Skincare, or nocare?

Now onto something a little more useful. Until this year I cared not for the care of my skin. This was mostly due to laziness and that most products recommended to me either did nothing or made problems oh-so-much worse.

Up until the age of say… 19ish I had had no problems with my skin (save for the fact that I have extreme redness about the cheeks) then all of a sudden I started getting gigantic blind pimples on my forehead. They hurt. So my sister dearest got my some 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide cream which (when slathered on in huge amounts) fixed the problem quite nicely. That is, until I stopped using it and the demon spawn came back. Never becoming white-heads, just always sitting below the surface, really hurting and becoming increasingly more difficult to conceal with make-up. So I started to think… and do some research.

The first step is to identify the real source of all your pain. In my case the pimples went away when attacked by Benzoyl Peroxide which says “we are bacterial in nature” but the fact that they kept coming back said that there as more to the story than bacteria. The whole story is that I have very congestion prone skin and what appears (on the surface) to be a bacterial problem was really a congestion problem. While my face was not blackhead central I did notice that what white-heads I was getting had (please forgive the graphics here) large plugs at the end when they were extracted.

So what, you might ask, is the cure for your deeply congested skin? I’ll tell you. It’s simple.

It’s Salicylic Acid.

Best thing in the world. My experience has taught me that the best way to use it is in the form of a leave on treatment. Mine comes in the form of a really cheap Woolies worthy moisturizer. Works like a charm. Breaks up all the crap which then lets your skin cleanse itself. Brilliant.

I can’t go make-up free even on good skin days, people will always think there is something wrong because of my über red cheeks. I also work in the cosmetics department of a shop, so there is a precedent for wearing the thing that causes the congestion which causes the problem which is hidden by the thing which causes the congestion. I also burn like paper. Or bacon. Whichever illustrates the point better for you, so when I’m outside I’m COVERED in sunscreen.

So to counter the congestion I use a Salicylic Acid wash at night (my trick is to leave it on my face for a few minutes), and follow up with an oil (currently a Vitamin E one) and then with the moisturizer which is 0.5% Salicylic Acid, which I also use as my day moisturizer. I don’t cleanse in the mornings because my skin gets too dry, but Hey Presto! Congestion under control and no more big painful pimples. The few I do get now I just kill with the Benzoyl Peroxide cream.

So to answer my own question, I guess the answer is actually “neither”. I did nothing to my skin, I had problems. I did too much to my skin, I got problems. Fine balance, and unfortunately, no one can tell you how to get there, you just need to experiment yourself.