Monday, June 27, 2011

Part 3 of Skincare/Makeup: Natural-ish acne skincare

I bet you thought I'd forgotten about Part 3 of this natural makeup/skincare series since Part 1 and Part 2 were so long ago!

It's not that I'd forgotten, it's just that I really wanted to wait until I could say: "I did it! I fixed my hormonal acne completely with natural methods!". Well, that day is never going to come. What I've got right now is skin that is under control just enough to cover with makeup. No actual breakouts (most of the time), but I can tell stuff is still happening under the skin around my mouth and the lower half of my face which is causing unevenness and red blotchiness.

When you last heard from me, I was going to try The Body Shop's skin care line under the advisement of this one particular Body Shop employee who told me that she could easily clear up my hormonal acne when I went in for a makeover in April. After stalking that store for about 2 weeks, I found out from another employee that the employee who said she could help me had quit. So I asked the girl who was there what she would recommend for hormonal acne. She really didn't know what hormonal acne was, but was kind enough to give me a brief rundown of their various lines. What I remember the original employee told me is that she would recommend combining several of the treatment lines, so I went through and combined them on my own.

Here is what I've been using over the last 6 weeks or so:

Cleansing: The Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash
and about 3 nights a week I use St. Ives Apricot Scrub (from Target)

Eye treatment: Boscia Enlivening Amino AG Eye Treatment
(I have been using this for several years and I LOVE IT. This was not something new, but it is not something I would even considering changing)

Daytime: 
Sunscreen: California Baby No Fragrance SPF 30+ Sunscreen - this isn't technically for faces, but it is oil-free and the only sunscreen that uses non-nano zinc oxide, receiving a rating of 1 on the EWG Cosmetics database for toxicity
Moisturizer: The Body Shop Seaweed Matifying Day Cream

Night:
Only used around my mouth where breakouts would happen: The Body Shop  Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion - I have found that if I use this all over my face, it is too drying and irritating. If I use it only where I would normally have breakouts, it is fine.
Moisturizer: The Body Shop Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream - this has anti-aging in it, which I really need. I put it on top of the tea tree oil lotion as well, to decrease the drying.

Now, aren't you so glad you waited?
I feel like I can HEAR the tremendous disappointment.
Sorry about that! This blog is nothing if not honest. But maybe you might find a product you'd like to try or a regimen that would help with hormonal acne!

* NOTE: I was not given any of these products for free by any of these companies. I bought them all with my own money and my opinions are my own.