For many years my skincare routine was washing my face with lukewarm water and Dial soap- pretty basic but it worked for me. I knew nothing about using toner & moisturizer, after all I felt like I didn’t need to since my skin was mainly blemish free.
That changed once I moved from Memphis to Virginia. My skin changed drastically due to stress, the environment and my eating habits. I was living in a new state in an unhealthy situationship, working 11 hour shifts and I was eating horribly. My new lifestyle was a recipe for reoccurring breakouts.
My face started to break out and of course, me looking for a quick fix I decided to pop the pimples which resulted in leaving dark spots, mainly around my chin area. Dark spots lead to me wearing more make up to cover the spots which lead to more blemishes because I wasn’t properly washing my face because I was still using only Dial soap. I know I had to make some changes.
Finding skincare products that work for you and your skin type is really trial and error, for me it was a lot of error because I didn’t know my skin type. I spent hundreds of dollars on acne products and facials all because I didn’t know what was best for my skin type. I found out my skin type by taking the Nivea quiz. I have combination skin which for me, is a mix between oily and dry depending on the day. My t-zone gets oily some days and I have to use blotting papers to control the shine. Once I understood this I was able to find products that worked for me & create my own morning & night routine that worked for my skin type.
For me, a Clarisonic with the deep pore brush has been vital to me keeping my skin clear and healthy. I use the deep pore brush with Clinique Sonic Foaming Facial Soap and replace the brush head once a month. After washing my face, I apply witch hazel on a cotton swab as my toner. Witch hazel may not work for everyone, I use it because it has astringent properties and works by drying out the skin. I have an oily t-zone so this works perfectly. I then apply a non-scented moisturize and a thin layer of vitamin C serum. Vitamin C helps with dark circles, fine lines and discoloration.
My breakouts are very minimal now, even when Aunt Flo visits my breakouts are pretty isolated to one side of my face and no more than 1-2 blemishes. When I do have breakouts, I use Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. I apply the lotion to the problem area before bed and usually within 2 days the blemish is gone. If a blemish does result in a dark spot I apply Clinique Dark Spot Corrector to help with fading it.
Skincare is not a one size fits all type of thing. What works for me, my not work for someone else. The key is finding out what skin type you have and what maybe causing the breakouts. If you are in the testing stage, stop by Sephora to get free samples of the products you would like to try. Before I could afford the expensive products, I would get free samples from Sephora. They are very generous with the samples and a little going a long way sometimes.
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