2 Weeks Using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution. My Results!

It’s been 2 weeks using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution! This week, I used glycolic acid products and benzoyl peroxide (more on this in a bit!). So, I started off the week using only glycolic acid products. Just this toner and another glycolic acid serum (read more about it by going to that link!). Glycolic acid has helped improve my skin. But, I can tell that it’s not going to clear up my skin fully. While using glycolic acid, I noticed smoother, brighter skin, and some closed comedones moving up to the surface, but it’s not getting to the source. It’s not going to be the miracle cure for my acne. I stopped using it every day. Now I’m only using it only a few times a week for exfoliation. Hopefully it’ll help with acne marks with continued use. It’s a nice product to have in my routine. I haven’t had any issues using it. No redness, itchiness, or burning. The stinging sensation has diminished over time too. My skin is getting used to it real fast. Now on to my experience with benzoyl peroxide…

I decided to use benzoyl peroxide last minute (at the end of the week). It’s because I didn’t see much results with glycolic acid acne-wise. I know it’s only been 2 weeks, but that’s more than enough time for me to see if it works for my acne or not. I just don’t think it’s working. I noticed inflamed acne popping up, and it looks like it’s going to get worse if I didn’t do anything about it. Glycolic acid alone just isn’t going to cut it. At least for the products I was using. I’m using benzoyl peroxide now. I didn’t expect to use it again, but here I am, using it again, haha. Let’s see if it works this time around. It has worked plenty of times before. I just ended up venturing out to other ingredients/products to help with my acne. I guess, to no avail. Here’s my experience using benzoyl peroxide for the first time again.

So before applying benzoyl peroxide to my skin, I applied my moisturizer (La Roche Posay Toleriane Double Repair Matte Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin) first. I might re-add Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence to increase moisture in my skin. I removed it because I didn’t need it anymore. But, more moisture right now wouldn’t be a bad thing while using benzoyl peroxide. Moisturizing the skin helps to prevent skin dryness and any other skin irritations. After applying moisturizer, I applied benzoyl peroxide all over my face! I’m not using it as a spot treatment. Just not yet until my skin is clear. The results the next morning was pretty amazing. I noticed a decrease in sebum, clearer skin, less closed comedones, and my overall complexion just looked less inflamed. I had some inflamed pimples the night before. They have diminished in redness and in size. I also notice some clogged pores making an appearance. That didn’t bother me much. I’m trying to unclog my pores for a smoother feel anyways. My skin has been super clogged for a long time. I can feel this gross bumpy texture to my skin when I move my fingers over my skin. It doesn’t look bad visually, but I can feel it when I wash my face. That’s been bothering me a lot. Hopefully benzoyl peroxide works this time.

Here’s my current skin care routine + benzoyl peroxide added last minute. Stay tuned for my results next week. I’m constantly changing up my skin care routine and trying to figure out what works.

Products I’m Experimenting With…

Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum:

I really like this glycolic acid serum. It’s a higher percentage (14%) and leaves my skin feeling soft, smooth, and exfoliated. My skin is tolerating it pretty well. When applied to the skin, it stings a little bit. That stinging sensation eventually disappears. I tried using it every day and didn’t have any issues using it every day. But, I don’t think it’s necessary to exfoliate the skin that much. I’m only using this serum once or twice a week whenever I feel like it. The higher percentage of glycolic acid has helped blemishes move up to the surface even faster than the glycolic acid toner. My skin looks brighter and so much smoother. I’m really liking what I’m seeing so far. Hopefully it’ll continue to make a difference in my skin.

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

I tried the Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ Clear this week. It was a last minute kind of thing. I haven’t let this product touch my face in ages. I still have a few bottles left, so I thought I would give it another try, lol. Hopefully it doesn’t clog my pores like last time. My skin care routine is pretty minimal right now so I’ll know if it’s breaking me out or not. The sunscreen felt really nice when applied to the skin. It’s lightweight, gel-like. It absorbs easily into the skin and leaves the skin feeling and looking matte. I didn’t experience a sheen on my skin like I used to. The sunscreen does soak up oils on the skin. I used a moisturizer before applying this sunscreen. From my past experience with this sunscreen, it doesn’t protect my skin well. I noticed some skin darkening when I used it. But, I’m not going to use it alone. I’ll use my usual, daily sunscreen on top. This is a good way to use up a sunscreen that I won’t purchase again. I kind of miss the gel texture. It feels amazing on my oily skin.

Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50:

I stopped using this sunscreen, but I started using it again. Since my routine is shorter, why not give it another chance? Also, I finished my first bottle of this sunscreen this week! It took forever! So this sunscreen is still moisturizing and leaves the skin looking greasy on the surface of the skin. It burns the eyes if any gets in there. I really do love how protective this sunscreen is. It has a high SPF and high UVA. I hope it doesn’t clog my pores, but we’ll see as I continue to use it. I bought quite a few. I don’t want to waste them.

If you missed out on my updates…

Update: The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA & La Roche-Posay Anthelios Body & Face Mineral Sunscreen Gentle Lotion SPF 50

My Experience After 1 Week Using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution + Other Skin Care Updates

The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA. What I Think About It.

I started using The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% a few days ago along with The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA. I used them both together at first, but now I’m using Mandelic Acid 10% in the morning to help with oily skin and morning acne. I needed something to keep my excess sebum and acne at bay. Seems like my skin benefits from having some sort of acne fighting product in the morning. I decided to try mandelic acid since I have it. I found it in my skin care cabinet and just decided to give it a go. Before I get into my experience with the Mandelic Acid 10% product. Let’s learn more about The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA!

More on The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA!

Mandelic acid is very gentle on the skin. It’s even more gentler compared to lactic acid. They’re both gentle alpha hydroxy acids compared to, let’s say, glycolic acid. Apparently I can’t use glycolic acid that often. It wrecks my skin. 😑 So I’ve been off of glycolic acid for a while and trying other gentler alpha hydroxy acid to combat against clogged pores and blemishes. Now let’s take a look at what’s in this product! Here are the ingredients…

Propanediol, Aqua (Water), Mandelic Acid, Glycerin, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol.

It looks pretty good. Doesn’t look like it would clog my pores, but we’ll see what happens when I use it. Let’s go! On to my experience with The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA!!

My Experience With The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA

So it’s been a few days of using The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA. The serum is lightweight and absorbs into the skin well. I really liked the texture and consistency of it. It sinks into my skin pretty well. I didn’t have to wait too long for it to absorb into the skin. Perfect! Now for the results! I noticed results after a single day of using it! I had some blackheads on my nose that I was trying to get rid of. I was using Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid to get rid of these annoying, stubborn blackheads on my nose. It looked like it was working at first. It helped to decrease excess sebum in my skin, but it didn’t really do anything for my blemishes long term. And I’ve been using the 2% BHA Liquid for as long as I can remember. I kept trying the 2% BHA Liquid but nothing good came out of it. I didn’t see improvements in my acne. Honestly, I don’t think BHA is that effective on my acne. I wish it would work, but it just didn’t work on my skin. Maybe I can use the rest of the bottle as a toner, lol. I don’t think I’m going to use it again to treat my acne. So whatever. haha.

Now here I have mandelic acid, a more gentler form of alpha hydroxy acid. Even more gentler than lactic acid. I love that it’s more gentle on the skin. I haven’t noticed much irritation when using it. Yep, no itchiness, redness, or excessive skin peeling. I noticed some light skin peeling, but that’s it. But guess what??? It helped with blackheads! I noticed the stubborn, annoying blackheads on my nose diminishing and looking lighter in appearance. It also helped with other blemishes I had on my face too. I was having some weird forehead acne going on. Just a few pimples here and there, and mandelic acid has helped reduce them in size dramatically overnight! So it looks like mandelic acid is working on my acne-prone skin! I love it! And it’s sooooooo gentle! Yes, I have to emphasize how gentle it is on the skin. Because it is! I can use it in the morning without my skin drying out! If used in the morning, make sure to wear SPF, since it increases skin’s sensitivity to the sun. After a few days of use, results have been amazing so far! I hope it works out in the end! Goodbye blackheads! 👋🏻

👉🏻 Other The Ordinary skin care products I reviewed! Don’t miss out!

The Ordinary Argireline Solution 10%

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA

The Ordinary Amino Acids + B5

The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%

The Ordinary Pycnogenol 5%

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10%

After 2 Weeks of Using RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads!! My Results!!

I’ve used RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads for 2 weeks! I’m SO excited to share my experience and results with everyone! Let’s go! 🙌🏻

So I picked up a container of RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads. I love RoC products and so I thought I would give the RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads a try. I’ve gotten pretty good results from other products I use from this brand too. I was hoping these line smoothing cleansing pads would deliver results as well. Hopefully it’ll help to eliminate or at least diminish some fine lines and wrinkles. Also, sometimes I would get dry, flaky skin coming off of my face and nothing seems to remove them all. Just some are removed. I’m left with dead skin still hanging from my face. So I do have other exfoliating skin care products like Neutrogena Bright Boost Resurfacing Micro Polish, Benton PHA Peeling Gel, and some Skinfood facial scrubs that’s been sitting around for ages, lol. I’m really trying to use them up, but I just don’t have the interest to use them anymore. I’ll try to, haha! These are exfoliating products, but they don’t seem to remove all of the dead skin that’s on my face. They’ll remove some dry patches of dead skin here and there, but I want them all gone. I need a smooth blank canvas for my nighttime routine, so I can get an even layer of application on a freshly cleansed face. It gets pretty frustrating noticing that there’s still dead skin on my face after exfoliating too. I mean, shouldn’t they be all gone?

In other news, I’ll make an update on some of the exfoliating products mentioned.

More About RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads…

RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads are clinically shown to help diminish the look of fine lines, wrinkles, and pores. Helps to improve the appearance in just one week. They are self-foaming pads that are gentle enough to remove makeup and other impurities. Even around the delicate eye area while exfoliating to smooth skin for a younger-looking complexion. It’s gentle enough for daily use. For best results, use daily to reveal cleaner, smoother, younger-looking skin.

They are hypoallergenic, soap-free, oil-free, non-comedogenic, and dermatologist-tested.

Here’s the timeline on what kind of results to expect. Here it is! PROVEN RESULTS!

There’s that! 😅 Now let’s see what the product looks like! ^.^

Upon opening the jar, you’ll see that the container comes sealed air tight. Love it!

When the seal is open, we have pre-soaked cotton pads. There’s a total of 28 pre-soaked cotton pads in this container. They are 3″ (7.63 cm) in diameter (stated on the container).

Here’s a single cotton bad. This is the textured side of the pad. It has tiny little exfoliating bumps on it to help remove dead skin cells. To make the skin feel softer and smoother.

Here’s the softer side of the pad. No texture. No bumps. This side of the pad is meant to be used to cleanse the face and the delicate eye area. It’s gentle and doesn’t feel rough at all.

The Ingredients

Here are the ingredients in this product.

Water/Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Glucoside, PEG-16 Soy Sterol, PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide, Polysorbate 20, Coconut Acid, Disodium Lauroamphodiacetate, Butylene Glycol, PEG-14M, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Coco PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Protein, Silica, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Propylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, Fragrance/Parfum, BHT.

FYI, there is NO retinol in this product.

My Experience & Results with RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads

These are called daily cleansing pads, but I didn’t use them on a daily basis. I didn’t feel like I had to. I only used them to remove dead skin from my face when I needed to. My skin peels or gets flaky about 2-3 times a week, so I only used the cleansing pads that amount of times. I’m not sure if that’s going to affect my results. I was hoping to diminish some fine lines and wrinkles but also remove some acne marks. So! Hopefully using it 2-3 times a week is more than enough. Each container only contains 28 cleansing pads. I just didn’t see the purpose of using cleansing pads every single day either. It’s seems pretty wasteful and expensive. I didn’t want to pay 10 bucks a month to cleanse my face when I already have a facial cleanser that lasts much longer than a month. But it’s really up to you what you want to do. I didn’t think it was necessary to use it daily.

The instructions says to gently massage the pad on wet skin. Check. That’s what I did. The cleansing pad would foam up nicely. It’s really simple and easy to move the cleansing pad over the facial skin. The cleansing pad smoothly transitions from one section of the face to the next effortlessly without tugging the skin. The instructions goes on to say to use the smooth side of the pad first for gentle cleansing all over the face, especially the delicate eye area. Use the textured side to remove oil, dirt, and other skin-dulling impurities. That’s also what I did. So the gentle side of the pad (non-textured, smooth side) is great for cleansing the face and eye area. All I do is move the pad over my face and eye area gently. It actually helped to remove some dead skin without pulling at the skin. Nice! That’s exactly what I wanted. The textured side is great too. It really does help to remove flaky skin and just overall dead skin that has a difficult time coming off. You can use these cleansing pads day and night, but I think that’s rather too much and way over my budget. If used day and night, the whole container would last 2 weeks. No thanks, I’ll stick to 2-3 times a week and only at night when my skin gets flaky.

So it looks like my results with these cleansing pads have been awesome. Each time I use them, my skin just looks so much softer, smoother, and pretty after cleansing my skin with them. Since I’ve been using these cleansing pads only a few times a week for 2 weeks, would this be considered 2 weeks? Hmmm! I have noticed a reduction in fine lines (kind of). What I noticed the most was an improvement in my skin texture. The texture of my skin just looks and feels smoother. It must be from removing all of that dead skin! So, after 2 weeks of using this product, I’m really glad I gave it a chance. I really like it. It works so much better compared to the other exfoliants that I have (mentioned earlier). If you have forgotten, here they are again — Neutrogena Bright Boost Resurfacing Micro Polish, Benton PHA Peeling Gel, and Skinfood facial scrubs. To wrap it up, I’m falling in love with RoC Line Smoothing Cleansing Pads!! They’re awesome at removing flaky, peeling skin. Let’s see what it can do in the next few weeks or so. A new updated review coming up soon!

I’m looking forward to the 4 week mark — Signs of photo-aging diminished. Uneven skin tone and dark spots diminished! If it happens…

An Update on PanOxyl Acne Foaming Face Wash! What I’m Using Now.

Here’s an update on PanOxyl Acne Foaming Wash! I’ve been using it for goodness knows how long. It feels like forever. It’s been my facial cleanser since last year. I’ve switched between the Acne Foaming Wash and Acne Creamy Wash. Between the two, my skin much prefers the Acne Foaming Wash. It’s that oily skin that I have. The Acne Foaming Wash isn’t drying at all on my skin (as of late), which is a good thing, but there’s more to this face wash that I want to talk about (keep reading!!). Meanwhile…the Acne Creamy Wash doesn’t do much for my skin. It’s too moisturizing for my skin type. I think it’s better for someone with dry or normal skin. I only used it when my skin felt super dry from my acne treatments. But, I haven’t had that problem lately. I stopped using it because I simply don’t need it. Plus it’s not doing anything for my skin. I need a facial cleanser that actually leaves my skin feeling clean. I have excess oil on my facial skin that needs to be removed. The Acne Creamy Wash wasn’t cutting it.

So I’ve been having second thoughts about PanOxyl Acne Foaming Wash. After going through many tubes of this product, it looks like the 10% benzoyl peroxide in the product has very little to no effect on my acne. I love benzoyl peroxide. It’s amazing stuff for acne. I’ve used it for so many years on and off. But this face wash isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. On the packaging it says that it’ll clear existing acne and helps to prevent new breakouts from forming. Nope, didn’t happen. Not for me at least. Treats acne on the face and the body. That didn’t happen either. Benzoyl peroxide is an effective ingredient for acne. I have a bottle of benzoyl peroxide gel that I use to spot treat my acne when necessary. It works. But this face wash did absolutely nothing for my acne. I tried leaving it on my skin for a few minutes too. I even tried leaving it on for 5 minutes. No results. It’s just like any other facial cleanser. It’s good at cleansing the skin, but it’s not good at treating acne. Well, it didn’t work on my acne-prone skin.

At the moment, I’m trying to finish up my PanOxyl facial cleansers (both of them, lol). In the meantime, I’m using Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser as my main cleanser. It’s all that I have that (I guess) works on my skin. Just for now, I mean. Even though it contains AHAs like glycolic acid and lactic acid, it hasn’t dried out my skin or irritate it. It’s a pretty moisturizing facial cleanser like it’s advertised as — a hydro boost exfoliating cleanser. Maybe my skin is just so oily that it can handle it. At the same time, it’s good at removing excess oil without drying my skin out. It hasn’t done much for my acne though. I find the AHAs in this product useless. It’s not left on my skin long enough just like how the benzoyl peroxide in PanOxyl facial cleansers isn’t left on my skin long enough to have any effect on my acne. It’s quite a disappointment. I wished it would have some positive effect on my skin. So I think I’m going to use this face wash until I find something else that’s better for my skin. It works for the time being.

Read more on PanOxyl Facial Cleansers and Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser here:

PanOxyl Acne Creamy Wash (4%) vs Acne Foaming Wash (10%)

Review: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Exfoliating Cleanser

Trying Out Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel!

I received a sample of Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel a while ago with one of my orders. The box came with 3 sample pieces. Each with an exfoliating treatment and an anti-aging neutralizer. What is this system supposed to do???

This is a two-step AHA/BHA anti-aging system. Each pad is pre-dosed with seven acids to reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles, acne scars, pores, dull skin, uneven texture, shine, and blemishes. For dry, combination, normal, and oily skin. It is vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and comes in a recyclable packaging.

The star ingredients in this product are glycolic acid (reduces visible signs of aging), salicylic acid (reduces clogged pores and supports natural collagen), and lactic acid (supports natural cell renewal).

Let’s look deeper into the ingredients…

The exfoliating treatment: The first two ingredients in the exfoliating treatment is Water and Alcohol Denature (SD Alcohol 40-B). Ouch! I’m not a fan of products with alcohol. They tend to irritate and dry my skin out! The exfoliating treatment also contains Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Lactic Acid, Mandelic Acid, Malic Acid, Citric Acid, and Salix Alba Willow Bark Extract. If you’re wondering what the seven exfoliating acids are in this product, that’s what they are! Glycolic Acid being at the top of the ingredient list. Alcohol is listed again at the end of the ingredient list. *sigh* That’s just too much. And it does contain fragrance (if you’re sensitive to fragrance).

The anti-aging neutralizer: It contains Sodium Bicarbonate along with anti-aging ingredients, such as Resveratrol, Retinol, Ascorbic Acid, Ubiquinone, Phospholipids, Adenosine, Tocopheryl Acetate. I can see why it’s called an ‘anti-aging’ neutralizer from the ingredients it contains!

The first step is a combination of AHAs and BHAs to exfoliate the skin. Treat the signs of aging and support cell renewal. The second step provides the skin with retinol and resveratrol to maximize anti-aging benefits. It helps to hydrate and smooth the skin for a more youthful appearance.

But did it work? Here’s my experience with the peel!

I was very excited about this product. Perhaps it could help get rid of breakouts and smooth out my skin. At least do something good! Well, let’s see if it does! So the product was very easy to use. All you have to do is massage (Step 1) the pad onto clean, dry skin until the pad is dry. Wait 2 minutes. Let the product sit and soak into the skin. Repeat with Step 2. The peel tingled my skin just a little bit, but it felt nice on the skin. It felt like it was doing something. It didn’t irritate my skin or turn it beet red. I noticed acne bumps shrinking in size when using the peel! I had a pimple on the side of my temple that became smaller when I applied the peel to it. I actually gave it special treatment by holding the peel on the pimple. Letting the product soak into that pimple. The product worked! It didn’t dry my skin out like I thought it would. Alcohol is listed as one of the first ingredients and listed again at the bottom of the list. Once again, my skin didn’t feel stripped or dehydrated after use.

From my experience, after finishing the samples, I think this is a good product for acne-prone skin. It’s gentle and effective. It made my skin look better afterwards and improved my acne on the spot. So this could work for those times when there’s a huge pimple that’s throbbing underneath the surface and you have somewhere important you have to be. It won’t get rid of the pimple right away, but it helps to reduce the swelling. So would I purchase the full-size product?? Unfortunately, this product is quite expensive. For the full-size product, it’s $88 for 30 treatments. In my opinion, I think it’s a good product. It exfoliates, helps with acne, and makes the skin look smoother, but I don’t think it’s worth that much. Especially for $88 (30 treatments only). That’s pretty much overpriced for what you get. There are other peels and acne treatments out there that are more affordable and also as effective as this peel. I won’t purchase the full-size product. This is what I’m using instead! Check out my experience on it here:

Starting Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum!

After 1 Week of Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum! My Results!

My Experience with Cosrx AHA BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner