Life After Addiction: My new skincare plan

I am a drug addict in recovery. This post is the first in my plan to share my journey in the hopes that it helps others. As a direct result of my drug addiction, I became a skin-picking addict. Some call it dermatillomania, Skin Picking Disorder (SPD), Compulsive Skin Picking (CSP), Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior (BFRB), and other names. In short, when my drug addiction turned on me and became more compulsive than enjoyable, I started picking at my skin as a calming mechanism while using. I will likely get further into this experience in later posts, but in this post I’m focused on what I’m doing today to move forward.

I’m trying new skin care products and setting a goal to take better care of my skin. With the scars and discoloration from past picking, it can be tough for me to want to take care of my skin now — I sometimes feel there is no point.

It’s a declaration of self-love and lack of shame for me to start this process today.

The plan:

• Start using Clinique 3-Step skin care with their rinse-off foaming cleanser, clarifying lotion, and moisturizing lotion. Add their 7 day scrub cream every other day (I was told with oily skin, it’s okay to use it every other day).

• When it arrives in the mail in about a week, add Lancome’s Visionnaire Crescendo Dual-Phase Night Peel. This product is a 28-day system intended to smooth skin and reduce discoloration. During this time I won’t be using the scrub cream above.

That’s my 5-week plan! Here are my before pictures, taken tonight after cleansing:

Wish me luck!