Freaking out!

Sep 15, 2011

Kitty P.

Hey everyone,

I've been very worried lately because I have been starting to breakout REALLY bad. Not all over my face but in certain spots. I've been blessed with good skin my entire life up till now and I'm getting really worried. It's like pimple after pimple and they're not little ones either. Do any of you have recommendations about special face washes or products to help? Preferably nothing to expensive because I really don't have a lot of money. I've also been SUPER stressed lately so I'm thinking that might be a part of it but I've been stressed like this before. Maybe my diet? Do any of you know any diet tricks to help with skin besides drink water?

Love you all,
Caitlin

Sep 15, 2011

Maria L.

:( I so dislike that you're dealing with this. Stress will absolutely trigger breakouts (at least for me it does). I don't know of any diet tricks to help you, but I can tell you what I'm doing to combat acne. I didn't deal with any acne until my mid-twenties and at that time I tried all sorts of products and the only thing that cleared it up for me is Serious Skin Care (I purchased it through HSN). I still deal with breakouts but usually it is just during my cycle; however, I do get some breakouts when I'm stressed (which has been a lot this summer) and what I'm doing now is just cleansing really well (I use a cleanser with my Clarisonic, but that's a pricey beauty tool so I wouldn't recommend it to you right now) and then apply a layer of Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment (in the silver tube) and then I use a very light moisturizer over top of that (I use Philosophy Hope In A Jar). I also ease up on foundation. Although I use Bare Minerals and it's "good for your skin", I still go light on my foundation. Wash and/or change your pillow cases often too. When I do have a break out, this helps speed up the healing process for me. Hope you find something affordable that works for you. 

Sep 15, 2011

Lisa U.

Plenty of water, Cetaphil Cleanser and Oxy10, I'm in the same boat lady aha!

This video really helped me :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAv8-6hkYko


xxx.

Sep 15, 2011

Dylan P.

If you've just started using a new product, sometimes your skin can have a bad reaction. If you have, try laying off of the product for a while and see if that helps.

Also, water with lemon in it works wonders for my skin!

Sep 15, 2011

Jane A.

I was recently going through this as well. Pimple after pimple... multiple pimples at multiple spots on my face, at the same time...

A very gentle skin care line that is afforadable, that a beauty on here recommended to me is CeraVe! Hands down thee best drug store skin care line ever! The face washes (hydrating = dry to normal or foaming = oily to normal) are heaven sent! The moisturizers afer heaven sent too.

I used to use harsh products thinking it will do the trick. I've used Proactiv, a bunch of higher end products (Purity... and other Philosophy stuff (like their line for acne skin, their Hope in a Bottle, etc.), Dr. Peter Gross MD, etc.), and I've had my share of drug store stuff (Neutrogena, Clean and Clear, Clearisal, etc.). But once I changed my whole line to CeraVe, my skin changed! I no longer have horrible break outs, etc.

CeraVe has no acne fighting ingredients, but it does have ingredients found in higher end products, but are 1/5 the cost and very gentle. Since it doesn't contain acne fighting ingredients, you can apply over the counter acne topicals to "spot" treat your current break outs. I used Differin and Duac that my dermo prescribe, but Duac is benzo peroxide something that can be found OTC (ie. Neutrogena Spot Treament -- I say this because it's not too harsh on the skin compared to others out there).

Sep 15, 2011

Jasmine P.

Have you changed a lot in your skin routine? You might want to discontinue from doing that for now so your skin can calm down. Also, if you've changed your laundry detergent and or fabric softener you could break out from the pillow you sleep on. 

Sep 15, 2011

Kitty P.

Thank you so much everyone!

All of your recommendations are really helpful and I am going to try them! I think it might be a combination of not changing my pillow cases enough, stress and not finding the right face wash. I've been using St Ives apricot scrub lately but I've found that it hasn't been that much help.

I'll let all of you know how my skin is after I try what you all said. Thank you SO much!!!

Sep 15, 2011

Dylan P.

St Ives apricot scrub can be really abrasive for every day use, especially if you have sensitive skin. I use mine once every two or three days as I feel needed. For sure keep us updated!

Sep 17, 2011

Cameron R.

If you haven't used anything to cause you to break out, and if you are sticking with a pretty good skin care regimen, I am sure it's just a product of stress. No product will really help as the pimples will come back. Try taking a warm bath, applying a face mask a few times throughout the week, get rest and drink lots of water. I swear by Cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer when my skin starts going crazy and it really does help, and its pretty inexpensive! Take care of yourself, girl!

Sep 17, 2011

Soma S.

Eeek! STOP using the apricot scrub immediately! Those granuals can do more harm than good. I used to use it and I broke out really bad last year w/ cystic acne. I learned that my skin was evolving and I needed to use less abrasive cleansers since I was no longer an oily pre-teen...

I def. second the CeraVe suggestion. That stuff saved my life. I seriously shut myself in for 6 months dealing with clearing that up, and after spending $$$ on products to remedy a problem I couldn't imagine the culprit being, it returned my skin to normal, and then some. I realized I overdried my face w/ harsh cleansers and the cold winter air made my skin crack - so the cleanser + moisturizing cream did WONDERS for me. I'm usually oily though... so once my skin returned to it's supple oily self, I went to the PM lotion, and have never looked back.

What a waste on Estee Lauder, Lancome, Shesheido, St. Ives, Oil of Olay, Clinique, PanOxyl, the oil cleansing method, Biore, etc... never again!

I used Cetaphil previously, which had good results, but they were slower than CeraVe, and Cetaphile doesn't moisturize continuously throughout the day VS. CeraVe. It's only about $12 at Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc - so it's worth a try.

Instead of cleansing and moisturizing only to wake up with dull skin, my face is supple and glowing! Even the bf's mom loves that stuff since I gave my moisturizing cream to her [she has oily/combo/dry]

It's well rated on MUA and Beautypedia.com - also has is listed as an affordable item to have in a makeup artist's kit on www.inmykit.com

Hope that helps!  =)

Sep 19, 2011

Jane A.

^^^Hehehe, exactly what Soma said. I am proof she's right, because of her, I listened... switched out my whole skin care line, and viola... clear skin.

It won't happen over night, but it was pretty quick. Before I knew it, my face was clearing up.

Sep 20, 2011

Stephanie F.

Soma,

I am going to try this. I will let you know my results!

Thank u!

--Cookie
Makeup Tutorials, Reviews, and Plus Size Fashion Videos
http://www.youtube.com/cookiefarrer

Sep 20, 2011

Angela W.

Where exactly are you breaking out? Specific areas can sometimes hint at the culprit...

For example, I read that breakouts around the mouth area tend to be hormonal. Breakouts along the forehead can be from a new haircut (hello oily bangs!), or excess touching in that area to sweep hair aside?

Are you resting your chin on your hand and are seeing blemishes there?

Sleeping on your side suddenly when you used to sleep on your back?

More cell phone calls lately (particularly suspicious if you're only breaking out on the side you hold your phone!).

Wearing more hats? Change your shampoo/lotion/makeup?

Those are just a few little things that you might have done lately that could cause your otherwise great skin to go haywire. But according to my derm, stress is huge. Deep breaths... nothing is worth breaking out over!! ; P

Sep 25, 2011

Kitty P.

Hey everyone! Thank you SO MUCH!! I just this past week have started to use Cetaphil (the target brand) and my skin has gotten SO MUCH better! I've noticed the couple of big, huge, red, nasty pimples go away slowly. I just hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that but my skin is so much more clear and healthy! I also am changing my pillow cases once a week and MAKE SURE I wash my face when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed.

I just wanna thank all of you so much for all the help and advice. I feel pretty again and I don't have to hide behind a whole bunch of makeup (unless I go out and wanna get vamped up).

I'll try to get a pic up later when I'm not freshly out of bed haha!

Love, Caitlin

Sep 25, 2011

Stephanie F.

Kitty,

That's great news! And this topic helped me out, too, so thank YOU :)


--Cookie
Makeup Tutorials, Reviews, and Plus Size Fashion Videos
http://www.youtube.com/cookiefarrer
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