Acne Adventures 2

Well, it has officially been one week of my Peter Thomas Roth Acne Kit use (PTR). So how is my skin doing? Well…that’s difficult for several reasons:

• It’s only been a week, who knows what my skin is doing right now. Probably rejoicing that I stopped the other kit, confused because I went back to using my Garnier products for a week (which I truly love, perhaps a review will be coming), confused about this new kit…WHO KNOWS!
• Stress. There has been a lot of stress in my life the past few weeks which I’m sure isn’t helping my acne problem. I’m slowly but surely starting to let go of the drama and live my own life with the people that want to be in it (cue Let It Go music). Hard, but it’s what I need to do.
• The parts of my skin with no acne (so most of my cheeks, most of my forehead, etc.) look FANTASTIC! Really glowy and radiant, before I’ve had super dull/dry skin.
• No moisturizer. That’s the one thing I hate about this kit. There is no moisturizer in it, and while my skin hasn’t been flaking it’s been tight, and certain areas are itchy. I’m hesitant to add in my moisturizer in fear of messing up what the kit is doing.
• I’m anxious for the clarisonic. I know that sounds ridiculous, why did I buy it then? I’ll go more in depth once in comes in, but I’ve read that it makes your skin worse before it gets better. Hmm…
•  I’m still getting breakouts from whatever I’ve been using/doing. Quite a few.

So, there you have it. I’m liking parts of the kit, hating parts of the kit and still have no idea how my skin is doing. Unfortunately my updates will be like this until the one month mark (ish) where I can truly start to see the results, good or bad. I will, however, break down the kit for you now that I’ve used everything in it a few times at least.

In order from left to right:

PTR Beta Hydroxy Acid 2% Acne Wash
This is the daily cleanser in the kit. Beta Hydroxy Acid are ingredients such as Salicylic Acid, which I've used on my skin before with really no results (in the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Scrub). BHAs work deep in to your pores to get rid of dead skin cells, dirt, makeup, etc. It allows the skin to produce new skin cells (obviously). 

The face wash lathers up decently, I prefer a little bit more but it’s better than ones that don’t lather at all. There are no exfoliators in it. Very basic, very smooth. It rinses off easily and doesn’t leave any residue, but it does leave my face feeling tight and dry. Overall, I like it and I feel like it’ll work well with the Clarisonic, which I'm trying tonight! Yay!

PTR Blemish Buffing Beads
I have used this 2-3 times, and usually in the shower. Honestly, I don’t like this. The buffing beads are really abrasive for my skin, it almost hurts more than helps. Also, the buffing beads don’t dissolve. They’re those evil ones that stay whole. I really hate those ones! You might as well wash your face with a rock. I will continue to use it, I know you need to exfoliate your skin to get all the gunk and dead skin out. But I won’t enjoy it! L

AHA/BHA Acne Clearing Gel
This is a gel that you apply to the affected areas. I’m essentially using this all over my face: my entire chin/jaw line, my cheeks and at my forehead where my eyebrows are. I use 1 pump and it’s more than enough, this stuff will last for a while.  It’s more of a runny gel consistency, very smooth. It does sting a little on open skin, so those pimples that have popped don’t like it too much. 

I've already talked about BHAs, but Alpha Hydroxy Acids are a little bit different. AHAs target your upper layers of skin, instead of deep down in the pores like BHAs. These are ingredients such as glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, etc. 

I feel like this gel will do more than the face wash will. This actually gets to absorb into your skin, whereas the face wash simply removes anything for a matter of 1-2 minutes, then it's rinsed off. So the BHAs don't really get to absorb like they should. 

PTR Sulfur Cooling MaskI love this. The smell is manageable compared to other sulfur/charcoal masks that I’ve used and it doesn’t linger. This mask is super thick and has a really nice consistency. I hate runny masks, and this is definitely not one of them! I spread this all over and wait 10-15 minutes and then rinse it off. I don’t feel a cooling effect, as the name might suggest, but my skin feels better (if that makes any sense). My redness is more prominent, but any acne that was hurting doesn’t hurt as bad. And again, the rest of my skin without acne looks amazing!

PTR Acne Spot and Area Treatment
This is a yellow cream that reminds me a lot of Jake’s ear medicine! I have used it on occasion. I put some on the back of my hand (I don’t even have to squeeze, the pressure pushes it out on it’s own) and then spread it on the severe areas of my acne. So if I have any that haven’t come to a head, or if I have some that are just humongous I’ll apply it. Not sure if it really does much, but maybe it’s because I’m not using it often enough.

PTR Max Anti-Shine Mattifying GelThis. This I don’t even understand. This is the driest gel I’ve ever seen, coming out of the tube it looks like a little worm whose body couldn’t stay connected. I have no idea how much to use…I’ve tried varying amounts but it all stays the same. This is pointless for me. Maybe it would be better for those of you with very oily skin, but to me it’s a waste of time, so I don’t even use it anymore. I’ll probably use it, just to finish up the tube, but I really don’t understand this.

Overall, the kit has some hits and misses. I do really wish there was some kind of a toner and a moisturizer included in the kit. I'll be using it two times a day until I run out, I'm still hoping this is my miracle for my skin. 

Be on the lookout for a Clarisonic post this weekend! I'll leave you, once again, with pictures of my pimply face. Sorry that they're a little bit blurrier this time, the lighting was funky so I did the best I could, but it messed with the focus. This is directly after washing with the BHA face wash this morning.

Chrissy