Acne Tragedy.... Again.... and How I Deal With It

Looking at the title you'll know what this is about right?? And if some of you have read my blog before you'll probably know that I have a constant battle with acne problem. It's like a never-ending battle that goes on and on and on.... And just when I thought I've won!! Those pesky acne come back again!! After about 1.5 year  enjoying acne-free days for some reason after I got back from Umrah this March those acne started to come back again. At first it was only 1-2 small acne but after months they started getting bigger and much much more!! I don't understand what's wrong!! Is it the weather or what? Not only that because I travels a lot during March-June my skin condition is getting worse again. It's back in those dark days where I had oily T-Zone and dry patches here and there. 

This is how my skin is at July... Oh God.. I felt like I wanna cry again.. (TAT)....  My forehead is pretty clean but my left and right cheek are hideous!!! There are a lot of red acne and even though it was bad at least those acne aren't itchy like I had before. Even though I religiously use Vitacid every night why does the acne comes back!!! My brother recommends that I upgrade my dose of Retinoic acid to 0.1% and if my skin is getting better I should come back to the previous dose.

This is the progress on my left cheek after I change my skin regimen. Upgrading the Retinoid acid to 0.1% is not the only thing that I did. I change most of my skin care regimen but not all at once. I'm gonna show you on the first regimen that I change to the last one.

My right cheek right now is actually much much better now. There's no acne anymore but I still has a lot of dark and super red blemish marks. Anyhow... Here are the products that I use.

A lot right?? Like I said I change most of my skin care regime? Why you say?? It's actually a bit shameful he he he... I like to try new skin care products so sometimes I hoard them. Not that the previous one are bad though. Okay continue....

1. Vitacid 0.05% to Vitacid 0.1%

I've used Retinoic Acid 0.05% for almost 2 years now but since my skin is really bad I upgraded it to 0.1% and soon after my skin begins to feel very sensitive although there are less irritation and flaky skin which I'm grateful about. I also didn't experience any purging at all after I upgraded the dose.

2. The Skinfood Tomato Emulsion to Papulex Oil Free Cream

The reason I change my moisturizer to Papulex is because Papulex is intended for people with acne prone skin and if I use too much The Skinfood Tomato Emulsion I will experience minor breakout. So it's not that I think TSF Tomato is bad, I think it was good and it does helps lighten my blemish marks but my current priority is to get rid of those acne!! Oh I got to know about this Papulex Oil Free Cream from my brother and my dermatologist friend. I'm currently on my second tube of this cream and I'm pretty happy about it. This cream helps control oil and lighten blemish marks too!! The only problem I had with this product is that it wasn't easy to find! If I still can't find an easy way to get this product I think I'll get back to TSF Tea Tree Emulsion. My dermatologist friend said that I can ask the pharmacy to put an order to this cream if they didn't have one but I never got the chance to ask. Any recommendation where I can get this cream in Surabaya?

3. Add Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence to the Regimen

The reason I got this essence because I read a lot of good review about it and since my skin is very sensitive from Retinoic I was hoping that this essence can helps calms my skin. So far I'm pretty happy with it, my skin feels nice and soft and those constant sting I had on my skin from Retinoic is mostly gone. Usually I felt it on my upper cheek and nose but now it was only on my nose. The redness on my skin also getting better.

4. Add La Glace Epurant White Essence to the Regimen

Previously I use The Skinfood Tomato Serum and unfortunately when my skin had all those acne it hates whitening products!! So why did I use this??? Hmmm... Here goes... Back when my skin is still good I was trying to repurchase The Skinfood Tomato Serum since it's almost runs out and then I saw this serum in a discounted price at Sasa.com so I bought this one instead. Two weeks after that my skin is getting worse and worse but since I already bought I figure I'm gonna try it anyway and my skin seems to love this serum!! No breakout whatsoever!! This serum also moisturizes very well so even though I use Retinoic almost every night I didn't experience any flaky skin. This serum last for about 2 months and I'm currently change it again to Lioele Whitening Ampoule because the original price of this essence is quite expensive. I'm hoping for a discount again soon....

5. Change from DIY Toner to Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner

I've always curious about this toner and even though I like my DIY Toner I got a constant complaints about the smell so yeah... I don't experience anything new or special though while using this toner and my pore still looks the same. I wonder how much time does it take to make my pore smaller?? But wait.... I add another toner on my regime...

6. Add Etude House Skin Malgem Smoother to the Regimen

I was curious about this toner to and I had quite nice experience when I try the travel size sample so I also bought this along with Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner. Funny thing is I try using only of each for two weeks (two weeks Wonder Pore and then two weeks Smoother) and it doesn't feel different. But then I use Wonder Pore Freshner in the morning and Skin Malgem Smoother at night because I think Wonder Pore Freshner is more of a clarifying toner and suitable in the morning and Skin Malgem Smoother helps remove residual buildup so it's suitable at night. These toner combination apparently suits my skin well and I just hope that they won't be discontinue (-_-)!.

7. Change my Facial Wash to Soapberry Misa Jade Soap and The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash

I've try Soapberry Misa Jade Soap before and super loving it but then I change it to Kose Nature & Co Pure Facial Foam because I was on vacation and didn't bring enough soap. While Kose felt very smooth and moisturizing on my skin, it didn't help with my acne like Soapberry does. I use Soapberry for two weeks only and it really helps with acne and makes my skin nice and supple. Anyway... since I didn't have any Soapberry left so I try using The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash. TBS Facial Wash really helps to dries the acne on my face but I can't use it everyday because it makes my whole face dry!! And as you know I use Retinoic Acid too so those combination makes my skin extremely dry!! So now I use TBS Tea Tree Facial Wash only when I had a big acne and only for 1-3 days. The other days I use Soapberry and it's currently my favorite. I had a few Phillipines Beauty Soap too but if it makes my face too dry I'm gonna change back to Soapberry.

8. Added Argan Oil to the Regimen

I didn't use this oil everyday though only when my skin is itchy or very sensitive. Put a few drops of this oil on my palm and then I pat the oil gently on my face. This oil also great for my nail and hair.

So that's it then.... I was hoping that this blemish marks will fade away soon huu huu.... And meanwhile here's another pic of me with bare face. Toodles...!!!

**** Updated ****

I forgot to add one more product to the regimen.

Pore Brush

Bought it from q0010.com and it was in a discounted prize too!! It helps to thoroughly cleanse my face and also acts as micro exfoliator. I use it about 2-3 times a week.