Today marks the start of the final week of my thirties, and here I am, still suffering with acne. Adult acne is something I have struggled with my entire adult life and it is particularly frustrating as the root cause keeps changing; I genuinely believe that there are some people who will always struggle with it, as it seems to be my body’s way of letting me know something is up, so if I’m stressed or tired or rundown, I break out. I also have skin that reacts to a loooong list of ingredients that’s always being updated, so if I use a product that contains something my skin doesn’t like, I breakout. I also breakout when wearing a mask, so I breakout a lot!
Thankfully, we have come on leaps and bounds with addressing acne, particularly adult acne which is so incredibly complex. Gone are the days of a big bottle of Clearasil and a tube of St Ives Scrub being recommended as appropriate treatments (*shudders*) and we are now in the Golden Age of treating acne for what it is, an inflammatory response that will do best when tackled with kindness and a gentle approach. This leads me nicely to introducing Banish Skincare, who have a small but perfectly formed collection of skincare products that not only help with treating spots, but also the associated issues such as pigmentation and scarring. I was sent a quad of goodies to try, so here are my thoughts:
Fighter Gel – Blemish Calming Gel (£50 here – link) – a lightweight gel that you can use to spot treat, but it’s gentle enough to use on larger areas prone to congestion. It’s soothing, calming and it works beautifully as a non-aggressive spot treatment. I apply this, let it dry, then use my other skincare. I would reach for this a lot more if it didn’t contain peppermint oil, which is unfortunately something that triggers nausea in me ever since my pregnancy, sadly!
Instant Lift Brightening Eye Cream (£73 here – link) – another lightweight product that’s packed full of some gorgeous ingredients with a bit of everything to address the various issues that often plague the tricky eye area: you’ve got acids, astringents as well as good quality hydrators and peptides. It’s a lovely product and it made the cut when I had a huge clearout recently, but do think £73 is a bit too high a price point for such a product.
Banisher 2.0 (£70 here – link) – it’s clinically proven that using a derma-stamp is a lot more effective than a roller (and safer!) so I was really keen to try this, but I haven’t yet as I’m still trying to find a suitable Vitamin C to use with it. The brand do one that sounds gorgeous, but it contains ingredients that will definitely breakout my annoyingly reactive skin. Stay tuned as I will let you know how I get on with the highly rated Banisher!
Retinol + Ceramide Serum (£70 here – link) – I am utterly obsessed with this gorgeous serum, as it basically contains everything you need in one product, so if you fancy streamlining your skincare, or you want a balanced mix of actives in your routine without upsetting your skin barrier, this is the treat you have been looking for! The retinol is quite low down the INCI list doesn’t specify a percentage, so I would take its inclusion with a pinch of salt, but what you do have is a milky serum containing some great acids housed in a mix of ceramides and soothing ingredients such as Cica and Aloe, plus Propolis and Jojoba, so lots of kind-to-skin, light hydrators, making this an incredibly unique product that actually delivers a very hydrating exfoliation: yes this makes it great for acne, but I would say it’s pretty much for any skin and I’m so impressed with how lovey it is to use!
Check out the full Banish range here – link.
Disclosure: unpaid ad – PR
