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!

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%