Beauty Tips For Body Care
TL;DR: I have had very inconsistent success with my skin since discovering ScA last December.Let me start with a little background story. During my teenage years, I only ever suffered from a pimple here and there, with no major breakouts or anything. My skin was beautiful. The type of skin you dream of. I never had to wear any face makeup and people used to compliment me all the time about how smooth and soft my skin was. My mom is really into skincare and had me on a cleanser/toner/moisturizer routine since I was in 8th grade and I've always taken great care of my skin.When I was a sophomore in college, my young cousin was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. This was very difficult for my family because she was very young and we are a very close, tight-knit family. Needless to say, I was super stressed out. It was around November (about 2 months after my cousin's diagnosis) that small red bumps started appearing on my cheeks on both sides of my face. They weren't regular whiteheads (no pus) but an actually bump on my face, hard, red, and they hurt. Sometimes they would be itchy, too, but most of the time they were just there. If one of them did break open while I was washing my face, blood came out. During times of increased stress (or when my face flushed because of embarrassment, sadness, anger, etc.) I could actually tell that I was going to break out again, and lo and behold, the next day there would be a fresh new batch. They wouldn't last very long, probably a day or two before they became less inflamed and noticeable. However, even if they weren't inflamed, they left dark scars on my face. These would also fade, but very slowly and by the time they faded another batch had cropped up anyway.After my cousin passed away 7 months later, I foolishly thought that now that that whole ordeal was over, my skin would go back to it's normal routine. It did not. I tried everything to get rid of them. Changing products and pillowcases, drinking more water, changing my diet (first by cutting out coffee and then by cutting out gluten), eating healthier, even trying to find de-stress activities, like yoga or zumba. Nothing worked. So I went to our family dermatologist. I had to go anyway to address my eczema issues (which I've had almost exclusively on my legs and usually only during the winter for my entire life). I tried explaining that I thought it was stress, blah, blah, blah. He prescribed me a cream (I have no idea what it was and can't find it) but I tried it for months and it didn't do a thing. I know I should have gone back, but life just sort of got in the way of things (I was also dealing with a number of other issues, including low self-esteem, depression, student teaching, graduation, etc.). And to be honest, it wasn't that bad. I had learned to live with it, figuring that it would go away sooner or later. Until I graduated from college, got a teaching job, lost 50 lbs, and was super stressed out for the whole year again.I was ready to give up. But then, last December, I discovered ScA and I have learned so much! Seriously, you guys are amazing. I marveled at the beautiful B&A's, read all I could on BHAs and AHAs, determined my skin type (dry) and set up a routine accordingly, pretended I understood what all the ingredients in products were. I committed to making 2015 my year for beautiful skin. I've had pretty inconsistent success so far. I tried CeraVe in the tub and fell in love instantly. I threw out all of my physical exfoliants and bought an AHA (alpha hydroxy AHA souffle 12% lotion) and a top-notch sunscreen (La Roche Posay Anthelios 60 SPF Melt In Sunscreen). I bought the Aztec Indian clay mask. My routine was pretty much working, but in the sense that it wasn't getting any worse, but I felt my routine was stagnant at best. At the beginning of the summer, I decided to buy Paula's Choice BHA 2% Liquid after all of the praise I've read and I also started OCM. It's funny (and this seems to happen a lot with my skin) when I started using this, I saw results immediately. My mom even commented on how the texture of my skin seemed better. Things quickly went down hill. After a few weeks of use, my skin is the worst it has ever been. Big, red, painful bumps on both sides of my cheeks have worsened and will not go away. I decided to discontinue the use of everything except cleanser, OCM, and moisturizer, thinking it was the introduction of BHA that made it worse. No dice. I've also recently switched from CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser to Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Cream Cleanser, but this has made no difference. I guess I should also mention that when I started using the BHA, I started getting whiteheads along with the other red bumps. I'm not sure that was a reaction or whether I was just purging and is a separate issue, but I figured it was worth mentioning.Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible and, frankly, I am at my wit's end. Some days I just want to cry because I don't even want to be in my own house without makeup on, and I have to put tons of makeup on to cover this mess. Even with makeup on, the bumps are so raised off of my skin that you can see them even if I put cover up on. It all seems futile. I am hoping that someone out there has at least some words of wisdom or support so that I don't throw in the towel. I've included my routine and a few pictures from different points during my journey to help you see what's going on. Thank you all in advance!Routine:AM:Neutrogena Purifying Cream CleanserCeraVe moisturizer in the tubLa Roche Posay Anthelios 60 Melt-in SunscreenPM:Albolene Moisturizing Cleanser to remove makeupOCM with baby oilNeutrogena Purifying Cream CleanserCeraVe Moisturizer in the tubPics: http://imgur.com/a/389Av
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by jellykones529
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