I thought today I'd write a little bit about how I cleared my skin and share my experience in hopes that it will help someone.
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that here and there I've complained about my skin problems. Basically for about 4 years or so there was never a time when I didn't have at least one spot. It doesn't sound like much, but there were obviously times when I would break out and it would be painful and itchy and gross. It was all round very annoying and a big insecurity of mine. On top of the spots, or acne I guess, my face tends to go red when I laugh, or when I get hot or just when it decides to annoy me, so that wasn't helping. I'm not saying my skin was the worst, I know a lot of people have it much much worse, but that doesn't make my problem any less frustrating.
Over the years I've tried lots of different products and routines and nothing really helped long term. In my Morning and Evening Skincare Routine posts that I did about 2 months ago, I did share some products that worked well with my skin. I thought I would finally get it clear and that I had found my holy grail products. However, even though they did really get along with my skin, they weren't getting rid of scars nor were they preventing spots. They cleared up most of my skin, but there was a little bit of an explosion on my chin and my mum insisted that I finally visited a dermatologist. Now, that had crossed my mind a few times throughout the years, but I always thought that my problem wasn't serious enough to go to the doctor's about it. Well, I'd finally had enough and I scheduled an appointment. Let me tell you, that was the best decision I've ever made.
I had my first appointment towards the end of September and since then I've went back twice. I've had 3 or 4 different therapies so far - he's given me a bunch of different creams, antibiotics and face washes that are specifically made for treating acne. It's now about a month later and I can notice a huge, huge difference. My family and friends have also said that my skin has gotten much better. I currently only have one spot on my face, but it's disappearing and my scars have faded massively. I've had some flaking and dryness as a result of using products that dry out the skin, but I just applied some moisturiser and it was completely bearable. I'm currently only using three products - a Bioderma face wash, Skinoren cream that gets rid of scars and spots, but also moisturises a little bit and a mixture that I apply at night only onto the spots.
I can't sit here and tell you what to use and I don't think sharing the products that I've been prescribed would help anyone because everyone's skin is different and I'm not a doctor. However, I think I can sit here and recommend going to a dermatologist. I'm kicking myself for not having gone earlier, to be honest. It is a little bit of an investment, but if your skin is something that really frustrates you and is an insecurity of yours, I think it's definitely worth seeking some professional help. I'm not saying my skin is perfect now, but it's so, so, so much better and I think it could get closer to perfect at the end of my journey.
A universal tip my dermatologist gave me is to avoid fizzy drinks and sweets, so try doing that. Drink water, drink green tea, moisturise, but if none of that helps, go get help.
I don't have before pictures cause I obviously didn't feel like taking photos of my skin at that point, but I do have some after photos.
Taken 10 minutes before publishing this post. |
I do have makeup here, but you can tell how smoothly the foundation went on because there are no bumps. |
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