Pesky Pimples

I remember going through puberty and not struggling with acne. I never had those huge red boils on the sides of my cheeks and I never had the Crunch candy bar chin. Even during my later teenage years and into the early years of my 20’s, my skin was relatively clear most of the time. After I hit about 24, that’s when my skin really started giving me woes. 

My skin is currently taking me on a wild journey that I haven’t figured out how to stop yet. It goes through this cycle of breaking out and clearing up with no real reason for why. I use a soap bar, an apricot sugar scrub, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C serum, and tea tree oil everyday, but I keep developing new annoying bumps when those products should keep me maintained. 

Back in the day, it used to plague only my cheeks around the time Aunt Flo would visit, but now it’s moved up to my forehead and down to my chin. My bumps have also gotten more frequent, but thankfully they haven’t grown in ferocity. Lucky for me, it’s more annoying than anything. I haven’t had to deal with inflammation bad enough to warrant visiting a dermatologist or requesting prescription medication such as AccuTane. 

I can’t say that I remember my skin being particularly sensitive or difficult to deal with, but the older I get, the more it wants to be high maintenance. It might have something to do with my hormone levels changing and causing me to have hormonal acne. I might be developing environmental allergies that are messing with my skin. Now that I’m actually using decent skin care products, my skin might be becoming even more sensitive than it already was. 

Truthfully I didn’t start using skin care products heavy until I got with Krissy. Back in the day, I would use the same apricot scrub I do now on my face and then get out of the shower and put body lotion on. In fact, just last winter, I had to pull that trick back out because the corners of my mouth and eyes were looking rather crusty from the low humidity and cold weather. Now that it’s summer, I’m finding the body lotion is doing more damage than good. 

There’s a fine line between going on a wild witch hunt to find the perfect product and realizing that some bumps will appear no matter what products you use. And don’t even get me started on the price of certain skin care. In some cases, it’s highway robbery for sure. I’m personally not loyal to any one brand to only purchase their products. In fact, I do extensive research taking price, reviews, actual effects, etc. into account before I hit that buy button. 

In the last year, I can say that I’ve suffered from dry skin, oily skin, pimples, cysts, dark marks and pigmentation, and I’m starting to see the faint beginnings of wrinkles. While I know it’s trendy to get Botox, I just can’t take unnecessary needles in my face. I go to the doctor and get stuck when I absolutely have to, and most of the time, it’s not for anything cosmetic. At the end of the day, getting older is a part of life. While I definitely disagree with just letting yourself go and aging prematurely, there are some non-negotiables and Botox is unfortunately one of mine. 

Maybe it’s time for me to try a retinol product to speed up the regeneration of my skin cells. I’m a little nervous that it’ll be too strong and break me out even worse. I also would love to do a chemical peel one day. I’ve gotten one hydrafacial in my life and I think she was able to really get in my pores and clean out the gunk that gets stuck over time. I quite possibly might need to stop washing my face in the shower and only wash it at the sink. It is possible that the stifling hot water that I love so much could be making my face prone to annoying blemishes. 

Krissy has been helping me stay diligent with applying spot acne treatment and fade cream to my problem areas. The way it’s going, it seems I’ll be using those products consistently for a long time. If I could figure out a way to stop new bumps from forming, I might be able to finally get somewhere. 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie