I've tried alot of products this year alone, just trying to get my skin to stop breaking out or freaking out, whatever it was doing! This summer I finally was able to stick with a solid routine that works, while finding some great favorites along the way. As you all know, I've suffered with moderate cystic acne for years, and while my skin was oily in high school, it is now more combo these days. Oily in the summer, and more dry in the winter. These are not listed in any particular order, as I love all of these and they work for me!
1. Garnier Nutritioniste Moisture Rescue Gel Cream
Why I love this: Over and Over I read blogs of ladies who are oily in the summer, and my skin is always back and forth, too oily, too dry, my skin doesn't know what it wants. This stuff is water based, so ladies with oily skin and combo skin will love this. It sinks right in, is lightly scented, and leaves the skin feeling silky, not oily. I've also recently done a review of this product, love love how it locks in moisture in my dry areas and doesn't leave my skin greasy in the summer heat.
2. Cetaphil Restoraderm Skin Restoring Moisturizer
Why I love this: So when I started the acne.org regimen (yes, post on that experience in the works as well) My acne was drying up so well, but other non breakout areas were peeling, itching, and red. I was determined to stick to the regimen while not destroying the moisture content of my skin. I know a lot of people rave about Cetaphil products, but I saw this was new and was also formulated especially for people with eczema and really dry irritated skin, so I thought, what the heck, if its great for eczema its gotta help my skin! I never had another itchy, flakey day on the regimen with this stuff. Its so rich and creamy, yet doesn't take long to sink in. I even used this during the day before the weather was too hot, and I was not oily at all. It really did help my skin restore itself back to normal.
3. Lypsyl Lip Balm
Why I love this: My all time favorite lip balms, Carmex and Blistex, stopped working on my this year! I have always been able to switch between the two, but my lips peeled and peeled, nothing I tried helped. I found this at Walmart and had never seen it before, and the ingredients really grabbed my attention. It contains Coconut Oil, beeswax, shea butter, vitamin e, and
vitamin a! I love this stuff, and my lips do too, they are so soft and don't peel since I've found this, and it has a slight minty feel, almost like carmex, but less medicine like, and more pleasant.
4. Olay Foaming Face Wash for Sensitive skin
Why I am in love: This product has two uses! I was on the look for a cleanser that was gentle, not over drying, and good at taking off makeup. It sounded like too tall of an order when I found good reviews for this stuff, I decided to buy it. I'm so glad I did! The cleanser I was using before this ( Clean & Clear foaming face wash) was not foaming up enough for me, and was slightly drying. I like it, but decided to try something else. The Olay cleanser is oil free, fragrance free, and contains aloe, which I love, it is also soap free and claims to lather well. It really does lather so much, I love how it feels, takes off makeup well, leaves slight hydration from the aloe, and doesn't leave a film feeling on your face. But wait!! There is another reason why I love this. I use it to wash my makeup brushes. The aloe and lather softens up the most rough bristles. I had a kabuki brush that I hated to use, but this cleanser softened it right up, and now I am in love with my kabuki! If anything, spend the 5 bucks on this cleanser for your brushes!
5. Witch hazel
I have been using this on my skin off and on for years, but started using it again to help in the healing of my damaged skin from picking! Its a natural astringent, so it gently cleans and without removing moisture. Its really good for oily skin, blemished skin, damaged, irritated, or red skin. It helped heal my old acne sores before my face cleared up, and now that my skin is clear, I use this as a toner day and night to soothe redness and refresh my skin. This really helps on days when my face feels a little oily as well, but this is not over drying either. Balances my skin just right!
6. Benzoyl Peroxide (BP): AcneFree All Day Acne Control 5% BP and Acne.org 2.5% BP Treatment
I love both of these products and here's why: After not being able to find a high quality BP, I decided to order the Acne.org BP. I was following Dan's (owner of acne.org) regimen anyway so why not try his BP treatment? I fell in love with how smooth this product was, and it was a gel instead of a cream, so no white residue left on the skin at all! The low 2.5% was amazing at clearing up the acne while my skin was still getting used to the BP, it was also the most gentle I had found. I had tried products with bp before, but I never used them long enough to treat my acne because all the bp in the market I had tried was not of good quality and not gentle at all, and I would end up giving up. Then I saw AcneFree had come out with a leave on foam bp, and I didn't have time to order the acne.org bp online. I love that its just slightly a higher percent, great for those who's skin is already used to the 2.5% bp. The foam dries so fast!! Even faster than the acne.or gel version! I was so surprised at the quality of this, because I hated Acnefree's starter kit they first came out with. I use less product of the foam as well. One small palm full day and night is enough to cover a thin layer all over my face and neck. When it liquefies onto your skin its so smooth and just works into your skin so gently and soaks right up. I think both of these products clear up acne so so well, I will be buying both versions of bp for life, both as treatments and preventatives.
* Just as a side note, AcneFree is coming out with alot of new products that I want to try, and I think this company will give Proactive a run for its money! AcneFree also came out with a green tea moisturizer AND a sulfur mask, and I can't wait to try both!
7. Mario Badescu Strawberry Tonic Mask
So I do not have a HG face mask, but I do love this and will buy it until I find an HG. I have been wanting to try the Mario Badescu's whitening mask, but my store never carries it, and told me that this would also be great for my skin. I love the ingredients in this: Balsam Peru, Kaolin Clay, and Strawberry Extract. The balsam peru is supposed to calm irritated skin, the Kaolin Clay is great for cleansing pores and drawing out impurities, and the Strawberry extract is lightly astringent and soothing, and also aids in skin brightening and healing. (All this info is from MarioBadescu.com) I haven't used it long enough to see brightening of my acne scars yet, but I think it really does help. My skin is nice and tight feeling after this mask, but the soothing ingredients help the skin to not dry out too much. I think combo and oily skin types will both love this! (According to MarioBadescu, it is for oily, combo, and sensitive skin) My pores are really clean and the redness in my face calms down so much after I've done this mask. I do think if the balsam peru and strawberry extract continue to reduce my redness and acne scars, this may turn into an hg mask for me, and besides that, IT SMELLS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!
8. Olive Oil
I always have some of this on hand for cooking, so I use this to remove my makeup on really heavy eye makeup days! I just don't see myself buying a separate makeup remover when I always have this, and besides, you can warm this up a bit and soak your hands and nails for a diy manicure, and slather this on any extra dry skin, like feet, elbows, knees, lips. I use this to soak my hands to soften cuticles and at night on my lips when they are extra dry. You can also combine this with Castor Oil (another really great multi use beauty product) for oil cleansing. Many beauty guru's mix olive oil and sugar for a yummy diy lip scrub! Don't spend extra money when you probably already have this! If you search olive oil you will see so many uses for this stuff, don't you just love multi use products!
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