If you happen to regularly read this blog (and if you do, thanks very much!), you’ll know that recently I’ve been having a few breakouts. They’re starting to show signs of easing (although I keep saying that so maybe I’m just being optimistic) but on top of the breakouts I now have quite dry skin that is really difficult to treat as it’s case of the chicken and the egg (erm, sort of) as which do I treat first, the dry skin or the spots? If I treat the spots, the skin will dry out further and if I treat the dry skin it’s likely to make the spots worse.
I’ve said this in previous acne related posts, but I do think that we, as spot sufferers, can often get a bit gung-ho with our approach to trying to sooth spots and tend to desperately work our way through various products for a day or two at a time hoping that something will prove a quick fix. This is definitely an approach I take, especially when I’ve had a period of skin clarity as I panic and think that if I nip it in the bud quickly, it won’t start dominating my face again. This will more often than not result in very confused and overwhelmed skin that has no idea what’s going on and starts showing signs of fatigue.
One thing I always try and suggest to people who are doing this a what I call a skin reset; when you shake off all the various products you’re trying and just select a couple of gentle basics that you’re willing to stick with for a few days until your skin settles down. I pick the most important focus and choose products that are suitable for that.
Therefore, the products I’m using are:
Mystery Skin Wash*
As featured in my post here, this is a wash aimed at blemish-prone skin. I’m using this because it feels very gentle and leaves me with skin that feels very clean but still fairly soothed and whilst it leaves it a little tight, it doesn’t dry my skin out, plus I’ve had a look through the ingredients and know that there’s nothing in it that my skin will react to.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
This is my go-to moisturiser when my skin needs a reset. It’s a very basic moisturiser suitable for skin like mine, that isn’t all about the bells and whistles, it’s just purely for adding a bit of moisture back into skin and adds just enough without overloading it. More info can be found here.
Renee Rouleau Night Time Spot Lotion
This is like a more gentle version of my beloved Mario Badescu Drying Lotion (which is fab but quite hardcore) and I’m using this just on the spots at night. I’ve only been using it for a short time but it seems to gently dry out the spots without drying out the skin around it. I’m a bit heavy handed with spot treatments as I can’t face faffing about with carefully applying them to individual spots, so I tend to apply in the general area which isn’t ideal, but usually my skin can tolerate it. However, during a skin reset I’m a little more careful. This treatment doesn’t appear to be available in the UK, but can be found here.
Bioderma Sensibo Micelle Solution
Another item that I’ve only just started using, but it’s aimed at sensitive skin and is soooo gentle that I’m confident it’ll work well in in my reset routine. I use this in the morning just to remove any sleepy from my eye and any residual spot treatment. This is another item that is tricky to find in the UK, but can be found on eBay and here’s where I got mine.
So I’m using 3 basic products at night and two (Bioderma Solution and Clinique Gel) in the morning. I’ll only need to do this for a couple of days to give my skin a chance to take a breather and feel better but it is a really good idea when your skin is showing signs of fatigue.
*Mystery Face Wash was provided as a PR Sample
I have had acne problems for years and years. Recently I found my miracle cream, finally! I am not exaggerating, it really is that good. It’s called Quinoderm, you might have heard of it. You buy it over the counter at Boots for about £3. It’s quite harsh as it strips your skin and disinfects you but if you use it with a light moisturiser and take a break day every few weeks your skin will eventually get used to it. Now I cope with maybe one spot a week and even then it goes within days. Have you ever tried it?
Thanks Izzie, I’ll give it a go when my skin has calmed down and post about it if it’s any good on my skin xx
I have had acne prone skin for years and I have tried such a variety of different products and prescription medications to try and get rid of it. I have found that trying to stick to the products that work for you are one of the best things to do – the more I change my routine the more my skin seems to freak out…
Have you tried products by La Roche Posay? They have this product called Effaklar K and it works really well to prevent breakouts and I tend to use it at night. I have also changed my contraceptive pill as most of my breakouts are related to changes in hormone levels and this has helped so much and is something to bear in mind if you are currently taking the pill. Hope this helps a little and good luck! x
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Hi Rachael, I have tried La Roche Posay and whilst I thought the items I tried were quite good, they didn’t have a significant impact on my skin so I did what I advise everyone else not to do, which is move on to another range without giving them the benefit of the doubt! I do pay quite close attention to my skin though and it reacts quite quickly to certain things (in a good way) so if I don’t see some minor signs of improvement that tell me my skin is reacting well then I tend to put the products aside. Thanks so much for your comment and advice xx