My Acne Journey: 5 WEEKS IN!

Here are my 5th week results! 🙌🏻

At the beginning of the week, I started off with what I was doing before, which is using tret and lactic acid every other day. Turns out that was way too much for my skin. I couldn’t handle the dryness and peeling skin any longer. My skin looked terrible with sunscreen on. It would cling to every dry patch and flaky skin at every corner of my face. It just didn’t look good, and it was impossible for me to go through the day like that. I just can’t. I have to see and talk to people. lol. By the end of the week, I stopped using tret and lactic acid on my skin. I took a break. No exfoliants. Nothing. Just moisturizing my skin. My skin improved for once this week! It was peeling, looking softer and smoother, and just overall brighter! So yeah, there’s such a thing as over-exfoliating. 😬

Also, I ended up dropping some more skin care products from my routine. And guess what? My skin looked so much better without them. I think I may have been doing way too much. I wasn’t seeing results using a bunch of products either. Just a waste of time and money. My skin care routine has dialed down a ton, but I’m really liking it. It allows me to focus on letting my skin heal in its natural state (as much as possible) instead of having blobs of products on my face. I’ve also been trying to reapply sunscreen more often too. I did some updated reviews on Cetaphil mineral sunscreen products this week, don’t forget to check them out!

What I’m Using Right Now…

The sunscreen I’m still using is Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ Clear. I also have it in White. The White version is horrid. Don’t buy it. It doesn’t blend well into the skin and leaves a very noticeable white cast on the skin. I guess some people might like that type of look. I didn’t. I thought it was atrocious. It just looked terrible on my skin. Like white face paint. lol. The texture and consistency of the sunscreen is just like the Clear, but it just leaves an obvious white cast behind, doesn’t blend into the skin well, and dries out the skin a lot more. I’m currently looking for a better sunscreen. I like Canmake, but it dries my skin out when I reapply. I do wear moisturizer underneath and my skin still dries out after applying and reapplying the sunscreen. It gives the skin a dewy look but also feels like plastic silicone on the skin. Well, on my skin it does, lol. Also, I want a sunscreen that is water-resistant. It’s summer and sunscreen comes off much more easily during this time of the year. Canmake isn’t water-resistant.

So I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this sunscreen. Maybe I’ll keep using it. All I know is that it’s the only sunscreen that I have that doesn’t break me out. It might work better on days when it’s less sunny and when I’m not outdoors often. Because when using this sunscreen, I noticed that my face became a little tanner than usual. Hmmmmm. 🤔 I’ll be on the search for another sunscreen in the meantime.

So what products did I remove from my skin care routine??

Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence:

It took me a while to see if I wanted to remove this product or not. Looking back, I used it for a few years, I think it’s been about 2-3 years already. Honestly, it hasn’t helped much with hydration. It hasn’t helped with fine lines and wrinkles either. I don’t think it really did anything significant. Absolutely nothing. So! I decided to stop using this product. I didn’t see the point anymore.

The Ordinary Amino Acids + B5:

Here’s to another serum that I saw ZERO results from. It’s not even hydrating. I don’t even know why I’m using it anymore. It’s pretty much a waste of time using it. It didn’t break me out or irritate my skin. It just felt like I was applying expensive water to my skin.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence:

I had a chance to try this essence again. It felt very lightweight and soothing on the skin. I didn’t use it long enough to see the full benefits of this product (if there’s any). I used it, stopped using it. I didn’t notice any breakouts this time. I didn’t think this essence was super moisturizing. It’s somewhat drying on the skin. I think I’m over it. Apparently I still have it, lol. That’s why I tried it again.

RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Night Cream:

I started using this cream last week but decided to stop using it. I know, it’s way too soon. But, this is another product that I don’t need. What’s the point in using it when I have other exfoliants and retinol/retinoid products? Also, I think it’s too moisturizing on my skin as well. I didn’t think it was working for me. FYI, I’ve used this product before in the past. I guess I stopped using it for a reason.

RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads:

I loved these cleansing pads, and they do work to cleanse the skin. I’ve been using them whenever my skin starts to peel. I think this is a good product, but it’s another product that I don’t necessarily need in my life. And I don’t feel like wasting my money on it anymore. I feel like the dead skin cells on my face comes off naturally as I continue to moisturize my skin and let it heal. I’m not into cleansing pads or even scrubs right now. It’s not my thing at the current moment, so I decided not to buy it again when I’m done with it.

That’s all I changed and have done this week. I spent the week mostly re-evaluating my sun care products and how I’m applying them (how often too). I’ve been eliminating skin care products from left to right too. My skin is still adjusting to tret after 5 weeks. In all honesty, I feel like this acne journey shifted from using tret to lactic acid. The results I’m getting from lactic acid have been amazzziiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnng! ✨

My Acne Experience:

My Acne Journey: 1 Week In…

My Acne Journey: 2 WEEKS!! 🙌🏻

My Acne Journey: 3 Weeks Results!

My Acne Journey: 4 Weeks Results!