My Skin Story

Acne.

I've suffered with acne my whole life. From the age of ten I started developing milia spots of my forehead, little tiny white lumps on my skin, as I got older these spots disappeared and gave way to hormonal acne covering majority of my face, my neck and chest, back, shoulders and the backs of my arms as well. My mum (bless her soul) spent thousands of dollars and countless hours helping my to try and combat my acne, we tried everything from Pro-activ to Dermalogica to monthly facials, at home facials, many different contraceptive pills and even a few rounds of anti-biotics. We tried pretty much every treatment we could that wasn't a harsh laser or Acutane medication - something I will never try due to it's harsh chemicals and multitude of negative side effects.

So now eleven years later and here I am still struggling just as much with my acne, there are however a few things I do differently now which have helped my skin. So discussing my personal experiences and what I'm going to be implementing for my skin is what the rest of this post is going to be about.

*DISCLAIMER: I just wanted to mention that everything I am going to be talking about is my own personal experience, what my doctors have told me specifically and some research I have done in my own time. I am NOT a medical professional, so what works for me may not work for someone else. This is just my personal experience with acne and how to treat it/ How I have treated it. *

Jumping out of the disclaimer about my medical knowledge and jumping straight into my own personal experiences with make-up and how it has affected my skin.

Make-up:

As I still struggle with acne and very intense acne scarring, wearing make-up is a bit of a slippery slope for me. I've come to terms with the fact that I can no longer wear foundation (or any base make-up for that matter) on a daily basis; something I wish I was able to go back and tell my sixteen year old self. Slathering on a thick layer of foundation to cover my acne only makes things worse, so now the wearing of base make-up is reserved only for very special occasions like Weddings or Events. On a regular day I wear little to no make-up, opting only to fill in my eyebrows to frame my face and wearing mascara to brighten the colour of my eyes and make them stand out. And yes I only wear this minimal amount of make-up to my corporate office job because in all honesty no one really cares how much make-up you're wearing (or if you are even wearing any) as long as you carry yourself with a professional manner and get all your work done well and on time. Long story short I cannot wear foundation/ base make-up (currently) as it breaks me out and doesn't sit right on my skin.

While we are still on the bandwagon of what I put on my face we may as well discuss skin care, a pretty vital aspect of keeping my skin under some form of control.

Skin care:

My current skin care routine is as follows; In the morning I cleanse my face, moisturize and use an eye cream. At night I do the exact same except I swap my moisturizer out for a night cream. That's it! There are however a few steps and products that I am missing from my skin care routine. I am on the look out for a facial scrub to use weekly to help remove dead skin cells and clear my pores, as well as a gentle toner to help balance the ph levels on my skin and remove any excess dirt. There are also some things like skin oils and masks that I would like to incorporate back into my routine eventually but I do not think they are essential to my routine right now.... and they also cost a bit more money that I would currently like to spend.

I am also going to document here the current products I am using and their pricing for my future reference and yours - I am hoping to do monthly skin updates so having a history of my products and how they change over time will help with the development of reducing my acne and what has ACTUALLY helped my skin.

Products:

Origins zero oil deep cleanser: A foamy facial wash that digs deep to clean pores to banish excess oil and minimise shine.Retailing at $36 NZD at Mecca Maxima




Essano Rosehip Eye cream: Treat the whole eye area to a nourishing and replenishing formulation of certified organic rosehip oil and vitamins a+e. This replenishing eye crème will soften and smooth fine lines while firming skin for a visible lift.Retailing at $20 NZD at most supermarkets.






Simple day cream light hydration: Simple kind to skin hydrating light moisturiser is a perfect light-weight blend of active ingredients and vitamin goodness to keep your skin hydrated and nourished all day long.
Retailing at $12.50 NZD at most supermarkets.



Glow lab night cream: Designed to nourish skin overnight, superox-c™ (kakadu plum) is a rich source of vitamin c , boosted with aloe vera to increase hydration levels. Active ingredients including prorenew complex clr™, enhance skin renewal, boost radiance and fight the signs of ageing.
Retailing at $20 NZD at most supermarkets.



There are many things that contribute to balancing hormones within the body which is the key to combating hormonal acne (as well as skin care and a healthy lifestyle), however contraception and the pill also plays a massive part in the lives of young woman and can have a massive effect on our skin. Let's discuss a little bit about my experiences with birth control.

Contraception and It's effects on Acne:

I myself have tried 5 different types of contraceptive pill, all of which have had a MASSIVE effect on my skin. When I was 15 years old I went to my GP (General Practitioner) about my acne, she at the time suggested I try my first ever contraceptive pill to help balance my hormones. I was given a combined hormone pill called Ginet 84 specifically designed to help those who suffer with acne and let me tell you, man oh man it worked wonders!  From the ages of 15 to 18 I was on the same pill, I had moved to Australia at this point and continued to be on the same pill until I moved back home to New Zealand and enrolled with a new doctor. I went into this appointment just wanting to get a new prescription for my pill (my little miracle worker), this new doctor asked me a whole bunch of questions and determined that due to my history of headaches and migraines as well as family history of blood clots, I was no longer allowed to be on a combined pill and my dreams of having clear skin forever were out the window.
I was given a Mini pill called Noraday, a 3 month prescription to try and see how it went. It went Terribly.  My skin broke out, I gained weight, My boobs grew about 3 cup sizes, I stopped getting my period and I was heavily heavily depressed and having severe mood swings the entire 3 months. It wasn't until my Dad registered me with my old doctors and told me to go and speak with them about getting a new pill, that I realised there were actually other options out there.
After much discussion with my new Doctor (he was fantastic and very understanding) I was now prescribed another combined pill called Ava 30, often used to help people suffering with acne. My new GP, however, did inform me that I was not allowed to stay on this pill due to my family history, but to try and help with my mood we would try it out and go back in 6 months time to re-asses my options. Ava 30 was fine, I felt better, dropped back down to my normal clothes and bra sizes, and my moods began to regulate, I also got my period back on a regular cycle as well. The 6 months passed and I went back to see my GP who said I could try a slighter lower dosage of the same pill called Ava 20, and like last time informed me this was not a long term solution. And exactly the same as last time Ava 20 worked well.
After about a year of being on the two different Ava's I went back to my GP and this time discussed my many different options for contraception.
We firstly talked about more long term things like the Jadelle Levonorgestrel implant, a metal rod about 2cm long inserted under the skin of the upper arm lasting 3 years, This could however have similar effects on my body as the Mini-pill due to having similar hormones. And this cost $130 to get done. (money I didn't have at the time.) We also discussed the Copper IUD coil as well as the Mirena coil (both are vaginal forms of birth control), The copper coil lasting between 5-10 years and the Mirena coil lasting 3-5 years (depending on which one you get). These were both good options for me as the Mirena has a very small localised amount of hormones, while the Copper IUD has no hormones at all. However, these both cost more than the Jadelle's $130 to have inserted and I am wanting to have children within the next 5 years, if not sooner, so for me it's not worth the price to have it removed early.
After much discussion about our different options we settled on my now pill called Microlut a Progestogen-only pill (POP), Microlut has been good to me. It hasn't made me gain weight and it hasn't caused my boobs to grow, I don't have mood swings or severe depression, and my skin hasn't gotten any worse..... though it also hasn't got better.
I walked away from the Doctors with about 10 different pamphlets about my options for contraception and a new pill to try - I really appreciated and needed the help and patience of my lovely doctor when it came to choosing a pill that worked for my skin. (Doctor Andy I thank you!)

So far contraception, skin care and make-up have been the main factors in what has helped  (and made worse) my acne. If you also suffer with acne try considering wearing less or no make-up to let your skin breathe, Discuss a lot with your GP about your options for helping with hormonal acne, and try to find a skin care routine that works and is within your budget (key factor there!). And know that you are not alone in your struggles with acne, there are lots of us fighting the same fight, me included.


There are many new things that I have been implementing into my lifestyle in the last few weeks, more natural remedies to help with my acne. However, there are A LOT of things to cover in that aspect including vitamins, Food, Gut health, Exercise and some natural remedies/ recipes.
To keep the anticipation I will be discussing all of these things in my next post, but to finish off this post and give a bit of a timeline for how my skin currently is I'm including some pictures (not very flattering ones!) from March 2018 through to the start of September.

March 29th 2018:




April 1st 2018:

April 3rd 2018:




April 5th 2018:




June 7th 2018:




September 12th 2018:





So keep up to date with my skin story and try not to be too critical of my very real and raw pictures of my skin! Can't wait to post again and give more of an up-to-date shot of my skin.

Lots of love xx