How I got rid of my acne.

A couple of months ago I experienced the worst acne breakout I've ever had in my life.

At first I thought maybe it was because of that time of the month, or just some stubborn zits that wouldn't go away. 

I noticed they kept getting worse and worse and they didn't seem to fade.

To make matters worse I would put makeup on top of them to try to cover them up.

I tried all kinds of things to get rid of my acne but nothing seemed to work.

I didn't notice any kind of improvement. One pimple would start to go away and 5 more would appear. 

I was starting to feel really self conscious and I rarely wanted to be seen without makeup.

Sometimes even going out with makeup on top of the pimples made me uncomfortable.

They were cystic pimples so you could still see them even when I tried to cover them up. 

After trying and trying all sorts of things I found online and heard good things about, I finally found what worked for me and my skin.

Here are all the products that helped clear my cystic acne breakout.

A you can see some of the products are from the drugstore! Very affordable.

I would consider my skin type to be "combination"

My skin is mostly normal except on my t-zone which gets oily usually.

After using all these products in my skin care routine my cystic pimples finally started to go away.

It wasn't overnight though. It took some time.

Even now, my skin isn't perfect but its MUCH better than it was before.

Here is a run down of each product and when/how I use it.

This is the Boots expert anti-blemish cleansing foam.

I found it at Target and it was only around $6 or $7. 

Once I started using this face wash I started noticing my pimples were shrinking in a few days.

I use a few pumps, massage it onto my face and rinse. 

I do it every day, twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

I will say when I first started using this I felt like it was making my skin dry, but that changed after using it for a couple of weeks. 

This is the Wonder Pore toner from Etude House.

I got this online (you can find it by googling etude house or on eBay/amazon)

It cost me $11-13.

I heard great things about this toner from other people who also have heavy breakouts.

I decided to give it a try.

I noticed a few times after using it that it was bringing out the cystic pimples to the surface.

Therefore I was "purging" (more pimples coming out)

But I was patient and kept using it and soon those pimples were gone.

I place it all over a cotton pad and run it all over my face AFTER using the cleansing foam above.

I do it every day, twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

I'm recently running out though.

I've decided to try out another toner for now, I'll update if it goes well!.

Next is the St. Ives moisturizer. This giant tub is only $3 - $5 at Walmart.

I only use this moisturizer during the day. After cleansing and toning.

Its definitely moisturizing, doesn't smell bad, and it doesn't break me out.

Next is another moisturizer. 

This is the ELF nourishing night cream. 

I believe this is $10 or $12.

I love this stuff. It really leaves my face feeling supple and soft.

I only use this at night time. After cleansing and toning. 

It has no scent and it does the job.

Last but not least. Is the Mary Kay acne treatment gel.

This has helped me a lot. I use it as a spot treatment sometimes or sometimes all over the face.

I only use this at night. After cleansing, toning, and after the elf night cream.

I dot it on my pimples, rub it in, let it dry, and then call it a night.

I always use this when I have huge, stubborn, cystic zits.

My sister got this for me for $7. I believe the original price is $14.

Those are all the products in my current skin care routine that helped clear out the worst acne breakout Ive ever had.

Next I'm going to show you some before and after pictures of me.

I'm wearing absolutely NO MAKEUP in any of these.

This is a little scary to do but I took these because I knew I might post them some day to show my progress.

Here are my BEFORE pictures. The worst my skin has ever looked.

These pictures don't really show the reality of how bad it got.

I only took pictures sometimes to see if there was any difference after using certain products.

You can't see all of my cystic pimples since I didn't zoom in close enough.

But as you can see you can see some of them in the pictures as well as all the dark spots my pimples were causing. as well as other pimples that were barely forming.

Now, here are my AFTER pictures.

Like I said, my skin still isn't perfect. But its not as bad as it was before.

Not to mention I make sure to wash my face everyday now, no matter what.

As you can see most of my pimples have cleared up, my dark spots are also fading. 

Slower than I'd like, but some progress is better than none.

Also, these pictures are not the most glamorous, I know, but like I mentioned I'm wearing 0 makeup.

That's going to be it for this entry.

Please keep in mind this is what worked for MY SKIN and MY kind of acne.

Everyone is different.

I tried out products until I found what worked for me.

All of the products I tried were mostly drugstore, so they were affordable.

I also took progress pictures to see if there was any difference after using certain products.

I'm not a professional and I don't claim to be, I'm just sharing my experience and what worked for me in this case :)

Thanks for reading!

I'll be adding another new entry soon!

xo

-C