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Review Updates – March 2009

The lovely Recessionista over at Nouveau Cheap inspired me to do these ‘update reviews’. In other words, taking a look at some of my past reviews to see if I still feel the same way. I decided to go back to this time last year and see what I was loving/hating in March 2009 and see if I feel the same way. :) If you like these kinds of reviews, let me know! Comment below. :)

Last year I introduced you to DERMAdoctor Ain’t Misbehavin Acne Spot Treatment. I was very pleased with it. I am happy to report that ‘Missy’ and I are still in a love-love relationship, haha. I love this spot treatment. Not only does it contain 5% benzoyl peroxide to help heal the ugliess, it has calming herbal ingredients to soothe the skin which helps the inflammation that goes along with acne. Did you know that the inflammation is what causes the majority of acne scars (other than the pitted ones)? This helps with that, so I’m happy with it. Oh, and I still have the same tube from last year too. I only use a tiny bit at a time, so I still have about half the tube left. Not a bad deal since this product may seem a little pricey at $36. But if it lasts a year, that makes it a little easier on the ole’ wallet.

Last year I was pretty stoked on ELF’s nail polish remover pads. They had improved the formula and I really liked the improvements that had been made, including to the fragrance of the remover. I still think they’re a good value at $1, but these do not last very long and dry out quickly. I would probably still recommend them, but keep that in mind. I wouldn’t stock up on too many packs at a time because by the time you use one up, your extras might not be moist anymore.

I am also pleased to report that I still like Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara. I have even repurchased it since last year’s review, and that is saying a lot since I have a lot of mascaras. In fact, re-reading my review makes me think I should get rid of some of the others I have and just stick to Rimmel!

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Cheap Thrills in Skincare

Some time ago before Christmas, I found myself in full-blown hormonal breakout crisis mode. Eeek! So naturally I reached for my Duac. Duac is an expensive, prescription-only treatment that combines the antibiotic clindamycin with benzoyl peroxide. Much to my dismay, I realized my trusty Duac was expired. I don’t think it would have been dangerous to use it, but it most certainly wouldn’t be as effective. And when it comes to skincare treatments, potency is key.

So I found myself in Rite Aid, peering down at the skincare items on the shelf. Now, I love drugstores. Really. But some of them have the ambiance of a creepy parking lot at night. For some reason CVS I can walk to at any hour of the night and feel right at home. Walgreens, too. But this Rite Aid is always sort of creepy. However, it’s near my apartment and this was a skinmergency!

Initially I grabbed Persagel, which is a really good, simple benzoyl peroxide gel treatment. It doesn’t have excess irritating ingredients. But there on the shelf next to it was Zapzyt. (Zapzyt? Is that not the ugliest, most embarrassing name for a product ever?) $2 for 10% benzoyl peroxide. I know 10% is much higher than they say you really need (more like 2-5%), but my skin does okay w/ benzoyl peroxide. It doesn’t dry me out really bad like it does some people, so I went for it. $2 isn’t much of a gamble.

Honestly? It’s pretty damn good. I don’t notice it being any different than the slightly more expensive Persagel I had been getting in the past. It doesn’t have the added antibiotic benefit of Duac, but Duac is also a gazillion more dollars. I don’t have health insurance, so this will have to do. But even if I did have insurance, I think I would grab Zapzyt again because I am also a bargain hunter! The simple product with an ugly name has really made an impact on my skin for the positive. Combining that with keeping my skin excessively, ridiculously clean and moisturized. ;) So don’t be fooled (or ashamed, lol) by the cheapo price and dumb name. Give ‘er a shot!

Now all I have to do is deal with the scars. Oy. Unfortunately I have yet to find a cheap solution for that. I use DERMAdoctor’s Poetry In Lotion, a very high-potency retinol. It doesn’t come cheap either. It’s $75! But it WORKS wonders. I’ve heard Bio Oil is great for scars but nobody has specified if they meant facial scars from acne. Has anyone tried Bio Oil for this purpose? How’d it go? Let me know!

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Beauty Bests & Busts – June ’09

Beauty BEST:

Diamond Powder Perfect Finish from Purely Cosmetics. Makes my pores say sayonara!
DERMAdoctor Ain’t Misbehavin Spot Treatment. Instant reduction in redness and helps blemishes heal without any negative side effects.
Beauty BUST:
Makeup Forever High Definition Concealer. Broke me out in little bumps around my under-eye area. Eeek!
Hormones. They suck. No, really. They do. So they are going on as a “beauty bust” this month.
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What To Do When Hell Breaks Loose

So right now some mystery thing is breaking me out, and I have no clue what it is. Unfortunately the downside to testing out new products all the time is sometimes my skin does not react kindly to one, and then I’m stuck figuring it out. I’m assuming it’s a product since the nastiness is occuring all over my face rather than where I used to when I was experiencing hormonal breakouts (chin, mostly).

So what do you do when you don’t know what’s wrong? Go back to basics. And by basics I mean basics. Only use products you absolutely know are not going to break you out. If you do not have a foundation you are certain doesn’t break you out, skip foundation. In fact, even if you are pretty sure it’s not your foundation, skip it. For the next couple of days I’m going to skip face makeup entirely and just do eyes and lips. Scary? Sure. Worth it? Yes.
As for skin care, use a gentle cleanser. The one I use is Purpose. It’s basically like water almost, you can rub it in your eyes and it won’t burn (not that I’m saying it’s a good idea to rub it in your eyes…), it’s soap-free, hypoallergenic, fragrance free (I think?), and available at drug stores in liquid form or bar form. It works for pretty much anyone unless you’ve got really dry skin. If you’re super dry, you may find it a bit drying. For moisturizer, I have a fail-proof one that I know for sure doesn’t break me out (Alba Botanica Sea Lipid Daily Cream), but if you don’t, try something with as few ingredients as possible, like aloe vera. 100% pure aloe vera is readily available cheaply at drugstores.
Remember your brushes. Anything that comes into contact with your face needs to be washed regularly. I just washed my face brushes with the same Purpose cleanser I use on my face. It’s great at removing makeup from dense brushes. Bacteria on the brushes could be why I’m breaking out! I don’t want to take any chances.
As for treating the acne itself, I go back to the method my dermatologist suggested for me. In the morning, I cleanse, pat my skin dry, and apply benzoyl peroxide to where I am breaking out. At the end of the day I cleanse again, pat skin dry, and apply retinoids. The retinoid I use is called Ziana. It is combined with clindamycin, an antibiotic, and it’s available by prescription. RoC skincare from the drugstore contains retinol and is easily available without a prescription. Avene also has retinol products that aren’t that expensive. If you don’t want to use retinoids or can’t, try another dose of benzoyl peroxide. Sometimes that’s too much and it can dry out your skin, but you’ll have to see what works for you.
I also incorporate a lot of exfoliation into my skincare routine, especially when I’m having skin trouble. Encouraging cell turnover encourages healing, so I make sure to never skimp on the exfoliation as long as I do it gently. Do not scrub over open blemishes! It will spread bacteria and cause more acne.
Speaking of bacteria, it’s not just on your face (duh), it’s also on your hands. Make sure to wash your hands frequently and keep hand sanitizer around for in between washings. That way if you must touch your face, there’s slightly less chance of spreading bacteria. It’s best to avoid touching your face altogether, but I know it’s hard. I do it without thinking. :\
So, that’s my method of dealing with tough times with my skin. Cross your fingers this gets figured out quickly; I don’t want to look like a mess for IMATS! Once I get things under control I will start adding things back into my routine, but for now I’m putting as little as possible on my face until this goes away.
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DERMAdoctor Ain’t Misbehavin’ Spot Treatment

It’s so refreshing when a skincare product does what it says it will, isn’t it? Honesty is the best policy with skincare too.

Enter: DERMAdoctor Ain’t Misbehavin Medicated Spot Treatment.

I’ve tried a lot of different blemish spot treatments as I have had blemishes to deal with for about 10 years or so. This spot treatment contains 5% benzoyl peroxide, which is powerful stuff. I already have some experience with BP that tells me my skin does handle it pretty well. Some users say that benzoyl peroxide is too drying for them. Other ingredients are Evodia Rutaecarpa (aka Wu Zhu Yu), Boswellia Serrata (aka Indian Frankincense), Quercetin, Oleanolic Acid and potent Tea Extracts. The ingredients are included in order to soothe the skin, so those who have had issues with benzoyl peroxide might still want to give this a try.

The result is a product that dries blemishes up, reduces the swelling and inflammation, and causes really drastic improvement almost immediately. Have you noticed sometimes when a new blemish is “sprouting” the area tends to get kind of…itchy? This product has antihistamine effects, and a once itchy spot on my cheek that I just knew was going to “spring up” a lovely new blemish is now no longer itchy or red. Sold!

Ain’t Misbehavin’ Spot Treatment sells for $36 – check it out at DERMAdoctor!

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A Few Words on Purging

When discussing skincare products a common occurrence I see discussed is “purging”. Purging is the concept that when you start using a skincare product your skin breaks out worse for a little while because whatever product you’re using is bringing up all the trapped yuck out of your face. Supposedly your skin will normalize and the purging will go away and then the miracle product will begin to work its magic. Or something. Uh, okay. Right.

I call shenanigans on purging. No freaking way. If a skincare product causes acne, it’s because it’s causing acne. Not because of some instability in your skin’s delicate eco system. Either one of the ingredients is acnegenic or you’re allergic to it, or it’s clogging your pores, or something. It’s not just ‘getting used to it’.

First of all, if any other product caused a break out– say, foundation, for example, you’d stop using it. Because that product isn’t working for you. Why the heck is skincare any different?

Acne is not just annoying while it happens. It’s painful, and the associated inflammation caused by acne causes long term damage and scarring that is very hard to get rid of. Why do you think a zit cream costs $5 and Mederma, a scar fading system, is pricey as all get-out? Because getting rid of scars is hard.

Anyway, why do I bring this up? Because there is no way in hell I would keep using a product that caused me to break out. The long-term effect of having scarred skin is not worth it. I contend that purging is a myth made up by companies to make excuses for why their products are doing more harm than good.

“But Alyson! No!” you say, “I used Brand X cleanser for 4 months and it broke me out for the first 2 months but then I was fine and now it’s great!” Wrong. Either the cleanser wasn’t breaking you out and it was just a coincidence due to something else, or you didn’t actually have acne, but folliculitis, which is a condition consisting of basically really pissed off follicles that become inflamed. Sometimes after a while the condition goes away because your follicles learn to cope with the irritant. Thus, the “acne” goes away.

Also, skincare takes a while to work. My dermatologist told me to wait a good month before I looked for true improvement in my skin once I started my current routine. He was right! And it was gradual, too. I noticed fewer breakouts and then eventually none. If I had been expecting faster changes, I might have assumed the new products were breaking me out instead of what was really happening– they just weren’t working yet.

I am a firm believer that treating your skin gently is the way to go. Using a product that breaks you out is never productive in my view.

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Skincare Philosophy

My journey with skin problems has lead me to a few conclusions that form my basic skincare philosophies. I’ll share this with you guys.

Please note that these tips/points are just what worked for *me* and everyone is different.

Cleanser
I prefer and always recommend to use a gentle, uncomplicated cleanser. Cleanser’s job is to clean. All I want it to do is clean my face without leaving residue or leaving my skin super tight feeling. I don’t use cleanser that has “fighting” ingredients like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, tea tree oil, etc. I have sensitive skin, and sometimes all sensitive skin wants is to be left the hell alone. How could I do that if I had a bunch of extra crap in my cleanser?
Good Cheap Option: Purpose (either liquid or in bar form) – available at any drugstore for under $10.
Good But Expensive Option: Philosophy Purity Made Simple – available at Sephora, or pretty much any department store. Full size bottle is $20, but Sephora sells a small bottle for $10 that lasts a long time.

Spot Treatments
Love ’em. Give me spot treatments all day long. They’re fantastic.

Tea Tree Oil – For me, tea tree oil doesn’t do a dang thing. However, it’s nice to have around if I have a stuffy nose because man oh man will it clear your sinuses if you sniff it. ;) But that’s about all I use it for. Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic and for some people it helps fight off the bacteria that causes acne infections. My acne is primarily hormonal and tea tree has little effect on it, unfortunately. But if you are interested in trying it out there are a number of options available. Trader Joes has straight TTO in a bottle for about $6. They also make a blemish stick that sort of resembles chapstick or head on that contains the stuff.

Benzoyl Peroxide – FAB. Benzoyl peroxide is my friend. It has been my friend ever since my clueless 13-year-old self grabbed a tube of cleanser in a “pretty purple bottle” and proceeded to fry my whole face with 10% BP. Lol, that is not the way to go…I had dry as hell skin because of nuking the whole thing with such a high %. HOWEVER, my acne was noticeably improved! I highly recommend this as a spot treatment for active acne breakouts, but only at around 2-5% concentration.
Cheap Option: Neutrogena On The Spot – available at any drugstore for under $10
Expensive Option: DDF Benzoyl Peroxide treatment gel – about $20 something available at Sephora and many other beauty boutiques like PureBeauty (also contains tea tree oil as a natural antibiotic)
Prescription Option: Duac (also contains clindamycin antibiotic) – really freaking expensive

Salicylic Acid (BHA) – SA is a wonderful chemical exfoliant. It keeps clogged pores at bay. Pores being clogged contributes to them looking large. Squeaky clean pores will appear smaller. There is no way to actually physically shrink your pores. You may have larger pores just because of your genes. However, keeping them nice and clean will really help if large pores are a concern to you. I find it also helps fight off those flakies you can get as a breakout is drying up and healing.
Cheap Option: Neutrogena’s Acne Stress Control line – I use the scrub sometimes, and other times I use the 3-in-1 hydrating acne treatment, which is a gel. Each component of the line can be found at most any drugstore for under $10. There is also a liquid toner.
Expensive Option: Paula’s Choice BHA liquid, gel, or lotion. – $15+ at paulaschoice.com

Retinoids – Retinoids are prescription products containing vitamin A. I find them to be very effective at healing acne and acne scars, as well as evening out my skintone. Retinoid is a tiny bit drying, though.
Expensive Prescription Option (that’s pretty much the only way): Ziana (gel containing retinoid and clindamycin antibiotic).

Moisturizer
I will admit I have been guilty of not using moisturizer very much. I used to have really really oily skin and thought I didn’t need to. The concept of my skin overcompensating for the lack of moisture by producing more oil hadn’t occured to me. However, that’s what was going on. Once I finally figured out that I’m allergic to chemical sunscreen and found a gentle moisturizer with no SPF, I was set. I have raved about it before, but I use Alba Botanica Sea Lipid Daily Cream. It’s available at any drugstore for about $15ish. It’s sorta expensive but you get a ton of it and it’s my absolute favorite. I don’t like the idea of SPF in moisturizer because then you need a seperate non-SPF moisturizer for night time. That seems silly to me. Why not just moisturize, and use sunscreen afterwards? Besides, you do not use enough moisturizer on your face to get enough sunscreen protection. Or at least I don’t…that’d be a heck of a lot of moisturizer all at once.

Well that’s kinda it…so far. When I say my ‘journey’ with skincare, I totally mean it. This is all information and opinion that I have accumulated over a few years. I’m sure my opinion will change again as I learn more, and discover new things. I just hope some of this information might have been helpful to someone. :)

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The New Adventures in Skincare

Hey all,

I haven’t been wearing much makeup lately because I’m starting my brand new skincare routine after my visit to the dermatologist on Wednesday! I have been wearing just a little tinted moisturizer and powder if anything at all.

If you’re curious, my TM of choice right now is CoverGirl Smoothers in Fair-Light. It’s very sheer coverage with a physical sunscreen SPF 15 (that means it’s titanium dioxide). I really like this TM because it doesn’t make me look shiny or greasy, and because of the physical sunscreen vs. chemical. Chemical sunscreen and I do not mix. My powder of choice is Palladio Rice Powder in Translucent. It works great for camouflaging my large pores on my cheeks and giving my face and overall softer finish while maintaining matte-ness.

The derm visit left me with 3 new prescriptions and an almost completely new routine. However, he said my cleansers (Philosophy Purity Made Simple and MAC Cleanse-Off Oil areperfect and to keep using them. He also said that about my Alba Botanica Sea Lipid Daily Cream moisturizer. He said I may want to change moisturizers down the line beceause my new treatment regimen could cause drying, but that’s the only change he’d make there.

He has suggested I switch to mineral foundation, which I don’t mind except I haven’t been able to find one I really love. It’s hard! There’s a zillion companies out there making mineral foundations. I have an order from Meow Cosmetics on its way to me after researching foundations with 2 criteria in mind. I want my mineral foundation to have medium to full coverage, while still being non-irritating on sensitive skin. I chose Meow Cosmetics’ Pampered Puss formula based on my research. I’ll be sure to update what I think once it arrives sometime next week.

This is my new skincare routine:

AM – Morning
– Cleanse w/ whatever (usually MAC Cleanse-Off Oil)
– apply Duac (benzoyl peroxide 5% & clindamycin 1.5%)
– apply moisturizer (Alba Botanica)

PM – Evening
– Cleanse/remove makeup
– apply Ziana (clindamycin & tretinoin– a retinoid)
– apply moisturizer

Along with that, I’m taking a low dose of doxycycline every evening. Doxy is an oral antibiotic. So my routine includes a lot of antibiotic! That will hopefully kill the deep infection that causes cystic acne and get me well on my way to clearer skin! As a bonus, the retinoid will help the fine lines I have on my forehead. ;)

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Skincare Update

Today is day 18 since starting my clindamycin prescription. It’s working! Here’s what I’ve been doing lately.

Morning:

– Go over face with a makeup wipe from Ponds (I’m trying to use those up), or those Wet Ones I mentioned in a previous entry (I still love them!). This is just to remove any trace of yuck from possibly touching my face in the middle of the night, etc.

– Paula’s Choice BHA Liquid

– Clindamycin 1% gel

– Alba Botanica moisturizer (see my post about that) & mark. Eye Be Good eye cream.

Evening:

– Remove all makeup with MAC Cleanse-Off oil (I’d been worried that this was breaking me out, but luckily I have found it is not!)

– Rinse off the cleansing oil and then cleanse face with Clarisonic brush (“delicate” brush head), using Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser.

– Apply Neutrogena On The Spot 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide treatment to areas that need it.

– more Alba Botanica moisturizer

The results I’ve been getting are great. :) The smaller blemishes I had are now reduced to red spots of leftover pigmentation. The large cystic areas are significantly reduced in size. I’m experencing a tiny bit of drying on my nose, but the BHA and Clarisonic help keep that to a minimum.

Overall, I really feel my Clarisonic was a worthy investment. It really deep cleans, and I have noticed the same thing others have about my treatments and moisturizer being able to absorb more quickly and deeply since I started using it. This is especially true of the Neutrogena On The Spot, which does not have a very nice texture at all and tended to ball up. I’ve even sort of gotten used to using the brush on my nose without sneezing in the shower (which my boyfriend thinks is just adorable, but I think is rather embarrassing!). It just tickles SO much.

I wanted to share all of that with you because it is such a triumphant feeling when you develop a routine that actually works.

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