My Skin is CLEAR! :) What I’m Doing Now.

My skin is officially free from acne! And all thanks to BP! Wow, it worked so fast! 😍 But I haven’t given up on BP after being clear. I’m still using it to treat my acne, but I don’t have to use it too often anymore. I’m aiming for once a week at night or twice a week if my skin gets really oily. I think once a week is more than enough. 🤔 BP really dries the living hell out of my skin. After a day of using BP, my skin looks more dull, uneven, and crusty. The next day, it looks AMAZING!! The dead skin just comes off and my skin looks so fresh, bright, and new! The dryness from BP can be a good thing for my skin sometimes, since my skin gets more oily during the more humid, hot, summer months. ☀️ The weather has been hotter than usual. Along with using BP, I’ve made a few changes to my skin care routine. I know, AGAIN! I just can’t stop making changes. LOL. Since I’m focusing more on skin texture and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I mean, I’ve already gotten my acne under control. Now let’s keep the positive changes rolling! I still have some acne marks that needs to be treated, but I’m not going to purchase any new products to fade them. None of them have worked on my skin anyways. That’ll just be a waste of money. So I decided to re-add some products I removed not so long ago, haha. I know, odd! I didn’t expect this to happen, but I started to miss using these products on my facial skin. They are…

Guess first! lol. Never mind, let’s goooooooooooooo! 🙌🏻

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel:

All of a sudden I had the urge to use the Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel again. I needed some more moisture in my skin. And I just out of nowhere started using this product again. I think I’m just hooked on it, lol. It feels cooling and soothing on my skin. Gives my skin lightweight, jelly moisture on my oily skin. It’s not the most moisturizing moisturizer, but it provides nice hydration to my skin right now. I’ll use it, but I’m still not sure if I’ll buy another tube of the product. I still have another unopened tube of this product by the way, lol. I’m so addicted to skin care products, hahaha! 😂 My skin is currently loving this aloe soothing gel.

Cos De BAHA MA Peptide Facial Toner:

I really like how this facial toner feels on my skin. It’s another gel-based product. Works perfectly on my oily skin. Just like the Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel, it doesn’t provide much moisture, but I like it for what it is. I like the anti-aging ingredients in this product too. I’m almost out of the product, so I thought I would use it on my facial skin instead. I’m tempted to purchase another bottle since it’s so affordable for the amount of product. But we’ll see. I hope it does wonderous things to my skin for the time being. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens after finishing the bottle.

The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%:

I kind of missed that glow that I get from using The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2% and The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3%. I decided to start using The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3% again. I decided NOT to use the Ascorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutin 2%. I wanted to see how my skin is going to react to just using the Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3% serum. I really like these ingredients and can’t seem to find another product with these ingredients that are affordable. So! Let’s see how it’ll go just using The Ordinary Resveratrol 3% Ferulic Acid 3% alone without the Ascorbic Acid serum! My face hasn’t turned orange yet. Maybe it’s the Ascorbic Acid that’s turning me into an oompa loompa. 🍊

Those are the 3 products I decided to reintroduce back into my skin care routine. I thought I would call it quits for good on these products, but it just felt like it was the right time to use them again. One night I just grabbed these products and used them on my face. The next morning, my skin was super glowy and pretty that I had to continue using them to see what happens. My skin has been looking good since. No problems so far. I haven’t experienced any breakouts from any of them (as of yet). I hope it stays this way. Besides skin care, I’m trying to eat healthy. Trying to get more vegetables into my diet. Drinking more water to keep my body hydrated. Everything has changed so much since the beginning of this year until now. Hope all goes well this summer and the rest of the year!

But there’s something else…

I started using tret again! Well, I still am once a week, but my dose has been increased! I’m using a higher concentration. I was bumped up to 0.1 for acne. 0.05 did absolutely nothing for my acne. I tried 0.1 before, and it was way too strong on my skin during that point in time. But, that was the past, this is now. Let’s give the 0.1 a try and see how my skin reacts. I’ve been using the 0.1 for about 2 days now. And you know what? My skin has been tolerating it pretty well. Much better than it did before. Here’s my 2 day experience using tret! What happened to my skin??

Day 1:

One night, I decided to use my tube of 0.1 tret. I had it. It was just sitting around unused because it was too strong for my skin at one point. Not anymore. I applied it to my skin. The product felt warm and smooth on my skin. It moved across my skin very nicely. I liked the way it felt on my skin. At the same time, I was petrified not knowing what would happen the next morning. When using tret, I used my moisturizing skin care products to prevent my skin from any dryness. There’s another product I started using again when I started using tret too. It’s the Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream. I needed a richer, heavier product to prevent my skin from drying out when on tret. This seemed to be the perfect choice. I took some of the cream and applied it to my face after applying tret and my lightweight moisturizers. Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream was the 4th product that I reintroduced to my skin care routine. 🙂

Day 2:

The next morning (after day 1), my skin felt warm. I can see red splotches on my face. They weren’t that bad. They were just a light pink/red color that eventually faded away. I decided to use tret again on the second night. My skin didn’t feel dry or irritated besides some redness that went away. I’m glad I went forth with the second night. Because the next day, I noticed a lot of peeling on my face. Also, I noticed some random breakouts that healed very fast! Am I purging? Hmmm! My skin looked really good besides my skin peeling off all over my face. I’m pretty excited to remove these dry, dead skin cells from my face! Wow, is tret really working for me this time? Because it seems like it! My skin is responding well. No major irritations besides some redness and skin peeling on the second day. Maybe I just needed to give my skin a break and move on to something stronger. Also, I’ve continued to use Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream in the morning too and at night to prevent my skin from drying out or if there’s any itchiness. My skin hasn’t been itchy while on tret. Some dryness hasn’t been bad either. All is going well. 👍🏻

SO! It looks like I’m back on my tret journey. AGAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!! hahaha. I’m really excited this time because my skin is actually peeling like when I was using BP. The more dead skin my face sloughs off, the clearer my skin gets. It helps to prevent breakouts from living underneath the surface of the skin. Plus, it’s a bonus that it also helps to improve the quality of my skin. My skin looks really good right now. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to achieve a near flawless (nothing is perfect!) complexion, but I’m really happy how things are going. I’ll make another update on my tret journey soon! See everyone there! I hope this post was helpful! Have a nice day! 😊

2 Month Tret Update. Is It Working??!! + Other Products I’m Using :)

It’s been 2 months on tret. I used it a few days a week at first until my skin acclimated to it. That went by quick, so I started using it every day at night. I haven’t had any issues with using it every day since. My skin isn’t red, peeling, or in pain. No irritation of any kind. It’s so weird. I had issues with it using it every night before. All of a sudden, out of the blue, it’s been such a breeze. It’s like I’m applying water to my skin now. So interesting and odd at the same time! I wonder if it’s working anymore. So that is why I’ve been trying out other skin care products. It looks like tret isn’t helping with some forehead acne and blackheads on my nose. They’ve been really stubborn, and I need to get rid of them ASAP, so they can heal quickly and properly. This is what I tried during the second month of tret.

Skin Care Products I Tried…

Benzoyl Peroxide: I would slather BP all over my face if I could, but the side effects are just too much. The fumes get into my eyes and burn. But, BP truly does work to eliminate acne. Some days of the week, I’ll spot treat areas where I notice congestion. That’s about it. *sigh* Those BP days…

Glycolic Acid: I started using glycolic acid again when I was looking for another option to treat my acne (besides BP). I’m using Alpha Skin Care Intensive Renewal Serum (my first impression). Here’s my 1 week review on the product. I did another update on this serum. Go here to read more about it (my 3 week update). Glycolic acid seems to be working this time around too. I’m stunned! It worked before then stopped working. Now, it’s working again. It’s been great for skin texture and the overall quality of my skin. Keeping my skin looking soft, smooth, and refined, but it didn’t do much for my acne. Well, it did at first, but it stopped working on my acne. I’m still deciding if I should keep this serum in my routine. I was really looking for something that’ll unclog my pores, and this serum seems too gentle on my skin to do just that. So, I took a break from it since I didn’t see an improvement in my acne. I might bring it back if I think my skin needs it. I really don’t know yet.

Some Products Worth Mentioning…

My skin seems to be tolerating almost all of the products I used before. Didn’t work at one point in time, but it’s working now. They are…

iUNIK Black Snail Restore Serum: This serum is very moisturizing. It helps to keep the skin soft and hydrated. Feels sticky at first but feels very nice on the skin. Once it sinks into the skin, it leaves the skin feeling smooth and moisturized. I have a little bit of this product left from using it twice a day. But am I going to keep using it when I’m done with the bottle? I’m not sure. I prefer the iUNIK Propolis Synergy Vitamin Serum a little bit more. I’ll have to think about it. 🤔 The iUNIK Propolis Synergy Vitamin Serum is another serum that’s working for me now too. 🙂 Love it!!

Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask: I have a love-hate relationship with this moisturizer. It’s moisturizing. It’s probably the most moisturizing lotion I have used where I don’t get huge cystic acne. But I decided to keep it in my routine and use it only on dry areas of my face. If I have a dry patch, I’ll use this product to moisturize that specific area of my face. I don’t use it all-over anymore. It causes too many problems. Makes my skin all oily, more blackheads, and forehead acne goes nuts. Moisturizing is important for skin health, but too much leads to consequences like breakouts (on my skin). I really like this moisturizer though. It truly does help moisturize my oily skin without leaving my skin feeling heavy and clogged.

Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid: I started using this BHA Liquid again. I went full on, lol, but I had to stop using it because it was drying my skin out. It works to tame the oilies on my facial skin, but I don’t think it did anything for the blackheads on my nose. I was hoping it would do something about that. I like using this BHA Liquid when my skin is oily. I’ll use it once in a while right now until summer arrives. That’s when my skin is even more oily.

Here are some products I’m not too wild about anymore:

Cosrx AHA BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner: This toner hasn’t helped much with acne whatsoever. I was hoping that it did a little bit of something. Doesn’t seem like it’s good at controlling the oil in my skin anymore. What happened? I don’t know. It’s an OK product. I’m not sure if I should keep it in my routine or not. It has a weird texture to it. I’m on the fence about this toner. We’ll see what happens in the near future. lol.

Olay Regenerist Vitamin C Peptide 24 Brightening Facial Cleanser: I’ve been using the Olay Regenerist Facial Cleanser since last year. I started off with the Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Cream Cleanser. The Vitamin C Peptide 24 Brightening Facial Cleanser is the exact same as the Collagen Peptide 24 Cream Cleanser in terms of results. I didn’t notice brighter skin using the one with vitamin c. I loved this cleanser months ago when I was using it. That was when I didn’t have a good BHA product in my routine. I know these facial cleansers aren’t advertised as acne cleansers or cleansers with BHA, but it does contain salicylic acid in them. I can feel the salicylic on my skin when I use it. I would keep it around, but I’m using Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid instead. I just thought it would be a better option for me instead of this face wash. Maybe I’ll use it again if Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid doesn’t work out. More reviews on Olay Regenerist facial cleansers:

1 Week Using Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Cream Cleanser. Goodbye Acne?

1 Month Using Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Cream Cleanser & What I’m Doing Now for My Acne…

How My Skin Is Doing

The only acne I’m dealing with right now is a few pimples on my forehead. Some blackheads on my nose (so annoying). Sometimes some random pimple that pops out of nowhere. My skin is almost, just almost clear. Texture looks pretty good. It’s looks smoother. I’m not liking that shiny forehead though. It looks so weird and odd, haha. I’ve been trying to keep my skin moisturized by using lightweight facial moisturizers, which don’t provide enough moisture for my skin, but it’s better than nothing. My skin hasn’t broken out from those moisturizers (as of yet!). Right now, it’s all about keeping my moisture barrier healthy and happy. But tret hasn’t been drying. Or doing much for my acne like I hoped. I think I’m going to keep using it and wait it out. In the meantime, just search for something else to combat these stubborn pimples that just won’t go away. After 2 months, I’m pretty much neutral with the results I’m getting from tret. I can’t say much about it helping with fine lines and wrinkles. I think moisturizing my skin has helped a ton more. Well! That’s my 2 month update on tret. Take it or leave it, lol. I’ll see everyone next month!

⭐ If you missed out on my previous experience with tret…

My experience with tret the first week…

After 1 Month on Tret + Skin Care Routine. Here are My Results.

2 Months on Tret. My results. 🙂

Taking a break from tret…

Back to tret! 1 Week Results & My Skin Care Routine. Did it work? 🤔

1 Month on Tret. My Results!

A break from Tret & What I’m Doing Now

Surprise! Back on tret + Other Acne Treatments for Clear Skin. 🙂

Review: Cos De BAHA MA Peptide Facial Toner

I’m trying to sneak in a new skin care product into my boring skin care routine. I thought I would give Cos De BAHA MA Peptide Facial Toner another chance. I remember it being a more hydrating toner than a drying one, so let’s see if it still is. So the purpose of this facial toner is to improve skin elasticity, provide intensive hydration, and diminish fine lines and wrinkles. It contains pure hyaluronic acid, matrixyl 3000 genuine peptide, and argireline genuine peptide. It’s an oil-free and alcohol-free hydrating toner that boosts moisture in the skin. That sounds pretty good. Now I remember why I picked up a bottle of this stuff in the first place. It’s exactly what I wanted in a skin care product. But did it work this time around? Let’s find out! Here’s my experience with Cos De BAHA MA Peptide Facial Toner!

My experience

This facial toner is a gel that’s not too runny. I tried using it with a cotton pad, but I prefer to dispense a little bit of product into my palm and gently pat it into my skin. The product feels really weird on the skin when used with a cotton pad. It feels like a waste of product too. At first, my skin felt really hydrated, since I don’t have an intense moisturizing product in my routine. This was definitely different and moisturizing on the skin. It left my skin looking more plump, glowy, soft, and very smooth in appearance. After a day of using it, my once hydrated skin felt very dry even though it made my skin look good. My skin started to get itchy due to the dryness. Skin was flaking off of my face too. I had to stop using it, which I did. I debated if I should continue to use it or not, lol. But I came to the decision that it’s not right for my skin. I’m glad I stopped using it. I don’t want to keep hoping that it would work one day.

I love the ingredients in this product. It contains aloe extract, sodium hyaluronate, peptides, beta glucan, allantoin. But, it also contains other ingredients that irritated my skin, such as propanediol. It’s the second ingredient listed in this product. I knew it had this ingredient, but I thought I would give it a try anyways. At the bottom of the ingredient list, five extracts. Maybe my skin can’t handle propanediol in this product either. I just know that my skin felt really dry and itchy after having it on my skin for a day (morning and night). I also noticed some hard sebum in random places on my face too. Once I stopped using it, my skin went back to normal. I really wanted it to work this time around. I guess this is why I stopped using it in the first place. haha!

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros

• Provides lightweight moisture when applied to the skin at first
• Soothes the skin
• Contains hyaluronic acid and peptides
• Leaves the skin looking softer, glowy, and smoother

❌ Cons

• Dries the skin out by the end of the day
• Not moisturizing enough. Leaves the skin feeling itchy because of this.
• Clogs pores. It did for me. 😟

Conclusion

I can see why I stopped using Cos De BAHA MA Peptide Facial Toner months ago. It’s just not compatible with my skin. I think I really need to be careful when a product contains propanediol. It doesn’t seem to sit well with my skin. Too bad it didn’t work out. I wished it did. But I’m not going to push it because my skin is looking pretty darn good right now. I don’t want to mess it up. On to something else…maybe…

For more reviews on anti-aging products go here