First off, fucking rude that I have acne again. I had terrible acne when I was a teenager and in my twenties, I was often complimented on how nice my skin is. I would see the occasional break-out whenever I had dairy but even then it would be one, maybe two blemishes. Now my cheeks and chin are COVERED in a way that makes me feel like a teenager again. Before I get a bunch of DMs: no my diet hasn’t changed, yes I drink water, yes I wash my masks and pillowcases regularly, nope it doesn’t seem to just be that time of the month and no I didn’t change my skincare routine. At least I hadn’t in a while, but with my skin looking like I am about to go to my first school dance I recently decided to do a complete overhaul of my skincare routine. While my skin hasn’t miraculously cleared up overnight, these things seem to be helping combat my acne and I find my blemishes are already starting to be less noticeable, plus the secret weapon that I think made a world of difference.
If anyone has any genuine suggestions (I swear to god if another person tells me to just “drink water”…) I would love to hear them! The two things I did not change in my routine were my moisturizer and my sunscreen.
cleanser; boscia detoxifying black charcoal
First things first, a new cleanser. I’m still all about the double-cleanse to get every trace of makeup off, but I swapped out my cleanser for this warming gel cleanser for Boscia. The charcoal helps absorb dirt and excess oil, detoxifies and gently exfoliates. It’s warm, but not too warm – just enough tingle to make me feel like it’s really getting in there.
toner; ole henriksen glow2OH dark spot
The Ole Henriksen toner is a high potency toner with AHAs (glycolic and lactic acid) that promises to reduce the look of dark spots. It’s gentle enough to use daily and I love the light scent (it smells like lemon sugar cookies!) Plus my skin never feels stripped after application.
serum; the ordinary niacinamide 10% + zinc 1% oil control
We love a budget-friendly skincare product. By far the most recommended product to combat my blemished skin, The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc promises to regulate excess sebum (oil) and help brighten skin tone. I will say that my skin definitely feels less oily than it usually does and I love that it does not irritate at all. Sometimes I find myself intimidated by The Ordinary because I’m not a potion master and I don’t even know where to start, so your recommendations were much appreciated!
spot treatment; truly clear
At a recent local market, I connected with the team at Truly Lifestyle Brand and picked up a little roller of their spot treatment. It comes in a variety of sizes, but I love the mini spot roller that makes applications easy-as-pie. It has tree tea and grape seed oil but never burns. I love this as the last step of my skincare routine.
overnight treatment; peace out acne patches
I know it’s so extra to have so many treatments and steps to my skincare routine, and honestly I never really notice what condition other people’s skin is in unless it’s very drastic, but I HATE this journey for me. So yeah, let me be extra. I’ve been using these self-dissolving microdart patches on pimples as soon as I feel one under the surface of my skin. This little patch has tiny microdarts that melt into your skin and also protect your blemishes from outside stressors.
weekly treatment; somerset moss brightening mask
I am a multi-masking bitch and love to mask multiple times a week. However, in an effort to get my skin back to its glowy self I have really tried to stick with the same products to narrow in on what might be causing my skin to go haywire. I was recently introduced to the Somerset Moss Brightening Mask and I knew I had to add it to my rotation. Somerset Moss is a local and clean brand with a small selection of products that pack a punch. The mask smells delicious while pink clay detoxifies without ever drying out my skin.
monthly treatment; fig face facials
Listen, your girl loves to be spoiled and if no one is going to do it for me, Imma spoils myself. I alternate between two facials, the Collagen + Texture to help even out tone and texture and the Hydrate & Glow for gentle exfoliation. Every now and again I’ll also add in a light therapy boost to really try and give my skin a refresh. This is for sure one of the pricier things I do for my skin, but honestly, let a girl live. This makes the biggest difference in my skin and the team at Fig is knowledgeable and always helps steer me in the right direction.
secret weapon; silvi silk pillowcase
I won’t lie, this was the product I was most skeptical about. How much difference can a fabric really make when I make a point of washing my pillowcases weekly? Turns out it’s quite a lot. All the stuff I listed earlier help tone down the plethora of pimples that seemingly popped up overnight but nothing seemed to stop new ones from emerging. When I switched pillowcases I found that I started breaking out less within the first week and now I’m just dealing with existing breakouts that are weeks old now at this point. No new friends! I even packed this pillowcase in my carry-on for my Toronto trip because I didn’t want to go a full week without her. If you have exhausted every other option and tried countless products, my suggestion is to try this pillowcase. It’s made a WORLD of difference and I cannot rave about it enough. The pillowcase is treated with natural silver that eliminates 99.7% of acne-causing bacteria and is available in a variety of colours.
