After Peel

Sorry it's been so long since the last post, I've been a bit busy with work/christmas etc!

I wanted to write a quick post about what to expect after having a peel of any sort:

Because of the strength of the chemicals in the peel you are expected to stay out of direct sunlight for the next couple of days because you will no longer have a "barrier" which will protect you.

The areas of skin which had spots will become dry and hard, these will eventually fade but not before becoming worse and looking angry; if you pick them it will scar so it's best to leave them alone.

It will be difficult to apply make-up as your skin (especially the areas which are infected by spots) will be dry, the thinner areas of skin will also probably become dry and peel, this is because the skin is resurfacing itself and all impurities are working their way to the surface layer.

After you have had the peel it is best the avoid hot baths/showers/facial washes and you should altogether avoid using any facial washes.

You should use a moisturiser that penetrates the skin (such as Dermaquest B5 Serum), not one which will leave an oily residue on your skin. Thicker moisturisers tend to sit on the surface and feel heavy on the skin and can lead to blocked pores and spots.

My suggestion is to have a peel done when you have time off from work or school because over the next couple of days your skin will get worse and may make you feel self conscious, if you have time off after the peel you will be able to let your skin recover without having to face the public!

And as usual, try not to apply make-up straight after the peel. After my peel I had to walk through the busy streets of Manchester on a Saturday afternoon to get back to my car. As embarassing as that was I was not prepared to pay for a peel to then ruin its effects by re-blocking my pores with make-up. A light layer of mineral powder will not be a problem, just don't apply a pot of foundation!

I think that is everything... I hope you all had a lovely christmas and your skin if reflecting that!

- Natalie

Dermaquest Advanced B5 Serum

If you suffer from dry or dehydrated skin then this product is DEFINITELY for you!

I have been using this product for a week and I can feel the difference on my skin; my cheeks and nose are no longer dry and flaky and they feel moisturised constantly!

Like most people, I was a bit wary about buying a serum because I didn't really understand the difference between that and a moisturiser. While moisturisers stay on the surface of the skin and can feel heavy/oily, serum's sink in to the dermal layer of the skin where the moisture is then absorbed. The B5 serum "holds 1000 times its molecular weight in hydration" which means that despite only using a small amount the serum is able to hydrate skin completely. Also, because it penetrates skin at a cellular level, it doesn't leave the skin feel tacky!

I paid £57 for mine at House of Fraser, a bit steep but a definite investment!

- Natalie

Glycolic V Salicylic

After last weeks microdermabrasion I decided that I wanted to have a peel done; I have a lot of congestion and blocked pores and I figured this would be the best way to help clear them out. Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I have had peels done before but the age old question still remains:

Glycolic or Salicylic?

Glycolic is used to help resurface the skin by reducing "build up" at lower levels of the skin.

Salicylic helps reduce sebaceous follicle blockage (oil build up in the sebaceous glands) and supposedly stops current and future break outs.

I am definately leaning more towards to the salicylic peel! The Salicylic is also the stronger peel and because it can be quite harsh it is usually recommended you start off with a Glycolic peel so your skin can adjust.

Certain skin spas won't let you have either peel done until you have used a cleanser with a high acidic percent for atleast two weeks before hand to prepare your skin. At the moment I am using Dermaquest's Glyco Creamy Cleanser which is formulated with 15% Glycolic acid; I started using it the day after having microdermabrasion... what a mistake. The micro had taken the top layer of skin away so there was less of a barrier and when I put the cleanser on I immediately felt a burning sensation!!! Atleast I could feel it making a difference!

I purchased the Dermaquest cleanser from the Skin Health Spa where I am having my peel, you generally can't buy the range online as some of it is quite strong and it is recommended you speak to a specalist before buying. The cleanser was £35 and the peel was supposed to be £85 but I was given a 35% discount on just the one peel (the discount is usually only when you buy a series of 3 peels at once) as I was unsure of which one to go for!!!

I'm having it done on the 5th December so I'll let you know how it goes!

- Natalie

Worst day ever?

Argh! As the title suggests, I have had the worst day ever. A stressful* day at work followed by total embarassment infront of a restaurant full of people.

At 7:15pm today I had a Microdermabrasion appointment at the Skin Spa, a late appointment but as I am in work everyday during the week I have to fit them around my schedule. The Skin Spa is located in a shopping arcade called The Triangle and I didn't realise it but the shopping arcade shuts at 5:00pm; how did I get to the Skin Spa? I had to walk through the middle of a busy restaurant and use their back door exit to get into the Triangle to get to the spa.
Going in wasn't so bad but walking out the same way after having microdermabrasion was MORTIFYING. I had NO make-up on, my skin is FULL of spots, and my face was OILY and RED!!!! I thought "I'll walk through really quickly with my head down and no one will notice" only everybody did notice because A) I couldn't open the glass door B) everybody was wondering where I came from C) I walked into a waitress.

Moral of the story is: don't book late skin appointments but if you do make sure you don't have to walk through a busy restaurant to get to it.

- Natalie

*if I could have underlined that word more times I would have.

Isotrexin

I went back to the doctors on monday because a) I was feeling a bit blue about my skin and b) I had ran out of the last set of tablets he had prescribed.

I asked that  he prescribe me some cream/gel because the tablets didn't seem to have any effect on me! So he gave me some Isotrexin; 2% Erythromycin and 0.05% Isotretinoin in a 30g tube! Now the statistics mean nothing to me but I know that Isotretinoin is the main substance in Roaccutane.

I don't want to start taking R again but I thought that by using a gel cream with a small percentage of isotretinoin in it would both help clear up my face and get rid of some of the excess oil without drying it up too much.

So far it hasn't aggravated my skin, although the gel does dry quickly and leave a sort of white film across areas of my skin.

We'll see how it goes!

- Natalie

Salcura Antiac

A few weeks ago my mum bought me a present; a 50ml bottle of Salcura's Antiac. I had never even heard of this brand but she had read about it online after it had appeared on Embarassing Bodies (a TV show where doctors help treat embarassing/unusal illnesses, for those who don't know) and had got really good reviews.

Apparently it has won awards and I've been told that dermatologists are recommending it as a treatment before they prescribe Roaccutane! I don't believe that 100% but it must work if it was shown on national TV, it wouldn't be a very good promotion for the company if it had no effect at all...

I decided to have a look on the website and read some of the customer comments and they all seemed very positive; the main area of discussion was how quickly the treatment worked and what a good job it did of clearing spots. Another positive fact was that it is made with all natural products so while it helps clear the skin it has no nasty ingredients in it that could make it worse!

The 50ml bottle was only £9.99 from http://www.salcuraskincare.com/antiac-skin-therapy-spray-33.html so it is relatively cheap compared to some of the treatments I have purchased. It has a spray pump to penetrate the liquid deep into the skin and it is recommended that before you spray it directly on your face you spray some on to a piece of cotton wool and wipe over the worst areas so that you get better results!

My family have commented on the smell, saying that they know when I'm about to walk into the room because they can smell my face first! It is quite strong but when your the one that's wearing it you don't really notice.

Negative point: I have been using it for let's say... 3 weeks? And I have noticed no major improvements, or minor ones at that! But with all the publicity and positive feedback it has been getting it is definately worth a try!

- Natalie

Sensitive Skin

Happy October!!!

Because of all the products we use and all the treatments we have done to fight acne, our skin can become exceptionally sensitive; if you think about it, some of the acne products we use are made to remove layers of the skin and therefore our skin is bound to be a lot more sensitive than most!

Last week I washed my face with an exfoliator than I had never used before and the next day my eyes were bright red! From the lid and brow section to the "bags" underneath, my eye area was crimson, flaky, and sore. Foolishly I had used a fragranced exfoliator without paying much attention and the outcome was not pretty.

Before I took R my eyes and lips had never been sensitive or prone to drying but during the months I took it and the year after I had stopped taking it I noticed that my skin had stayed sensitive. I altered my whole facial collection to include products that were fragrance free and free of any harsh and unnecessary ingredients. I spoke to my doctor and he said that the act of washing ones face actually damages it more than it does good!

Now, the only thing I was my face with is Clean & Clear Truly Gentle Facial Wash which is soap free with ingredients so mild that it is as pure as water, and it's true! After my eye area became irritated I used this product because everything else made my eyes burn horribly, but this did no such thing and soothed the eye area.

I would definately recommend it's use and will be avoiding harsh and fragranced skin cleansers from now on!!!

- Natalie

Origins "Zero Oil"

As you know, I'm always looking for products to help control my oily skin! This product comes in an 18ml (£12) bottle which isn't a lot, and as it is liquid it can run out very quickly depending on how much you're using.

You can apply it either under or over your make-up and it gives the face a matte finish! I used it today and was surprised it actually seemed to work!

Would it be lazy of me to copy and paste what the Origins website has to say about it?

"When everyday hassles like heat, humidity, or stress send already overzealous oil glands into overdrive, skin faces a surplus of shine, looks dingy, feels totally tacky. Breakouts are apt to blossom. Nature's master-mattifiers, including oil-foiling Silicates, toning Winterbloom, plus calming Chinese Camphor, instantly zero in skin-spoiling oil and blot up greasy shine without overdrying. Creates a smooth, invisible finish that stays matte all day. There are no streaks on cheeks. And forehead, chin and nose show positively no glow."

The only problem is have with this product is I'm unsure of how to apply it! It's a liquid so you'd assume that it should be put on a cotton wool pad and wiped over the face, but if you want to apply it over make-up then surely a cotton wool pad would wipe away most of your make-up?!

I have just been squirting it into my palms and massing it into my face before I put any make-up on, but it is quite messy and you have to do it straight away so that the product doesn't leak out of your hands!

Looking at the reviews on the website I'm not the only one who is a bit confused about how to apply it...

When you first put it on it can feel a bit tacky but it absorbs into the skin very quickly and that feeling soon passes.

All in all I'd say that it was worth the money as it seems to be keeping my T-Zone oil free throughout the day!

http://www.origins.co.uk/product/6342/11728/Skincare/Concern/Blemish-Oil-Control/Zero-Oil/Instant-matte-finish-for-shiny-places/index.tmpl

- Natalie

3rd Laser Treatment

The last time I had the laser treatment was about 6 weeks ago, the usual waiting period between the treatments is 4 weeks so it's been a little bit longer than I would have liked!

So my treatment was at 4:00pm today and I was a little bit nervous because it had been so long since the last treatment, but my face has broken out a lot recently (mostly on the left side of my face which is strange...) so I was looking forward to having it done to see if it would lessen the breakouts!

I'm sure you'll all agree with me that having these treatments is a big deal; allowing someone to not only see your face without make-up but touch it aswell, you build up a sort of bond with whoever does it for you. Well when I got there today I found out that the girl who has been doing my face for the past year had left the company after my last treatment!

The woman who did the treamtent instead was a complete stranger to me, I didn't even know her name! I felt awkward because I didn't know what to say to her, and when she took my make-up off to prepare my face I felt vulnerable because I didn't know what she was thinking about the state of my skin etc. It felt like I was walking in there for the first time.

Obviously, because she has never done any of my treatments before she had no clue about what strength laser I should be having/ how many treatments I have had before so there was a lot of paper fumbling which only added to the nerves. She said that my previous treatment settings were too low and she was going to make the laser stronger! No one can seem to get this laser thing right for me!! I don't want to put anyone off but during the treatment I could literally smell my skin burning; it didn't "hurt", it was bearable, just the whole situation made me feel uncomfrotable.

At the end of the session I realised there were no mirrors in the treatment room so I had to leave the building without seeing my face! This was a big deal for me! I ran to the closest toilet to find a mirror; my face was red and both scars and spots were visible all over so I put make-up on and kept my head down as I walked quickly back to my car.

The whole scenario just made me uncomfortable today, I'm extremely self conscious about my skin and having so many strangers (both in the building and outside) see my skin in that condition got me down. I think that's why it is so important to built up bonds with whoever does your treatments, because they grow to understand your concerns and you then have someone you can trust not to judge you when you are at your most vulnerable.

Hopefully the next treatment won't be so bad.

- Natalie

Origins Super Spot Remover

Hello! How are we all today?

I'm going to write about Origins Super Spot Remover; a blemish gel that claims to heal spots if used regularly.
It costs £12, so a little bit more expensive than your regular Tea Tree oil, and it comes in a tiny 10 ml, twist lid bottle.

It smells like Witch Hazel because they both contain some of the same ingredients that help reduce redness and imflammation; it also contains Salicylic Acid which helps to dry out the spot.

When you put it on a spot it immediately makes the skin feel tighter which is a good sign as it means a reaction is taking place, it says on the box that you can apply it between 1-3 times a day depending on the size of the spot etc but due to the amount of product you get I wouldn't recommend using it excessively. There is a risk of dryness to the skin but it states that if such problems occur then you should stop using the product.

It's fragrance free and not tested on animals!

I have read a lot of reviews on the internet regarding this product and although some people swear by it I wouldn't recommend it for severe acne as the ingredients are not strong enough to help control extreme problem skin, but if you have very mild acne or only get spots occasionally then you will probably benefit from it!

- Natalie

Easy ways to help get rid of a spot!

I have to be honest with you, the majority of these have not worked for me but as I always say; everybody has different skin so what doesn't work for me might work for you!

Here are a few tips I've picked up over the years, they're all extremely easy/cheap so it's worth giving them a try!

Most of these can be used just before you go to bed so all you have to do is sleep!

• Put a blob of toothpaste on the affected area before bed; as the toothpaste dries up in the night so will the spot. You shouldn't use jelly toothpaste as they tend not to dry and by morning it will be everwhere! I did get a comment on here saying that the fluoride in toothpaste could be the cause of acne around the mouth/jaw, so if you think that you might have been affected by that then it's probably best to give this one a miss!
• Apply Tea-Tree oil directly on the blemish, it works to fight off infections and has been found to help control oil production which should help dry up the spot!
• If dabbed on a couple of times a day, Witch Hazel should help reduce the inflammation. Witch Hazel is usually used on bruises/burns and will not stop the cause of acne, but it can help reduce the size and redness (which is always a good thing!)
• Why not steam your face to open your pores? All you need is a large bowl, some hot water, and a towel! Just pour the hot water in a bowl, place your head over the bowl, and place the towel over your head to stop the steam from escaping! Firstly, you don't want the water to be boiling as that will brun your face; if you can't stick your finger in the bowl then it is way too hot! You could also try pouring oils in it, like Tea-Tree or Chamomile which help fight infection and soothe the skin!
• Add water to a paracetemol and crush together to make a paste, apply that over the infected area and wait to dry! Paracetemol works from the inside out, so why not the outside in?
• Place an ice-cube on the spot and it will take away the redness from the skin! Try putting it inside a thin tea towel and then placing it over the spot if it's too cold.

Ok, so there are a couple of ways to get rid of spots the easy way! Give them a try and if you havecan think of any other ways then please let me know!

- Natalie

Make-up Tutorials

It's not uncommon for girls to not know how to apply make-up! When I first started using it to cover my acne the end result was always attrocious; I used the wrong shade of foundation/concealer, didn't blend below my jawline, and just generally had no clue what I was doing.

As I said in a previous post, I found that make-up manuals (such as Bobbi Brown's) really helped me and taught me about everything from make-up and brushes to how diet affects your skin!

For those of us whose preferences are a bit more technological then there is no better place to look than YouTube! It is FULL of video tutorials giving step by step instructions on a variety of beauty looks, so you can see the "tutor" applying the make-up and copy their technique, simple!

My personal favourite YouTuber is Michelle Phan, make-up artist and spokeswoman for Lancôme. I first heard of her when I was flicking through an old issue of Teen Vogue, she was talking about her favourite beauty secrets and I started encoporating some of her techniques into my own beauty routine. A couple of weeks ago I decided to watch some of her YouTube videos and they are so so so simple to follow!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MichellePhan

It is definately worth checking out, especially if you feel you could do with some beauty tutorials!

http://www.teenvogue.com/beauty/blogs/beauty/2010/11/michelle-phan.html

- Natalie

The Sun

Sorry sorry sorry for not posting in a while; I have been in Spain! It was extremely hot and let me tell you, hot weather + oily skin = nightmare!

Firstly, I have to wear make-up when I am out in public/with any one who is not a member of my nucleur family; I'm still not confident enough with my skin to go without any form of coverage.
Secondly, my skin is extremely oily.

This is where the problem started; the hot weather made my skin feel oilier (and sweatier...) so my make-up was always going patchy and uneven.

I was using an oil free foundation with light coverage to try and stop this from happening but you cannot outsmart Mother Nature! If anyone knows of any make-up brands that are good in hot climates I would love to know!

Also, acne on my chest flared up very badly! I assumed that the sun would help dry up the skin and stop spots from appearing but what happened to me was completely the opposite.

However, I did have sun tan lotion on at all times to stop any burning (as my skin tone is the palest of pale) or sun damage. The sun causes wrinkles to form and I do NOT want to add wrinkles to my list of things I dislike about my skin!!!!

- Natalie

Laser Treatment

Yesterday I graduated (congratulations to me!) and how did I celebrate? By have an N-Lite laser treatment session today, of course!

Before you read this, it might be worth reading my post from April titled "N-Lite Laser Treatment" as it gives more information on the actual treatment.

The treatment literally lasted no more than 5 minutes! Suprinsing since the last time I had it done it took around 30-40 minutes. My assumption is that the treatment takes longer if there is a larger infected surface area to treat; the esthetician will spend longer making sure that all the infected areas are targeted.
The only areas where I thought it was most uncomfortable was around my eyes and on the cheeks near the nose; it's probably because these areas of skin are quite thin.
She used quite a low laser setting on me and I never had to ask her to stop, it was always bearable!

It's made me feel a bit silly about avoiding laser treatment; the first time I had it done was when my skin was badly infected and the laser made my skin feel like it was burning, because the effects of the laser are felt more strongly on infected areas.

Right now my face feels hot and looks red but that's normal and should calm down soon apparently. It's also not uncommon to have small red marks on the skin where the laser has been used.

- Natalie

Blotting Sheets

As I have said before, I have very oily skin!!! After an hour or so my face feels heavy and I have to re-apply my make-up to stop it looking patchy and remove the shine.

When I'm at work I ALWAYS keep blotting sheets in my pocket; when I'm working 9 hour shifts and have no access to powder it's a quick way to get rid of the shine on my t-zone!

They're just small squares of paper that you press to your face and it absorbs the excess sebum produced to stop your face looking excessively oily!

They are life savers!!! Infact, a girl who I work with always steals mine because (due to the bad air conditioning in the shop we work in) her skin always gets oily too!

You can buy them anywhere and they can be cheap or expensive; I have ones from Bobbi Brown, Sephora, and Superdrug and I have them with me at all times.

- Natalie

Benzoyl Peroxide

Chances are that you have visited your GP at some point and have been prescribed Benzoyl Peroxide and not really known what it is, I have!

It can come in many forms: creams, cleansers, oitments, but you're usually prescribed it in gel form. It's basically a chemical that is included in most acne products;, if you look at the packaging on your precription it will tell you the percentage of Benzoyl Peroxide in that particular product, ones with a higher percentage are more likely to make your skin tingle because of the strength.

It's an antibacterial so it kills germs and sheds dead skin cells.

It's usually one of the first acne products to be recommended by your GP and is really effective on mild acne. Unfortunately if, like myself, you suffer from a more severe form then it probably won't be very effective. It can be quite drying as well which is never fun!

It didn't make any difference to me but my brother found it worked for him! It depends of the type of acne you have and, as I have said in a previous post, you have to try all the milder forms of medication before your GP will prescribe you stronger ones like Roaccutane.

- Natalie

Dr Brandt: Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner.

This product for oily/combination skin claims to "extract blackheads" and as I have a lot of blackheads on my nose I decided to buy it to see if it worked!

The fact that it's called a "vacuum cleaner" is quite deceiving because it sounds as if it is some kind of mechanical device when actually it is a lotion!

You just pump out a small amount, apply to the areas that have blackheads and leave for 5-10 minutes. The lotion turns white as it dries and cools down so you can feel it on your face, when it's dry you wash it off and then are supposed to pat the face dry rather than rub it (although I'm not sure why?).

It says it can be used 2-3 times a week but I probably used it more... Anyway, I didn't think it was making much difference when yesterday my mum said to me "that stuff is really working isn't it! You've got no blackheads on your nose now!" Now, I have one of those mirrors that reflects a bigger image on one side than it does the other and it is with this mirror that I usually scrutinise my face and I must agree that on closer inspection the blackheads on my nose did look smaller but I wouldn't say that they had gone completely.

When I bought it (at Space NK for £39) the sales assistant did tell me that it is something you have to use consistently each week to see results for I'll persevere with it and see if it makes anymore difference!

Here is what the website says about it:

"PORES NO MORE VACUUM CLEANER

DR BRANDT

Pores No More® Vacuum Cleaner® blackhead and oil remover is formulated with alpha and beta hydroxyl acids, silicone dioxide and eijitsu rose for maximum performance.

Key Ingredients:

Eijitsu rose - extract from the Japanese rose that helps tighten pores.

Glycolic acid - alpha hydroxy acid derived from sugar cane that exfoliates and softens skins texture.

Salicylic acid - exfoliates and removes dead skin cells. Keeps pores clean, and prevents clogging.

Silicone dioxide - mineral powder from sand that extracts dirt and excess oil and absorbs sebum.

Free Standard UK Delivery"

Now, I know that I said that I wouldn't be buying anymore products with Salicylic acid in them but the Kiehl's Yerba Mate Tea Toner seems to have my oily skin under control at the moment so it doesn't seem to be affecting the amount of oil my skin is producing!

It's not very big at all and is quite expensive so I'll keep you updated on whether or not it continues to work!

- Natalie

N-Lite Laser Patch Test

If you haven't read my first post on N-Lite laser treatment I would suggest doing so because then this post will make more sense!

Here's a quick run through of what happened when I had the patch test:
Firstly, I had to sign some forms to say that I understood what the treatment entailed and the side effects that could occur. After that I lay on the bed and put on the blacked out goggles to protect my eyes from the laser!
I was told by the esthetician that she was going to use the laser 4 times on either side of my face at different levels of strength so I could monitor how my skin reacted to the laser, and see whether any bruising occurred within the next couple of days.
She warned me eveytime she was about to use the laser but it still made me jump; because of the blacked-out goggles you don't know where abouts on your face they are gong to use the laser so it surprises you each time!
I wouldn't say it ws painful, more uncomfortable. I can only describe it as somebody flicking you in the face with an elastic band! But it's bearable.

That was nearly a week ago and so far there has been no bruising and I am scheduled to have the full blown laser treatment on the 22nd July so I am counting down the days!

During my treatment I found out the following facts:

• The laser cannot blind you; the goggles just protect your eyes from the bright light. The esthetician wears a pair of yellow goggles to lessen the harshness of the light but no, it won't damage your eye sight.
• The laser is more harsh on darker skin, so people with medium or very dark skin tones are more prone to bruising.

- Natalie

Overview

I have not been taking R for 9 months now! It seems so much longer...
I was very disappointed by the results, somedays I think that I may as well have not taken it; it would have saved me a lot of lip balm.
I get jealous when I read R success stories on sites like reclaimyourskin.co.uk because my skin is practically the same as it was when I was 16!!!

The Tetralysal isn't working either, a couple of days ago the left side of my face broke out quite bad (with superficial acne) but it really got me down and made me become paranoid again. I'm sick of saying "does it look bad? Can you see it?" and the amount of make-up I'm wearing- ARGH. I have this thing now; I can wear make-up when I go out and I feel fine but as soon as I'm on my way home my skin starts to feel heavy and dirty and the first thing I do when I get home is wash my face!

Sometimes I wonder why, with everything I do to prevent, my face is still acne prone!

However, my laser treatment is booked for friday!!! I'm excited/nervous/excited/nervous etc but hopefully it will be fine! And hopefully it will make a difference!

If you're like me and are getting pretty down about your skin situation, maybe R didn't work for you either or your current treatment has made no difference, just remember that there are hundreds of treatments you can try and just because one isn't working doesn't mean that one of them will!

It can take a long time to conquer but there are hundreds of us going through it together, we may not know each other but we can relate to each others stories and hopefully hearing about my experiences is having a positive impact on how you feel about yourselves!

- Natalie

Kate Somerville: Complexion Perfection!

Incase you haven't noticed, I am completely obsessed with all things skin related! I love reading books about skin because I take onboard what I read and use the advice to help treat my own skin. It's like a professional giving you advice in your own home!

Last week I bought some lipstick from Space NK (a favourite shop of mine) and they gave me some free samples. One of them was a small tube of Kate Somerville CytoCell a moisturiser with peptides to stimulate cell activity; I gave it to my mum and after she used it once she said she could already feel the difference it made to her skin and immediately went online to look it up!

So the next week my mum said she had got me a present and gave me... Kate Somerville's guide to skin Complexion Prefection! She was obviously very impressed with Someville's products!

For those of you who don't know who Kate Someville is, she is a very respected paramedical esthetician with 18 years of experience in clinical skin care. Basically, she knows what she's talking about.

One of the main reasons I like the book is because she explains what it is she is talking about. She talks about a treatment and tells you:

• what it is
• who it's for
• what to expect
• information about it
• recommendations

She also talks about how to change your skin using external treatments and internal ones, so you can attack problems from all angles. And it's not just for people suffering from acne; it's for people with all skin issues and all ethnicities.

What I like best is that she talks about her own skin issues, she suffers severely from eczema, and I tend to trust peoples advice more if they have had skin problems themselves; it makes their advice seem more genuine.

I would definately recommend this book to anyone and especially those who, like me, are skin nerds!

- Natalie

Kiehl's Yerba Mate Tea Toner

I love Kiehls. Their mango lipbalm is the most amazing thing I have ever purchased!

I was in a Kiehl's shop last week when I came across the Yerba Mate Toner in the section for oily skin! As I wrote in a previous post, I have very oily skin and am yet to find something that stop my face looking greasy after and hour of applying make-up.

The sales assistant told me that it absorbs excess oil and gives the face a matte effect, so purchased it at her recommendation!

Surprisingly, I really like it! I just put some on a cotton wool pad and wipe over my face after I have cleansed and it dries quickly, leaving my face feeling fresh!

It has no smell either, unlike some toners which smell very unpleasant.

Up to now my face has been less oily so I am very pleased with my purchase!

- Natalie

N-Lite Laser Warning!

I didn't have my laser treatment on friday, it was my last microdermabrasion*.

I did however have a very interesting conversation with the esthetician... She asked me whether I was nervous about the laser treatment and I told her that I was because the last time I had it done I found it very uncomfortable. From talking to her I found out that:

A) I didn't have laser patch test before I had the treatment. This is important because it allows you to see whether any bruises will occur and gives an idea of the level at which the laser should be used.

B) On my first (and only) laser session they used a very high setting that was too much for my skin.

It's like when you dye your hair, you do a patch test to make sure that no complications arise for the treatment. I never had that done and I didn't know I was supposed to! I think that the reason they used such a high setting was because I had just had the worst break-out of my life and they were trying to control the acne the best that they could. Unfortunately, I then spent the next year saying I would never have laser again because it hurt so much when REALLY it was just because the proper procedure had not been followed!

My advice is that before you even consider laser, make them tell you the facts! Googling it isn't much help because different places have different procedures and there are many different types of laser treatments. Make yourself aware of what should happen and then you won't find yourself in the same position as me!

- Natalie

* I purchased more microdermabrasions on friday. 6 treatments for £150! Infact, that seems too good to be true and I'm pretty sure I must've heard wrong because the last offer they had was 3 for £125... Hmm. Anyway, my mother thinks I am addicted to Microdermabrasion and says that I have so many sessions that one day I'll come home and she'll be able to see my skull! Some people say that Microdermabrasion ruins the skin but it has never even left my skin with a single bruise and I love it!

Tetralysal

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted!!! I went to New York <3 I also get my university results back this week so I have been in a peculiar state of anxiety...

So last time I wrote I told you I was taking Oxytetracycline; I took it for 7 weeks but it didn't make any difference. Usually you take them for a month but my doctor had given me them for longer and said that if there was no significant difference in that time frame then there would be no point in continuing to take them!

I went back to the doctor last monday (I think...) and after looking through my prescription history he finally found something I had not tried: Tetralysal.

In all honesty, I've lost track of what I've tried but apparently this one was definately not on the list! It's a red and yellow capsule and is bigger than the oxytetracycline, another difference is that I only take 1 of these a day where as with oxytetracycline I was taking 2 tablets twice a day!

It's too early to see if there is any difference but I will keep you posted. The side effects list is, again, as long as my arm but hopefully I won't have any of those. I think I might actually be immune to acne medication...

Also, I'm not sure if it will be at my appointment this friday or in another 2 weeks, I'm having laser treatment!!! I'm excited/scared because last time it hurt but I really want to see if it will make a difference to the scarring because despite the countless microdermabrasion sessions I have had they are still somewhat visible. So this friday I will either have my last microdermabrasion or I will start with the laser (you have to leave a 2 week gap inbetween each session so the skin can heal).

Anyway, wish me luck with my exam results!!!

- Natalie

Blackheads

Blackheads are the bane of my existence. FACT.
Because my skin is very oily I have a lot and they are so hard to get rid of! We all know that blackheads do not equate a "dirty" face, they are created by excess sebum, but there is still that stigma attached to them.

One of the ways to get rid of them is to invest in a blackhead removal stick which is bascically a stick with two holes (or "domes") either end, a large one and a small one, which you place over the blackhead and press into the skin surrounding it. This pushes the blockage upwards and out, and is less likely to cause infection than using your fingers (as long as you keep it clean!!!) This can hurt depending on where the blackhead is, for example the skin surrounding the lips and nose is very sensitive, and pressing too deeply into the skin can cause bleeding.

Here is an example of a blackhead removal stick:
http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/catalog/product.aspx?ParentCatCode=C_SkinCare&CatCode=C_SkinCare_Accessories&prdcode=78242m

These are relatively cheap and are really easy to use, but again I sometimes find it too painful on certain areas and/or if the blackhead is very deep.

Another thing you could try is facial steaming; a very, very long time ago my mum bought me a facial sauna from Marks and Spencer which I have just recently started using again (it still works!) It's not too disimilar from this one:
http://www.boots.com/en/Carmen-Beauty-Facial-Sauna_2813/
A cheaper way of doing this is getting a bowl of hot water and placing your face over it with a towel covering both your face and the bowl to keep the hot air in. This opens your pores and after doing try using a pore strip across your nose to remove any blackheads!

I used a pore strip before and it was so painful to pull off that it made my eyes water!! If this happens to you, apply some water to the strip as it will loosen it up and make it easier to remove.

If none of these methods work and you have some money to spare, facial spas often do an extraction service. An aesthetician will remove your blackheads before applying a cooling serum to close the pores. I have had this done and the aesthetician uses a blackhead remover tool just like the one above ^. On very small blackheads she used a very thin, sterilised needle to make a hole so that the blockage could be removed easier when pressed with the blackhead removal stick. Obviously I would not recommend using a needle yourself, but if you do make sure it is sterilised because other wise you will infect the blackhead and make it look worse and feel painful.

- Natalie

Acne Scars

If you have had a particularly bad break out there is a possibility that you will have been left with scarring. In one of my previous posts, My Skin, I wrote about the worst break out I ever had and as a result of that I now have acne scars on my cheeks.

It bothers me because sometimes it is very noticable, for example I wouldn't go to the gym for a long time because whenever I exercise the scars get very red (I assume because of the blood flow due to the change in heart rate, but I could be wrong).

It looks like a rash and runs just under the apple of both of my cheeks, at first I was using Bio-oil (which a lot of people on the Reclaim Your Skin website recommended) but it didn't make any difference for me. With products like Bio-oil or Re-Gen oil you are meant to use them during break outs as they are supposed to help stop scarring from occurring, so if you suffer from particularly bad acne that cover large surfaces of your skin I would use this to try and avoid scarring.

I have been having regular sessions of microdermabrasion to help smoothe out the skins surface and minimise the scars and although it has reduced it they're still there! So last week I booked 3 laser treatments at the Skin Health Spa (Manchester) which are supposed to be better at combatting these kinds of problems, so I'll let you know how they work out! And anyone who has been reading this blog regularly knows that I found my last laser sessions to be painful so it wil be interesting to see how I cope with the pain now that my skin is not as infected...

Things like Microdermabrasion and Laser treatment can be used to help remove or reduce scarring on your back or chest too! I have acne scarring on my shoulders but it's not as bad as my face and if I'm wearing an outfit that makes the scarring too visible I use MAC face and body foundation (in the palest shade they made!!!) over the top of it to hide it!

Because of the change in texture and colour, it can be difficult to cover the scars with make-up! At the moment I have been using a sponge to apply foundation which I find easy and if it looks different to the rest of my face I just use the sponge to dab make-up around the area and then blend around the scars with my fingers to blend the different areas!

- Natalie

Roaccutane and Depression

If you are suffering from depression it is unlikely that your doctor will allow you to start taking a course of R because the drug has been linked with depression as a cause and could possibly worsen your illness.

There is also a risk that when you start taking R you could develop depression and it is very important that if you do start to feel an emotional change you tell your doctor! Every month that you visit your dermatologist for an extended prescription he/she will ask how you are feeling, there have been reported cases of suicide that have been related to R so it is with your best interest that you answer these questions honestly.

It's hard; acne is something that doesn't go away easily and all you ever want is to find something that works. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I have never put my ambition for clear skin ahead of my health, when you are so desperate to make something happen you will try anything.

Anyone who read my post about the dangers of acne medication knows that drugs of any kind are not something to mess around with, and R can cause as much damage as it can good so it is important to keep check of any changes (be they physical or mental).

- Natalie

Acne and Depression

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, it is exam period at university and I have been very busy attempting to revise!
Today I want to talk about one of the most serious side effects of acne medication and acne in general: depression.

People who don't suffer from acne do not realise how much it can affect your self-esteem. There seems to be a correlation between acne and depression; the worse acne gets, the worse you feel about yourself.

I've always said that you can't truly understand how miserable acne makes you unless you suffer from it yourself.

As I said in one of my previous posts, My Skin, when I moved into university accomodation I became a recluse and hid myself away because I was ashamed of the way I looked. There is nothing worse than thinking you are ugly and assuming that the whole world thinks you are too, I even wore make-up around my family because I convinced myself that my parents thought I was hideous.
To this day my grandparents have never seen me without make-up and if they come to my house when I have none on I will hide in my bedroom until they have gone because again: I don't want them to see what I "really look like".

It's not shallow or pathetic to feel this way, and I'm sure some people reading this will be able to relate to what I'm saying. I hated myself, I literally couldn't stand the way I looked and the worse my acne got the more I loathed my appearance.

I became obsessed with my skin, my grades at university started to drop because I didn't care enough to do the work; all I cared about was how I looked and what people were thinking when they looked at me. I would spend hours looking closely at my reflection for even the smallest imperfection and then scrutinise it until, in my head, it became worse than it actually was. I'd apply so much make-up that the end result was cakey and orange and I would have to take it off and start again because I would look ridiculous, the amount of foundation I went through was unbelievable.

The house I lived in at university had a shared shower on the bottom floor, I would take make-up into the shower with me so that I could re-apply it when I got out and then I would put a towel over my head and run up the 2 floors to my room. In the end I started going home to shower and then eventually moved home all together.

When I was going into my 3rd year of university my mum kept saying "when are you applying for accomodation? Where are you going to live?" and encouraging me to do it. But I didn't want to, I couldn't face going back and living like that; because I wasn't living, I was just existing and wishing for every day to pass quickly so I could sit alone in my room. I felt as though she was pressuring me to move out and I felt as though she didn't want me living at home. I even heard my sister on the phone to her friend commenting on how it was pathetic that I had paid for university accomodation but never spent time there.
I never talked to anyone about it, I was ashamed about the way I looked and how I felt. I knew I was depressed and used to google it constantly because it made me feel better to know that I could define how I felt.
Because I never told anyone my parents kept asking me when I was re-applying and I kept making up excuses, in the end I think they realised that there was no way I was going back. My sister said to me a while ago "it makes me sad that you didn't enjoy living at university", luckily I went to one fairly close to home to I could easily travel back and forth. I always wondered why I chose that particular university but I think that subconsciously I knew that I needed to be close to home because of my low self-esteem.

In the weeks before I started taking R I stopped going out, I would make up excuses about having to work or being sick and would just sit at home and watch TV. When I started taking R I only left the house to go to work and university, and sometimes (if my skin looked really bad) I wouldn't go to class. I just wanted each day to pass quickly so I could see if the medication was making any difference.

Anyone who has ever taken Roaccutane knows that one of the main side effects is depression, when I started taking it my dermatologist asked me if I was depressed and I said no because I had never been diagnosed as depressed and I was desperate for a cure. I came to the conclusion that because of the way I felt before taking the medication, the drug would alter my mood further and my feelings of depression would worsen so I made a pact with myself that no matter how low I felt I would not admit to being depressed. I was stupid, but luckily I never had that side effect. There would be rare days when I would feel nothing, I would be completely numb and would have to force myself to smile or speak so that no one would assume there was something wrong, but those days would pass and I was too focused on the end goal of having perfect skin to allow them to affect me.

In a way, taking R stopped me feeling depressed. I felt as though I was doing something positive to put an end to my misery and having the drug inside me made me feel safe, it was helping me towards my goal!

After I finished my 6 month course I began to feel miserable again, the drugs hadn't worked like I wanted them to and I still felt ugly. My mum would say "well it was never going to clear it completely, you'll always have some imprefections" but I knew that she felt the same, like it hadn't worked.

My obsession with my face worsened, I wouldn't answer the door without make-up, I wouldn't leave the house with out it, but I felt dirty with it on. I felt like it was seeping in to my pores and making my acne worse! I was in a "no win" situation. I continued with my other treatments and tried to live with it but I just couldn't be bothered any more. I was not and have never felt suicidal but I just didn't want to do anything, I wanted to sit in the dark and let the days pass by but no one can live like that, it's unhealthy.

A couple of months ago I told my sister that I thought I was depressed and made her promise not to tell anyone. Then the next day I told my mum I was obsessed with my face, it's a real thing you know! Together, we talked about ways I could conquer it. The small steps I would take in order for me to feel better about myself such as; going to the gym (which I hated because the excercise cause my acne scars to go bright red), and pushing myself to meet up with friends and interact with other people.

I've still not been on a "big night out" because I don't feel ready, I've secluded myself for a long time so it is taking a while for me to re-introduce myself to things but I feel better about myself.

I still have bad days but I tell my mum, I don't sit in silence and let my emotions go crazy! Don't do what I did and keep quiet, I have wasted the past 3 years and am unlikely to get a good degree but I'm just proud I'll be getting one!

I have my last exam tomorrow and then will finish university for good and some one in my class asked me if I would miss it, NO I WILL NOT! These 3 years have been the worst years of my life! I'm not going to tell them that though so I shrug and say "yeah I guess". But I won't miss it, I'm looking forward to leaving and moving on with my life!

If any one related to anything I have said in this post, you can message me! I'd be glad to help.

- Natalie

Celebrities with Acne

I am constantly having skin envy with celebrities!!! I have to remind myself that in magazines they are airbrushed and at celebrity events they have professional make-up artists on call to make them look their best.

I am not one to criticise anyone with acne (as I would be a hypocrite) and I get quite angry when magazines do so with famous people! From personal experience I know how difficult it is to control acne, let alone banish it completely! Infact, I sometimes feel pleased when I see celebrities who have been photographed when they are looking at their most "normal" as it reminds me that nobody has completly flawless skin. At least when I look my worst my appearance won't be scrutinised in a magazine...

So let's look at some pictures of famous people who, like us, suffer from acne. I've found all these pictures on google!

Pixie Lott

Pixie Lott is an extremely beautiful and talented girl! Is acne stopping her from being a pop star with her own clothing range being sold in Lipsy stores across the country? I don't think so!

Victoria Beckham

Pop star, fashion designer, footballers wife. It goes to show that even endless amounts of money can't save you from the occasional acne breakout!

Cameron Diaz

The place where I found this picture described Diaz as "disgusting". How anyone can refer to one of the worlds most beautiful and talented actresses as disgusting is beyond me!

Jessica Simpson, Aril Lavigne, Brad Pitt, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, all these people suffered from acne and are now global superstars! That's not even including celebrities who suffer from breakouts but not full blown acne (like Katy Perry). Acne doesn't hinder you in any way unless you allow it to. I do, I have struggled with my confidence for a long time and I have to make a conscious effort not to shy away from things because I think I look "ugly".

Famous people make a living out of being photographed or filmed, they can't not just turn up for work because they're having a bad skin day and for that I admire them!

- Natalie

Dry Skin

I have combination skin (an extremely oily T-zone and dry cheeks) and find it hard to get products to combat both problems without aggravating one particular area.

In a way I think dry skin is worse as it makes covering up acne with make-up almost impossible as it causes the skin to flake and look patchy!

Skin can be dry for a number of reasons:

• Air conditioning and indoor heating cause the skin to become dry, so if you spend a lot of time indoors keep moisturiser with you at all times to help combat dryness.
• Alcohol and caffeine both dehydrate the skin, if you drink either excessively they are most likely stripping your skin of the natural oils it requires to stay healthy!
• An unhealthy diet that lacks fruit and vegetables (they have high water contents) causes the skin to dry out!
• Smoking robs the skin of oxygen which makes it become dry.

Other than our genes (which, unfortunately, we have no control over) the main causes of dry skin are due to our own habits! So try and improve your lifestyle to get healthier skin!

If you have dry skin you should swap your regular cleanser for an oil cleanser, as they help restore the skin's natural oils. Oil cleansers are more effective because they lock in moisture and stop water evaporation from the skin!

For extra dry skin you should invest in a moisturing balm with ingredients like petroleum (Vasline products contain this and can be used all over the body!), glycerin, and/or shea butter as they are specifically used to fight dryness and create a smoother skin texture.

Often balms created to combat dryness can leave the skin feeling sticky but it's worth persevering with as it will help improve your skins texture!

- Natalie

My Birthday: makeup manual

Happy 21st birthday to me!
My sister bought me a book; BOBBI BROWN MAKEUP MANUAL, it is amazing! I haven't stopped reading it all day!

In one of my previous posts I mentioned that I wasn't very good at applying make-up; I know how to do it but I don't really have a technique, I tend to just apply a lot and smother it over my face to hide any imperfections. This book gives step-by-step instuctions on how to apply everything from concealer and foundation to eye make-up and what surprised me most was that it did not endorse Bobbi Brown's own make-up range, it is a book to simply explain how to apply make-up!

Infact it gives advice on how to cover a blemish which I will share:

• Choose a stick foundation or concealer to match your skin tone
• with a concealer brush, dab the product on the spot only. Wipe it away from the surrounding areas. Layer a second coat on if needed.
• Use your finger to blend excess
• Dust skin tone correct powder directly on top of the spot. 

Ok, that's pretty simple but it made me feel more confident knowing that I am doing it right. Nobody taught me how to apply make-up so I've always quite self-conscious of my attempts!

If you get the opportunity I would go to a book shop and have a flick through a make-up manual because:

If you have acne on your chin you should learn how to apply beautiful eye make-up because it will take the distraction away from the lower half of your face, and if you have blemishes on your forehead then you should create bold lips so that people will take notice of the lower half of your face! 

It's all a sneaky way of distracting people from problem skin. If you don't know how to apply eye shadow without looking as if it has been applied in the dark (like myself) then these books are amazing! Like I said, check them out!

I also got a new set of make-up brushes which I adore! They have natural bristles are are soft on the skin which is important as that way they do not aggravate aggressive acne.

- Natalie

The Beautiful Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

Like myself, many of you may have watched the Royal wedding today. As Kate Middleton walked through the abbey I was in awe of her beauty! (Picture below borrowed from the BBC)

Her dress was magnificent, as was her skin. She is a naturally beautiful woman and apparently swears by a particular brand to keep her skin looking its best!

I found this on Elle News (http://www.elleuk.com/news/beauty-news/elle-reveals-kate-middleton-s-skin-and-hair-secrets):

"Kate has been using Karin Herzog's Oxygen Face Cream, £36 and Vita-A-Kombi 3, from £21.50, on any blemishes. Both creams contain a small percentage of oxygen (2% and 3% respectively) that detoxes the complexion and regulates the skin's oil production."

If it's good enough for a princess, it's good enough for me! I will definately be purchasing some of Karin Herzog's products from: http://www.shop.karinherzog.co.uk/prodtype.asp?CAT_ID=121

Make-up artists around the world were also quick to praise Kate's elegant yet natural look as "simple and outstandingly beautiful" showing that less can definately be more when it comes to dressing up for a special occasion!

Kate Middleton is without a doubt my new "skinspiration"!

- Natalie

Dangers of Acne Medication

I saw an article about a girl who had died from a deep vein thromobosis reportedly caused by the acne medication she had been prescribed:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/861941-teenager-died-from-deep-vein-thrombosis-after-taking-acne-pill

Regardless of it's purpose, medication will always come with risks and side effects. When you are precribed a new set of tablets or a different treatment make sure that you read the detailed description of what the drug can do, and if any side effects do occur then you should contact your doctor and seek advice!

I went to the doctor this afternoon to get a new prescription of Oxytetracycline and my doctor mentioned the side effects and I thought "I've heard all this before bla bla bla" but then I remembered the article above and thought "well actually, there's every chance that I could be the one suffering from serious side effects".

As annoying as it may be to hear the same speech every time you go to the doctor and have the same questions asked, they do it with the best intentions: to protect you!

I would also like to point out the dangers of buying acne medication online: I've been there, times when I have wanted a quick solution and considered buying tablets off a site that claims the treatment is "100% effective". We don't know what these medications are made with and we do not know the risks; the people selling these drugs do not care about our safety, they're just trying to get money off vulnerable people. If you are even thinking of buying anything online you should consult your doctor first and get his/her opinion, and if they disagree then ask them what they would recommend!

Did you know that most medication sold online is made using cheap and deadly products such as rat poison or cement mix?

Think of the risks and remember that if you ever feel like your medication is affecting you badly it is important to consult a doctor ASAP!

- Natalie

After Roaccutane!

When I was taking R I was convinced that it would clear up all my acne and I would never get another spot again... I stopped taking it in September and still get regular break outs now.

As I keep saying, I never knew of anyone who had ever taken R so there was nobody to give me advice or prepare me for what would happen. I went on websites like http://www.reclaimyourskin.co.uk/ and it seemed that everybody who kept a diary on there wrote that after they finished their course of tablets their skin stayed clear, so I assumed that my skin would do the same!

Although R helps hinder acne it doesn't stop it completely, I suppose nothing can. Regular break-outs are common after the treatment but I still panic every time I do and think that the tablets didn't work, sometimes my skin looks bad but even at its worst it still looks better than it used to.

Tomorrow I am going to my GP to ask for a prescription of anti-biotics to take in correspondence with my microdermabrasion treatments, I'll let you know if they make a difference! That would be my advice to anyone who is worried that their Roaccutane treatment didn't work, see your doctor and ask for a mild prescription to help continuously control sebum production in the skin. Also, don't stop with your facial routine after you have finished with R! Continue washing, moisturising, and devoting the same attention to your skin as you did before because then you will be aware of any changes to the skin!

But yes, the moral of the story is that while most people will have a high success rate with R other people (like myself) will still suffer from acne but to a lesser degree than before! Don't worry though, I won't give up until I find a treatment I am 100% satisfied with!

- Natalie

Before and After

I'm going to talk you through my daily facial routine, telling you what products I use on a day-to-day basis!

This picture was taken yesterday night after I had taken all my make-up off:

I use the Dermalogica range for normal-oily skin; I use the special cleansing gel followed by the skin prep scrub
I then use the multi-active toner on my face and neck and apply the active moist moisturiser to the same areas to combat hydration so that the skin stops producing as much oil!

I then use Bobbi Brown's Vitamin Enriched Face Base which contains shea butter, vitamins A, C, E, and carrot! It locks in moisture and stops my foundations absorbing into the skin.

I have recently started applying a layer of Mattify! Ultra (Mattify cosmetics), which is a translucent powder that absorbs oil and is supposed to keep make-up looking "fresh" but I haven't been using it long enough to judge this yet. I apply that before and after my foundation.

The foundation I am currently using is Dermalogica's Treatment Foundation in colour 1. It contains antioxidant vitamins which help protect the skin from moisture loss. There are only 8 shades in this foundation but suprisingly #1 is an exact match for my pale skin!
Another foundation I often use is Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in "soft ivory", it really does give flawless coverage but I started using Dermalogica when my skin started getting too oily. Laura Mercier also do an oil-free foundation that I am definately going to try because the foundations are amazing at hiding flaws!

I use MAC Studio Finish Concealer in shade NW15 on red blemishes as again it matches my skin tone and you can build it up to add more coverage.

I then add Benefit's Dandelion Blush to the apples of my cheeks which is a lovely light pink and apply my powder afterwards so that the blush looks more natural.

I swear by MAC Mineralze Skin Finish Powder in "light"; it is a mineral powder so it gives full coverage but allows the skin to breathe! I tend to apply a lot of this and keep one in my bag to use during the day (if my face starts to look to oily). I also keep Bobbi Brown Blotting Sheets in my bag to use on my T-zone.
I use Benefit's Lemon aid on my eye lids as an eye shadow primer which takes the redness out of eye lids.

I then use Keihl's lip balm in "vanilla" which stops my lips from going dry.

If there are still blemishes showing I use Benefit's "Hello Flawless" which is amazing and covers any imprefections! Unfortunately, all the shades in this particular make-up have yellowish undertones that make my skin look orange. Benefit do not tend to cater for paler skin so I use it in "shell" and use MAC mineral powder over the top to keep it as close to my natural skin colour as possible!

I then use MAC Fix + which you spray over the top of make-up to fix it in place!

and then I look a tiny bit more presentable:

Excuse the peculiarity of my posing!
They are the basics that I use everyday, and it doesn't take me as long as you might think! After that I will add mascara, eye shadow, lipstick etc but the ones listed above are my necessities for hiding acne!

- Natalie

N-Lite Laser

I had laser treatment done when my face was at its worst; I had cysts covering my cheeks and chin, they were so painful that I couldn't sleep on my face and my pillows were always full of blood. I had been having the microdermabrasion but the aesthetician convinced me to try the laser treatment as it was more effective than the microdermabrasion on severe acne and scarring.

The laser kills and reduces the bacteria in the skin and works beneath the surface without damaging the outer layer.

I was nervous as I didn't know what to expect at all! I was given a pair of blacked-out goggles to wear to shield my eyes from the laser and sat in a chair that made me feel like I was at the dentist.

The aesthetician has a "pen" that they use to point the laser into the areas that require treatment; as I said, my skin was extremely infected when I had the treatment done and I found it very uncomfortable. It felt as though someone was pricking me with a hot pin, the same feeling you get if you flick yourself with an elastic band, and in the more infected areas the laser felt hotter!

I have quite a high pain threshold when it comes to my skin as I want desperately for my skin to be clear, but throughout the treatment I was willing it to be over!

It lasted longer than the microdermabrasion, about 30 minutes in total, and at the end I was given the usual instructions (to wear spf and stay out of direct sunlight etc). My face was red and there was some dark red marks where the laser had penetrated the skin but I was told that they would fade quickly (which they did).

I asked whether every laser treatment was that uncomfortable and the aesthetician told me that it depends on how badly infected the area is as the pain is reflective on the amount of bacteria needing to be removed.

Laser treatment has a higher proven success rate than microdermabrasion as it can reach beyond where microdermabrasion can! You can't have the laser treatment done while you are taking R as it can causing bruising and tearing of the skin.

I found the picture above on google, but that is how N-Lite laser treatment is performed. The screen behind the aesthetician is used to change the strength of the laser and the applicator is applied to the skin so that the laser can penetrate the surface easily.

Don't let me put you off by saying that I found it uncomfortable; everybody reacts to treatments differently! And as the old saying goes "beauty is pain"!

- Natalie

Glycolic peel

Much like the Power Pumpkin peel, a Glycolic peel works to resurface the skin to get rid of any scarring and reduce acne!

The strength of the peel can be changed depending on the severity of your condition, as can the time that the peel is left of the skin. Glycolic peel is actually one of the milder peels you can have and can therefore have it done every 2-3 weeks, there are "deep" peels for the absolute worst cases of acne but you can only have those done once in your life due to the severity of the peel and you would have to be under anesthetic.

As it is a mild peel the side effects aren't too bad: redness and dryness of the skin, and light sensitivity. You can apply make-up straight after it (though I never did).

As the peel is applied your skin should feel tingly, the more it tingles the deeper it is working! There should be no discomfort, and afterwards an spf mosturiser is applied to soothe the skin!

Peels usually work deeper than microdermabrasion which takes away the top layer of skin, if you want to have one done but can't decide I recommend visiting either your GP or a trained professional who can give you all the details and help you make a decision!


- Natalie

Power Pumpkin Peel

I'm not going to lie, peels can sting. But my theory is that if you can feel it burn that means it's doing it's job (tip- this theory only works if you are having treatment done by a professional! If you are doing something to your skin at home that is burning you may be doing more harm than good!)

I used to have Power Pumpkin Peels (or "pumpkin power" as I called them until I googled it and was proved wrong...)
The peel is used to descrease the amount of existing acne and helps to prevent future breakouts.

The one used on me was very strong and the strength was increased each time so that the results would be more beneficial. I remember it smelling quite peculiar aswell...

The peel is applied just like a cleanser, massaged into the skin, and then left to absorb for a short while. They then wash it off and a protective spf mosturiser is applied!
The peel can leave your face looking red as it works to remove the top layer of skin; I never put make-up on after having any treatments (as I feel as though I'm re-blocking my pores) so I found it extremely embarassing to walk through the streets of Manchester with a bright red face to get back to my car!
Your skin will probably also become quite dry as the skins surface re-forms and it is recommended you stay out of the sun as your skin will naturally have become more sensitive during the treatment.

The Power Pumpkin Peel is part of the DermaQuest skin range http://www.dermaquestinc.com/ I had mine done at the Skin Health Spa in Manchester.

- Natalie

Microdermabrasion

Professional microdermabrasion gently resurfaces the outer layers of the skin, removing damaged cells and stimulating the skin's natural cell regenerating process; it works by buffing away the outer layer of skin using tiny, rough particles.

They use a wand applicator that feels like a tiny suction, they run it over your skin (concentrating on the worst areas) and let the particles remove the surface layer.

It is good for acne because it helps to remove the debris that block the pores; it is best used with anti-biotics or creams to help combat the production of acne as microdermabrasion will have no effect of the skins sebum production!

As I said in a previous post, I had lots of lumps under the skin on my forehead that were noticable all the time (especially on pictures); after a couple of treatments the microdermabrasion was able to effectively remove the lumps which were cause by deep blockages in the pores!

It's not painful, and the microdermabrasion machines have different settings depending on the sensitivity of the skin! I have never asked them to stop because it was uncomfortable, I actually find it quite therapeutic!

I have always had mine done at http://www.skinhealthspa.com/ who are extremely professional and very kind! I used to always get nervous about taking my make-up off in front of people but they're so helpful and understanding that there's no reason to feel embarassed at all. They also do free consultations so even if you're just curious about how the treatment works it is worth seeking their professional advice.

You should probably wait 2 weeks between each session to allow the skin to heal, and afterwards your skin will go very red and probably dry as it regrows.

Right now I'm having it done to remove scars from my cheeks caused by acne and I can really see the difference; before, my cheeks were bright red and the scars could be seen under make-up but now you can barely see them when my skin is bare!

Professional treatments can be expensive but you can now buy microdermabrasion creams and face washes from stores and pharmacies! They contain tiny granules which again work to buff the surface of the skin, much like a facial scrub, but the granules are stronger to scrub deeper and help clreas the pores!

- Natalie

Clinique

Although they wear lab coats the people working behind the counter at Clinique tend to not know what they're talking about; I've purchased expensive products on their advice that make my skin worse!
Clinique skin care products are ultimately very stripping as they contain a high percentage of salicylic acid, that's the tingly sensation you can feel on the skin if you use their cleansers.
Clinique is ultimately a cosmetic brand and therefore their skincase range is not dermatologically tested on skin like ours!

Their 3 step range for normal to oily skin made my skin a lot worse as it's made to remove all the oil from the skin (if you read my post about oily skin you will remember that in doing this the skin has to create more ol to counteract it). This made my acne much worse!

I still use their Vitamin C Lip Smoothies but I refuse to use their skin care products anymore!! Tip- Don't trust every one in a lab coat!

- Natalie

Tip for dry lips!

Here's a tip to remove dry skin from your lips:

Buy a toothbrush for babies and use it to gently rub scrub the lips; the bristles on a babies toothbrush are softer than an adults and therefore don't aggravate the lips. But don't scrub too hard because it will cause the lips to bleed!

After you've removed the dry skin apply some lip balm to your lips to keep them nourished!

- Natalie

Dry lips

Today I purchased Kiehls lip balm in Vanilla; I couldn't recommend it highly enough, I didn't have to re-apply it for 4 hours!
They come in a variety of flavours;vanilla, coconut, mango, and cranberry (and there are unflavoured balms aswell).
It cost £9.50 but I've been looking for a balm to keep my lips nourished since I was taking R and I only wish that I had found it when I was still taking my tablets!

When I was on R I used Dermalogica's Climate Lip Control which worked for me and I still use now, and I also used Carmex lip balm for a while but I didn't like the taste!

People have also highly recommended Burt's Bees lip balm but that is not something I have tried myself.

I have a habit of buying nearly everything recommended to me until I find a product I am 100% satisfied with!

- Natalie

Oily skin

Now that I have stopped taking R my skin has become extremely oily!
I've changed my make-up, my cleansers, my toners, nothing worked!
My mum went into Urban Retreat in Harvey Nichols and the man behind the counter told her I needed to get face washes WITHOUT salicylic acid in them.

The salicylic acid tries to stop the skin from producing oil, so in turn the skin produces more oil to combat it! I was purposely buying products with salicylic acid because I was trying to control my acne breakouts, unfortunately this has made my skin worse!!!

If you're having the same problem I highly recommend Dermalogica products for normal-oily skin, that's what I'm using at the moment and my skin has rapidly stopped producing as much oil. I always keep blotting sheets in my bag though, just incase my skin starts to look oily throughout the day. The blotting sheets I use are Bobbi Brown but you can buy them from most pharmacies as well!

- Natalie

My face in 2007 (a month later)

This was taken exactly a month after the first picture!
Notice the change in skin condition, it is much oilier than on the first picture.
you can see the chest has now been affected and the acne on the chin looks redder and more aggressive. You might also notice that unlike some peoples acne, mine always remained in the same places and didn't clear up. This is why I tried so many different treatments. Again, if you enlarge the picture you can see the texture of the skin is still lumpy which was an indication that there was more infection under the surface of the skin which meant that new spots would be emerging constantly.

This picture is hideous, is it not?
And ignore the ear rings please. What was I thinking?!

- Natalie

My face in 2007

The only reason I've covered my eyes is because they looked very sad!
I was 17 here, so this was a year after I started college.
As you can see there is a lot of superficial acne close to the surface and if you look at my forehead the surface is bumpy, that is because there was a lot of infected bacteria under the skin that hadn't become either blackheads or whiteheads. If you touched my forehead you could feel the lumps under the skin, the microdermabrasion helped to control that!
Around the chin the acne is very aggressive; the spots were usually "open" so it often couldn't be covered properly with make-up as they would weep.
On this picture my skin was quite dry, today my skin is extremely oily and I'm still trying to find products to control that properly!

Taking pictures is a good way to monitor your skins improvement! And please don't steal my pictures, they are quite embarassing!

- Natalie

My skin

This post gets quite depressing but I thought it might be helpful to see how other people cope with suffering from acne and then you can compare your own experiences to someone elses (mine!)

I've never had perfect skin; in high school I used to look at everyones faces and be jealous because nobody else seemed to have bad skin. Even the girls who were considered "fat" or "geeky" had nice skin so it made me upset when I thought about what people would say about me behind my back. This is when I started wearing make-up.

I remember being in dance class and having a conversation about appearances with some of the other girls and one said "Zahira [one of our class mates] is so ugly! She's got loads of spots, it's disgusting" and I froze; my skin was just as bad as Zahira's but I covered mine with foundation and concealer. I was mortified and I became more and more self conscious, I didn't want people calling me ugly!

By the time I started college in 2008 the acne had spread to my back, shoulders, and chest. This is when I started going to my GP and was prescribed creams and anti-biotics which had no effect.
I was wearing more and more make-up to cover the spots but I didn't know how to apply make-up also my skin is very pale so the majority of make-up I had made my face look orange and inadvertently made me stand out more.

I started getting large, painful cysts on my chin that were dry and couldn't be covered up with make-up so there was no way of hiding them. I used to pretend to be sick or beg my mum to let me have the day off because I was too embarassed to be seen. I went into college one day with one of these cysts on my chin and nobody seemed to notice so it made me feel more confident about myself.... until lunch time. The night before there had been a programme on TV about a man with a giant tumour on his face that looked like a "second head"; at lunchtime, a boy that I barely knew came over to me and said "What the hell is that on your face? Is it a tumour? Oh yeah, I saw you on TV last night! I thought they got rid of it?"
I was mortified.
Everybody heard and started looking at me and at my skin to see what he was talking about, so I just laughed it off and pretended I thought it was funny but I was devestated.
(Me and my sister were having lunch in town a couple of weeks ago and I told her this story for the first time, 3 years after it happened, and I started crying. I couldn't help myself! It affected me so much that to even discuss it makes me cry!)

After that, I walked around college with my folder in front of my face. If anyone looked at me funny I would pretend to chew the corners of the folder. I walked around looking at the floor so that nobody could see my face properly, and kept my hair down so that I could hide my face in classes.

I was miserable, I felt lonely and depressed and didn't understand why I was so ugly.

My mum realised how I felt and showed me a web-site she'd come across for the Skin Health Spa in Manchester. They specialised in aesthetic and cosmetic procedures to help diminish the effects of skin problems such as acne. We read about the different treatments and booked a consultation and ended up having sessions of microdermabrasion.

I noticed the difference straight away, my face was smoother and all the bumps underneath my skin that were noticeable even with make-up were gone! I kept having the treatment and eventually when my sessions came to an end I was happier with the way I looked. Happier, but not happy. I still thought my skin was bad.

I survived though, until I went to university.

I moved into university accomodation and was looking forward to a new experience but in my second year everything went wrong. My skin got so much worse!

• I wouldn't leave my room without make-up
• If I had taken my make-up off I wouldn't open the door to anyone, not even my best friend
• If my skin was especially bad, I wouldn't leave my room at all
• I couldn't talk to anyone because if they looked at me I thought they were looking at my face and would notice how ugly I was.

In the end I couldn't live there any more. I hated myself and the way I looked so much that I locked myself away in my room and hid from everyone.
I eventually moved home and that made me feel safer but I still didn't want to take off my make-up because I didn't want my family to think I was ugly.

I woke up one morning to get ready for my part time job, looked in the mirror and froze. My face had puffed up and it was covered in giant cysts. The spots on my cheeks were so big if I faced forward you could see them jutting off the side of my face. There wasn't a section uncovered.
I went to my mum's room where my mum, brother, and sister were sitting and hung around the doorway to see if they noticed, they all tried to tell me I looked fine but I didn't. I went to my room, sat in front of the mirror, and cried, I mean properly cried. Nothing anyone said helped.
(I nearly started crying as I wrote that! That was my lowest point so far, I hated myself)

Even though I was a mess my mum still made me go to work, she said I couldn't let acne stop me from continuing my life. I tried to hide my face with my hair but all day I wanted to cry because I knew that people were looking at me. In all honesty, it was probably my attitude and demeanour they were noticing more than anything! But in my head everybody was looking at me and judging me.

I couldn't sleep on my face, it was too painful and every morning when I woke up my pillow would be covered in blood from where I'd aggravated different spots in my sleep. I went back to the Skin Health Spa who were so comforting and didn't make me feel ugly at all. They even gave me free samples of facial cleansers! I had more microdermabrasion and tried the laser treatment but it was around this time that my mum found out about Roaccutane and I knew that if anything was going to make my acne disappear it would be that!

So there's a bit of background history on me and my skin!  I've got some pictures of my face that I took in '07, '08, and '09 so I'll put some up so you can see! I didn't take a picture of my skin at my lowest point, I didn't particularly want a record of that memory, but I wish I had! I would have loved to compare my skin then to how I look now!

- Natalie

Roaccutane (part 3)

So we're all aware of what R is now and what it does, aren't we?

I started taking R on the 9th February 2010 and throughout the time I was taking it I kept a diary of my experiences. I'm going to show you a few extracts regarding the side effects that I had:

"...so far all it has done has make me ache, especially my chest. Sometimes it feels like I can't breathe properly and it can be painful, but it's generally not too unbearable." 21st April, 2010

I only had muscle and joint ache properly for the first month or so, occasionally after that my leg would hurt but my assumption is that it stopped after my body adapted to the drug.

"excessive sweating is embrassing." 30th April

I was stating the obvious with that point there, wasn't I? Yes, I did start sweating excessively. There are deodrants and roll-ons you can get to combat this; I used Driclor which is very, very itchy (and can burn incessantly if you have shaved your arm pits the day you decide to wear it!)

"I am so incredibly itchy! Especially my legs!" 17th May

At first I thought I was having a reaction to the R but the doctor told me this is common aswell. You can buy creams from the pharamcy to soothe the itching which tended to work for me, but quite often my legs were red raw from where I would scratch them incessantly.

"Lips are very dry, they bleed often."

The most common side effect. My lips, nose, face, and arms were extremely dry and I had to moisturise daily. I never really used lip balm before but I was carrying it around in my pocket and using it every 10 minutes or so!

"I have noticed it takes longer for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but maybe i'm just being silly." 30th May

This is one of the more uncommon side effects and at first I though I was being silly but I started counting how long it took me to adjust to the dark and it could be upto 15/20 seconds which is way longer than it was before R. Thankfully I adjust at a normal speed now that I've stopped taking it, no need to worry!

"So tired all the time these days..." 8th June

I had a nap practically everyday, I constantly felt drained!

I started seeing results after about 3 months. I'd notice that a patch of skin would be clear, but then the next day new spots would have formed and it did that until very near the end. The worst was when acne emerged on my neck and ear lobes! I didn't know you could get acne on your ears!!!!!

I would highly recommend keeping a diary, I felt like I had no one to talk to about how I felt! My diary was my release and re-reading it makes me so glad I kept it because I can see how I honestly felt at that point in time!

- Natalie