My Acne Journey to Recovery

Holla!

I am back again, yes i know i disappeared for abit but i am here to inform you skin 90% acne free!!!!! I don't even know whether it was considered acne anyways. Closed comedones? Clogged pores? As i mentioned before they were colourless bumps all over my forehead with no visible whitehead unless i picked really hard at them.

This will be a post on how i cleared my skin!

A lil more background info, I actually had these bumps back in 2013 too and the cause was using BB cream. But that year i visited the National Skin Centre. I was prescribed with i think 2 months dose of Doxycycline. And together with:

Stiemycin - daytime use

Stieva-A 0.01% - night time use

Went for a follow up visit after i've finished the full course of Doxycycline and pimple free. Told the doctor to give me something slightly stronger because i felt that my skin was getting immune to 0.01%. So he prescribed me Stieva-A 0.025% as seen above. This stronger cream lasted me until the start of 2014 which was the next breakout as written in my previous post. Then... my face got immune to the 0.025% one as well -_-

So I am here to share my journey and the HOLY GRAIL product that diminished them buggers on my forehead.

Ok so where i left off, i mentioned that DrGL's Skin Repair Serum actually helped merge the little bumps together to form big pimples. That actually only lasted for a few days. As i continued to apply the serum on for a week, i realize it ain't working. My skin was back to the square one. I guess that would only help people with the normal acne.

I idled on for afew weeks~months trying new products – sebamed pimple CREAM(not gel) with Garnier's Duo Clean. Didn't work either. I tried my luck at my Stieva-A 0.025% again, didn't work. Was using QV's gentle wash at that time. Went to Japan for holiday, the pharmacist there recommended me Acnes's foam facial wash, also didn't work.

I became sooo sick of trying new products i just gave up. I went on weeks without anything on my face. Cavemen menthod – DIDN'T WORK EITHER. 

One night after dinner, my mom and I were in Guardian and she knows i've been so vexed and upset about my face so she asked me to try Neutrogena's On-the-Spot Acne Treatment. Since my face was already at its worst state, i was like why not. So I bought it together with their Fine Fairness Cleanser.

I wasn't dissapointed

Within 3 days of using these two products, I saw results. The disgusting bumps were shrinking its as though the pimple cream went on a massacre. The feeling daaaaaaaaaamn shiok! I also started to see the whiteheads. The cream dries them out that – idk about other people but it gets itchy(doing its work) and if i scratched/picked at them they just come out as dried pus or scabs. 

The pimple cream did most of the work of course. The facial wash was really mild and smells nice. It doesn't doesn't do much but i think it has made my skin became less oily? Nor does it cause any new acne so i'm gonna stick to it! Its something like Cetaphil but thicker consistency and more pleasant smelling :) My only regret was why didn't i see this earlier or why didn't my mom suggested earlier?!? D:

BEFORE

EWWWWW HAHAHHA

AFTER

No more icky bumps! Ignore puffy eyes i took these 2 pictures this morning after i woke up.... HAHA. I still have occasional pimples here and there during time of the month or if i've been eating heaty stuff and not taking care of my body. Notice my face is really less oily as compared to last time?!?! :D

So i can conclude that Neutrogena On-the-Spot Acne Treatment is my holy grail product!!!!! 

Side track – Lil tip for you girls.. before you purchase a skin product/make up next time, trying googling "<the product> + makeupalley" For example: "Freeman Facial Clay Mask Makeupalley" or "Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner Makeupalley" Makeupalley has tons of honest reviews!!!!!!!!! So it makes you think twice before you spend that money. Heeee hope this helps!

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored ANY of these products mentioned above and this is my unbiased review. What works for me may or may not work for you ;)

**UPDATE 19 October 2014**

This is my face now, 3 months from recovery! :) 

DrGL Skin Repair Serum Review

Decided to resume blogging! This time with a different direction. Heh.

I, a 22 year old am suffering from what most young adult would suffer from, and that is acne, hair all over the body, feeling too fat.. blablabla. So.. I wanna do reviews on products that i've BOUGHT and used that may have worked for me. UNBIASED reviews! I'm so sick of searching up a company and what comes up is some blogger(no wait A LIST actually) all advertising and raving about the product! The only blogger i think that has most honest reviews is Xiaxue(maybe?).

So recently i've been suffering from a breakout and its been haunting me for the past 6 months(well almost exactly), since my Aussie trip at the start of the year. I think what sparked it was this sunblock i used...

I am a person who NEVER puts on make up(except eyeliner). I think make up makes you look more presentable. I've always wanted to try make up but my skin is acne prone but i'm scared it'll give me breakouts butbutbutt. Even before this breakout i am already struggling to get my complexion right! Highest possibility is that i didn't clean it off properly cos at that point of time i never knew sunblock was actually a kind of "make up". So i washed my face as per normal and shrugged if off after.

This was how bad my acne got.. its not like normal acne. It looks more like clogged pores? They are colorless bumps that scatter all over my forehead(especially) and they never seem to go away no matter how many times i've changed my face wash/pimple cream etc. WORST PART is, they look fine under normal light, but if you have a shadow casted over the face....... I don't wanna scare you but it was that bad. You see how they dont have the obvious white head, its almost rashes-like and well snuggled under my skin lol. I feel like the pictures are not doing justice, it looks more horrifying in person D:

I know.. There are people suffering from worse acne like cystic acne but I FEEL THEM.

Another bad thing was, I was a picker. I just can't stop picking at them. The satisfaction of scratching something out of those bumps is just... shiok. But it really made my skin worse. When i was in sec sch I used to scratch them throughout the lesson and the next day my face would be healed. I guess my skin "metabolism" slowed down over the years :/

So, I got desperate. I was almost tempted to try drX but luckily i found some NON-SPONSORED reviews. Turns out their products were actually kind of meh. Some of them had their situation worsened like their product drying their skin out or didn't work for them etc! PLUS it was expensive to keep up with so... I thought well, find another option.

THEN i stumbled upon this blog where this guy had really bad acne(worse than mine) on his cheeks and he turned to New York Skin Solutions where they blablabtheyhardsellhimbla. Thats where he started talking about his unbiased experience with drGL! He visited their counter in Robinsons and was advised to BUY their Skin Repair Serum($98 for 10ml). He took a Before & After photo and boy did it make a difference! Actually, i can just link you to his blog.

Researched and their products don't come cheap.. But I was so convinced after reading his post and went to email them! 2 Days later, Karen, the manager, called me up and asked if i was free to come down to their Raffles City corner in Robinsons for a consultation cos she was there that day! I was free so i went and blabla THIS WAS MY DAMAGE.

almost fainted when i the cashier told me the grand total.. HAHA. Before i continue, I must say that after so long being a young adult, i only JUST found out that toner, moisturiser and sunblock IS A MUST. I usually never put anything on my face after cleansing, only pimple creams. Random but this video enlightened me better :D CLEANSING, TONING, MOISTERISING.

Anyhooz, Karen didn't hardsell, that was the best part. She was very patient and was very detailed. She told me that girls should start taking care of their skin at 16... hahahaha ooops. 

After near to 2 weeks of using the products, i definitely see improvements on my forehead. It seems like the serum has merged clusters of the tiny bumps into one huge pimple with pus(at a few areas of course). WHICH I THINK IS SO MUCH BETTER! I rather have that than bumpy moon face. 

I will do an update of my forehead... probably after i've finished using the Skin Repair Serum(cuz its DA BOMB).

You can order their products online at http://www.drgl.com or http://www.zalora.sg/drgl/

OR

Head down to any Robinsons and look for their stall! I heard even Sephora carries her products now!

**UPDATE 19 October 2014**

Check out my new post on how i recovered from my breakout here!

God's gift

Sometimes i reflect on my bad past and wonder, "what have i done to deserve an angel like you?"

Army

I prefer to think that you'd be on loan to the government for two years. I love you always be safe xx

Out of place

Just one of those nights that i feel like screaming into a pillow.. Not even $1000 note in my face would make me feel any better.

 Perhaps i just need a hug.

Tough love

“You accumulate these little little things and take it all in, you know each blow feels like a big one. But you continue to convince yourself that you are much stronger than this.”

So the past few days have been a wake up call, again.

I’ve been neglecting what should be my priority.
I’ve been wasting thoughts and efforts on all the wrong things. I have allowed answers to unnecessary questions take its toll on me. I have been burying myself in them. In fact I am in so deep it has affected me and the things I do. Snowball effect, haha.

Maybe I need more days like these, so that I’ll hatch out of this little bubble that I’ve been living in.

Dear Whoever

Today, I had a dinner treat in a korean restaurant from someone I barely even know.

On my way to the restroom, I encountered a lady who was reprimanding her wailing toddler kid:
“You cant even pay for your own meals. Tell me where is your pocket money from?
Why are you so useless? I just hope you die. ”
What a screwball. Who the hell says that to their child?

School is good. Been having bad coughing pangs. Yes, the latest status of my life.

What an eventful day. Goodnight.