Like many people, I have struggled with acne since middle school. I have tried many products but I always end up going back to the same things (mostly ingredient wise). Recently I jumped on the skin care hype that is taking over the internet and started experimenting with new products or formulas that I had never tried before.
The new products I bought included: niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, aha bha peel, vitamin c, facial oil, dermaroller.
The first few weeks were going good. I didn’t start using all of these all at once but it was around a 3 month time span. The last things I introduced were the hyaluronic acid and niacinamide. By the third week of using those two – my skin freaked out! I broke out and at first I thought it was purging but it was those painful blemishes. During this time I wasn’t using any acne cleansers because I wasn’t breaking out and my skin was dry. I opted for a gentle cleanser.
I tried to hold off on discontinuing those new products for a couple more weeks. I really really wanted them to work. Anyway, I also get monthly facials and they suggested I go back on Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid. I ended up discontinuing all products except and my current routine is:
- BPO 5% Cleanser – PCA Skin (twice daily)
- Botanical Exfoliating Pads containsSalicylic and Glycolic Acid (once every other day)
- CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion contains niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, ceramides (every night)
- Cetaphil PRO Dermacontrol Oil Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30 (every morning)
- CLARO Acne Treatment Light Therapy System (every night for 2 weeks, then 3 times per week)
Okay… that is my current routine. I introduced acne fighting ingredients again and I stopped getting new nasty breakouts. I also bought a moisturizer that contains niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. I figured that my skin doesn’t like it when I layer too many things on it so I love that a moisturizer includes them. I purchased the LED light last week and I have seen great results! my current breakouts went down significantly! I am highly impressed. The LED was also used during my monthly facials and I loved it but they discontinued the enhancement so I hadn’t used it since March.
Hopefully in a few months I can slowly reintroduce some of these products, like vitamin C and retinol. I have been using retinol for about a year with no issues but decided to stop since I read that it cancels out benzoyl peroxide and vise versa.
Other than that, it’s pretty amazing how many products there are that serve many different purposes. One just have to find the correct way to introduce them 🙂
