Sarah's Current Acne Treatment Regimen
Oct. 23rd, 2011 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snarpPer request. This is the product of experiments and research totalling in the hundreds of hours, which should have been spent helping the poor.
- The Cleaning Part -
1) Oil Cleansing Method, first thing in the morning and second-or-third-to-last-thing before bed.
Pour a little olive and castor oil into your palms, rub it into your face, let it sit for a few seconds, then wipe it all off gently with a soft washcloth. If your skin's very dry, use more olive oil than castor; if it's greasy, more castor than olive.
You can use other oils, but olive and castor are good because they're non-comedogenic - that is, they don't clog pores. You do not want to substitute, for example, coconut or canola. Also, do not get any cocoa or shea butter involved in this procedure, no matter what that Etsy seller says. That Etsy seller is ridiculous.
2) If you have facial hair, shave after washing your face every morning.
I am a bearded lady! (Well, a goateed lady, but nobody ever says that.) People who don't have this problem (hormonally-typical women, Korean dudes) should skip to the next part.
My roots get inflamed and break out if I don't shave regularly. I prefer using a safety razor
for this - you can get more than a year's worth of blades
for under $20 online - but a single-blade disposable is also fine. I consistently cut myself with double- and triple-blades, but they'd probably work for people with normal adult motor skills.
Just be sure not to use the same blade for more than a week at most - dull blades can irritate your skin.
A good electric razor might also work, but mine doesn't really get close enough, and it takes forever to clean. I have proven to my own satisfaction that shaving with an uncleaned electric makes me break out.
Normal drugstore shaving cream and gel are fine, but make sure they're non-comedogenic. This probably means you need to stick to men's stuff and avoid the women's pit-and-leg kind. I actually use shaving soap most of the time, specifically an extremely cheap brand called Williams
. I'm sure that there are other brands that don't break you out, but this is the only kind I've ever used.
I don't know anything about aftershave, and am unconvinced that there is any point to it at all.
2b) If you don't have facial hair, maybe exfoliate very gently once in a while?
If I use a scrub or a mask, or even an unusually rough washcloth, my skin gets irritated and starts breaking out. So, I don't do that anymore. But I may be getting enough exfoliation from shaving, so possibly other people would need something like this.
Just be sure to be gentle. Apricot scrub and sugar scrub make me break out horribly, presumably because they're too rough. I get a similar but less intense result from the Aveeno "micro-beads" acne scrub.
3) Apply a very specific moisturizer, with a couple drops of jojoba oil
mixed in.
Precisely as per the Acne.org guy's instructions, I use Oil of Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin
. The important part of that stupid name is the phrase "Sensitive Skin." Their normal formulation breaks me out, as does the anti-wrinkle stuff.
4) Apply a tiny bit of benzoyl peroxide cream
to any visible acne or suspicious areas.
Here is where I part ways with the Acne.org guy; slathering benzoyl peroxide all over my face like he suggests dries out my skin really badly, sometimes to the point of bleeding. (The problem is probably partly that I have never been able to find the stuff in the concentration he recommends, though I've diluted it with lotion and still ended up peeling all over.) Instead, I use an extremely small amount - a dab on my fingertip so thin that it's translucent - only on any visible acne or places where I feel like it might show up.
5) Always brush your teeth right before bed.
I never actually got into the habit of doing this until I realized it kept my chin from breaking out. I really know how to prioritize.
6) Relatedly, change your pillowcases once a week, more often if you sweat a lot in your sleep.
7) Washing your hair before bed every night would probably be a good idea, too.
Though I don't, because my hair is too dry.
- The Dietary/Lifestyle Part -
1) Drink lots of fluids; always be carrying around a travel mug of tea or something.
You have to actually drink the tea, though. You can't get paranoid about spilling it on the computer and put it on the floor where you can't get it.
2) Avoid dairy products.
This isn't a serious problem if I use benzoyl peroxide regularly, but there's a definite correlation between my milk consumption and my breakouts.
3) Do not menstruate. Cut that crap out.
Nothing on earth can prevent me from breaking out on my period. So, you know, if you can sort of concentrate your chi in a certain way so as to maintain your estrogen/progesterone balance at exactly the same level at all times, thus preventing the shedding of the endometrium? You should be doing that. (I'm pretty sure the technique differs from the kamehameha one, so don't get confused.)
- Things That Do Not Appear To Affect The Situation One Way Or The Other -
Using a humidifier, exercise, wearing cheap foundation I got at Wallgreens
, using expensive organic shampoo, avocados, salmon, nuts, flax seed oil tablets, multivitamins.
All of these things appear to be irrelevant.
- The Most Important Part -
Avoid the novels of Anne McCaffrey at all costs.
I read all the Dragonriders books something like five times each in middle school, and that was totally when my acne was worst. There's no way there's not a relationship.
...Okay, please keep in mind that some of the things I'm doing could just be personal superstition. I can't exactly do a double-blind study on myself; some of this stuff may be unnecessary, but because I've ritualized it alongside whatever's important, I can't tell which is which. And there's probably stuff that I should be doing or avoiding that I'm not, because I haven't registered it as significant.
Basically, don't take unsourced medical advice you find on the internet too seriously, even if it's from me.
- The Cleaning Part -
1) Oil Cleansing Method, first thing in the morning and second-or-third-to-last-thing before bed.
Pour a little olive and castor oil into your palms, rub it into your face, let it sit for a few seconds, then wipe it all off gently with a soft washcloth. If your skin's very dry, use more olive oil than castor; if it's greasy, more castor than olive.
You can use other oils, but olive and castor are good because they're non-comedogenic - that is, they don't clog pores. You do not want to substitute, for example, coconut or canola. Also, do not get any cocoa or shea butter involved in this procedure, no matter what that Etsy seller says. That Etsy seller is ridiculous.
2) If you have facial hair, shave after washing your face every morning.
I am a bearded lady! (Well, a goateed lady, but nobody ever says that.) People who don't have this problem (hormonally-typical women, Korean dudes) should skip to the next part.
My roots get inflamed and break out if I don't shave regularly. I prefer using a safety razor
for this - you can get more than a year's worth of blades for under $20 online - but a single-blade disposable is also fine. I consistently cut myself with double- and triple-blades, but they'd probably work for people with normal adult motor skills.Just be sure not to use the same blade for more than a week at most - dull blades can irritate your skin.
A good electric razor might also work, but mine doesn't really get close enough, and it takes forever to clean. I have proven to my own satisfaction that shaving with an uncleaned electric makes me break out.
Normal drugstore shaving cream and gel are fine, but make sure they're non-comedogenic. This probably means you need to stick to men's stuff and avoid the women's pit-and-leg kind. I actually use shaving soap most of the time, specifically an extremely cheap brand called Williams
. I'm sure that there are other brands that don't break you out, but this is the only kind I've ever used.I don't know anything about aftershave, and am unconvinced that there is any point to it at all.
2b) If you don't have facial hair, maybe exfoliate very gently once in a while?
If I use a scrub or a mask, or even an unusually rough washcloth, my skin gets irritated and starts breaking out. So, I don't do that anymore. But I may be getting enough exfoliation from shaving, so possibly other people would need something like this.
Just be sure to be gentle. Apricot scrub and sugar scrub make me break out horribly, presumably because they're too rough. I get a similar but less intense result from the Aveeno "micro-beads" acne scrub.
3) Apply a very specific moisturizer, with a couple drops of jojoba oil
mixed in.Precisely as per the Acne.org guy's instructions, I use Oil of Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin
. The important part of that stupid name is the phrase "Sensitive Skin." Their normal formulation breaks me out, as does the anti-wrinkle stuff.4) Apply a tiny bit of benzoyl peroxide cream
to any visible acne or suspicious areas.Here is where I part ways with the Acne.org guy; slathering benzoyl peroxide all over my face like he suggests dries out my skin really badly, sometimes to the point of bleeding. (The problem is probably partly that I have never been able to find the stuff in the concentration he recommends, though I've diluted it with lotion and still ended up peeling all over.) Instead, I use an extremely small amount - a dab on my fingertip so thin that it's translucent - only on any visible acne or places where I feel like it might show up.
5) Always brush your teeth right before bed.
I never actually got into the habit of doing this until I realized it kept my chin from breaking out. I really know how to prioritize.
6) Relatedly, change your pillowcases once a week, more often if you sweat a lot in your sleep.
7) Washing your hair before bed every night would probably be a good idea, too.
Though I don't, because my hair is too dry.
- The Dietary/Lifestyle Part -
1) Drink lots of fluids; always be carrying around a travel mug of tea or something.
You have to actually drink the tea, though. You can't get paranoid about spilling it on the computer and put it on the floor where you can't get it.
2) Avoid dairy products.
This isn't a serious problem if I use benzoyl peroxide regularly, but there's a definite correlation between my milk consumption and my breakouts.
3) Do not menstruate. Cut that crap out.
Nothing on earth can prevent me from breaking out on my period. So, you know, if you can sort of concentrate your chi in a certain way so as to maintain your estrogen/progesterone balance at exactly the same level at all times, thus preventing the shedding of the endometrium? You should be doing that. (I'm pretty sure the technique differs from the kamehameha one, so don't get confused.)
- Things That Do Not Appear To Affect The Situation One Way Or The Other -
Using a humidifier, exercise, wearing cheap foundation I got at Wallgreens
, using expensive organic shampoo, avocados, salmon, nuts, flax seed oil tablets, multivitamins.All of these things appear to be irrelevant.
- The Most Important Part -
Avoid the novels of Anne McCaffrey at all costs.
I read all the Dragonriders books something like five times each in middle school, and that was totally when my acne was worst. There's no way there's not a relationship.
...Okay, please keep in mind that some of the things I'm doing could just be personal superstition. I can't exactly do a double-blind study on myself; some of this stuff may be unnecessary, but because I've ritualized it alongside whatever's important, I can't tell which is which. And there's probably stuff that I should be doing or avoiding that I'm not, because I haven't registered it as significant.
Basically, don't take unsourced medical advice you find on the internet too seriously, even if it's from me.
