My Skincare Story
When I think back into my skincare journey, which is no where near as dramatic as others, I think of how great it all started out. No — really. I’m lucky enough to come from a family with great skin genes. All of my uncles and aunts pretty much look like they are ten years younger than they actually are. They are literally skincare unicorns. And luckily, the gene was passed down to me. Because of this, I never really suffered from acne. During middle school, I hardly broke out, and got away with using Neutrogena Grapefruit face wash every night (and a dab of Clinique moisturizer in the morning).
When high school came around, it was pretty much smooth sailing until Junior year. I had just began taking birth control (the name of the brand escapes me now), and it turned my blue skin skies into stormy ones in the blink of an eye. My problem areas? The t-zone and temple areas. And no matter what I did, they wouldn’t go away.
I was in a complete and utter shock. Having never really experienced this before, I didn’t know what to do. I washed my face twice a day, moisturized and hardly wore any makeup. So what was happening? It turns out that I was having an allergic reaction to the norethindrone — a form of progesterone — in my birth control. Of course, the logical course of action was to switch my pill.
Unfortunately, it didn’t reverse the damage. It was almost as if the norethindrone had released a monster of acne, and it couldn’t be defeated. No matter what. The fact that I was an athlete didn’t help either. I played field hockey and softball, and was always coming home after practice with irritated and red skin from the sweat and sun exposure.
To be completely honest, I totally freaked. And that’s where my skincare addiction all started. I was obsessed with having perfect skin. I felt ugly. I was constantly embarrassed and stressed about my forehead, which obviously didn’t help the flareups. I tried to cover them up with every foundation in the book, which also only made them worse.
When senior year came around, I had finally had enough. I was tired of feeling insecure. So, I purchased a huge bottle of witch hazel, invested in Evan Healy products from Whole Foods and gave into a tube of Epiduo from my dermatologist. And voilà, my nightmare was over (almost).
Sounds simple, right? Not even. I found skin justice in Evan Healy products. More specifically, the blemish line. Every night, I’d do a thorough wash with Evan Healy’s Tea Tree Gel Cleanser, followed by a pump or two of the Pomegranate Repair Serum. After rubbing that into my skin with my pointer and middle fingers, I would dot the Blemish Purifying Serum onto any trouble spots and then finish it off with three spritzes of the Lemon Thyme HydroSoul. In the morning, I’d repeat with just the cleanser and HydroSoul. Complicated? Yes. Worth it? Yes. Did I keep up with it? No.
This routine worked for awhile, and definitely helped my acne, but after awhile, I slowly became less dedicated. My four step system turned into a one step, and then a zero step, and then back to a one step again. It was a whirlwind.
This led to the Epiduo. It just seemed that no matter what I did, I was never able to tame my acne completely. So, I went to a dermatologist. Upon one look, she prescribed me with Epiduo. For those who don’t know, this is a powerful topical acne medication gel. It dries out your skin like no other. And you know what? It’s definitely not au natural, but it works! My acne completely disappeared, and to this day, every time I get a trouble spot, I use it.
This is probably confusing to you, because, well, I’ve promised an all-natural and good-for-you blog. But, honestly, just like how you sometimes need the extra thick and creamy three-cheese mac, you sometimes need to accept that chemicals can only destroy. Especially when chemicals are what created the problem to begin with.
Since then, I’ve slowly but surely fallen in love with natural skincare brands like OSEA Malibu, Kindred Skincare Co. and more. Not to mention the fact that I still use the Evan Healy HydroSoul on a daily basis. I do masks once or twice a week depending on my crazy schedule, and freeze roll my face every morning. I try to get as many facials as possible, which really only ends up being twice a year (maybe). I do activated charcoal masks on my nose. Anything else? Oh, and I absolutely LOVE Kiehls Daily Moisturizer.
Now you know my story. Since then, I’ve clearly dedicated myself to a whole bunch of oh-so-good products for my skin. And one step at a time, it’s going back to what it used to be (sometimes, I think that it is even better).
The moral here is that everyone has a different journey, including me. No, I didn’t suffer from craters. I didn’t have rosacea or eczema. But I did have a trouble zone that inspired me to really look into skincare. And that’s all it takes.
Originally published at www.beautifuleeblog.com. Follow me @beautifuleeblog
