I never broke out as a preteen or teen. Apart from the one or two blemishes I would get every few months, my skin was perfect. I rarely wore makeup, didn't moisturize my face, rinsed with water (that's it!), and I wasn't on any birth control pills that would affect my hormones. I also always wore my hair in a ponytail, didn't have braces, was fairly tan for a white girl and was a size 2-4. Boy, things have certainly changed! Well...most things.
I'm now 24 years old, I still wear my hair in a ponytail most of the time (it's just so thick and unruly), I had braces in college for 14 months, I;m extremely pale, I've been on and off birth control and I've gained plenty of weight (another issue that I'm tackling and will probably blog about). And now, for the past 1-2 years, I've been struggling with my acne. Adult acne. The worst words, ever.
I first started to notice it when I went on Depo-Provera, a birth control shot that you would receive every 3 months. I loved the idea of it, it was something I didn't need to constantly think about, such as the pill, and I was comfortable with it. Or so I thought. After the second or third shot everything changed. I started to get huge, cystic acne that I'd never had before. My hair turned into a dead-tangled-damaged-knotted mess. It was so bad that I had to get several inches cut off (and I was trying so hard to grow it out for my wedding). I immediately did research and found that acne is a rare side effect. Well, of course I had to get it! I immediately stopped getting the Depo shot and returned to the pill.
Unfortunately, ever since that shot my hormones have never been the same. I've been on and off the pill since then, currently off because I didn't have insurance for 8 months, but now I do so yay! Anyways, of course that has some play into my acne, but this time around it's not letting up. I've never had acne so bad before. And another horrible aspect is the hyper pigmentation that is left behind. I have bright red marks from every single zit. Every. Single. One. Yes, they fade. But super slowly. It's awful.
And so began the hunt for the products that would help my acne in any way. I tried glycolic acid, salicylic acid, benzol peroxide, mandelic acid...quite a few things. Most of them made my skin worse with horrible dry patches and peeling skin. Others did nothing at all.
About 2 months ago I started a new skincare regime with the Michael Todd True Organics Acne Kit (also for Oily Skin). I have combination skin in the summer and severely dehydrated/dry skin in the winter. The first week was amazing! I know it takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks for acne to pop up, but I swear after that first week my skin was amazing! My acne had all gone down and my skin was glowing. So I kept it up. I kept at this routine for about 5-6 weeks, and that's when all hell broke loose. Huge cystic acne on my chin and cheeks which just now, 3 weeks later, are starting to disappear. I immediately stopped use.
Now I'm on to the Peter Thomas Roth Acne Kit. I'm on day 4 and I have to say, my skin is looking great again. All of my cystic acne is gone, and save for a few pimples all that's there is my hyper pigmentation. I hope this isn't a precursor to how the Michael Todd kit worked. I'll be taking pictures every week to show the progress of my skin with this kit. It may get better, it may not. But at this point I have nothing left to lose.
I'll be doing a more in-depth review of each product as I get to use them more, but for now I'll leave you with a picture of my skin before any treatment with this kit started, as well as the kit itself. Keep in mind I also have flesh colored pimples that are harder to see in the photos. I'll update you on my Acne Adventures on Friday! (Because I know this is what everyone wants to read about in their free time).
Chrissy
PS - I did just buy a Clarisonic Mia 2 at a great price, so once it comes in the mail I'll be adding that into the routine and I'll review it.
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