My Acne Journey: 6 Months + 1 Week!

It’s been 25 days on tret. I’m moving on to 1 month soon! This is what happened this week!

Increasing Strength & Adding Moisturizer.

I tried to increase to a higher strength this week from what I’m using. Ugh, I burned myself again after a good streak with little to no irritation. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I should’ve known from my prior mistake. My skin was so irritated. It was reddish and pink. It looked so flushed. So painful, so sad. Super itchy! Should’ve slathered on a heavy-duty moisturizer beforehand. This burn was worse than the previous burn. Ouch! So I took one day off before getting back on tret. It took ONE day for my skin to fully heal. I was shocked how resilient my skin was. It bounced back that quick. My skin settled down after a day of nourishing my skin. Here are the skin care products I used to soothe and heal my skin. I used whatever I had, lol.

Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin:

This is the only moisturizer that I have found that actually works to heal, protect, and soothe my skin. It didn’t soothe my skin at the beginning though. It burned my skin when applied to damaged skin. When the moisture barrier is damaged, almost everything burns. This product was one of them. I still used it anyways. I needed a moisturizer with ingredients like ceramides. It was the least likely to clog my pores out of all the moisturizers I have. I find that my skin really like ceramides when it’s feeling irritated and burned. With this moisturizer, I only used it at night. Before I stopped using Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin, I was using it daily, morning and night. Maybe that was just too much moisture for my skin. Using it at night only has helped replenish moisture in my skin without going overboard. I don’t plan on using this moisturizer every single night. Just a few times a night when my skin needs it. I went back to my no moisturizer routine after my skin felt moisturized and healed. Who knows when this moisturizer will pop back in. It’s nice to have around to alleviate dry skin.

CeraVe Healing Ointment:

After applying Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin, I slugged for one night because my skin really needed it. I couldn’t take the itchiness anymore. It was getting to be too much. I took the CeraVe Healing Ointment and applied a thick layer over my facial skin, slept with it on, and woke up the next morning with less irritated skin. This product also contains mineral oil, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid. It made my skin look so poreless and smoother in the morning. Very moisturized with a nice sheen to my skin. I love keeping this product around to heal dry, itchy skin. It’s amazing stuff! I can’t slug every night. It’s too moisturizing, heavy, and sticky. It gets in my hair too and makes it sticky in the morning. It’s a once in a blue moon thing when I destroy my skin by accident.

Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Face Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50:

I don’t use Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Face Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 as my face sunscreen at all. I use it around my eyes, on my ears, and neck. I’m on my last bottle and won’t repurchase after I finish it. I find that this sunscreen is just way too heavy and moisturizing. It seals in moisture in the skin. And that’s why I used it while my skin was irritated, dry, and itchy. This sunscreen makes a great occlusive with SPF in the morning. It felt extremely soothing on the skin.

Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50:

I love the UVB and UVA protection of the Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50, but I can’t use this sunscreen every day due to how moisturizing it is. My skin starts to get clogged if I use it too much during the week. This sunscreen worked pretty good at keeping my skin moisturized and protected from harmful UV rays as my skin healed. I love applying this sunscreen directly on my bare skin, it’s just so soothing.

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

I’m not a fan of the Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40. But, this sunscreen is definitely another moisturizing sunscreen that makes the skin feel silky smooth and soothes irritated skin. I piled this sunscreen on throughout the day to increase my skin’s moisture levels. It’s not something I would use as a daily SPF, but it served its purpose during the healing process. It was nice to have this sunscreen around for that reason. I’m on my last bottle too. Another sunscreen that I won’t purchase again after I finish it. At least it’s good for something, haha.

So am I going to try to increase the strength again? Probably not. No. I’ll just wait until the weather is warmer when my skin is even more oily. I’ll just stick to the lower strength from now on unless it stops working. Tret burns are just terrible to go through. I’m glad it’s been fixed and over. I’ll try not to do it again. 😵 lol.

An update on skin care products I tried this week…

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence:

I tried using Melano CC Vitamin C Essence again. The essence felt lightweight and absorbed into the skin very quick. I loved that aspect about this vitamin c essence. But, I didn’t like the way it left my skin feeling and looking drier throughout the day. By the end of the night, my skin looked drier. I noticed some pimples too. Ugh. Why did I try this product again? The dryness and breakouts turned me off from using this essence again. I stopped using it immediately after one try. Skin felt so much better after I stopped using it. I prefer to apply my sunscreen products directly to bare skin anyways. It was nice to try out this vitamin c essence again to see if it’ll work on my skin since I have several tubes left, but I won’t bother with it anymore after this. I hope, haha. I’m currently not using a vitamin c product. I can’t find one that works well with my skin. They tend to be irritating on the skin too with little results. Oh well.

Check out my 1 month update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG!

My Results.

After my skin healed, I went back on tret. I also started using Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant again to help with skin congestion. I noticed my nose had a ton of sebaceous filaments. And the only product that I know will help with this type of skin issue (on my skin) is the bha liquid. I’m actually using it with tret at night also. I apply bha first, let it dry. Next, apply tret. I apply moisturizer (Vanicream) if my skin feels dry. If not, I skip it. I haven’t noticed any breakouts from using this moisturizer at night only. I might try to be more consistent with moisturizing my skin if it doesn’t cause any clogged pores. I love how soothing and how moisturizing it is without leaving my skin feeling and looking oily. It feels a bit sticky and tacky upon application, but it doesn’t feel that way after it absorbs into the skin. With the bha, I noticed results after using it once. My pores looked clearer and cleaner. It helped accelerate the skin purging process. My skin cleared up even more after using it again. Overall, my skin looks pretty good right now. No noticeable blemishes and no new cysts. Hopefully it all just gets better in the next upcoming weeks!

Read more on my acne journey below!

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😃

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 3 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 4 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 1 Week Results.

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 3 Weeks! What I’m Doing to Maintain My Clear Skin. 🙂

My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 5.5 Months Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 3 Weeks

My Acne Journey: 6 MONTHS!!! 🎉

1 Month Update: The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

Here’s my update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. It’s been a total of 1 month using this product again. I used this product for years before and decided to give it another chance due to how affordable it is. Here are my thoughts on it this time around!

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG comes in a glass dropper bottle. The texture of the product is a gel-serum. I only needed one drop of product for both eyes. The serum glides over the under eyes smoothly and easily. It feels soothing and cooling when applied to the skin. This is not a fast absorbing eye serum. It takes a while to absorb into the skin. I started off using it in the morning and at night. Since it takes a good amount of time to absorb in the morning and felt a little too drying on my skin, I switched to using it at night only. I didn’t have the time to let the serum absorb in the morning. For mornings, I prefer skin care products that sink into the skin quick without pilling. This serum pilled underneath my sunscreen. That made it difficult for my sunscreen to sit right on my skin to get the proper sun protection. I could see my sunscreen balling up and just not staying in place. Years before this, I used the serum twice a day (morning and night). Not sure how I managed to keep up with using this serum, haha!

The purpose of The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG is to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. After a month of using this product once again, I was hoping to see a difference in my under eyes in terms of dark under circles and puffiness, but I didn’t see any changes in my skin whatsoever. No results just like before with religious application. Seems like getting more sleep and eating well would be the better choice (which I’m already doing) to help with dark under eye circles and puffy eyes than this caffeine eye serum. It didn’t work after trying it out again.

So I stopped using this product once again after being disappointed with the results. No results, lol. But also, I thought the product was too drying for my under eyes (as mentioned earlier). It made the skin around my eyes feel super tight (it does as it dries on the skin too) and dry. I applied heavier eye creams and moisturizers on top to keep the skin around my eyes moisturized, but my skin still felt tight and dry afterwards. I noticed that the serum accentuated some of my under eye fine lines and wrinkles. That’s not something I want from a product. I’m trying to diminish those signs of aging as much as possible. I don’t want them to become more prominent. I wish this product did something positive for my skin. It just didn’t. I kept trying for years and picked up using it again. If it worked, it would’ve worked already. This product didn’t work for me once again. I’m officially removing it from my skin care routine once again (lol). It could work for someone else. It’s not for my skin, and I have no reason to keep it in my routine after this experience.

More posts on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG:

Review: The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG (10 months!)

Update on The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG & Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence

My Acne Journey: 6 MONTHS!!! 🎉

It’s been 6 MONTHS on this acne journey! Even though I’ve been on this acne journey for 6 months, I’m going to be counting the days when I started to use tret daily (at least try to). I’m nearing 3 weeks soon! Today marks 19 DAYS!! I’ve decreased from the highest dose to the lowest so I can use it daily. I would stick to the highest dose, but I got tired of my skin peeling constantly. Peeling skin isn’t a bad thing, but while my skin was peeling, it didn’t help much with acne. There could be many possibilities why it didn’t work during that time. Maybe it’s because I was using that pore-clogging moisturizer (Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin). That’s one of the products that ruined my progress plus other skin care products that I don’t use anymore. It’s just cleanse, treat, and sunscreen for me. I think what else ruined my acne progress was my past vegan diet (here’s a new update!). My skin had a difficult time healing. Now, my skin heals quickly if there’s a wound. Thanks to the high quality protein from meat. 🍖 It was a combination of things in my life. Why not just use the high dose without a moisturizer now?? I honestly don’t feel like switching right now. I’m already using what works. Low dose of tret is definitely working. I can see visible results. It took time to get there, but it’s finally working. Patience is key at this point.

The Purge & Results.

My skin purged and peeled twice this week. I was pretty ecstatic about it because that’s a sign that tret is working for my acne. I could feel a thick layer of dead skin sitting on my face. It felt so gross, but it was extremely satisfying to remove by the end of the day, lol. Once the dead skin came off, I noticed breakouts. 😒 It sucks, but it’s bound to happen. Cell turnover and new skin cells. I’m not happy with the new breakouts but at least I know it’s doing something. So far, I’ve experienced 3 cysts that randomly popped up out of nowhere. They healed much faster instead of lingering on for weeks. I’ve also had smaller pimples. The pimples that have been living underneath my skin for several months end! I’ve been trying to zap them with other acne treatments like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide to no avail. Now, they are finally out! I noticed some blackheads too. I made a mistake of extracting some of the blackheads and that pressure created red marks in my skin. Technically, I ripped my skin off. 😓 Note to self, don’t ever do this again even if it’s tempting. I thought the blackheads were from my sunscreen. It’s actually from the tret purge. The rest of the blackheads loosened up and fell out of my pores the next day (woohoo! but yuck?). Those red marks faded away at the end of the week too. Thankfully.

Most of the breakouts I experienced this week have healed on its own, except for one cyst, but it’s shrinking quickly. I noticed that cyst just a day ago, so that’s why it’s still hanging out on my face. Overall, my skin looks softer and smoother. It looks way better now (3 weeks) compared to when I started. It also looks better compared to when I was on the highest dose. I went through a short phase of irritation (burning, red/pink skin, some dryness). Now those signs of irritation have lessened quite a bit. There’s some irritation, but I can get by without problems arising. My skin is just peeling and unclogging pores now with every day use. I was applying my bb cream and was super impressed that my bb cream just glides over my skin smoothly. It looked sooo smooth! Like what my skin used to look like when it was fully clear! I’m very ecstatic with the results so far! Can’t wait to see further improvements within the next few weeks! By the way, I stopped using bha since I don’t need it right now. I’ll use it whenever my skin needs it. I don’t want to dry my skin out when I’m not using a moisturizer. All of a sudden I had the urge to look for one, but I haven’t found one that I think would suit my skin. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m still moisturizer-free.

Some products I love this week…

Blue Lizard Sunscreen Stick Sensitive:

This wasn’t the type of sunscreen for the summer, but it’s working for me in the winter. I’m not using it on my face. It contains shea butter, coconut oil, candelilla wax, sunflower seed oil, sunflower seed wax, castor oil, jojoba seed oil, and even cocoa butter. This sunscreen is a haven for clogged pores. So! I used it around my eyes, neck, and ears. It’s too heavy and oily for me for the back of the hands. I love using this product on my neck. It helps to moisturize and protect that part of my skin from harmful UV rays. Works great during the cooler, colder months!

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Face Sheer Tint:

I have so many good things to say about this sunscreen. I’m on my second tube, and I’m almost running low! Thank goodness I stocked up on this sunscreen. I can’t run out. I won’t. As long as it’s available. This sunscreen is tinted and makes it very easy to apply mineral sunscreen (usually leaves a white cast behind). This sunscreen just blends into the skin well, leaves the skin moisturized (hasn’t clogged my pores yet!), and makes my skin look super soft and dewy. It helps to brighten my skin too with niacinamide. The only thing I would change about this sunscreen so far would be the SPF. I still wish it was SPF 50+!!

Just finished up 6 months! 🥳

My full acne journey from the beginning ’til now! 👇🏻

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

My Acne Journey: 6 Weeks Results…

My Acne Journey: 7 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 2 MONTHS!! 

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 1 Week Results!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 2 Weeks!

My Acne Journey: 2 Months + 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 3 MONTHS!! 😃

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 2 Weeks Results

My Acne Journey: 3 Months + 3 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 4 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 1 Week Results.

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

My Acne Journey: 4 Months + 3 Weeks! What I’m Doing to Maintain My Clear Skin. 🙂

My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 1 Week Results

My Acne Journey: 5.5 Months Results!

My Acne Journey: 5 Months + 3 Weeks

November Skin Care Empties 🦃

I didn’t have any empties last month (October). Here are my skin care empties for the month of November! If you missed out on my empties for August and September 👈🏻

SOME BY MI Niacin 30 Days Miracle Brightening Sleeping Mask:

I’ve been trying to finish my last jar of SOME BY MI Niacin 30 Days Miracle Brightening Sleeping Mask. I tried using it on my face and body. My experience using it on my face was not that good. The sleeping mask feels very drying on the skin. I could see the skin along my chin cracking. It’s not a good product if you have dry skin. I don’t. I have oily skin, and this sleeping mask dried my skin out like crazy. It helped to temporarily brighten my skin, but the brightening effect faded within a week. Maybe my skin just doesn’t like niacinamide in this product? I just know that it’s very drying and made my skin feel awful. With the rest of the product, I used it on my body and won’t repurchase ever again.

Kose Suncut UV Perfect Essence Super Waterproof SPF 50+ PA++++:

This sunscreen is lightweight, blends into the skin easily, absorbs quick, has SPF 50+ PA++++, comes in a 110 mL bottle instead of something tiny like 40-50 mL (yes!!!), sweat-resistant, water-proof. Ah, how this sunscreen could’ve been perfect because I can overapply and my skin wouldn’t feel sticky or greasy. But, this sunscreen lists ‘ethanol’ as the second ingredient on the list. It smells like alcohol and dried my skin out and irritated it. I couldn’t believe how my skin looked so aged after using it at least once. Sun protection is important, but this product is not for me if it makes my skin look all wrinkly because of how drying and irritating it is. I won’t purchase again. By the way, I also tried it on my body and hands. It made my skin super itchy. I ended up with a bad rash and blisters.

Dear, Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop:

This vitamin c serum feels gentle on the skin. It contains 5% ascorbic acid. The serum didn’t irritate or burn my face. But I wasn’t a fan of the texture of the product. It’s on the oily side. As for fading acne marks, I didn’t see much results using this serum. It didn’t help to brighten my complexion either. Maybe the 5% concentration is just too low for my skin? All I know is that I didn’t see any results while using it. So I wasn’t able to use the whole bottle, the serum turned really orange. It oxidized. Hmmm, note to self, never purchase a vitamin c serum that claims to be formulated with stabilized vitamin c that comes in a clear, see-through bottle. It’s clearly not stabilized. It turned really orange, and I kept it in a dark, safe place. I had to toss the serum out. Not recommended.

Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30:

This is a moisturizer with sunscreen. It feels like a moisturizer. It’s thick, rich, and feels heavy on the skin. I have oily skin, so it felt very rich and heavy on my skin. It left my skin looking more shiny and greasy on the surface, but it helped to moisturize and soothed my skin. I don’t think this is a bad product. It’s just that, it’s only SPF 30, and I’m using another product that contains similar ingredients to the Vanicream that works better for me. This product works to moisturize and protect. It’s not something I need in my life right now. It was nice to try it out.

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 Face Sheer Tint:

One of the products I finished this month that I really like! It contains ingredients like ceramides and niacinamide. The sunscreen moisturizes my skin and helps to brighten my skin up. I haven’t noticed any breakouts using it. I’m still keeping my eye out for any clogged pores just in case! Some things I would love to change about this product is to boost the SPF 30 to 50, make it water/sweat-resistant, and add more shades. The shade isn’t a perfect match for my skin. It does blend into the skin, but I wish it wasn’t too orangey. I wish it was a more natural-looking skin color. As for reapplication, it’s really easy to reapply sunscreen with this product. There’s no white cast. This sunscreen comes in a 1.7 fl. oz. (50 mL) tube. It would be nice if it was larger, especially for the price. It’s 13.99 where I am. It’s not super affordable compared to other sunscreens I have tried.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Lotion Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50:

I figured out that I still had a bottle of the SPF 50. I found it in my bag, lol. And it’s still usable and hasn’t expired yet. I didn’t use it on my face. It’s not the type of product for my facial skin. So I used it on my hands instead. The sunscreen absorbed into my skin very well and quickly. The fragrance was awful. I didn’t like it at all. Since I didn’t use it on my face, I didn’t have to worry about the alcohol content in this product. I used this sunscreen up and threw it out. I won’t repurchase. I hope this is the last Neutrogena Hydro Boost sunscreen that I have, haha!

August Skin Care Empties! 🧴

September Skin Care Empties 😎

Review: Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50

I’ve been itching to try this sunscreen due to good reviews and the fact that it has a 5 star ultra UVA rating of PPD 54! Someone, anyone, please take this sunscreen to a lab and see if the SPF and UVA rating is accurate. I really want to know! This sunscreen contains photostable UV filters including the world’s most advanced filter Tinosorb A2B. It claims to be fast absorbing, non-sticky, hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, fragrance-free, paraben-free, water-resistant, cruelty-free, coral-friendly, vegan, and feels like a moisturizer! I’ve been using it for 1 month. Here are my thoughts on this sunscreen after a month of using it!

My Experience with Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50:

Texture & Application

This product is a cream. It’s soft and blends into the skin easily. It just vanishes into the skin and leaves the skin feeling very moisturized. It’s a hybrid sunscreen and doesn’t leave a white cast behind. This is an alcohol-free sunscreen. Yes! I’ve been searching for a sunscreen that’s high UVB and UVA and is alcohol-free! This one meets that criteria. I didn’t have any issues applying this product to the skin. I used it on my bare skin, and it went on just fine. It didn’t pill or ball up. The application was good. I love that it’s moisturizing. It moisturizes the eye area very well too. But be careful not to get the product into the eyes. It’ll burn. It’s fragrance free, but it has a smell to it. It has a chemical smell that lingers on for a while but doesn’t last all day. Thank goodness! The sunscreen is water resistant and stays in place.

Non-sticky. Is it?

This was an issue that I had with this sunscreen. I thought it felt sticky on my skin with reapplication. The first application is OK (not the best, just OK), but as I continue to reapply, my skin starts to feel sticky, shiny, and oily. It feels like I have product sitting on top of my skin. Technically, yes, I have product sitting on top of my skin, but it would be nice if it was a little less tacky and sticky. My hair tends to stick to my face while using this sunscreen too. I prefer to use it once (due to the stickiness) and reapply with my other sunscreens instead to avoid this problem. I can’t see myself reapplying with this sunscreen throughout the day. It’s way too much trouble and feels awful on the skin. My eyes would burn with reapplication.

Did it clog my pores??

I didn’t get any breakouts from this product, but it is on the moisturizing side. Too much moisture leads to an increase in sebaceous filaments for me. I’ll report back if I see any breakouts with continued use.

Final Thoughts

I love that this product is high UVB and UVA. What a dream come true! I feel like I’ve been using inferior sunscreen products compared to this one by looking at the stats. SPF 50 and PPD of 54? ALCOHOL FREE?? Yes!! Sign me up! I didn’t have major issues with this sunscreen besides the product being sticky and some eye burning (if it gets into the eyes). Otherwise, my experience with this sunscreen went pretty well. It’s moisturizing. No moisturizer is needed when using this sunscreen. It’s moisturizing enough. It also comes in a 100 mL bottle. It was super affordable too. How is this possible? There’s so many sunscreen options nowadays. I really despise sunscreens that come in tiny little bottles with high price tags. Using sunscreen properly is very important to get the protection specified on the bottle. A small bottle of sunscreen isn’t going to last too long, and it’s just a waste of money, in my opinion. I tend to go through bottles of sunscreen rather quickly. This sunscreen seems to fit almost all bullet points that are important to me. It’s alcohol-free, water-resistant, fragrance-free, larger bottle for the face (100 mL), moisturizing, hasn’t clogged my pores (as I know of yet), and it’s SPF 50 with PPD of 54. I’ve decided to keep using it since it’s working on my skin. I’m still on my first bottle. Trying my best to use it as often as possible and when I’m exposed to prolong periods of sun exposure. I’m glad I stumbled upon it. I just hope my skin doesn’t start reacting negatively to it. So far, so good. 👍🏻

The product was not sealed upon opening. It comes in a flip cap bottle.

This is what the sunscreen looks like.