I'm in Love...

With a new...
Skin care product...WHAT?! Lol

I don't mean to come off a little crazy but when I find something I love I just gotta share it with the world!! :) My newest loves are some facial skin care products that I have no idea why I didn't start using them earlier in my life.
I have very difficult skin, I suffer from cystic acne on top of the regular acne I get on occasions. Cystic acne for those that may not be familiar is a very painful and severe form of acne that very few skin care products work on. I've had this type of acne for what seems like forever and it doesn't look like I'll ever be living without it in my life so I've come to learn to deal with it the best that I can. One of the ways I attempt to keep my breakouts under control is by changing up my skin care routines and the products that I use. I have tried topical prescription medications in the past like Differin gel and Retin A cream, the Differin gel worked really well on my regular blackheads and whiteheads but nothing for my cystic acne. The Retin A cream dried my acne up quickly but then I'm left with very dry spots with hard dark lumps underneath the skin. I still use the Retin A cream from time to time but I will only incorporate it into my routine when I have a breakout of cystic acne that's out of control.
My daily skin care routine consists of over the counter products that I can easily obtain more of and aren't going to cost me an arm and a leg. Although I will admit when it comes to having clear skin I have spent a lot of money in trying to find something that works.

Acne during my teen years was hard to deal with but since everyone else was seemingly showing signs of it I dealt with it. During my twenties while in college I found having acne to be more difficult, less of the people around me had it and it always seemed like I was the odd girl out with acne in a group of my beautiful friends. Now that I'm in my early thirties (and I stress EARLY thirties lol) I'm finding an even more difficult time dealing with my acne breakouts. I often think to myself alright enough already I'm an adult no more acne and still I look in the mirror and what do I find...ACNE!!!
I've tried my fair share of products, Neutrogena, Clean and Clear, Proactiv, Clearasil, OXY, Stridex, and Biore. PHEW that was a mouth full! Now I'm not saying that none of the above skin care products worked for me because some have but there was always the fail at the end. The products would seem to work and then sooner or later just stop working for me, hence why I change up the products that I use. Currently I've come across a few products that have left me speechless and I wanted to share :)

What are the products you might be wondering:
*Aveeno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser
*Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer (which comes in two forms of SPF 15 & 30)
*St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub

I have never tried these brands of products before so I was very surprised with how well they worked and how great my skin felt after using them. 

The first product I use in my daily routine is the St. Ives scrub is wonderful, the granules are large so I really feel like I'm getting a good thorough scrub of my skin. I've used other scrubs in the past where the granules were small and almost microscopic and my skin really didn't feel any cleaner afterwards. I do have some acne scars I've been fighting to get rid of for the past few months and this scrub has done more for me in the last few weeks than all the other products I've tried in the last year. The smell is a wonderful light sweet apricot and isn't over powering to the nose and doesn't linger on the skin for long. 

Second is the Aveeno Foaming Cleanser which feels like a soft cloud against my skin, its like a small spa trip for my face :). After using the St. Ives scrub this comforts my skin, calming it and reduces some of the redness. It has a light airy scent which doesn't linger on the skin and doesn't leave a film.


Next I use the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer and this is light to the skin, it doesn't leave a greasy film or clog pores and provides me with all day moisture which is even more important where I live since its currently winter and the cold winds feel like they can cut you in half sometimes.  Although its a lighter moisturizer not clogging your pores its creamy to the touch and leaves my skin feeling like soft. During the summer months I use a Neutrogena oil free moisturizer that has a really light and less creamy texture, I was using this at the beginning of winter but it just wasn't giving my skin the moisture it needed. Also during the summer I use an oil eliminating astringent to help cut down on the oiliness of my skin. I've only used it a couple of times during the winter months in the past and I don't really find that I need to use it during the colder months. 


One product that I've actually had for a while, stopped using and then picked up again recently is Olay Definity Eye Illuminating treatment. Its hard to tell in the picture I've included but the product actually is made up of a clear gel that hydrates and firms with a spiral of concentrated serum that helps to smooth fine lines and wrinkles. Now the package says you'll notice brighter and smoother eyes immediately, I can't say that I've noticed a huge difference with only using this product for a little over a week now but what I can say is that it feels good on my eyes, comforting and cooling them and leaves them more hydrated. 


I don't often use makeup that is hard to remove and I've found that my daily makeup removal is easy with my regular skin care products but when I am using a water proof product I like to use Neutrogena oil free make up remover. This product removes makeup with little effort, enough said! 


The last product I wanted to mention isn't a skin care product but its a discovery from my local drug store that I love. If your looking for an easy, less messy way of whitening your teeth you may want to give this product a try. Its Rembrandt's Deeply White + Peroxide mouthwash. I came across this on a whim while checking out whitening products one day and I just wasn't have any luck finding a product that would work well on my teeth. Unfortunately even though I went through the whole teeth straightening process with braces as a teen my teeth have since moved and are no longer completely in proper alignment so the whitening strips don't lay across my teeth well enough to cover every spec and the gels are messy and I don't care for wearing the mouth tray. Of course there are plenty of whitening mouthwashes out there but this one makes a visible difference immediately! I only use this product from time to time but when I do I notice a difference after the first use. My teeth are whiter and brighter and feel very clean. Only 10mL swooshed around for 1 minute and your done :). Its a product definitely worth mentioning.