Guess what I got just in time to celebrate my 33rd birthday this past weekend?! It’s something I’ve never had…like, at all. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky to have made it this far in my life without it, and now that I’ve got it, I have to be honest and say that I haven’t missed it. It’s not an ipad, or a pony, or a new vacuum…no friends, nothing so pleasant.
For my birthday… I got acne.
Source
Seriously…acne. Like I’m 14. But I never had it when I was 14. In fact, I’ve never had it at all. Sure I’ve had the occasional obvious pimple on the tip of my nose right before a dance in high school, or one giant blemish between my eyes just in time for a date function I’d been looking forward to in college. I’m pretty sure I had one that was coverable on my chin just in time for my wedding, but this new widespread mess is completely new to me. And I have a new-found sympathy for anyone who’s ever dealt with it! It is awful! It hurts, it’s hideous, and I can’t for the life of me figure out how it came or how to get rid of it!
Maybe it’s the new gym routine, or getting up earlier for school, or stress of having a kindergartener now, or some random shift of horomones….I have no clue, but I do need to figure out how to deal with it!
I bought $25 worth of Burts Bees acne medicine (I thought perhaps the natural route would be the way to go)…some salicylic acid spot treatment and a toner, and while that seems to kinda maybe help…it’s not going away! So here I am…a year older and 75 pimples different! Seriously…32 was fine.
And no…I’m not pregnant…and “that time of the month” isn’t the problem either.
One time, my friend Mck came to stay with me years ago and she had some Proactive with her. She never really had bad skin, but she said it helped her keep her skin clear, so I thought if it worked for her…and for Jessica Simpson….then I should try it. So I did…despite the fact that I didn’t have a single zit to speak of then. I woke up the next morning with a completely red, dry, peeling face. I looked like I had a chemical burn all over my face and it was that way for about 4 days. Awesome.
All to say…at 33, it seems my face just ain’t what it used to be either! Any suggestions on how to treat this mess from cyberspace out there?
UGH!
If only my skin was as easy to refinish as furniture! Which brings me to the winner of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint giveaway sponsored by Jennie Leigh Designs! Congratulations to comment #116…
Rebecca Halberg!
Rebecca, email me your contact information, your wax and paint color choices and I’ll pass it along to Jennie to get you your paint!
I never had acne until I got to college (one more thing that added to the stress of freshman year…) If you want to go the natural route I recommend using witch hazel as a cleanser – instead of those harsh chemical ones you find in stores – and tea tree oil in place of a moisturizer. Hope this helps!
Hannah
Thanks Hannah! I will totally try some of that stuff!
Hi…I just happened upon your blog a couple of days ago. Yay! Blog hopping is so much fun and sometimes I find one to follow…like yours! I think our little boys are in the same class at church. My little boys name is Mikah. I’m an esthetician at a spa downtown, so obviously your acne problem caught my attention. I think it’s stress and those crazy pimples will go away as soon as your stress goes down. Mikah started kindergarten 2 weeks ago, and my face looked CRAZY! I occasionally get A breakout…as in 1 breakout…every now and then. All of a sudden the day after Mikah started school, craziness broke out on my face. So…try spot treating your spots with salicylic acid and then putting a clay mask on top to dry. This should dry out the acne without it looking as though you “proactived” it. Don’t try a lot of new products all at once. Add them along. That way if your skin reacts to it, you know what it’s reacting to. There are tons of products out there, and everyone’s skin is different. It may take some playing with product and giving different things a try. Let me know if you need anything. I’m glad to help ya!
Jenny, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I’ll try all of that…but not at once like you said! 🙂
I, too didn’t have a problem with acne until I was about 25… since then the only reprieve has been during my pregnancies… GO FIGURE! That is until I stopped using products. Now I only use a microfiber cloth.. I love it.. no soap to irritate.. it exfoliates… my skin is so much clearer now I don’t feel that I need to wear foundation. And it even removes my water proof mascara without chemicals. I originally found them at Ulta, and loved them so much they were stocking stuffers for my mom and sis. However now I found better microfibers… Norwex… seriously they are awesome! This is where you can find more info if you are interested! Hope it clears up soon… I know it is not… fun… at…all…. oh and make sure to clean your make up brushes to make sure you aren’t spreading bacteria or anything… 🙂
Sorry, forgot…. This is a local Norwex consultant and my friend Rachel!
I use the body towels and make up cloth…. it has worked so well for me!!
rachelbaxter.norwex.biz
rachels4reasons.blogspot.com
I still get zits at 47 yikes.Send the Proactive back beauty therapists hate it.Dont use a scrub whille you are zitting they will get worse.Hope they be better soon.xxx
ugg. acne. i have been wearing makeup since I was in 5th grade, not b/c i loved makeup, but b/c that’s when i started getting acne!
all the above is great advice. i did years and years of different treatments and medications (EXCEPT accutane – if a drug is so strong you have to take birth control before you are on it to not harm babies, then i didn’t want it in my body…even at 15 i knew that!)
some things i’ve learned from the acne school of hard knocks:
1. salicylic acid and retinol are your friends.
2. to dry out some big nasties, get some benzoyl peroxide cream/mask. after you wash your face, put a dot on the big ones and this dries them out w/o drying out your whole face. wash it off after about 15 minutes.
3. do not exfoliate! simply washing with a gentle cleanser with your fingertips takes extra skin off. if you exfoliate, you strip your face of the natural oils, then it overcompensates and make extra oil, which then clogs your pores and…big nasties appear.
girl, i could give you 15 tips. call me.