Beauty Tips For Body Care
I'd like to write a small preface to warn everyone that my ultimate salvation probably won't be compatible with most readers of this sub, as I know most members are women who wear makeup. This might work for women who don't wear makeup or other men like me. Let's begin.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=The historySince time immortal (A.K.A the year I finished high school and began actually caring about my face) the realm of my face has been ruled by the great Benzoyl Peroxide. Tales tell of a time before the BP regime (when I was a going through puberty in high school) when open, festering pimples and acne would rule, different bands of acne all fighting for space from my cheeks all the way up to my foreheads. Life was truly a mess, but once I actually realized how important having a clean face was for looks-maxing, I fell upon the acne with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide cream (recommended by my parents) and the acne quickly disappeared. So began a long period of peace on my face, where my smooth, white skin would roll undisturbed from my eyes to my nose, around my cheeks and forehead all the way up to my hairline.All was good in the world until about two years ago. I moved to a new country and started a new life. Everything was great. However, over the course of a couple of weeks, I started noticing that I was getting annoying sweat-based acne. Things would be fine in the beginning of the day, but after a couple of hours of activity I'd catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and see a thin sheen covering my face. Strange, I thought, but I just increased the BP and tried to forget about it.However, things did not get better for me. The acne attacks continued, even though I continuously tried to assure myself that all was fine and that I was fully in control, pimples here and there continued to increase. I'd go to the bathroom after a day at work and look at myself in the mirror, no longer seeing a perfect smooth face, but a sweaty abhorrent mess. The light would reflect at an angle, catching all the bumps and redness of acne.Having lived for years lulled into a false sense of security, I did not take this well. I reacted with anger, delving close to the mirror and spending hours in the bathroom popping and popping at all I could, destined to relieve the pus hiding in my pores. The attacks were brutal, and much like indiscriminate government barrel bombs anger the population, my indiscriminate tearing at my face only made it more complacent to the acne rebels.Day by day the acne grew stronger, grew worse. I tried a bunch of different creams, I tried salicyllic acid, I tried exfoliation (which gave me momentary results, a hopeful lull in the combat, a ceasefire... which came crashing down after day 3), I tried changing my diet, I tried cutting out different foods... the results were the same. The acne seemed to be here to stay.Eventually, as it tends to go, I settled into a kind of a stalemate with my face. I maintained control over the high ground, most of my nose area, and my forehead stayed fiercely loyal to the Benzoyl Peroxide regime, never daring to show a single whitehead. The acne rebels, however, gained and held control of the lowlands, down near my cheeks and chin, including some rare attacks in the crevasses of my T-zone. Things settled down, and although I still tried to bombard the rebels with Benzoyl Peroxide every night, instead of turning dry and smooth like the areas under my control, it would turn to a sweaty, sticky mess, only exciting the acne more. Although I tried to put a brave face, I was very hurt. My face was my life, and to see myself lose all self-confidence because of this pesky acne really hurt my quality of life. But life does always move on.Fast forward two or so years and my face was still marked by the deep divide of this civil war. At times, things would get better, there would be compromise, and the acne would subside for a small while. During these times, my whole face would celebrate, and I would forget about the whole issue as if it had never happened. Other times, however, the acne was fierce and angry, and would launch "attacks", periods of time up to a couple days during which I would wake up with new tender cysts and gaping whiteheads. During these attacks, life would be on lock-down mode, and I wouldn't even go outside while I let everything subside.Recently, a couple of months ago, I moved back to my old country. I thought that this would perhaps allow the anti-acne and pro-acne parties currently raging a civil war on my face to reconcile, and that my face could go back to being clear and peaceful. Boy, was I wrong.Somehow, the return to my old country seemed to coincide with a sort of facial Arab Spring. I took care of my face, of my diet, but over the course of a month or so the acne seemed to ramp up in intensity. Those "attacks" seemed to happen more and more often; it became more and more difficult to bring them under control. The areas traditionally immune to conflict and violence began to show signs of whiteheads and blackheads, festering over my face, causing me immense shame.I, as the regime, tried everything. I tried doubling down on the BP. I tried different creams. The success and rapid spread of the acne rebels panicked me, and I even dropped some extremely strong Alluminium Chloride 15% bombs onto my face, but to no avail. It seemed that the end of the last peaceful holdouts from the benzoyl peroxide regime was imminent.After spending hours and hours reading this sub, I realized what had to be done. I declared amnesty with my acne, and decided that from here on out, I would listen to the will of my face instead of fighting a losing battle with it. I would stop all the benzoyl peroxide application and work to rebuild my moisture barrier that had probably been stripped loose from all the BP. I vowed to only use the most gentlest room-temperature water on my face (no more hot water from showers) and no more creams except for a natural moisturizer. The idea was that I was noticing that my face could not remain pristine once I took my morning shower because oil would immediately flood my face and this would cause acne. If I let my face rebuild the moisture barrier then it would have no need to oil excessively, and we could all live in peace.After this proclamation, my face seemed extatic, but it didn't last long. The acne was ruthless, even now that it had won the civil war and annihilated the old Benzoyl Peroxide. Parts of my face that had always been loyal, including my forehead, nose, and upper cheeks, were now overcome with small breakouts. I started seeing my face submerged in oily acne just like in the old days of yore when I was just a teenager. In desperation, I tried using those stupid little blotting strips to remove oil, but of course, they wouldn't make any difference. The acne had won, I told myself, and I didn't know what to do.The comebackAt one point, so extremely frustrated with the acne running loose throughout my face, ruining what had once been a pristine and peaceful land, I sat and I thought about it to myself. What was really going on? The way I understood it, there was actually three different kinds of acne I was experiencing:a) Wet oily acne from not using enough drying products (Like Benzoyl Peroxideb) Dry oily ingrown hair acne from using too much drying productsc) Whatever acne was caused by the thick sheen of stress-oil exuded by my face every day after too long spent outside the shower.Well, A and B should be solvable if I just pit them against each other and find the perfect balance. But C was what really got my in here in the first place. Damn it! Why did it feel like every time I took a shower, my face was completely smooth and dry afterwards, only to become oily throughout the day? Why did water help so-Water helps?Water.WATER!At that point, I knew exactly what had to be done.I went out to my local grocery store and bought a ton of those small spray bottles that you can fill with whatever liquid, usually to water plants. I went back home and filled them up with clean tap water. I would keep one at home, one in the car, and one at my desk in work.Next, I went back to the Benzoyl Peroxide, but not any old BP. I bought a large tube of CVS Health Creamy Acne Face Wash with 4% benzoyl peroxide. I stared at the tube for a long time before bursting into tears. "I'm sorry, Benzoyl, I've betrayed you. You were always my friend, you helped me beat the acne in the beginning, and you'll help me beat it now. I won't ever give you up again". The tube seemed to be sympathetic towards me and bolstered my resolve. At the same time, I bought one of those rough sandpaper-like exfoliating towels for the shower. My plan was now ready to be put into motion.The new regimeAcne types A, B, and C had all been identified and deconstructed. As I assembled my star team of BP, exfoliating rag and water squirters, I knew I was targeting all three elements of those despised rebel groups.The day starts off with a rinse in the shower. Nothing is applied to my face, the water is mostly there to clean off whatever was applied the night before. After the shower, I head off to work. Now, this is usually when acne type C would start coming into play. However, sitting on my desk was a squirty bottle full of clean drinking water. The time is 9:45 AM, and my face is starting to get hot and ruddy. I can feel the oil starting to seep out. I grab the water squirter and aim it at my face, lifting my hair. A couple of pumps and my face is almost dripping with water droplets. I keep working, letting it air dry. 10 Minutes later the water evaporates, taking with it the oil. My face is stunned, and feels dry. I laugh and keep working.Every two hours or so the water bombardement was repeated. I could feel the oil protest, try to take up arms and storm the government buildings, but every two hours like clockwork the skies opened up and hundreds of tiny droplets of water would land, evaporating all the oil. My face felt just like when it got out of the shower. Remember to AIR DRY. Never wipe it up with anythingAfter work and after my run, the sun is setting and it's time for my real shower (not the morning rinse-off). Here is where things get interesting. I let the warm water run off my face, not caring about temperature anymore. I squirt some soothing face wash into the exfoliating rag, lube it up, and start gently working on my face.(Note: 3 weeks of this step and I know exactly which areas of my face to target and which to leave alone. My chin and forehead want no part of this and will break out if I exfoliate them even slightly, but my cheeks need regular exfoliation to stay free of the dreaded OILY FLAKES that cause ingrown hair acne).After gentle exfoliation of my cheeks, I rinse off my face under the water and brush my teeth. Once that's done, I cut the shower, and before my face air-dries, I take the SPECIAL tube of coveted Benzoyl Peroxide- not a cream, but a face wash! It's much more soapy and "wet" than the cream version. I simply apply it to my entire face, and leave it there. Oh no, friends, this Benzoyl Peroxide face wash is not getting "washed" off until morning time! Hahahaha.I flop in bed, turning off all the lights, happy with my day.My face, of course, was shocked. The bands of acne rebels tried their damnest to fight it, but acne type A, B, and C all were targeted and methodically destroyed like an army hunting out insurgents in rat holes. The acne started to recede, slowly but surely. And kept receding until where it is now.Nowadays, I barely actually have to worry about my face at all. I just keep up my regimen, and notice that throughout the day my face actually looks less ruddy and healthier in general thanks to the WATER treatment. Sometimes there is a small ingrown hair somewhere, but I just take care of it and extract it, and it never reveals itself to be a more generalized problem.And that's how I destroyed the Oil Uprising and restored order to my face once more.TL;DRTL'DR: Attempting to restore my moisture barrier and stopping use of BP revealed itself to be useless for me. To fight oily acne-prone face, I had to turn back to benzoyl peroxide (a special version of it) and spraying water on my face every two hours to ward off the oil. Please note that this will not work if you're wearing makeup, as spraying water on your makeup will cause it to run. I have, however used concealer with this method, and as long as you're not wiping the water afterwards (remember, AIR DRY), then the concealer should stay on. With this method, my face basically feels dry and taught 24/7 while not being flaky and dry (because exfoliation).
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by GTAIVisbest
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