After two weeks of fighting the good fight, this is the result:
Before & After
To be fair, I am showered and wearing some make-up in the second picture, however I didn’t put ANY cover-up over my forehead zits. There is still some minor scarring and a few tiny bumps/pimples, but all in all, it has cleared.
My skincare regimen for the past two weeks was a bit time consuming. I felt like a teenager again going to bed with zit cream on, but hey, whatever works.
Before I start, I want to share that my skin is not normally prone to breakouts. I get the occasional zit (hormonal or bacteria-induced) like most people, but I have not gotten an actual “breakout” in years until now. My skin type rotates between normal to dry to sensitive.
Here is what I did to help get rid of my pesky “friends”…
1) Wash my face with Cetaphil bar soap morning and evening. Years ago, I used the liquid version, but after reading several recommendations of the bar soap, I switched. More recently, I was using this Aveeno face wash (because my face was super dry), but it didn’t really cleanse, which was purposeless. So I gave up on it, and went back to Cetaphil bar soap.
source
3) In the morning, before I applied my make-up (but after I put on moisturizer), I used this Bare Escentuals miracle dust that my mom recommended. It’s called RareMinerals Blemish Therapy. I have only been using it for about a week, but I really like it. It doesn’t overly dry out your skin. I don’t know about you, but when I pile on acne creams, my skin gets so flaky. Ewww. This powdery stuff is really gentle and helps clear your skin without the flaky look of a healing zit with a big glob of cover-up on it. Let’s be real, that look isn’t fooling anyone. The downsides are that it smells a little weird (like clay or something), and it costs $28. But you only use it in small amounts, so I assume that it will last a long time.
4) At night, spot treat with a small amount of Clean and Clear Persa-Gel 10, a staple in my make-up bag. For occasional pimples, I always apply a little Persa-Gel at night to speed up the life of the zit. BUT, with my break-out, I needed more than just the Persa-Gel.
Lastly, I made sure not to consciously touch my face during the day. I also didn’t pop any of my zits. I am a total popper, but I refrained. To be honest, I’m not sure if it helped much. I know skin care professionals say to never pop a zit, but I feel like not popping them didn’t do anything except make the little critters grow BIGGER and hang around LONGER. But whatever, I’m trying to be a good girl and not pick at my skin.
And that is my non-scientific method for treating an acne breakout. For other methods, products, etc. please see my initial post about my skin. There were several amazingly helpful comments!
Chic 'n Cheap Living
Thanks for the review. Now I'm super curious about Cetaphil skin bar and will look for it in stores!
MayLove
Congratulations! I may try that sea breeze stuff for my sinuses! I am SO congested lately, and I'll try anything! LOL
Kristin ~ Bien Living Design
I've used the liquid Cetaphil for years & wonder what is the benefit of the bar? I always felt like it dried my skin out too much.
& I think the popping zit thing has more to do with potential scarring than the lifespan of the zit. Pop away, but use qtips or cover your hands with Kleenex to keep dirt out!
andreaunplugged
Just a little advice on popping pimples. I always feel really self conscious when I've got a huge whitehead on my face, so I'm usually tempted to pop it. My sister told me about a better way to do it, so it doesn't scar and scab up so much.
Use a sanitized needle (I keep a safety pin in my medicine cabinet just for this) and gently poke the skin of the whitehead. Then press your skin down around the area of the pimple, and a lot of the pus will come out.
From my experience, if you press down, rather than squeeze, the pimple won't bleed as easily. Use a cottom ball and dab the pimple area with sea breeze.
BigAppleNosh
Wow, great improvement! I'm going to look into some of these products – I still face acne at 29!
Lindsey A.
I am definitely going to have to try this! My skin is unpredictable but definitely has some minor scarring/ pimples.
And I too will vouch that Sea Breeze does, in fact, clear your sinuses.
thelessthandomesticgoddess
@Kristin: For me, the benefit of the bar soap is that I feel like it cleanses more thoroughly than the liquid. It is slightly more drying which can be annoying. When my skin is extra sensitive and dry, I use Ponds old school cream to remove make-up and wash my face.
@andreaunplugged: Thank you for the tips! I will definitely try your method the next time I get a pesky pimple!