9 replies to this topic

[pixie1975]

Within the past month or so, I have decided to get aggressive with my skin! This is a whole new phase that I'm beginning. I spent the whole of my 20s more or less accepting the blocked pores and oiliness, using mattefiers and pressed powder every day(and I hate makeup).

But since discovering this site a few weeks ago I have been reading some threads here, and elsewhere online, and I ordered some new products... Maybe I can finally be free of blackheads and scarred skin.
(I only occasionally get any inflammatory acne now, so that's not much of a problem - it seems to be diet-related...)

The products that I am using (for the past 7 days) are:
Green Cream L6, Vivant Mandelic Acid 15%

I cleanse with Freederm Lotion and Neutrogena Blackhead Clearing Cleanser(with Salicylic Acid). In the shower I wash my face with Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Scrub.

And I've been dabbing some of my beloved witch hazel on after the green cream, if I feel that it's slightly greasy, before putting on my mattifier and pressed powder...

I don't have a regimen properly worked out yet.
I am not so sure anymore about my Neutrogena products(maybe they'll go in the rubbish, along with Biore etc...).
Also other cleansers and creams that I've been mindlessly using for years, I've recently discovered they are comedogenic. It's funny, but I seemed to have just presumed that all cleansers are inherently non-comedogenic... Or I didn't devote too much time thinking about it!

I'm also experimenting with 25% Vitamin C serum, which I have a sample of. It seems to soften my skin for when I want to exfoliate. And I'm looking around for a good exfoliant..

Moistuiser-wise, I am probably just going to use jojoba oil, if I need to...

So far - it's been just a week - my skin is looking clearer, gradually improving I think..

Today my face was a bit red.
I should have paid more attention to this, and maybe not used any mandelic this evening. But I did, and I think my skin would've preferred a break!
I slathered some jojoba oil afterwards, cos my skin was not happy! (I'm not even sure if this old bottle of jojoba oil is a non-comedogenic brand!!)
Also skipping the green cream for tonight. Used it this morning already. (I had been using it twice a day).

Time for zzzzzzzzzz now. Will post in more detail tomorrow... good news hopefully

[pixie1975]

This morning my skin was not as damaged and irritated as I had expected it to be - last night, I was worried!
It is looking fairly red and raw though, particularly around the upper cheeks.
So I'm not going the use the mandelic again until this subsides.
When I do, maybe I'll confine it to my nose and chin, which are the areas that need it the most anyway. The skin on my t-zone continues to be not sensitive at all... I thought my cheeks were the same way, but I'm learning now that they are a teeny bit more sensitive than the rest of my face.

When I was in the shower, I used my Neutrogena Blackhead Clearing Scrub as usual. I was surprised when it made my face sting quite badly. This has never happened before! Could be the small amount of salicylic acid that's in there. Must investigate..

After my shower, I wasn't sure what to apply(or not to apply), so I let my skin settle for a while to see how much it would dry up.
There is no flakiness, and not too much dryness.
The skin is fairly red though. I'm thinking that it may even be a bit swollen...
But I need to do some exfoliating before I leave the house.
I cautiously applied a small amount of Vitamin C 25% serum with my finger, first on my forehead and nose, then onto chin and cheeks - it didn't cause any irritation. This is actually amazing stuff for tightening your skin. I'm not sure what it does exactly, but when i went back to the mirror 20 minutes later, the pores on my nose, especially were the tiniest that I've ever seen them!
Next I moistened my face with warm water and began exfoliating. I am using up the last of a tube of scrub (L'Oreal Refinish Dermabrasion), which is quite gentle but effective.
I really need to find a good exfoliator for daily use that is gentle, non-irritating and doesn't cost too much.. Somehow I think that just relying on a damp washcloth/facial scrubbing sponge is not going to be enough from now on...

Next, I was going to put on some aloe vera, but I thought I'd at least apply the green cream to my forehead... and then gradually applied it to the rest of my face.. Thinking I might put some aloe vera on top of that later if needed.

==========================================
UPDATE - 1 HOUR LATER:

The drastic reduction in the pore-size on my nose was - as I suspected - only temporary.
Thinking I might go ahead and put some mandelic there tonight. It's like I'm at war with those blackheads
Thankfully there is no more peeling going on.
I'm pretty sure that it's on the way though - my cheeks are quite red, and on close inspection, the skin looks a bit angry and damaged. So this was my reasoning behind applying the green cream this morning - so that the skin will peel more evenly when it does happen.

I need to leave the house in about an hour. I have some Smashbox Photo Finish(in green) that I think i'll apply to mask the redness.
Note to self: When out, buy a bottle of organic Jojoba oil. By continuing to not include some kind of moisturiser in my regimen I think I am asking for trouble...

[pixie1975]

This afternoon I massaged loads of Aloe Vera gel into my cheeks - thinking maybe I should have also left the Green Cream out this morning !!

So before leaving the house, after applying my green Smashbox primer, I applied some pressed powder.. And I should have known this would happen, but the powder totally highlighted the cracking skin underneath sooooo bad!
I couldn't go out like that, but I was in a hurry, so just spritzed some PH neutral mist over my nose and cheeks to "remove" some of the powder. It worked though.

By the time I got home, my skin was drying out. It felt stretched tight around my nose and across my cheeks. I cleansed immediately and used Rose Water to soothe it.
Then applied loads of jojoba oil across cheeks and some on my nose too.
I can't believe I am putting oil on my nose! It's the one area that never gets moisturised, ever!
But because of the cracked skin beginning to happen underneath, it's gonna need it! And also there's the fact that the retinol in the green cream seems to have slowed down my skin's natural oil production.

I'm definitely not putting anything on my skin tonight!
It just needs a break, and time to recover.
I've overdone the mandelic acid, putting in on twice per day. I'd been using it almost like a toner!
Now my skin has got a sunburned look! Feels that way too a bit.
It's going to be a quiet weekend... Will be staying indoors.
I need to save money anyway, I've spent a fortune on skin products, recently!!

[pixie1975]

Ugh, this morning my skin is horrible!

At first I was optimistic. The redness had diminished overnight and was looking quite normal in the natural light of morning. From a distance it really looked ok!
But looking close-up there's actually a lot of dryness happening...
And it's beginning to crack when I touch it as the skin tightens after my shower. I didn't even use cleanser or scrub on it - nothing yet...

Also my nose pores are back to being clogged. Just because I applied no Green Cream or Mandelic for one night?!
Or could it be the jojoba oil? It's supposed to be non-comedogenic. But maybe if my skin is slightly damaged, then it's not absorbing the jojoba oil correctly, and it's causing pore clogging.

Oh, I don't know what to do with my skin right now.
Try some exfoliating...
Maybe put some green cream on afterwards?
There's no irritation to worry about - it's just kind of thick and dry and dead!

[pixie1975]

The dry skin that I mentioned above recovered a lot more quickly than I had expected.
I expected it to be dry and flaking, lasting for a few days. But after doing some thorough exfoliation, most of the dead skin came away easily and I could face the world again.
I've continued to use the Green Cream morning and evening.
It is such a great product that I can imagine always using it in the future, even if my skin ever becomes "perfect". It makes my skin feel super smooth, and also slows down the oiliness.
But the Level 6 is just not strong enough, so I've already ordered a bottle of Level 9.
I am also anxious to start using AHAs as soon as I can, to see if I can reduce my scarring.
I would trade the silky skin smoothness for NO blackheads or scarring any day!!

I haven't been using the mandelic acid for a while, because I wanted to even out the skin texture beforehand, which the Green Cream has accomplished.
And my nose pores are all full again
I will dab a small amount of mandelic on the nose and chin only, before going to bed. And apply the green cream, as usual, on the rest of my face.

[willow569]

The dry skin that I mentioned above recovered a lot more quickly than I had expected.
I expected it to be dry and flaking, lasting for a few days. But after doing some thorough exfoliation, most of the dead skin came away easily and I could face the world again.
I've continued to use the Green Cream morning and evening.
It is such a great product that I can imagine always using it in the future, even if my skin ever becomes "perfect". It makes my skin feel super smooth, and also slows down the oiliness.
But the Level 6 is just not strong enough, so I've already ordered a bottle of Level 9.
I am also anxious to start using AHAs as soon as I can, to see if I can reduce my scarring.
I would trade the silky skin smoothness for NO blackheads or scarring any day!!

I haven't been using the mandelic acid for a while, because I wanted to even out the skin texture beforehand, which the Green Cream has accomplished.
And my nose pores are all full again
I will dab a small amount of mandelic on the nose and chin only, before going to bed. And apply the green cream, as usual, on the rest of my face.

That mandelic by Vivant can be very strong and drying (has a ton of alcohol in it). It might be why your skin freaked out a bit initially. I did the same thing you are doing now - just used it where I wanted my pores to appear tighter - around the nose. If you are stepping up to GC level 9, I would really be careful with what other products you use at the same time. Those products (GC 9 and the mandelic) are both very strong, and you don't want to irritate your skin or over-exfoliate it.

[pixie1975]

I haven't had time to update in a while...

Willow, thank you for your post. It's really nice to get some feedback.

Yeah I've been thinking that maybe I'll try the GoW brand next time, so that I can compare the two.
Using the Vivant has been ok though since I have been confining it to my nose, and the area of the cheeks either side of my nose(there should be a name for that area of the face ).
And I've been using my fingers, as I find it's easier to control how much goes on, and it saves wasting of the product on an applicator too.

The little bottle fell on the bathroom floor recently , and half of it spilled, I managed to rescue the rest of it and pour it into a new bottle.
Was so annoyed when it happened - the most expensive product on the shelf!!
...but should be ok for a while, as the amount I use is so small now.
Anyway I would get over the price and everything if my blackheads would just disappear!!!
It's over 3 weeks now since I started using the MA and I'm not sure how effective it is turning out to be! Maybe my expectations were unrealistic or I was hoping for some miraculous transformation!
Soon after it goes on, the pores do shrink noticibly. In the beginning, this was great to see. But now I'm skeptical. Is it that the skin surrounding the plugged pores goes into some kind of shock, and swells, thus creating a refined pore appearance to the naked eye? I guess that this creates a purging for other people, but not for mine, obviously! Maybe I'm just meant to have blackheads!
Because when I look in the mirror again in the evening, the pores are no longer small. They are fairly normal-sized again.
Ok, there has been some improvement. But I don't know....Maybe I just need to give it more time...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only other thing that I can think that could be hindering progress with the MA would be if the Green Cream is comedogenic. I know that one of the colours it's using is considered mildly comedogenic, but I had assumed that it was ok otherwise.
Anyway, I'm going to look into this...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I had upgraded to Level 9 about a week ago. My skin adjusted to it without any problems. And I am now waking up in the morning to skin ready to peel off around my chin and lower cheeks.
I'm not sure what all this peeling is achieving though! I was asking myself today if it's really worth all the bother of meticulous exfoliation.
Earlier, I was almost ready to leave the house, I had primer and some powder on my face, but there was a small loose piece of skin which I'd missed, so I decided to remove it, only to find that this piece of skin caused a whole section on the top of my nose to unravel. So I had no choice but to cleanse and do everything again - sigh!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recently started using Emu Oil. It arrived same time as the GC. I don't have a routine with it, I just use it on dry areas of my face when needed, and also for exfolation on my cheeks. I know it's expensive, but you only need a tiny amount each time. So far, I really like it!

[pixie1975]

Ok, I haven't updated in quite a while. Been either busy or lazy.
Also I haven't quite settled down with a regimen yet...

I've continued to be sceptical about how great Green Cream is for my skin. A case of less is more, perhaps?
In the beginning it was very promising, but now it's like my skin has gotten used to it or something. My pores seem to be more clogged since around when I moved to level 9 - or could it be that I'm scrutinising more closely, and so I'm just imagining that they're more clogged.. sometimes I just don't know! Then I'm wondering if it could be my less than perfect diet recently....

Anyways the experimenting continues! I've recently begun using 5% Salicylic acid, and I am very pleased with it sofar. Only problem is I use a lot of it each time, so the bottle is nearly empty after only a few tries. My skin likes it better than the Mandelic( I haven't yet tried the Gow non-alcohol version of Mandelic). It doesn't dry my skin. It helps my pores to unclog. And just couple of days ago, I noticed that it had made my scarred areas more smooth which is a bonus Also it's a lot less expensive than Mandelic Acid. I'll be buying more of it, for sure..

Also I got some Glycolic Acid, which I tried out yesterday. 30%, left on for 5 mins. Today my scars do look a little less noticeable. So maybe I'll use it again in a few days...
Today I put some green cream on. Cos I hadn't used it for a while.

And some emu oil, which I use everyday. I just love that stuff

[Wynne]

Hi! I wouldn't add in lots of new products. You may have started out too strong with the Green Cream, too. Irritation from products can cause a breakout that's not just the initial breakout. I would go to using Green Cream only once a day, at night. Use the mandelic only in the morning and gradually start using it twice a day.

A sensitive skin cleanser is a very good idea, I don't know about the one you're using. I love Cetaphil Sensitive Skin Antibacterial Bar: it is fabulous! And doesn't dry my poor skin out.

Emu oil is a great moisturizer. Some people find it comedogenic (I don't). Some people DO find that jojoba oil is comedogenic for them although it is not supposed to be. I don't use jojoba as I do use vaseline petrolatum jelly and emu oil, and sometimes copper peptides.

[scarredpores]

i'm here with you on trying to get aggressive with my scars and blocked pores! i'm on retin-a micro 0.1%. i'm waiting for it to start working on my blockheads. i've been on it for about a week, but before that i was on 0.025% retin-a, which did nothing at all.