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