Skin Update: Managing Adult Acne

Since starting this blog I've openly mentioned my skin problems, but I've never properly taken the time to talk about it in a dedicated post - until today that is. However I think I have finally reached a stage where my skin seems to be quite happy and I wanted to share how I've got there for anyone who may be in the same boat suffering from adult acne. I'm not going to be mentioning the exact products that I have been using as such because I think that sort of stuff should be saved for another post and I may eventually write up my skincare routine. Today I just want to focus on the changes I made to improve my skin. 

A brief background: after sailing through my teens virtually blemish free it came as a nasty shock to me when I hit my twenties and started getting acne. I've read article after article, spoken to other acne sufferers and I'm still no clearer on the reason why I suddenly started getting acne. I eat a reasonably clean diet, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. Yet looking back to periods where my skin was worse I would say that it was at times where I had a lot of stress and emotional upheaval going on in my life so it probably is hormonally triggered.

However for the last six months  I have taken a different approach to managing my acne and the results have been really good. This has all been done without the aid of any antibiotics, topical treatments or skin peels etc. 

Keeping it simple. 

One of my biggest problems over the last few years has been overloading my skin with products. I know that a lot of skincare lovers will be shaking their heads at me but bombarding my face with a hundred different things when it was already flared up was not effective and definitely made things worse for me. I cannot tell you the amount of different cleansers, toners, scrubs and creams I must have tried just last year alone. I thought that using all these products would help me as there is the belief that its so important to 'cleanse' but I think you can over do it easily which just ends up having the opposite effect really.

Back to basics.

By late last year it was getting ridiculous, I had so many hot angry spots which inevitably resulted in some nasty dark scaring. My confidence was getting more and more knocked back. The vicious circle just kept going round until I took a step back and went back to basics. I'm talking warm water, a flannel and makeup remover to take my face off at the end of the day and then one moisturizer that I applied morning and night. And that's it. I really don't think you need to use an excessive amount of skincare in order to have clean skin. 

Trial and Error.

Its only to be expected that discovering what skincare products my skin liked would take some amount of trial and error. I think that its extremely difficult when it comes to buying skincare as its so personal, our skin is all so different so you can't go based on someone else's experience. Finding what worked for my skin took a little while but now I know what to look out for (or what to avoid!) this has helped me make more informed choices.

Consistency.

After cutting down the products and making my skincare routine far more simple consistency has been key. I really believe that keeping my products the same and sticking to them has been crucial in sorting my skin out. Clinique has been an effective brand for me and so I've stuck to using their products and not mixed it up too much. I've applied this rule to my makeup as well - I stick only to my Hourglass foundation and try to get products aimed at my skin type. I've started making a note of when my skin looks good and the products I've used on it at the time which I think can be quite a helpful thing to do. When I think my skin is ready I will slowly start to introduce new products but I won't ever go down the route I was before- I just personally don't think my skin can handle that amount of product.

It didn't happen over night and it was certainly a bit of a learning curve but my skin seems so much better these days. Of course its far from perfect but I am very pleased that I'm in the right direction of seeing improvements rather than it keep getting worse! Seeing my skin clearer than its been for absolutely months has been an amazing feeling, if you've experienced adult acne you will know how it really knocks you back so to be happy again in my own skin has been wonderful.

Completely makeup free

QOTD: Have you ever experienced acne?