My Skin Care Routine & How I Cleared My Skin

Here’s my new skin care routine!! 🙂

Face Wash: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel with Hyaluronic Acid Fragrance-Free

I’m almost done with my second bottle of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel with Hyaluronic Acid Fragrance-Free. I’m not having any issues with it. I tried switching over to a benzoyl peroxide-based face wash. The benzoyl peroxide-based face wash did nothing for my skin. It didn’t clean my skin well and didn’t help with acne at all. It was such a waste. Here’s the benzoyl peroxide-based face wash I was using — PanOxyl Acne Creamy Wash (4%). I’m better off just sticking to a leave-on benzoyl peroxide product. And that’s what I exactly did. So I’m going to keep using Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel with Hyaluronic Acid Fragrance-Free. It works on my skin. It doesn’t dry my skin out, moisturizes, and hasn’t caused any breakouts. Yay! It works! I’m moving on to my third bottle soon. I think I found the one.

Skin Treatments: Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment & Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10

I started using Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment two months ago. This was after I stopped using other skin care products on my skin. After switching to the Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment, I started seeing results within the first 2 WEEKS!! It helped to decrease sebum in my skin and reduce blemishes. This BP treatment absorbed so much faster and better compared to my Acne.org BP Treatment Gel that I was using for many years. I thought about purchasing the Acne.org BP Treatment Gel again but decided to try something new. I needed something quick. I ran to the store and picked up the Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment. So far, it’s been working very well. My skin stays clear when I use it. I stopped using it a few days and that resulted in my skin going back to extremely oily with a few blemishes. Once I start using it again, my acne vanishes. I’m trying my best to use it as often as I can. I’m currently using it mostly in the morning while I use something else at night…

At night, I use Clean & Clear Persa-Gel. I don’t really need to use Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment twice a day. I know it says AM treatment, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a benzoyl peroxide treatment product. As for Clean & Clear Persa-Gel, this product brings back so many memories! I’ve been using it for so many years. I guess it’s back! I use this product to treat stubborn areas like my nose (blackheads begone!) and any blemishes that pop up out of nowhere. The 10% is much stronger and more effective on very stubborn acne. With this combination of acne topicals, my skin is clear. I couldn’t believe it either. I’ve been struggling with acne for years now. I can actually look at my skin in the mirror now.

Sunscreen: Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 & La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 & Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50

I’m currently using 3 sunscreens. It’s Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 (not pictured, I ran out), La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100, and Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50. Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen SPF 40 works on my skin now, haha. It’s great since it’s silky smooth and easy to apply. It doesn’t burn my eyes and that’s awesome. La Roche-Posay SPF 100 is my favorite sunscreen right now. It’s moisturizing, hasn’t caused any breakouts, and the high SPF is much better for my complexion! I was still getting freckles when I was using SPF 30 and SPF 50. I decided to bump it up to SPF 100 and noticed that my skin feels and looks better. I like it a lot more EXCEPT for the fact that it burns my eyes. I only use it on my face. I have another sunscreen that I use around my eyes and that is Altruist Sunscreen SPF 50. I’m not a huge fan of using this sunscreen on my face. It’s greasy, causes acne, and makes my face look very shiny and oily. I only use it around my eyes and neck/body. I love that it’s high UVA. So those are the 3 sunscreens that work on my skin.

That’s all I use. I thought about adding at least a serum in, but I’m so afraid that it might cause breakouts. I am very acne-prone. I don’t want to make any changes that’ll revert my skin back to a field of acne. I’ll wait it out just a little bit more.

March & April Skin Care Empties!

I know I’m a little late, but here are my skincare empties for the month of March & April! 🌈

Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser:

I finally finished the Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser. I used it for a week on my face then I stopped. This facial cleanser is exactly what it is. It’s gentle. I mean, very gentle. I didn’t think it cleaned my skin well. It’s not the type of product for me. The face wash also has some speckles of glitter in it too. Just an observation. I most likely won’t purchase this product again. It’s too gentle on my skin. I love gentle skin care products, but this was just way too gentle. I need a product that removes the excessive amount of grease that I have on my face, lol.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel with Hyaluronic Acid Fragrance-Free:

I finished my first bottle of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Cleansing Gel. This is a gentle facial cleanser that’s somewhat moisturizing. It definitely cleans my skin well. It’s a gel. It does what it’s supposed to do. It doesn’t leave any residue behind. It cleanses and doesn’t irritate my skin. I’m on my last bottle. Who knows if I’m going to stick to this face wash or move on to another face wash.

CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser:

I thought this face wash was working for me in the beginning, but it started to do weird things to my skin such as skin tightness and breakouts. That’s all I remember about it after I stopped using it. My skin went back to normal, and I started using another face wash. I really don’t think my skin likes CeraVe products. None has worked for me so far. This is one of them.

Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum:

I still have several bottles of the Purito Centella Green Level Buffet Serum left. I just finished another bottle. I’ve been using it on my body to get rid of it. I can’t use it on my facial skin because it clogs my pores and causes my skin to flare up. Something in this serum just doesn’t work well with my skin. I just wished I had known sooner.

The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA:

I finished my last bottle of The Ordinary Matrixyl 10% + HA. I’m over this serum. I can’t use it on my facial skin, so I used the rest on my body. I haven’t noticed any changes in my skin. The texture of the serum is thick and tacky. I’m not sure how I even put up with the texture of this serum for such a long time. It’s finally done. I threw the bottle out!

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

I was able to finish one of the two Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 that I have. At first, I was hesitant on using it daily because I noticed clogged pores while using it. But, everything has been going well since I increased my use of my acne treatment. I’m using the sunscreen almost daily now. Just almost. I’m loving the soft, silky texture of this sunscreen. I hope it keeps on working and doesn’t cause any breakouts! The sunscreen is very easy to use. One of the easiest and fastest sunscreens to use in the morning before I start my day. It works great as well if I miss any spots.

Dr Jart+ Rejuvenating BB Beauty Balm Silver Label SPF 35 PA++:

I’m done with Dr Jart+ Rejuvenating BB Beauty Balm Silver Label SPF 35 PA++. I’m glad I’m done with this bb cream. It’s been a good run, but I won’t repurchase any time soon. I think it’s time to move on to something else after using it for goodness how many years. It’s not as good as it used to be anymore. Also, I wish the SPF was a little higher. I just think I’m over this product. I wasn’t satisfied with the results this time.

Melano CC Vitamin C Essence:

I still have several tubes of the Melano CC Vitamin C Essence left. I haven’t been using this product on my facial skin either. It breaks me out, and I’m not going to take another risk using it on my face. The texture of the product is oily and sits on my skin greasy. Just another product I’m also trying to finish up and throw out. I’m not sure why it’s so raved about. It hasn’t done much for my skin over the years. Too bad I still have plenty of tubes left.

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin:

One more product that I’m done with is the Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin. I’m so happy to be done with this moisturizer. I stopped using it on my face also. It’s supposed to be a lightweight and moisturizing product. But, it just didn’t work out for me. It moisturized my skin, but I noticed breakouts after using it. My skin dislikes moisturizers. I stopped using moisturizers on my face, to be honest. It seems like my skin doesn’t need it. Here’s to another product that I won’t purchase again. It’s been a long run. 👋

Those are some of the products that I was able to get rid of. In the next few months…more to come! Stay tuned!

3 Months & 2 Weeks Results!!

Here’s an update on what’s going on since last week!

So, this week, I started using benzoyl peroxide more often. I’m using it twice a day now. I haven’t had any issues with using it this much. The benzoyl peroxide product I’m using right now feels extremely lightweight on my skin. It sinks into the skin fast, so I can use it in the morning easily underneath my sunscreen. It has helped my skin tremendously compared to what I was using before. It’s not the best, but I think it’s better than the previous acne-fighting skin care products I was using. Yeah, salicylic acid just doesn’t work for my skin. I was thinking about using retinoids again, but I went against that idea. I don’t want to mess up what I have at the moment. HAHA. Let’s stick to benzoyl peroxide for the next couple of months and see what happens.

Currently, I have this one stubborn pimple that is deep underneath my skin. It has shrunk ever since I started my new benzoyl peroxide product, but it’s still lingering around. It’s been annoying just knowing that it’s there sitting on my face. I hope it goes away as I keep using my benzoyl peroxide acne treatment.

Besides benzoyl peroxide being the main topic for this week, I started using Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 more often ever since I started using benzoyl peroxide twice a day. I love the easy application, smoothness, and silkiness of Trader Joe’s sunscreen. It glides on nicely and effortlessly. It goes on my skin like melted butter. I haven’t noticed any crazy breakouts while using it so far along with my increased use of benzoyl peroxide. The other two sunscreens I’ve been playing around with are Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++. I’m almost done with Neutrogena. I’m using it more like a moisturizer right now. As for Canmake, I don’t like it. It leaves my skin matte, but it sits on my skin funny. It makes my skin feel like plastic and gives my skin a shiny appearance that I don’t like. I think it made me break out too. I noticed pimples after using it. I stopped using it immediately. It could just be the timing of introducing it too. My skin gets extremely oily at particular times during the month. That could’ve caused breakouts. Who knows. I just know that I don’t like the Canmake sunscreen as I once did. I’m still trying to use it up though. 😭 I also used La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 once this week. Yep, only once. It didn’t break me out, but it made my eyes burn.

That’s my update for the week. Not much. But, my skin looks pretty darn clear due to switching over to a new benzoyl peroxide product.

Check out my experience right here:

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

My Week 3 BP Results!

1 MONTH Results with BP!

1 Month + 1 Week Using BP & Some Changes I Made This Week!

1 Month + 2 Weeks Experience!

1 Month + 3 Weeks Experience!

2 Months Experience!

3 Months & 1 Week Results! Clear Skin.

1 Month + 2 Weeks Experience!

My Experience with Taz 🙂

I’m officially back to using taz!! I started off the first week using taz twice a week. The next week (which is this week), I tried using it every single day. I skipped a day. I’ve used taz for a total of 8 times already. For the first 2 days this week using taz, I noticed more breakouts popping up in my breakout-prone areas. These pimples were not tiny. They were large deep under the skin pimples that could not be popped! I couldn’t do anything about them but leave them alone until they were ready to POP! They popped on their own too. D*mn! They were painful! And they all left an acne mark behind. Ugh! After this week, I’m left with acne marks and smoother skin. Yesssss, smoother skin. My skin actually does look clearer. I’m guessing this is the purging process I’m going through. My skin does look considerably better than before. It looks less bumpy and less textured. It sucks that I’m left with acne marks, but they’ll eventually go away as the months go by. I hope. I’m going to stick it out, hold on, and hope all gets better. And, by the way, there was a slight burning sensation to my skin after 5 days of application (for this week). I’m still going to push it through because it’s not too bad. I didn’t skip a day of taz because of this. The reason why is to incorporate benzoyl peroxide into my routine (not as a spot treatment, as an all-over acne treatment). I used benzoyl peroxide last night and a lot of my pimples decreased in size. It still seems like my skin still needs benzoyl peroxide to be clear. It helps to kill the bacteria and keeps my skin from exploding with more acne. Taz is working, I guess, but I’m getting a feeling a combination of benzoyl peroxide and taz is where it’s at for my skin.

Back to Sunscreens…

As for sunscreen, I know I did an update on sunscreens last week. I mentioned using La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++. Well, one part of that changed. I’m still using La-Roche Posay SPF 100. I stopped using Canmake. My skin just didn’t like Canmake. The texture of the sunscreen is soft, smooth, and dries on the skin nicely. But, I noticed my nose clogging up, and it made my skin feel gross by the end of the day. It just didn’t work for me. As for La Roche-Posay SPF 100, this is slowly becoming my main sunscreen. It can feel greasy on the skin sometimes, but I’m not having any breakout issues with it as of late. Hmmm! This one may work out. Honestly, I’m just looking for a sunscreen that doesn’t break me out. Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 causes breakouts (the last time I used it). Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 is OK. I noticed some pimples from it last time, but those breakouts could be from something else. I tried it again, and it was decent. Maybe I’ll use what I have left indoors. I don’t really need SPF 100 indoors. I’m trying to use up all of the sunscreens I have too before purchasing more/new ones. La Roche-Posay Anthelios Body & Face Mineral Sunscreen Gentle Lotion SPF 50 looks awful on my skin. Yuck! It’s so thick, too much of a white cast, and dries the crap out of my skin. I can go on and on about the sunscreens I have, but those are a few thoughts that popped up in my mind, lol.

That’s it for this week! My skin care routine is minimal, which makes my life so much easier. Hopefully all goes well next week! See everyone there! 🙂

Did you miss out?? 👇🏻

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

My Week 3 BP Results!

1 MONTH Results with BP!

1 Month + 1 Week Using BP & Some Changes I Made This Week!

1 Month + 1 Week Using BP & Some Changes I Made This Week!

I started using taz again this week. I tried sticking to benzoyl peroxide only, but I drifted towards taz to help with oily skin and acne. Benzoyl peroxide worked, but it dried out my skin when used back-to-back. I thought I would give taz another chance before officially quitting. Here are my results this week using this combo!

Benzoyl peroxide has been helpful, but it’s not quite cutting it. It helps with oily skin and some breakouts, but my skin needed something more. And that would be taz? I guess? So I tried it out again. This week, I only used taz twice. The first two applications (not back-to-back) dried out my skin, and I noticed some purging/peeling. I hope it was just purging and not breakouts from something else! Well, my skin exploded in acne in my blemish-prone areas. They weren’t just tiny little pimples. They were hard, nodules underneath the skin. As the days went on, those pimples burst and left a mark behind. 🥺 I wish this wasn’t so, but that’s what happened. By the end of the week, my skin started to look better. A lot of the pimples that popped up decreased in size. By the looks of it, it seems like taz is helping with my acne. Maybe as much as benzoyl peroxide. We’ll have to see. It’s only been 1 week (2 applications). As for benzoyl peroxide, I’m still using it. I’m only using it as a spot treatment. If I have to use it as an all-over treatment, I will. It doesn’t seem like I need to use benzoyl peroxide as much anymore after adding taz. But, that’s the combination of acne products I’m using to treat my acne. Hopefully all goes well in the next upcoming weeks!

I also experimented with a few sunscreens this week. I didn’t purchase any new ones. I really don’t want to purchase a new sunscreen. I used whatever I had. Here’s my experience with sunscreen this week!

Trader Joe’s Daily Facial Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40:

This sunscreen feels amazingly soft, silky, and smooth on the skin. It works great as a makeup primer, but it didn’t work for my skin as I wanted. 😞 It clogged my pores. I could pick out hard sebum that sat in my pores. I loved the weightless feeling of this sunscreen, but it sucks that it breaks me out.

Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30:

I tried using Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30. I loved how it moisturized my skin, but it made my skin so oily. It’s not like what it used to be. I eventually stopped using it after experiencing oily skin that led to clogged pores. I only tried using this moisturizer with SPF indoors. My experience wearing this sunscreen outdoors in the past years was not good. My skin burned and freckled. But, keep in mind that this sunscreen has been discontinued. I’ll use the rest (one last bottle) as a body lotion or something.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-in Milk Face & Body Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100:

I started using this sunscreen at the end of the week. I’ll make an update next week! I hope it works!

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

I started using the Canmake sunscreen too. Not outdoors. Only indoors. I still have it so why not use it? It’ll work for indoors for now.

Catch up on my experience right here!! 🙂

Restarting Tret & My First Week Experience

My Week 2 Results With Tret. Changes I’ve Made.

My Week 3 BP Results!

1 MONTH Results with BP!