I don’t even want to look back at last year’s resolutions as I’m sure they’ll just provide me with a list of failures, and are likely to be similar to the ones I aim for this year, but I really, really want to try again! My skin is a real issue for me – as regular readers will know – so I’ve made a real effort to attack it from all sides and these are the three things I’ll be focusing on:
Medication – the only time in my adult life that my skin was clear for any real length of time (other than a few months here and there) was when I was on the pill in my early to late teens, so I’ve gone back on to see if I can get my hormonal reactions under control. Unfortunately, my life contains quite a bit of stress and I can’t see that settling down anytime soon; my skin gets worse whenever I’m stressed as my hormones play up, so I’m hoping the pill will help with that. I’ve been on it for almost 2 months and I’m definitely seeing vast improvements, so hopefully that’ll continue! I’ve also started taking Optibac Probiotics (find them here – link) as I think my digestion is another thing that tends to suffer with stress. All I hear are rave reviews of Optibac supplements, so I’ll share with you my thoughts when I’ve been taking them for longer.
Skincare – I’ve been very good with my skincare recently and I intend to stick with it. I had a consultation with Dr Stefanie Williams at the Eudelo clinic in London (find her here – link) who made some fantastic recommendations and wrote me a prescription for a couple of products that have been absolutely awesome. The main one I’ve found my skin has got on really well with is Differin, which is a retinol product that can apparently be quite drying, but my skin loves this. Nine times out of ten I use the Jan Marini Bioglycolic Cleanser (here – link) – probably my favourite cleanser of all time; it’s particularly amazing at delivery results, fast – and another product I cannot get enough of is the Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Jelly (here – link) which is pretty much as it sounds; a hydrating jelly that really balances my skin and works so well with the Differin. I’ve just ordered another tub as I find it so perfect for my skin.
Treatments – I’ve started a course of salicylic acid peels at Sk:n in East Finchley (find your local clinic here – link) which I’ll be reviewing soon. After a consultation, we agreed there were a few remaining breakouts that needed to be addressed with a course of peels before we started looking at how to treat the scarring; I’m excited to try their scarring treatments though as it’ll either be a seriously hardcore laser treatment, or a course of Dermarolling, either of which I think will be really interesting to experience and share on here. I’ll also be having regular facials to take care of my skin on a slightly more pampering level as I’ve finally started to get a bit of a glow and I’d really like to try and aim to have fairly good skin, rather than just skin that’s clear from spots. Plus, pampering facials are a great way to de-stress. I’ll be going into detail on everything over the next few months so keep your eyes peeled for the features. Hopefully, by this time next year, my skin will finally be clear and glowing!
*Some treatments and products discussed are PR samples
Hi Sascha,
I just happened upon your blog and completely understand your trials with acne as an adult. I had pretty clear skin through my teens and twenties but once I hit 30 I developed horrible cystic acne! All under my jaw line, along my temples and on my cheeks. Nothing worked except antibiotics but only for a short time. A friend recommended Peter Thomas Roth 3% glycolic acid wash and after using it twice a day for just a few days, my skin started to clear up! After two weeks, the cysts were GONE! I have been using it ever since for over a year and have not had any major outbreak. I will get small spots here and there when I have run out and used something else but after I go back, my skin clears. It’s been a miracle product for me and I won’t use anything else. I am definitely not a Peter Thomas Roth sales person but I recommend it to everyone dealing with acne. Best of luck and I’ll continue to read!!