Hey Girl, so glad you’re here!! Do you want to see some really ugly photos of me and learn how I cleared my acne?
Well scroll on down and enjoy!
This was my son Majken’s first day of Kindergarten and the start of me developing cystic acne. In this picture, I have ZERO makeup on and I remember being so tired having to get him up at 6 am, but he looks cute, right? Anyway, in this post, I am going to share with you the good, the bad, and the EXTREMELY ugly process of how my skin went downhill and what I did to fix it. Let’s get into it!
It has been almost a full year that I have been on this skincare journey and I am finally clear of acne breakouts! Last October I decided that I needed to up my skincare game and “put my money where my pimples were”… A girlfriend of mine introduced me to a high-end skincare line and I started doing a very specific AM / PM routine. First of all, this is not what cleared my cystic acne (I’ll explain that in a minute). I stopped using the products after two months because my skin just got worse. Now I know they say it is supposed to get worse before it gets better and I do agree with that statement, but my skin was just getting out of control.
I reached out to the founder/creator of the skincare line and I explained what was going on. She was very honest with me and said although her products (which are really good btw) do help with acne / scarring my situation was not going to clear solely using her products. I needed to see a dermatologist and get prescription-grade treatment.
Here are progression photos of how bad my skin started to get before I went to see a dermatologist. Super embarrassing, but I am confident enough in my own skin to share these with you… No pun intended! 😉
IT GOT SO BAD!!!
To the dermatologist, we go!
Below are the three (prescription) products that I started using. Doxycycline is a tablet that basically just clears up a bacterial infection, which acne is considered. I told her about trying expensive skincare and learned that 98% of the time you need to treat acne from the inside out. So I did an antibiotic for 30 days to sort of dry/clear everything up, alongside my face wash (which I will discuss in a minute) and my now OBSESSION.. my adapalene retinoid gel. We’ll talk retinoids in another post, but just FYI retinoids in your skincare routine are a must. I would have never known this without seeing a dermatologist and starting to do a ton of research about skincare and ingredients.
Before I left the office my dermatologist gave me a little bag to go full of goodies. The derm told me she highly recommended this brand and that I use them alongside my prescription skincare. I thought “oh HECK yeah!!!” free high-end skincare, SWEET! I was so excited, but when I got home and opened the bag… it was just CeraVe products. Ummm… WHAT? You can get this at Target for crying out loud… I was kind of bummed, buttttt she is a doctor and whether she gets paid to hand that brand out or not, I still went along with her suggestion and incorporated it into my new skincare routine.
Insert new skin office open between the hours of 6:30-6:45 AM – 9:00-9:15 PM
I know we all hate the typical blogger voice: “So a lot of questions about my skincare routineeeeee”, well take it from a girl who CLEARLY had some serious skin issues to tell you what I did… No bullshit here girlfriend! I committed to following a routine because I just wanted my skin back…
Every day: wash, tone, retinol resurfacing cream, Vitamin C, MOISTURIZER (most important). At night same thing, but adding in my adapalene retinoid gel. This process has taken a lot of time, but because of the journey and the experience, I have now researched and educated myself on what good skincare actually means / what it takes to achieve healthy skin.
So I leave you with this and a makeup-free selfie! DO NOT let an influencer, or blogger make you think you need to buy a product because they said they used it and their skin has dramatically changed. Skincare takes time, products take time, and girlfriend we do not need to be listening to someone on Instagram stories who is getting paid to promote a product they might have only used a week. I am not even going to link anything because I just wanted to share my journey and hopefully inspire you to learn how to feel good in your own skin!
Now my skin is not flawless. Even though my acne is gone, I still have redness/discoloration and sun damage for being that idiot teenager who never wore sunscreen, but now that I am educated (and still continue to educate myself) I know what products are really worth it and effective vs. listening to someone on the internet. I hope this encourages you to not be ashamed of your skin. Embrace your face because beauty comes within. Love you!
x, Natalie
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