Monday, February 23, 2009

Clear skin WILL BE MINE!!!! (clear skin challenge part deux)

Ok... given that the original product choices in my 30-day skin makeup produced less then stellar results, I decided to switch up the program a bit and bring in some heavier artillery.

As I described previously, the initial plan was to use the Clinique 3-step Acne Solutions program which included a foaming cleanser, a clarifying "lotion", and moisturizer for acne prone skin. I soon found out the "moisturizer" turned my skin into a flaky, raw mess so I decided to go with an oldie but goodie for my moisturizer; Origin's "Have a Nice Day", and I threw in a deep pore masque just for good measure...

The results after 25+ days of consistent use were not negligible, but not spectacular either. I think the foaming cleanser did an ok job at cleaning my skin and preventing breakouts, but it wasn't "great". A couple pimples still managed to break through, especially during that "special" time of the month... As I type this, I have a little annoying sucker on my chin... argh. So honestly I have to give the cleanser a B/B-. It was OK, but nothing to write home about. I decided to try a new cleanser this month- Murad Clarifying Cleanser. I heard great things about this one as well... so we'll see if it fares better than the Clinque.

I really liked the clarifying lotion. It has exfoliating powder, and I feel like it did help tighten and shrink my pores and produce a smoother appearance. I got a ton of compliments this past month on my skin (from people who hadn't seen the blog :-p) All of those compliments occurred when I had foundation on, so it's not like my own skin looked extraordinary, but I believe the tightening of my pores and general smoothing and softening of my skin helps my makeup go on more smoothly.

Re: the Origin's products... I've been an Origin's use for a long time. I'm not sure exactly what benefit I am getting from the deep pore cleansing mask that I do 2x a week, but honestly I just kind of like doing it... it looks cool... I feel like I'm really doing something, and it definitely hasn't hurt. My pores are smaller and my skin is less dull. I also don't know if the "Have a nice day" is the best moisturizer on the market, but it's VERY potent... a little goes a LONG way and I've never had a problem with it so for now it's a keeper.

Next steps... Getting rid of this daggone mother flucking dark marks! UGH I hate them! My skin is softer, my pores are tightening, but you can't have perfect baby butt skin with dark marks... Gabby ain't got no dark marks. So I went out and got a very highly rated, (and fairly expensive) at home chemical peel kit today. It's a 2 step process from Philosophy called the micro delivery peel. The first step is to rub these vitamin C crystals into your dry skin... you're supposed to rub them for about a minute. After you rub your face with the citric acid you add the activating gel which is made of lactic and salicylic acid... the addition of the activating gel should cause the citric acid crystals to heat up and foam, and apparently eat off the yucky top layer of your skin... YES!

I am very excited about this.

I read tons of reviews and people seem to notice a difference even after the very first application. I'm going to try and do this once a week....

so this is my new skincare routine
Daily (am/pm) :
Cleanse am/pm with Murad Clarifying Cleanser
Tone/Exfoliate with Clique Clarifying Lotion
Moisturize with Origin's "Have a nice day" cream

Bi-weekly:
Origin's Activated Charcoal deep pore masque

Weekly:
Philosophy Microdelivery chemical peel

I've spent entirely too much money on my face during this process.... If this doesn't work, I'm just going to throw in teh towel and go back to coating my face with Palmer's Cocoa butter and embrace the impending cystic acne.

*sigh*

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