Acne Adventures 5

This post is late going up. The past week or so I’ve just had a total lack of energy to do anything. I think I’m burning out from my kids, everything is a fight with them and it’s exhausting. Oh well. 25 school days left!

My skin is doing some weird stuff. Most of my acne has cleared up on my chin and jawline, which is where the major problems were. I still have a few, maybe three total on my chin. And of course all of the hyperpigmentation left behind.

But all of my acne has moved to my cheeks. Now yes, I’ve had some acne in high school and college (and obviously now). But never on my cheeks! Ah! On my right cheek I have The Bermuda Triangle. On my left cheek I have The Little Dipper. These are seriously the designs that have formed out of my acne. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Now, let’s talk about this hyperpigmentation word we keep throwing around. The most obvious definition is that your skin’s pigment is darker than it should be. This can be from any number of things, generally it’s because your skin has produced too much melanin. I have mine because of acne, so technically I have Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation, which is what is left behind after your acne heals. There’s no raised bump, it’s just a bunch of red spots from where I recently had acne.

There are tons of things you can do to try to lighten hyperpigmentation. I’ve been researching and looking for something affordable that I can start using (easier said than done). I won’t introduce anything into my skincare routine though until I’m, for the most part, acne-free.

Overall, between using the PTR kit for 4 weeks and the Clarisonic Mia 2 for 3 weeks, my skin is looking better. My skin is a lot softer than it was before. And my skin tone is much more even (save for the acne and hyperpigmentation). I used to have little red patches and my pores always looked…pore-y. But the texture of my skin is much improved. I credit this to the Clarisonic, not the PTR kit. I’m not sure who to blame for the acne, as this could still be the dreaded “purging period.”

I’m right at that time frame where if whatever I’m doing is working, I’ll know. Just as I’ll know if it’s making it worse. So hold on tight, we’ll see where this roller coaster has taken us, and if we need to jump off before the missing tracks or brave the jump. Stay tuned!

These photos were taken in more natural lighting as opposed to previous photos. They are fuzzier too, the quality isn't as good, sorry. You get the gist. 

Acne Adventures 4

Well, it's week 3 of using the PTR acne kit. Week 2 of using the Clarisonic Mia 2. Week infinity of acne. Unfortunately, my face has gotten worse. A lot worse.

This week I've gone on an extracting kick every other day. I mostly got everything out, but the next day there were more. Today's led to an awfully frustrating time because nothing was ready to be extracted. So now I have some big, painful pimples all over my face. And it's spread from my chin and jaw area to my cheeks.

I'm getting to the point where I'm about to throw in the towel for anything. My skin is getting worse, or staying just as bad, no matter what I do. Could this be a purging period? Possibly. Will I continue on with the kit? Yes. We'll see how my skin does for a few more weeks while these products can last. So far though, I'm not impressed. I think I may make a return to the Neutrogena Grapefruit Scrub, which I used for several years. Because this is ridiculous.

I've been using the PTR gel in the mornings, then my Olay moisturizer at night. I like the moisturizer because it's a light gel formula, which is perfect because it is HOT! But it isn't doing enough for my parched skin, so I may have to find something else. We'll see.

Overall, a fairly depressing week for my skin. I'm not even attempting to cover up my acne with makeup anymore, it's that ridiculously bad. Eh.

First Impressions: Clarisonic Mia 2

Hey everyone! Today will be a first impressions blog on the Clarisonic Mia 2. I'll take you through what I thought and felt the very first time I used it, and up to now where I've been using it for 9 days (so still fairly fresh in my skincare routine).

What is the Clarisonic Mia 2?
It is a cleansing system devised for your face that uses sonic technology to thoroughly clean your face better than just washing with your hands. The Mia 2 is meant to be a lightweight version that you can take easily on the go! It has two speeds, as well as a 1-minute T-zone timer (20 seconds for your forehead, 20 seconds for your chin/nose, 10 seconds for each cheek). From the clarisonic website: "Unlike spinning devices, our patented sonic technology works with skin’s natural elasticity, oscillating at a sonic frequency that produces over 300 movements per second. The resulting flexing action works to loosen dirt and oil, removing deep-seated impurities from pores and priming skin to better absorb topical treatments."

How much is the Clarisonic Mia 2?
Definitely the priciest thing I've gotten for my skin. It retails for about $150 in stores, but you can shop around online for better deals. I got mine on eBay for $92, but beware of fakes!!! Mine came with the warranty, extra brush head (so 2 total), traveling case and registration. And yes, it is authentic. Ebay has a whole post on fake Clarisonics.

How do you use it?
I wet my face and then apply my facewash to my face (you can also apply it directly on the brush, but I feel like applying it to my face spreads it out more evenly). You wet the brush head, press the on bottom with whichever speed you prefer (I do the low setting) and you go to town! As mentioned earlier it has a 1-minute timer. I start with 20 seconds on my forehead, moving in small circular motions. Then it buzzes twice and I move on to my chin for another 20 seconds. Same motions. After two more buzzes I move to one cheek for 10 seconds. Bzz Bzz. Ok, other cheek for 10 seconds. Honestly, I don't really do my nose that much. I'll go over it for about 2 seconds but that's it.

First Impressions:
I first used this in my shower. It is waterproof (duh) so the entire system can get wet. Just make sure you let it dry thoroughly after each use, you don't want mildew! My first thought was, "How in the world will I use this odd device without looking in the mirror?" I know, weird. I survived with no mirror and just went by feel...I mean I know where my face is. 

My second thought was, "Oh my God...I only have one minute to clean my entire face, what happens if I don't change spots quick enough, or if I don't finish the entire area in the time allotted?!" Well...it happened. I took too much time in certain areas and when it buzzed at me to change spots I had to cheat on the time a bit. I'm sure with enough use I'll get used to it, but for now I count along with the system to make sure I get to everything in time.

My third thought was, "What if I press too hard? I know I'm only supposed to hold it to my face with no pressure, but what if I apply pressure? What if I'm not holding it at the right angle?" So many worries...I think I did press too hard the first time. Literally, you just hold it to your face so it's sitting there, no pressure added. Lesson learned!

My next thought was, "This feels scratchier than I thought it would." Yes, it does feel a bit scratchy, even using the sensitive brush head. But then again, what did I expect? I'm brushing my face with a vibrating device, it won't feel like rubbing fluffy bunnies all over my face. It didn't hurt, but it was more abrasive than I thought it would be.

After inspecting my face when I got out of my shower there were a few things that I noticed: 

• My acne was inflamed and much more red than before. My face gets more red after I wash it, no matter what, but it was worse with this. It did fade quickly though.
• My skin felt much softer than it did before, just after one use.
• My skin didn't feel as tight as it was feeling with the PTR face wash. It still was tight, but not as intense, if that makes sense.

First impression thoughts: Ok, I'll give this a go for a while. 

Fast forward to today. I've now used this 9 times. I use it once a day, in the evenings. My face definitely feels a lot softer and smoother. My acne has started to go down (although I'll credit this to the PTR kit for now). I had 10-12 flesh colored bumps on my left cheek before I started using this, and now they're all gone! I don't think my face can handle twice a day, maybe with the luxe cashmere brush which I really want to try. I am worried that there will be "the purge period," where your face gets worse before it gets better. It doesn't happen for everyone, but with my luck it would happen to me. But we'll see how it goes. I'll use it for at least a few months and if I don't like it after that amount of time...well, there's always eBay. I'll keep you updated though! (:

I have to admit, besides my ridiculous face my skin looks decent here. As do my eyebrows, which I've been trying to grow out for several months now (they were so sparse before!)

Acne Adventures 3

This week was a whirlwind for my skin. Some bad, a little bit of good, some bad again, some worse and finally settling down. I've now been using the Clarisonic Mia 2 for an entire week along with the PTR acne kit (there will be a first impressions blog later this weekend on that!). But let's dive in to how my skin is now that week 2 is complete.

This week had some more stress. We had a break in at our apartment, some guy got in and passed out on our couch in the middle of the night. He didn't steal anything and we aren't hurt, thankfully, but nonetheless it was rattling to have a stranger get in without us knowing. The dogs were going crazy in the morning and we couldn't figure out why. We called the cops and got it straightened out, but we lost some sleep over it, too. On top of that, it's that glorious womanly time of the month and, as any normal person, I did break out a bit right before.

The beginning of the weekend/week for my skin was not pleasant. I had some major breakouts again, possibly some purging (although purging may be an urban myth that people have made up to justify using products that they like). Around Tuesday I had a nice extracting session with my extractor (see previous post)...I think I cleared up close to 8-9 whiteheads. Like I said, it was horrible for my skin this week.

After that my break outs started to lessen a bit. But that's where the horribly dry, cracked and peeling skin came in. Especially around my mouth and my chin. It's gotten to the point where I can't even put makeup on those parts because it just cakes up and looks diseased. Not the end of the world, but still sucks. And fast forward to now, today my skin decided to breakout again. Right before the following pictures I had another extracting session. About 5 this time.

I've changed up my routine a bit. I'm now using the Clarisonic once a day, at night with the facewash. I've started using the clearing gel every other day, as I think this is the culprit of my extremely dry and patchy skin. I've also added in my moisturizer that I was using before: Olay Fresh Effects Dew Over. This is a nice, light gel moisturizer with plenty of glycerin (that's good!) to help lock in moisture. It's definitely helped a bit, but I hope it won't interfere with the kit.

So it's still hard to tell a difference in my skin. I'm still having flare ups, some bad and some worse. The clear parts of my skin are loving everything that I'm doing, they look great! The one thing I have noticed is the Clarisonic Mia 2 has cleared up the flesh colored bumps I had on my cheeks. They're completely gone! I had about 10 on one cheek, very tiny flesh colored bumps that you could only notice in the sun because they were raised.

For the pictures below, this was directly after washing (with clarisonic) and after my extractions so my skin is a little bit more red and irritated than usual. Thankfully most of the dry patches I had aren't as bad as they were earlier, but they are still there! Even exfoliating isn't helping them though.

That's it for now. Until next Friday!
Chrissy