Thirteen

05| Lovely Acne

Hey guys, today I'll be writing about acne and I will be giving out honest tips that I actually use with a few acne horror stories. I feel like a lot of YouTubers give out advice and medications to use but half of the time it either doesn't work or it's way too expensive. As a teenager, I don't want to break my bank over an acne medication.

Acne runs in my family genes, so basically I have hormonal acne + family gene acne. So in other words, I was basically destined to have acne lol.

I first started to get pimples on my face as early as fifth grade, I would get occasional breakouts that started off as tiny pimples. By the time I entered middle school my acne was occurring more frequently over a wider area of my face, it was everywhere. My mom noticed and she began buying acne creams for me which helped get rid of the current acne, but it didn't stop new ones from popping up. I have blemish probe skin and it wasn't well suited for that concern.

I then began searching the internet for acne cures. I saw a video that instructed me to put an ice cube on my face to reduce inflammation to make your acne look smaller. I did it, and it made my acne smaller but I noticed that when I took the ice cube off of my face there was an inflamed red circle near my cheek. The ice cube was on my face for about 20 seconds and I was moving it around while it was there. I tried the ice cube hack like ten minutes before I had to leave for school, so I literally went to school with a red inflamed circle on my cheek. It looked I tried to do the red cupping that Olympian's do. I remember that the red circle went away within the span of 1-3 hours, while I was at school. So if you're going to try the ice hack, don't leave it on your face for too long, I don't know, maybe I just have sensitive skin lol.

One day I was at dollar general and I saw an acne cream that cost 3.00. My eyes glazed over the product and after asking my mom, I picked it up off of the shelf. I did a patch test before I used it and I used it that night. My acne  cleared up a lot just by using it that one time, so I continued using it. It made my face dry, but that wasn't a surprise because most acne creams/treatments for blemish prone oily skin will dry your face out.

I am still using the same acne cream to this day. I still get occasional breakouts because, perks of being a teenager but I get them much less frequently.

If you're wondering the acne cream is called Zit Free and it's labeled as a maximum strength acne treatment cream. It's oil-free and odorless.

This is going to sound horrible, but until now I've never used lotion or a moisturizer on my face because my mom told me it would make my skin break out more.

But I found a YouTuber, his name is Hyram and he said that not moisturizing your skin actually makes it Oiler. So you can imagine, I was pretty shook.

You may be wondering what moisturizer should I use if I have Oiler skin.

So after researching and binge watching Hyram's skin care recommendations, I discovered that many dermatologist recommend people with oily and acne prone skin to use a oil-free, gel based moisturizer. Many people recommend using  aloe gel on your face as a moisturizer because of its numerous amounts of benefits.

And I've recently gotten an aloe plant so I've been experimenting with acne, so it was perfectly convenient for me to use fresh aloe gel on my face! I ended up having to get aloe gel from the store because I just used my plant and it needed time to grow back it's leaves. But fresh aloe gel fresh from a plant is perfectly fine, just make sure to remove or drain the yellow sap from the aloe because it irritates the skin.

Often times after your skin becomes clear, you're left to deal with the aftermath of acne and acne scarring.

I have a bit of hyperpigmentation from acne scarring on my cheeks and aloe Vera gel helps with that. I've been using it for about two weeks and I've already noticed that it has been slightly fading away some of my acne scarring. I apply aloe twice a day on my face and it leaves it feeling hydrated, not moisturized but hydrated. It feels like my face drank a bottle of water when I use aloe. It absorbs very quickly into your skin, and doesn't leave any residue.

I have less breakouts when I use aloe. So funny story, I've been falling asleep before I can put my acne cream on and I've had only one pimple on my chin. So aloe pretty much serves as an acne treatment. Scientifically it is an acne treatment, it contains salicylic acid, which is a common ingredient in acne products.

Of course, not every product will work the same for everyone. But Incase this product will work for you, I recommend....

1. Zit Free Maximum Strength Acne Cream- 3.00$ at dollar general

2. Aloe Vera gel (can be fresh aloe, store brough, etc)- can be 1.00$

I hope I helped!

~With all my love, Leah 💛🦋🌼