba...a bit of all 3.


*Bentonite clay and turmeric are used in a few of Lush's face masks and cleansers.


Mix them all together till you get a spreadable consistency you might need to add more sour milk or lemon peel powder if it is not spreadable. 


Final product:





I use after taking off my make up and before applying night time medication. I leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes then rinse off. It tingles a bit after you put it on. I won't use this everyday because it has citrus which can be irritating to the skin.




UPDATE (well not really):
After I came up with this mix I found out that Vitamin E is comedogenic (clogs pores which then causes acne) which is kind of confusing because it is also supposedly good for skin repair. I use a 70000i.u vitamin E with no additives. I can't say for certain that it has or hasn't caused me any problems because I only use it once a week with other products. 


More conflicting info on Vitamin E and acne here: http://www.acneassasin.com/146-will-vitamin-e-cause-acne/ and http://www.beautifulskincareblog.com/comedogenic-vs-non-comedogenic-skin-deep/.

No7 Shine Free Make-Up Base Primer

It's promises to....

Keep shiny skin under control all day long, with No7 Shine Free Make-Up Base.  The mattifying oil-free base has light-reflecting particles which help disguise fine lines and flaws.

My verdict...
This is a bit different from the (clear) primer products I've used previously (Monistat chaffing gel, Beverley Knight, and many others). I was initially hesitant because of the creamy texture. Usually, creamy product+oily skin+foundation = me going eeeek! But, I was in a hurry when I bought it and didn't put a whole lot of thought into it.


I found it tricky to apply at first. I usually dot the product all over my face then spread, but that didn't work because it dries quite quickly and spreading a half dry, half creamy product can be pain in the arse. It doesn't have that smooth, glidey feeling you get from other primers. My make up ended up looking cakey. 


Second time around, I put some on my fingers and rubbed it together and applied. If you don't work quickly, you will end up with an uneven application. If you over work it, it rubs off and balls up. But, I have the application down now, but it is still a pain in the arse. For those of us who are dark skinned, you end up with a white cast over your face. you can't see the white cast after applying foundation, but I'm not sure it this shows up in photos, I'm going to take picture when next I'm on a night out and update this. 


Overall, I found this product actually works. It is the best primer for oily skin that I have used, my skin stays matte all day, NO NEED TO BLOT! I'm taking it out clubbing soon to see how it holds up to hours of dancing, but it held up well when I went out to dinner with friends. I combined it with various foundations and moisturisers to see if that affected it and it worked fine.


I would recommend this product, but only if they sort out the consistency and make it easier to apply. 



UPDATE 21/11/11:
I wore this out clubbing and my skin got oily but not in an icky, can fry an egg on it kinda way. I was dancing in a bottom floor of a hot club all night, so it was understandable. There was no photosentivity or white cast. My skin still had a natural, "alive" glow to it.  I showed a friend the picture and she was like "you look amazing".