Anti-acne products

For the past years, I've tried lots of skin and beauty products. Most of them to combat acne. 

Just a brief history and how it felt having protruding acne: It all started when I was in second year high school. I did not care how I looked at that time. My younger brother would always tease me and say, whenever we joke around and reminisce, that there was a time when I had a sty and never really cared whether people saw it. I walked around campus and talked to people face-to-face oblivious to the disease in my eye. Maybe because as far as I could remember my younger self, those things were normal and were things I needed not worry about. 

On one end, there came a point when I really felt down every time I see the cystic ones. I felt really conscious. People might only see the irritating acne and not me -you know that feeling, yea? Then, mom decided to take me to a dermatologist. As I suffer from weekly pricking treatment and nightly use of an array of topical creams, my face became clearer and clearer. If you are in Pampanga, I went to Dr. Judy Manalo-Evangelista at San Fernandino Hospital. From then on, I started looking for products which are skin-friendly for maintenance. Just to stress and not sound OA, I did not suffer a long time from acne, maybe just a month or so. BUT, it felt like a lifetime!

'Til now I get breakouts, honestly speaking. And so I still use different products from time-to-time. I even tried out those products from really persuasive skin care-related articles and advertisements. 

PROACTIV

Would you believe, I tried PROACTIV! The one you see in Home TV Shopping endorsed by Jessica Simpson, P. Diddy, Lindsay Lohan and that short-haired Latina actress or TV star (I still remember the face but not the name, though). 

The ad stresses that the product contains Benzoil Peroxide which eliminates, almost magically, acne. More so, you hear ordinary people's overly satisfied testimonies and you see their face really squeaky clean and clear! And, I fell for that! If you haven't tried it yet, forget about it; Proactiv doesn't work! Or does it? Maybe for you. As for me, it was just a waste of money. I just gave away mine.

MOVING ON

Since I started with anti-acne, I might as well continue with that train of thought and have a rundown of MY reviews of anti-acne topical creams that I have already tried:

MARIO BADESCU

Maybe you've already heard about this product. I've seen lots of good reviews about it in magazines. Then, mom got me one, the big one is for bacne, or acne in the back. I had bacne but not really OA bacne. I used to tease people and wondered why acne could "grow" on one's back. Then, just my luck. Karma was just around the corner. :\ BLATANT REVIEW AND POINT: It did not work for me!


I forgot to take a picture of the product which articles praise for being an overnight remedy for breakouts and so I got a picture from the internet instead. It's the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion:

It also did not work for me. Haha! The solution is too harsh on the face. There's this burning sensation every single time I dab it on the affected portion -same with my mom’s experience. I tried it again and again since I had no other option at that time, but it didn't really dry the acne in spite of promising reviews. 

Mario Badescu is a good brand so you might want to try it and it might work on you. But it’s not cheap and it's too harsh on the skin. I suppose even though the results may vary, the tingling sensation will always be a part of it when one uses it.

4-IN-1
Tired of taking photos already. I placed these products in one shot... But let me point out and stress that they are not used at the same time. They are not in any way related with one another. Usually when you go for dermatologist-prescribed topical creams, you would be given a number of products which you'll apply simultaneously. THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH THESE FOUR...

 LET'S MOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ACCORDINGLY: 

(1) DALACIN T
My auntie from Malaysia sent this bottle of Dalacin T which I’m guessing is also available in drugstores because I've heard of some people using this. Two of my friends use it. They mix it with the regular Eskinol. If I remember correctly, they were talking about a Dalacin T capsule. They mix the powder inside the capsule with the Eskinol liquid solution. I haven't tried that one yet and i just knew from my friends so I wouldn't delve into that anymore. ;-p

This Dalacin T.... WORKS! It goes with a small screen-like dabbing apparatus which functions like a cotton ball. It says though that "it can be harmful for people to take this medication if their doctor did not prescribe it", so I should warn you as it says. But it wasn't prescribed to me by any doctor! I just used it and it worked! 

HOW IS IT ON THE SKIN: It's just like you dabbed water or eye-mo on your skin. It doesn't make the skin dry which is really great. It's what I use now since I am still waiting for my TOP PICK anti-acne product with which I'll end this article. Although I already made a write-up about it here. Sorry, I tend to get giddy and jump from one topic to another. ;-p 

(2) That's just sunblock -prescribed and sold at the clinic of my dermatologist.
I don't normally wear sunblock because it's too heavy on the skin. But I really love this "dermatologically-prescribed" sunblock. It's really light on the skin, it's as if you did not put anything on even when you sweat. So if you're looking for a good sunblock, go to the nearest dermatology clinic. I'm sure they have a similar concoction. Mine's SPF 80. My mom’s is SPF 60 prescribed by another dermatologist, but they’re basically the same.

I put this sunblock on first before the pressed powder (in my case, the pressed powder is from my derma as well) or normal powder. 

(3) Himalaya Herbals A-N-P (Acne-n-Pimple Cream) which is an Indian-based product
I have this belief that Indian products are good on the skin. I've only tried this once and so I can't really make a good review. But when I used this, the morning-after effect was dry skin. Mom also noticed it and asked what I used for the noticeably dry face.

It was also sent to me by my auntie from Malaysia. It came with the Dalacin T. Well I guess this was the rotten tomato of the bunch. This product, however, is herbal which is good.

She sent products from Malaysia since her daughter suffered from acne. This helped her clear out the acne, breakouts, whiteheads, and zits. She gave a great feedback regarding the two and so sent a package. Big thanks, auntie! :')

(4) Skin Brightening Cream from MD Therapy
I love this one! It's from my dermatologist as well. And it's one of those series of topical creams you apply simultaneously and this comes second to the last in my case. Now, I use it alone since I don't have major breakouts anymore. It really lightens scars from acne picking or maybe scars you get from pricking your acne with dirty hands. This could help! I’m just not quite sure where you can get this. Ask your dermatologist, I suppose they know this as well.

NEXT, A FACIAL WASH: Tea Tree Oil Facial Wash from The Body Shop

Tea tree oil helps prevents blemishes. I was kind of cynical before regarding this product seeing that there appears to be no apparent effect. But now I see that my face doesn't dry out. I use this two to three times a day. It's good mainly because I get no irritation and it is not harsh on the skin. It's a skin-friendly anti-blemish facial wash.

  

FOR MY ULTIMATE ANTI-ACNE PRODUCT: The Shaclear- Skin Clear Anti Pimple Lotion --an ayurvedic product by Shahnaz Husain from India

Again, please refer to this article instead 'coz I made an exclusive post about it already. HERE. Good thing I'll be able to use it again because an orgmate friend knows someone who'll go to India! I'm so excited! Hope it will still do wonders to my skin! :)

(It's 12:29 am already, I don't know if I have a typo or grammatical error, will re-read this one tomorrow and edit it if so) 

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THREAD YOUR EYEBROWS

Ever wondered if threading hurts? I did, back when I settle on plucking.

Last week, I went to the mall to get an eyebrow shave. The beautician and receptionist asked me though if I would like to try threading. At first, I was hesitant with all the info in mind that it hurts so bad. I said maybe some other time. Maybe when I am ready for the pain.

When I got to my seat, I asked the beautician once again if I could tolerate threading. I think I could since my threshold in pain is high. I was just too scarred from all the reviews I read. I also had other considerations other than the pain. I am thinking that my brows would be thinner. I hate thin eyebrows. I just want the clean sophisticated look. So, I had to really stress not to overly do it. After all the discussions and assurance, I went for threading. 

Honestly, it really hurts. It made me cry especially when threading the innermost part of the brows --near the nose part. As I've said, I have a high threshold for pain but still it really hurt.

On a positive note, if you want a clean brows without those little popping hair after you shave, threading could give you that result. Because usually, I am still in dire need to pluck my brows after a shave. They told me that it could last up to two weeks and I would have to agree. My brows are still neatly shaped for days. They reminded me though that I have to go back in two weeks time so that it wouldn't hurt much after a couple more threading/get used to the pain little by little.

After the threading, I looked like (picture below). That's already 5 days after threading without even plucking it until now. It still is clean.

For additional do's and dont's, don't wash your face after having one. Don't expose your brows to water. It's like you had your facial. The pores in your brows are open and water could make your skin chickeny with all the pores getting visible. Be ready to see your brows in flaming red. It was really awkward to walk with red brows. It was like I had a brow facial but the redness came off after a few minutes. If you do not want the attention, bring shades.   

 

If you're still at the point questioning yourself if you should get eyebrow plucking or shaving or threading, here is a little background story:

Second year high school, my eyebrows were still virgin. Then, I saw a big difference in one of my classmate. She arrived in school the usual but she got prettier. We looked at her and wondered why. Was it just because she was just blooming that day, we asked. Then, we realized that it was her brows. It certainly made her a lot prettier. Due to that, I tried it as well and from then on, I regularly pluck it or go to a parlor to get a shave. I must say, shaving your eyebrows perfectly could make a big difference. Try it. Just don't over pluck it and get ready for positive remarks!

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Say goodbye to breakouts

If there is one product that I would recommend for skin suffering from acne and breakouts, it would be this one —The Shaclear- Skin Clear Anti Pimple Lotion. It is an ayurvedic product by Shahnaz Husain based in India. For basic information, Ayurveda can be defined as a system, which uses the inherent principles of nature, to help maintain health in a person by keeping the individual’s body, mind, and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature (directly lifted from About.com). Thing is, the only shop I know, located in Malate, which carries her products closed years ago. I tried to e-mail the owner and I had the chance to do transactions with her, but everything remained as failed promises, so I never got a bottle from her from then on.

Then, my uncle went to India for a business trip. I got really excited, my hopes, desperation, and longing to take hold of the product were up. And so I asked him to purchase three bottles, but he was only able to bring home one bottle. Still, the product never failed to eradicate those protruding pimples.

Whenever there is a small breakout, I immediately put on the product with enough amount in a cotton ball. And when I wake up, my face is anew and ready for the world to see, heh. I was not worried about ill side-effects since it is an ayurvedic product. There were actually times that I put so much amount on my face especially when I’m trying to get rid of cystic ones —the ones with puss that you cannot not control to whack.

I want to have another bottle of this product, but I do not know where I could get one. Actually this is the reason why I would like to pursue medicine (dermatology in particular) to introduce safe products that could be used without having to expose the skin to harsh ingredients such as hydroxybenzoate and methyl paraben, that little do we know destroys our skin.

There are many alternatives we could use if only it would be available to consumers and if only we are educated with the use and availability of herbal and skin friendly products.

Who sells one? Anyone?

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