Beauty Tips For Body Care
Intro: I normally wouldn't make posts like these but I personally know how shitty it feels waking up everyday dreading looking in the mirror because you're afraid of what zits popped up overnight. I feel like my acne really hindered my college experience, as hanging out my friends revolved around whether or not my skin was clear. Even though my acne was never severe, the mental toll it took on me was drastic. I tried just about everything in effort to clear up my skin, without luck. I tried making changes to my diet by going gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. I tried many different skin products, took numerous trips to the dermatologist, and lost countless hours of sleep researching acne and its causes. I honestly felt hopeless trying to find the root cause of my acne.Skin History: I had moderate acne starting in middle school, mostly in the "T" area. After starting prescription medication, my skin mostly cleared up by the time I was in high school. It stayed relatively clear until it made a resurgence my sophomore year of college. I started using a facial cleanser and an OTC benzyl peroxide cream and I got pretty good results after a few months. I still got a few zits here and there but they were completely manageable.Then in the summer before my senior year, my acne started getting pretty bad on my cheeks and around the chin/jaw. I started getting cysts and just generally deeper zits that took longer to come to a head and heal in general. I decided to see dermatologist that summer and he prescribed me clindamycin and benzyl peroxide. I used these religiously twice daily for months. Over a few months I noticed the cysts that appeared on my cheeks usually every other week started to subside. I would still get them, but they would be much smaller and come to a head much quicker. Even though it took probably over 5 months to see changes, I was still confident in the progress.Despite the progress I was seeing on the main problem area that was my cheeks, the acne on my chin started to worse. I was now starting to get cysts pretty regularly just below the corners of my mouth and numerous other whiteheads would appear with them mostly on the jaw and lower chin. I would like to note that this flare up started during the lacrosse season, which meant I was wearing a chin pad 3 hours daily and sweating pretty profusely in the AZ sun. I started by buying a chin pad cover and washing it daily before practice. After not seeing much of a difference I started washing my face directly before and after practice with Cetaphil wipes and my doctor prescribed me Clindamycin wipes to use as well. None of this made much of a difference which lead to a few-month-long experimenting phase where I changed my skin routine and diet regularly. Again, I saw little to no improvement with everything I tried.I know these aren't the greatest pictures in the world but I don't really have many pictures of me when my face was especially bad for obvious reasons.https://imgur.com/a/5Ue9oB0https://imgur.com/a/RMEwFDChttps://imgur.com/a/4HKpyFoFinding the Problem: On my last visit to my dermatologist shortly before graduation, I told my dermatologist about how the acne on my cheeks had cleared up thanks to the prescription medications, but also about how the acne on my chin seemed to be getting worse. He threw out some scientific term for the type of acne I was getting on the chin and simply told me that it was caused by shaving. I have no idea why he had never said anything previously in the few visits I had over the past few months, but regardless I was ecstatic that there was still hope. I wasn't sold on the idea that it was because of shaving since I only use an electric trimmer and never actually shave my face. Also the acne flair ups never really seemed to line up with when I trimmed my facial hair. After reading up on the Acne.org skin care routine and how important it is to be careful with your skin, I came to the realization that my acne was not caused necessarily by shaving, but by pressure on my skin. This made a lot of sense to me looking back on the past few months and I decided that I would start treating my face very delicately. And what do you know, my acne is better than it has been in years and I couldn't be happier about it! I would like to quickly note that my acne did not just magically disappear because I started being gentle with my skin, but also because of the medication I was prescribed by my dermatologist.Routine:AM:- Wash hands thoroughly, wet face, 2 pumps of Cetaphil facial cleanser, massage through hands for 10 seconds, gently apply to face with fingertips and cleanse for about 15 seconds- Use a pea size amount of prescription Benzyl Peroxide 10%, massage through hands, apply to face and cleanse for about 15 seconds, splash face with water (Don't touch your face! Just splash it with water)- Wait until face is dry (10 min), wash hands, apply a pea sized amount of prescription Clindmayicn lotion to face in a thin layer- Wait another 10 min, wash hands, apply Cerave suncscreen/moisturizer (30 spf)PM:- Same as AM, just use Cerave moisturizer without the sunscreenImportant things to remember:- Never touch your face unless your washing it! Even then only use your fingertips and be VERY gentle- Change your pillow case about every 3-4 days. (I sleep on my side, which is something I am trying to change so that I don't apply pressure to my face while I'm sleeping)- Be really gentle when trimming, be careful not to go over the same spot multiple times- Wash your hands before touching your face. Your cleanser won't kill the bacteria on your hands, you have to wash them first!!- I personally think it's unrealistic to expect your skin to be perfect. I still get zits but they're very small and heal quickly. My routine and habits are not perfect but I continue to improve on them everyday!Here's what it looks like now!https://imgur.com/a/iRNPK9Hhttps://imgur.com/a/tHinO8F
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Patriots703
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