acne affecting my daily life T_T

Hi,

its been a loooong time huh

i decided to randomly spill my anxieties today. im having one of those days where my acne is affecting my daily life- i skipped my morning lecture cuz of my cystic pimple around my mouth. oh skin lol

i was dressed and put my foundation on, but i couldnt get myself out of the apartment. my poor housemate who tolerates with my daily complaints left by herself. while i stayed still undecided if i should go to the lecture. i took my contacts off and then put them back on. i looked in the mirror several times. i waited for my pimples to calm down and stop bleeding so i could cover them.

i waited... tried doing work... couldnt cuz i was thinking about my face...watched a 'how to love yourself' youtube video...went back to the mirror and u knw wat happens when u have pimples and ur infront of a mirror

i layered more foundation, looked cakey so i washed my face again... oh god im gonna be late for my next lecture now. half of me wants to skip that too but im gonna go now

i pray i dont become a total bitch today to those who dont understand how im feeling right now

hope u have a nice day, if anyone ever reads this and ur going through something similar x

Dianette review (co cyptindiol)

I took Dianette this year, for 2 months. For the first 2 weeks I took it alongside 500mg Erythromycin and then by itself for the rest of the 2 months. I was also using Epiduo on my skin every night. 

Results:

Before (top 3 pictures) and After (bottom 3 pictures)

-Dianette worked super fast, only in a few weeks most of my bumpy spots had flattened and there was much less new spots developing. The erythromycin helped a lot too.

-My face was less oily and makeup application was smoother and better looking

-Although my skin was showing improvement, I did get emotional and have small mood swings at times. It was not extreme but I did cry more often than usual- I don't cry often but I cried a few times in those 2 months.  

-My period stopped and fortunately I did not get any period pains or anything like that

-I think dianette helped me a lot at the beginning when my skin was going downhill seriously fast. 

-However, a major bad point was that I gained a bit of weight! D: I gained about 3-4kg which to some will sound very little but I am pretty petite and when I gain weight it shows well on my face- everywhere! 

-Ummm another point that could be good or bad- MY BOOBS GREW BIGGER (this could be the main contributor to the weight gain). I've always had a small chest but now my breasts are larger and firmer and heavier (lol?). 

As I started to feel concerned about my rapid weight gain and my boobs growing I decided to stop dianette. Plus just before stopping dianette I had started my accutane course so I was not worried about my acne not being under control. But I am always thankful towards my doctor who put me on it as it helped my confidence that was seriously nearly all gone!

Rating: 4/5

Thank you for reading! xx

Things I have been using while on Accutane

1) Face wash: 

I've been using the CETAPHIL cleanser for a month now. I use it 2x every day- every morning after I wake up and before I go to sleep.
Good points:                                                                
-gentle and non-irritable                                            
-leaves my skin feeling pretty clean                          
-no smell                                                                    
-does not strip my skin dry  
Bad points:

-does not remove my makeup properly even after double cleansing

-it does not really do anything for my spots (I don't think it has a big role in the improvement of my skin :/ )

Rating: 3/5 

2) Moisturiser:

Been using this AVEENO skin relief moisturising lotion with methanol for a month. I use it every time immediately after washing my face so moisture is locked in right away.
Good points:                                                                   
-does what it says :) keeps my skin                            
 moistourised throughout the day!                                
-not sticky                                                                    
-not oily at all
-cooling effect on my face
-reduces itchiness
-good to use as a base for makeup
-good amount of product
Bad points:
 -the smell is not that strong but not everyone's preference I guess (faint wheat+mint smell)

Rating: 5/5 !!

3) Spot treatment:

I have been using the EPIDUO GEL for more than 2 months. I put it on active spots or places where I feel like a spot is gonna come, every night after washing my face and moisturising.
Good points:                                                               
-dries active white head spots                                  
-decreases the size of cystic spots                            
-reduces redness                                                        
-quick results (~day after applying)                        
-contains both adapalene and benzoly peroxide      
 which are both very effective ingredients for          
 spot treatment                                                          
Bad points: 
-dryness causes flakiness
-PRESCRIPTION required (in the UK, unless you order online)
-pretty small container+product
-says you only need a pea size at a time -_- but I need more than that
-doesn't work well under makeup  
                                    
Rating: 4/5

4) Lip care (Dry lips!):

I have always loved using CARMEX lip balm for my dry lips. I have been using it for a very long time (on and off). At the moment I use it everyday before going to bed and in the morning after I wash and moisturise my face. If my lips feel dry during the day I put some more on.
Good points:                                                                      
-small size, so easy to travel with                                
-cheap to buy                                                                  
-works very well for long periods of time                    
-variety of flavours                                                        
-variety of packaging (sticks, pots or squeezies)
-has SPF 15 which is great
-good amount of product
Bad points:

-squeezy type melts in hot weather, so I recommend the sticks if you live in a hot country

-tingling sensation at first (may be painful to some, so try a small amount first)

Rating: 4.5/5

5) Sun protection:

I have been using TheFaceShop clean face oil free sun cream for about 6 months. The best sun cream I've used so far! It is a korean branded product so it is less available here in the UK :(( but you can order it online or if you live in Asia or a country where there are korean shops you can buy them there :)
Good points:                                                                      
-non sticky and non oily                                                  
-comes out white but after you put it on your face          
 it warms up and does not look white at all                    
-good to wear under makeup
-feels light
-nice clean smell
-contains tea tree oil and aloe vera gel
 (good for spots)
Bad points:
-kinda shows off my back heads more when I'm not wearing makeup with it
-kinda small sized

Rating: 4.5/5 

I am soon going to be trying out products to remove my acne scars so I am excited for that! I hope I helped, ask any questions if you want!!

Thanks for reading~ xxx

I am currently on accutane! My first month update :D

It has been exactly 30 days of 20mg Isotretinoin (accutane). I will be taking it for atleast 5 more months, so 6 months in total. So my skin still needs a lot of improving to do.

My skin progression

The last row of pics shows how my skin is at the moment.
Improvements:
-Much less raised, puss filled whiteheads
-Less redness and purple looking skin
-Less oily skin
-Less itchy
-Less painful as there are less of inflamed cystic spots

 Improvements still needed in: 
-few cystic spots on jaw line area
-few random, large spots
-black heads! They do come out easily but leave large pores...arrrrrgh

Side effects I have experienced so far:
-very dry and flaky lips
-still can get itchy at times
-when wearing makeup my skin around my mouth can get flaky, taking my makeup off -_-
-dry eyes especially when I'm wearing contact lens

I have not YET experienced the severely dry skin thank goodness as I orginally have very oily skin and I am very good with my moisturiser routine as well. But I think I will experience it after today because I am gonna start taking 2 capsules per day from tomorrow (as my doc has told me to).

BUT lets be positive! Although I still look like a red bearded person, its OK as long as I am still me and I know how lucky I am to be me. I am healthy and happy. If you have acne like me and thinking about taking accutane, I say why not give it a go!~ I know there are a few side effects that look off putting but if you follow the rules and believe that you are responsible enough to take this medication (no severe depression history, not going to fall pregnant, read all the precautions properly and understood them) then I think it will be worth it. If you're not sure, then follow my updates and you can use me as a guinea pig to see if I get good results! >_<

If you have questions let me knw!

Thanks for visiting my page! xxx

Hi everyone~ More than 5 years of suffering...*sigh* how this all started :(

Hi everyone,

I am a 20 year old university student (female) and I have had acne since secondary school, ~year 11.


I was one of those girls who had pretty clear skin in year 7, 8 and 9 and did not really care much about my skin. After year 9, I started to notice that I had oily skin and that during the day my nose would get really shiny -.-" This bothered me so I started using baby powder on my nose, which seemed to do the trick (LOL). However, soon without realising, my pores got clogged and I started getting blackheads and redness around my nose. To cover up the redness I bought my first ever concealer- Rimmel london cover concealer (I think this was the one).
It was a whole new world~ my small flaws were quickly covered and nobody could tell~ Soon I started to rely on it everyday and started to conceal more and more of my face. However, sadly I did not know the importance of washing makeup off properly and hygiene. As I did not wash my face properly and did not keep my my makeup clean, my face started to get break outs. This was all very new to me so all I knew was I had to conceal everything. This only lead to even more break outs and eventually at the end of year 10 and start of year 11 my face was full of spots. And the scary thing was, I didn't know why and what I could do about it.

(I'll show you guys some scary photos in a few weeks, as they're at home and I am still in uni atm.)

So after that, obviously, I got scared and started researching about acne online. I also went to the GP (doctor's) who then provided me with some antibiotics (which I cant remember the names of anymore). I took antibiotics but also found out about acne.org online. So I ordered the whole regimen for acne.org (I was ready to risk anything as I had too many ugly ass spots on my face) and started using it as well. Ill talk about the regimen in more detail on another post, but basically it contained of a face wash, cream and moisturizer. They were all made specially to dry out your spots and killing the bacteria causing the spots- preventing new spots. The regimen made me into a flake monster -.- It was hard to put makeup on top of my flaky skin and to be honest everybody could tell I was going through really bad skin. It was a horrible time for me, where I lost a lot of my self confidence and even let it effect my mood, learning and social life.

Even after taking antibiotics and using the acne.org regimen my acne kept disappearing, leaving scars and then suddenly coming back all over again. It has been a loooooooong road for me with acne and finally I am on accutane (the strongest meds for acne) which I am hoping will help me get rid of my acne forever/at least a long time (pls gaaaaaad!!!).

So with this blog I wanted to share things I have gone through while having acne and things I have tried and tested. I think writing about the tough times I have had will also help me let go of my negative memories and turn them into positive ones. I hope I can help at lease one person with acne :)

Good luck!! and I'll write another post soon.

omg lol I could just be talking to myself if nobody reads my blog XD sad times. But its cool! I have my own BLOG yaaaaaaaay~~~~~ oh yeh~ oh yeh~