After My Break & Trying Out Exfoliants

I stopped using tret about 2 weeks ago. My skin healed within 4 days, but I wanted to play it safe and just leave my skin alone for a bit. My skin became really oily during the break. If I didn’t have oily skin that is prone to blemishes, I would just stick to a basic skin care routine. I could only wish. Knowing my skin, it just can’t. It needs more than a basic skin care routine. So after 1 week of taking a break, I decided to add a cleanser that contains salicylic acid (CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser) into my routine. I swapped my moisturizing facial cleanser for another facial cleanser that contains salicylic acid. I’m nearing 2 weeks on this facial cleanser! 🙃 It cleanses my skin and doesn’t dry my skin out! This cleanser feels moisturizing on my skin. I didn’t expect it to be this moisturizing. Maybe it’s because I have oily skin. It seems to work to cleanse and makes my skin feel good afterwards. No dryness or any irritation. But, I’m not sure if it’s doing anything for my acne. Since I didn’t notice an improvement in my acne using the CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser, I started using other products to treat my acne.

Here are some products I tried out first…

Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant:

Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid has always been my to-go-to salicylic acid product. It contains 2% salicylic acid. I love that it’s a liquid too. It absorbs quickly into the skin, and I can use it twice a day without drying my skin out. Unfortunately, this product isn’t working like it used to. It helps to decrease some sebaceous filaments and some blackheads. I said SOME. Not most or all. My skin is still struggling with acne when using this product. I’ve been trying to get rid of closed comedones that have been lingering around for far too long. This bha product isn’t doing much. So far, I’m quite disappointed in the results. It’s been months using this bha product. I still have 2 bottles left, so I’m going to keep using it to finish it up. But, I most likely won’t purchase it again unless I notice a difference with it vs without it. I’m currently using it in the morning, 7 days a week. I know that’s a lot for some people. My skin is pretty sturdy, lol. I was using it twice a day, 7 days a week before I changed it to using it only in the morning. Not because it’s drying. It’s because I wanted to make room for other products. I didn’t see results using it twice a day either. The results were the same using it once a day.

Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum:

This is the first aha product that I decided to try again. It’s the Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum. It contains 14% glycolic acid. I haven’t used a glycolic acid product in a while. I was pretty excited about it, haha. I chose the Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum first because it’s the strongest aha product I have. And I have acne to demolish. 💥 This serum is more like a gel rather than a serum. It smooths over the skin nicely and leaves the skin feeling moisturized. Once it absorbs into the skin, it leaves the skin looking dewy, but it doesn’t feel heavy or greasy on the skin. I noticed some stinging upon application. It didn’t bother me. I was thinking, hey, at least I know it’s effective, haha. My results with the Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum has been…not too bad. So, I guess it’s effective after all. I noticed some clogged pores unclogging, and my skin looking softer and smoother. I had a closed comedone on my upper lip for months. It’s finally out! This glycolic acid serum is pretty moisturizing too. This could make it back into my routine if it keeps on improving my skin!

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA:

I have a few bottles of The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA left. I decided to try it out again. This serum is more on the watery side compared to the Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum. It actually feels like a serum. It absorbs into the skin faster and more efficiently. With this serum, also, I noticed a stinging sensation upon application. That stinging sensation disappeared after a few seconds. This serum felt moisturizing on the skin. I really love the way lactic acid makes my skin feel. Why did I ever stop using it?? I noticed a brighter, smoother, and a more even complexion after using it once. Compared to the Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum, it feels so much stronger. Between the two, I’m leaning towards glycolic acid at the moment. It was nice to try out this lactic acid serum though.

The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA:

I haven’t used The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA in ages. I was searching for an exfoliant that could work better than salicylic acid. This one popped up. I wanted something that would work better for blackheads and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Mandelic acid is a popular choice. This serum felt thicker and more greasy in texture and consistency. It was oily. I didn’t enjoy using it, so I only used it once and never looked back. I didn’t notice any breakouts after the first try, but I can’t see myself using this serum on a daily basis to treat my acne. The texture of the product is just way too greasy and oily for day-to-day use. My experience with The Ordinary skin care products that have this type of texture is a no-go. It was nice to try out. It’s just not going work. My skin doesn’t like oily serums. I’m trying to eliminate my acne here, haha!

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution:

The last aha product that I tried this week was The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution. You know, I’ve always loved liquid skin care products (like the Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid). This one was very easy to use and apply. I dispensed the solution onto a cotton pad and swiped my face all over! Easy-peasy! There was a stinging sensation that later on disappeared. No troubles there. Once the solution absorbs and settles into the skin. Wow, my complexion looked brighter and super glowy instantly! I was so amazed. I dropped all of my other exfoliating skin care products (except for the bha liquid) and decided to stick to this one. It’s a texture thing. The product is a liquid and it just sinks into the skin easily without leaving any sticky residue behind. It doesn’t feel greasy or oily either. Here’s another product where I catch myself asking why I stopped using it, lol. I’ve only used it once, but I’ll make an update next week.

What I’m Doing Now…

After this experience, the only product I’m going to continue on with is Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid (have to use a lightweight acne-fighting product in the morning, maybe it’s doing something if I keep using it? lol.) and The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution (a nighttime exfoliant and also helps with acne). I really love my liquid-based skin care products. Having oily skin, they just absorb and sink into my skin better. It makes it easier to apply other skin care products afterwards too. They’re also time-savers. I find them more effective too. My skin loves them! What else this week?? I started using tret again. It’s about time I get back into it! My skin condition now is so much better this time. I wonder if it’s the aha products. My skin transformed so quick after using them in a short period of time. My skin looks cleaner, clearer, and more glowy. It helped to unclog clogged pores too. Goodbye closed comedones! My jaw literally dropped after seeing immediate results from aha products. Along with the chosen exfoliants, I’ll be using tret. I’ve already started using it, and I’m trying to use it every day. So far, it’s going pretty well. I haven’t had any issues with redness or dryness using it daily. Hopefully it works out this time. Wish me luck!

My Acne Journey: 4.5 Months + Clear Skin!!

New week, new results! Here we go! 🙌🏻

It’s been 4.5 months, and my skin is finally clear! I didn’t get any new breakouts this week. I didn’t get any last week either. Benzoyl peroxide is really knocking out my acne breakouts! I had a small initial breakout when I first started using it. Now, my skin just looks so good. It’s amazing! Soooo what now? I do have some acne marks to take care of, but I’m not going to add any new products to get rid of them. Honestly, I just don’t want to spend on brightening serums or whatever. I’ve used plenty to help with acne scars/marks, and I didn’t think they were worth it. I don’t really need them. What I’m going to do is leave my skin alone and simply follow what I’m doing — cleanse, treat, moisturize, and protect. Seems like my skin does better on a basic, plain skin care routine. Everything is going well. Blackheads are gone. Sebaceous filaments I was dealing with have decreased. No new breakouts. D*mn, this is really working, and I love it! So that’s all I’m going to do. Just leave my skin alone and stick to the basics. 👍🏻

P.S. I have so many skin care products I have to use up. I’m trying my best to decrease my consumption of skin care products too. 😩 I wonder how long it’s going to take! 😭

Photo: Mizon Peptide Ampoule Cream

You can catch up on my acne journey if you missed out!! 😊

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 Months + 1 Week Results.

It’s been 4 months & 1 week on this acne journey… 😌 This is what happened this week. 😊

I tried some products again… 😬

I tried some products again that I stopped using this week. Since my skin is more maintained now, I thought I would give a few antioxidants a try again. I picked The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3% and vitamin c powder. The first night of using The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3% and vitamin c powder (mixed together) went well. I only used 2 drops of the serum and a pinch of vitamin c powder, so it wasn’t a lot of product. I mixed it in with my moisturizer. Both antioxidants mixed well with my moisturizer. The next morning, I woke up with a slightly more moisturized skin. My skin looked nice but nothing amazing. It was only one night of using it. That same morning, I tried the same method. By night, my skin felt so greasy and very dry at the same time. I noticed some parts of my face was clogged too. I noticed some blackheads, and my face looked darker/orange. Hmmm, is the serum clogging my pores and vitamin c drying my skin out and oxidizing on my face?! At first the mixture made my skin feel more moisturized. All of a sudden, my skin just dried out and looked darker/orange. So, it looks like these products didn’t work out for me once again. I had a little hope that it might work out this time, but it didn’t. I think I’m going to let my skin revert back to what it was and stick to what works on my skin for now. I tried. My skin didn’t like any of them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My results after 4 months & 1 Week!

I’ve been using benzoyl peroxide for about 2 weeks now, and my skin is soooooo clear!! 🙌🏻 This is only after 2 weeks of using benzoyl peroxide once a week! I went through a short initial breakout, but it cleared up pretty fast. I currently don’t have any new blemishes. I’m not sure if there’s going to be any in the next few weeks (still purging??), but benzoyl peroxide has done wonders for my skin. I would say my overall skin texture has improved too. It’s clearer, cleaner, and smoother. My skin looks softer and more youthful. 😍 And all of this happened just by adding benzoyl peroxide?? Wow, I’m so happy with the results so far! I’m kicking myself for not trying it out again! Benzoyl peroxide has always been the to-go-to product for my acne. Once again, it is! Hopefully it continues to improve my complexion! Also, along with benzoyl peroxide, I’m still using tret but only once a week. It’s been a so-so product for my acne. I’ll just keep it in my routine and see what happens. It doesn’t hurt to keep using it. It fits in my routine perfectly well. Sometimes my skin gets a little oily. Tret helps to decrease the sebum in my skin. Hey, better than nothing.

I also switched facial cleansers once again. I was using Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Facial Cleanser. Trader Joe’s was too harsh on my skin. My skin would dry out every time I used it. It made my skin feel really tight and itchy. It’s a good facial cleanser for hot, humid weather, but it’s too drying for the fall, winter weather, especially when I’m using drying actives. The cleanser I’m using now is Olay Regenerist Hyaluronic + Peptide 24 Revitalizing Facial Cleanser. It’s moisturizing, soothing, and doesn’t leave my skin feeling dry. It makes my skin feel and look better afterwards. I’m liking the results from this face wash. I purchased it out of the blue but turns out that it’s pretty good and works very well on my skin. This facial cleanser made it a little easier to use actives in my routine since it’s so gentle and moisturizing on the skin. I can’t get over how gentle it is and how cleansing it is all at once. So! That brings me to my next product that I introduced this week! It’s the Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid. I don’t use this product every day. Only a few times a week. I have the product, so why not just use it. It was just sitting there in the dust. 😂

That’s my 4 months + 1 week update. See everyone next week! 😊

The rest of my acne journey is right here!!

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!!

1 Month Update on Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin

I remember picking this moisturizer up and hoping that it’ll become my main moisturizer. The ingredients look sooo good, the price was also not too bad, and it’s accessible where I live. All points lined up and was perfect. Here’s a quick snapshot of the moisturizer: It’s a rich, lightweight lotion that provides effective moisturization for day or night. It’s formulated with 5 key ceramides and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and retain skin’s moisture. It leaves the skin feeling soft and deeply moisturized while still being lightweight and suitable to wear under makeup. It’s free of dyes, fragrance, masking fragrance, lanolin, parabens, formaldehyde, and other preservatives. It’s non-comedogenic and gluten-free. That sounds like a dream come true moisturizer. So it’s been 1 month using Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. Here are my thoughts and experience with this moisturizer.

Texture & Application

This moisturizer is a lotion. It’s not a cream. The texture of the product is soft and smooth. It’s on the thicker side. The moisturizer glides on the skin smoothly without tugging at the skin. It takes a little bit of time to blend the lotion into the skin, but the moisturizer eventually blends into the skin. It vanishes into the skin nicely. After applying the moisturizer, the finish of the moisturizer is sticky. It doesn’t feel like it fully absorbs into the skin. It sits on top of the skin, which can feel uncomfortable and bothersome. I didn’t like the stickiness of the lotion. It made my skin feel unclean and just plain annoying. As someone with oily skin, I thought the lotion was heavy and thick on the skin. I wish it was more lightweight and absorbed into the skin better. Even when my skin was feeling a little more dry, I still thought the product was heavy and thick on the skin. The product claims to be lightweight, but it’s not. This moisturizer worked pretty well underneath my makeup. My makeup went on better. Much smoother. It just glides across my facial skin much more easily. It made my skin appear softer, smoother, and flawless.

Heals & Protects

This moisturizer is very good at healing and protecting the skin. It contains ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and squalane. I loved the ingredients in this product. The ingredients were the perfect combination for my skin and helped to heal my skin from my acne treatments/chemical exfoliants. It help to strengthen my moisture barrier when it’s damaged or experiencing a burning sensation. Out of all of the moisturizers that I have used to heal my skin, Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin was the only one that worked so far (after trying a bunch of moisturizing skin care products!!). My skin didn’t feel dry, red, or irritated after using it. On occasion, if my moisture barrier is damaged, it did burn upon application, but it wasn’t too bad. This product was the least irritating as of yet. It sat uncomfortably on my skin after it settled down. With this moisturizer, my moisture barrier felt healthy after each use. On my skin, it was extremely moisturizing. I was so happy that I had found a moisturizer that improved my skin over time.

Clogs pores??

I didn’t notice clogged pores at first, but I noticed clogged pores after using it for a month. Maybe they were there before and I was in denial, lol. I really wanted this moisturizer to work since it helped to moisturize my skin, not just lightly hydrate it. It did an amazing job at protecting my skin from dryness and irritation. But, unfortunately, the clogged pores became noticeable as time went on. I developed blackheads and tons of sebaceous filaments. Some of the blemishes were not noticeable until I stopped using the moisturizer. My skin started to break out in acne. After the acne appeared, they started to clear up rapidly. My skin became less oily and clogged. Blackheads diminished on my nose. So, this moisturizer ended up clogging my pores in the long run. Shocking? Not so much. I haven’t found a moisturizer that moisturizes my skin in years. And I still haven’t found one that works well on my skin. *sigh* Back to the drawing board…maybe…haha.

Final Thoughts

Another moisturizer down, I guess, lol. I think I’m done searching for a moisturizer for my face right now. It’s getting really annoying using a moisturizer for a month and experiencing negative side effects afterwards thinking that it was working. 😮‍💨 Even though it didn’t work on my face, I’m not going to remove it from my routine. I like the ingredients in this product (ceramides and hyaluronic acid), and it helps to protect and heal my skin. It works very well as a moisturizer at an affordable price. I’m using it as an eye cream and neck/chest cream instead. It works even better than my eye creams that are eye creams. Also, I’m keeping it around to use on my face (yup!) when I’m treating my skin with my acne treatment/chemical exfoliants, which isn’t often. I just can’t use it daily as a facial moisturizer, which is kinda funny since it’s called a ‘Daily Facial Moisturizer’. In my opinion, I don’t think this moisturizer is entirely bad. I mean, I’m still using it. I like the product, but it’s a bummer that it didn’t work on my face as a daily facial moisturizer.

If you missed out on my acne journey, don’t forget to check them out!!

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 New Face Wash :)

I’ve officially switched facial cleansers for a while now. I don’t even remember when I last started a new face wash but I did. I’m using a facial cleanser that is very similar to my previous HG (no longer HG) cleanser, which was Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Face Wash. The cleanser I use now is called Dr. Woods Tea Tree Castile Soap. This facial cleanser is a very minimal face wash. The ingredient list is very short and gets straight to the point. Here are the ingredients:

Purified Water (Aqua), Saponified Coconut, Hemp and Olive Oils (with retained Glycerin), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Tea Tree Essential Oil, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Rosemary (Rosemarinus Officinalis) Extract.

The ingredients are minimal and short, and it looks pretty natural too. It’s another facial cleanser with Tea Tree. I truly do love skin care products with tea tree. 🙂

This face wash has been working very well for me. It cleanses the skin, doesn’t break me out, and leaves my skin feeling really nice afterwards. It doesn’t leave a sticky residue behind. Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Face Wash seemed to leave a layer of product behind on my skin. It didn’t break me out though. But, that’s something I noticed with my new face wash vs Trader Joe’s. I like the new face wash a lot more so far.

The funny thing is, I purchased this cleanser/soap product just for my body. And I purchased it when it was on sale. I thought I would just give it a shot, since I was searching for a body wash anyways, but I ended up using it as a face wash and a body wash. Fortunately for me, it works much better than I expected on my facial skin. I haven’t had any issues with it. I’m pretty amazed because I’ve been trying to find a new face wash for quite some time. Like, how come I didn’t stumble upon a product like this before? It comes in a 32 fl. oz. bottle. It’s not the most portable product for travel but that can be taken care of by dispensing it in a travel-size bottle. But for the amount of product and price, it’s a good deal. I can use it on my face and also my body if I wanted to. I think I’m all set when it comes to facial cleansers for the rest of the summer or the whole year. Haha. I think this large bottle is going to last forever. I mean, much longer than a small, overpriced bottle of facial cleanser that is. Everything has been going well so far. It must’ve been over a month using it now. No problems with it yet! I love it! 😃

Here’s my old face wash Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Face Wash!

What face wash are you using? Any favorites? Share in the comments section! 🙂