My Acne Journey: 5 MONTHS!!

My 5 months experience! 🙂

Some thoughts that crossed my mind ~

Should I stop using moisturizer? Is Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin clogging my pores? Should I take a break from benzoyl peroxide?? Hmmm! So many questions!

So! I didn’t stop using a moisturizer this week. But, I’m going to try to stop using a moisturizer (Vanicream) next week. Why? I feel like it’s slowing down my progress. Possibly clogging my pores. I noticed some sections of my face that keeps on getting re-clogged even after using tret, benzoyl peroxide, and bha. Vanicream feels a little bit sticky and heavy on the skin too. I love the ingredients in the moisturizer and how it helps to heal and protect my skin, but it could be setting me back when it comes to acne. I never used a moisturizer before in the past. It’s not because I don’t like them. It’s because all of them (the ones I have tried, tons!!) ended up breaking me out. I think Vanicream may be one of them. As for benzoyl peroxide, I don’t want to use something as drying as benzoyl peroxide in my routine right now while my skin is without a moisturizer. I’ll have to wait until my skin adjusts to this new routine first before adding it back in. That’s if I need to. I’m still using tret and bha. Both of these products are drying enough for my skin. I’m also going to use both of them without a moisturizer. Let’s see what happens!

I tried some old or previous products too, haha! Oops.

I tried The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%, The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2%, and The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG again. The Resveratrol & Ferulic Acid serum and Ascrobic Acid & Arbutin serum was a mistake, lol. I haven’t used any The Ordinary serums on my face for a while. I was in for a surprise. Well, kinda. I should’ve known. Both of these serums felt extremely greasy on the face. It didn’t sink in my skin at all and left my skin feeling and looking sticky, heavy, and greasy. I woke up the next morning with red, irritated skin and clogged pores. It messed up my skin so quick. Lesson learned once again. I thought I would try it out again and this happens. Now I know once again that these serums simply do not work on my face. Another product I tried again from The Ordinary is the Caffeine Solution & EGCG. This one worked better. I kind of missed it, so I started using it again, lol. I’m only using it at night since it has a drying, tightening effect on the skin around the eyes. Also, it takes time for the serum to absorb into the skin. So far, nothing bad has happened.

My thoughts on some of my sunscreens…

Vanicream Mineral Facial Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30:

I’m almost done with this sunscreen. It’s a thicker and heavier sunscreen, and it does has the tendency to sit on top of my skin. Ahhh, I love the ceramides in this product. It helps to moisturize, heal, and protect my skin. I haven’t noticed any breakouts from using it daily either or from reapplying. I can reapply this sunscreen without the product pilling. It works great as a moisturizer and contains ingredients that I like. I use it when I’m indoors or when I need my skin to heal from exfoliants or actives. I think it’s much more moisturizing compared to Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin too. The Vanicream Mineral SPF 30 is making me have second thoughts about Vanicream Daily Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. Hmmmm! So I’m still on the fence about this product. It just feels a bit too rich for my skin type. But it could work. I’ll finish the rest of the product and think about it.

Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ (Clear):

I tried to use this sunscreen up on my face. I really tried. It’s just too drying on the skin, and I couldn’t stand the dryness any longer. It ruined the moisture levels in my skin. My skin looked cracked, felt super tight, and painful. I tried using it with a heavier product underneath too, and it still didn’t work. I guess I could just use it on my body. I won’t repurchase again. I know I’ve said this many times, but I hate this product. 👎🏻

CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Face Sheer Tint:

A product I grew to love this week is the CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Face Sheer Tint! It’s a tinted mineral sunscreen (SPF 30) that contains niacinamide. I was really shocked and am still shocked that it brightened my skin. I noticed a clearer and brighter complexion after rinsing it off for the day. I’m really, really liking this product. I’m using it as my face makeup product (foundation) too. It doesn’t provide any coverage, but it’s best for my skin to not have anything thick and heavy on it. Also, too many products just causes more acne issues. My skin just looks better after rinsing it off at the end of the day. I’m really enjoying applying this product to my face too. It blends into the skin without leaving a white cast behind. Perfect for sunscreen reapplication.

5 months in and now on to a new week!!

My whole acne journey is right here! Enjoy! 🙂

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. 🙂

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

I stopped using more products. 😃 I’ve been using these two products since forever. I think it’s time to let them go. They are The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG and Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. Let’s start off with The Ordinary!

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG:

It’s been about 2 years using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. The purpose of this product is to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and puffiness. I thought it was working at first, but I haven’t noticed much of a change in my skin (under eyes) after another year of using it. All it did was dry my under eye area out. I still have dark under eye circles. I make sure to get enough sleep too, and I still have them, lol. Must be genetics, haha. Oh well. I only have puffy eyes once in a while, but this product didn’t do much for puffy eyes when I had them. Just like most The Ordinary skin care products, this one didn’t work for me either (2 years!!! 😮‍💨). This is the last of The Ordinary products I have in my skin care routine. I removed all of The Ordinary products I was using. I think I’m over this brand. Most of their products are too greasy, oily for my skin type. They don’t sit well on my skin. My skin gets more oily and ends up with breakouts. I’ve been dealing with acne for so long that I wonder if The Ordinary products contributed to the clogged pores. So far, after not using any of them (along with a bunch of other skin care products), my skin has improved. With the Caffeine Solution, it was just drying even when I moisturize my eye area heavily. It tightens my under eyes and dries it out. When I stopped using it, the dryness went away. I’m going to stick to moisturizing products only for the eyes from now on. I’m over this product. It didn’t work for me.

Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence:

I stopped using Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence since I wanted a simple, basic skin care routine instead. All products that didn’t serve a purpose in my routine had to go. This was one of them. With the Snail Essence, it didn’t really hydrate my skin by much. I tried using it alone without any other skin care products, and my skin felt extremely dry. My skin started to crack. I couldn’t even smile, lol. The dryness started to hurt my face. So the essence doesn’t do well as a stand alone skin hydrator. It works better in combination with other moisturizing products. So did it do anything at all for my skin? lol. Well, I didn’t see improvements in my skin texture and hydration levels while using it. I’ve gone through several bottles too. I just didn’t see the purpose of this product anymore. It feels like I’m just wasting my money hoping that it’ll do something for my skin since it’s a snail product. Nothing’s happening and it seems like a waste of time and money. Also, another aspect of the product that I didn’t like was the packaging. This applies to other Cosrx skin care products as well, such as Cosrx Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence, Cosrx Oil-Free Ultra-Moisturizing Lotion (with Birch Sap), and Cosrx Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Power Essence. They all come in the same type of packaging/bottle. It’s a plastic bottle with a pump. Once you reach the bottom of the bottle, it’s difficult to get the rest out. They should really change the packaging of these products. It’s extremely annoying. I feel like they did this on purpose. 😂 So that’s another reason why I’m going to stop purchasing products that come in lousy packaging like this. They’re also very clunky to carry around and to travel with. It’s just not for me, I guess.

More products that I stopped using…

Benton Fermentation Essence

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%