Living with the Dreaded Thing Called Acne

Other blog posts usually say the same thing. The common cures are placed on three broad categories, over the counter medications, home made cures or herbal medicines, and dermatologist-prescribed medicines. Well, based on my personal experience, I would try to shed some light on the said topic, acne.

Let me first give you a tiny introduction to the categories.

Over the counter medications. The common over the counter medications for acne have the following ingredients: sulfur, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, retinoic acid, clindamycin, and erythromycin. Some of them cause redness, peeling, discomfort, but they are also very effective acne medications. Examples of these: Benzac AC, Panoxyl, the much celebrated ProActive, and others known to the pimpled community.

Homemade cures/herbal medicines. These include the use of ingredients available in the comfort of our own homes, like milk, lemon, baking soda, vinegar, oatmeal, toothpaste, and even lipstick. Some of these work for some people, but then we really cannot tell if its generally applicable to everybody.

Dermatologist-prescribed medicines. These are those that are usually prescribed by our dermatologists, most of them brewed by the clinics themselves. Some cost us really big bucks to maintain, and so we result to over the counter versions of such.

Now, let’s discuss my personal regimen.

Hmm, first things first - facial wash. Currently, I’m using Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. But at times when I ran out, and it’s not available in the convenience stores in the vicinity, I rush to the department store and look for these brands that have proven to go well with my skin type and does not tolerate the appearance of pimples: Clearasil Daily Face Wash and Celeteque Facial Wash. Cetaphil and Celeteque are made for sensitive skin, non-oily and noncomedogenic, whereas Clearasil is specially for oily and acne-prone skin (it has salicylic acid). I also switch brands because I believe my skin grows immune to the ingredients of one of the facial washes as time goes by, and pimples start to reappear.

Exfoliation. I use only one type of exfoliating cream, and that’s St Ives Apricot Facial Scrub, either the plain one or the medicated version for acne-prone skin which also has salicylic acid. I don’t use it often because frequent exfoliation aggravates the acne. The most frequent exfoliation I’ve done so far is 4 times a week, before going to bed.
Toning. I’m not really a fan of toners. I had a bad experience with a toner once; it made my pimple angry and flare up. I’d rather use a facial cleanser like Eskinol. But I also don’t use it often because it dries out my skin.

Medication. I started “treating” my face when I was still in high school. What I did was to pore through a magazine that had an article for pimples and acne. I forgot the name of the mag, but what I remember is that it was a local magazine. And there I first read that there are such things as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, etc. So I tried one, it was a benzoyl peroxide based facial wash, it worked but it made my face darker so I had to change routes. I looked for an alternative and bought Benzac AC, it’s a cream with 5% benzoyl peroxide. It works really well, it dries up the spot and after a day or two, the bump disappears. Just be careful not to put some of it on sensitive areas like the eye area and corners of the lips because the drying effect may cause irritation.

Moisturizing. Now this one I didn’t know to be very effective. I really thought it just makes your skin oilier but I was so wrong! Moisturizing brings out the glow out of the skin, giving a whole new meaning to “blooming”. The first moisturizer I tried was the Myra E Facial Moisturizer which I was not very fanatic about. I didn’t like the smell because it reminded me of a sanitary napkin. So I tried another brand, Celeteque. It’s odorless, non-greasy, and noncomedogenic also, just right for sensitive skin. And it works so well for me. My face regained its natural tone (I’m a little fair in skin color), evened out some spots, because I already have these blemishes and scars from years of pinching out zits from my cheeks and jaw line. I put on moisturizer after applying my face med...

So there guys and gurls, I’ve shared with you some of the products I’m using for my face, hopefully in the next post, it will be about my make-up routine. See ya around!