I used to suffer from mild cystic acne, which basically means I would get a few under the skin spots, the hard, painful ones that never really come to a head and take ages to heal. Luckily, when I entered my twenties these subsided, however I do tend to still get the odd blemish but I can live with that.
However, over the last month my skin reverted back to its old ways and over the period of a week and a half, I woke up with a new spot every few days. Anyone who has suffered from acne or severe blemishes knows just how it can affect your confidence, and although mine were easy to cover with make up, I was still very much aware of their presence.
I thought I'd share some of the products I have been using over the last couple of weeks in the hope that it may help anyone suffering from such a skin disaster. I am by no means saying these will work for everyone, however they have helped me quite a bit and so they may be worth a try.
In the mornings I was using this Youth Lab cleanser specifically for oily/combination skin. Yes, I do realise I am 26 and technically no longer in my youth, however this is great for freshening your skin after a good night's sleep. It claims to thoroughly cleanse the skin without disrupting the natural hydro-lipid film, therefore not overdrying. I also used this in the evenings after removing my make up with micellar water.
After cleansing in the morning, I used La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo. This is a quite well known moisturiser that is great for acne prone skin as it contains niacinamide, salicylic acid and glycerin. I've been using it in the mornings as it isn't at all heavy and helps to minimise the appearance of those annoying post-spot marks.
In the evenings I used the Youth Lab cleanser, and my trusty glycolic acid toner from The Ordinary. It does sting a bit but it helps to dissolve and remove old skin cells and leave your skin feeling extra clean. I also used The Ordinary's HA Moisturising Factors to add moisture back into the skin, and treated the spots with their Salicylic Acid 2%. You have to be so careful with this because it can burn your skin if you overdo it, I find I can only really use it every other night as it's so concentrated.
If you do go overboard with the salicylic acid and end up with irritated skin, you can use Origins Mega Mushroom Skin Relief Serum. This helps to calm the redness and protect moisture levels. Plus, it's so light it doesn't feel like you're overloading your skin with unnecessary products.
In terms of masks, I love the Caudalie Instant Detox Mask as it's a clay that dries and shows all the dots of sebum that it has sucked from your pores. So satisfying. I also feel like it did help somewhat in the healing of the spots and just made my skin feel that bit more clean. I would use it twice a week as anything more would be too drying.
So there we go, a little insight into what I used when my skin decided to test me. I do think my breakout was more hormonal than anything else, however it is still good to use products that can help with the healing process if they can't totally stop new spots from forming. Fingers crossed my skin behaves for now!
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