Acne Fight Fix Up Update: Start of Week Two
September 15, 2009 by Karissa
Filed under Info You Want to Know
Augh, I started breaking out over the weekend. Like the super charged icky ones. One ginormous one on my nose, that hurt like hell, now I have one like that on my chin. And I had one on my forehead and one above my temple- both of those were just sorta oozy, not painful, just scabby at first sight. gross.
I have also had quite a few “clogged” pores, then once they are cleared, no biggie, life returns to normal. Seems like this treatment really heals ALL of the acne pretty quickly once it surfaces, which is fantastic. I mean the one on my nose was horrid. Sunday I was almost afraid to go to lunch because of it, but today, you can hardly see it.
I think I am going to start using my Alaska Glacial Co. Mask once a week (maybe twice) and the Carley’s Mask for Acne Prone Skin once a week. It is VERY heavy, full of good ingredients, but not enough clay, and I think for now my skin is getting plenty of moisture! Although the ingredients are great for my skin, I think it is causing my skin to react. Afterall one day I am using 10% Benzoyl Peroxide every night with nothing underneath it, nothing on top. And 10% during the day with Sunscreen on top, and now, I am using moisturizers and “replenishers”, and soothers? My skin is freakin out a little!
I am pretty thrilled that my face is not showing any major adverse reactions. I do have to be really really careful to not get any of the Acne Treatment
anywhere close to my eyes. Some products don’t effect my eyes and others do. This does. I learned the hard way. Now I actually put a little jojoba oil on them before I do the treatment, and then wash it off with the soap after wards. it works great.
Oh, and I so love the Carley’s Natural Soap! I have been using it consistently as my body soap, and my shampoo most days. (except for review days) and wow, super creamy, unscented just a nice clean scent. YUM!
These pics don’t really show anything all that well, I have tinted moisturizer on, they actually make me look like I have pretty good skin! I wish the real life world saw me through a photo! =) The marks you can see really is acne, they sorta look more like discoloration, which some of it is.
Carley’s really has been helping my acne go away faster, the question is, will it stop the acne from forming? ah, the million dollar question!
And just a reminder, I am not being paid, or compensated for my review. I struggle with acne, and I know some of you do too. I have tried so many products and I felt it was time to share my stories with you. If this works, great! If not, I will move on to the next 
test of products and keep this going!
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Are you still using Carley’s and is it still working for you? I’ve tried everything under the sun…Do you know if it’s helpful for blackheads as well as acne? I get some pimples around the jaw line but so much as I live in the south and I’m already dreading the heat and what it’ll do to my skin. Thanks.
Hi,
I came across your site and read this article and learned very much, thank you. In fact, I have bookmarked your blog so I can come back and read more of your posts.
I am sorry you are having such a battle with your acne, in the photo’s your skin looks nice. Just keep moving forward and never give up. Remember that story…”you can go one more round.”
I never knew there were so many natural products out on the market to help folks with these skin problems. The natural bar shampoo does sound a bit different to get used to, but sometimes the hair products we use can be the catalyst. Sometimes also it is our diet, or stress can also be factors.
Once again, thank you for your post. Good luck.
I think I spoke too soon. I got more breakouts, and the big ones are back. Ugh. I’m getting a little disheartened, but I am determined to keep it up. The website says that some people take 3-6 weeks to see improvement, and I am evidently in that group. I am in my third week of the trial, so surely I should see some more improvement soon. I still agree that the pimples go away fairly quickly, but I’m still waiting for them to stop appearing totally.
I tried their Elder Berry mask for the first time last night. I like it! I could feel it working, and my skin felt really good after I removed it. I am thinking that I could see some faster improvement if I work that mask into my routine. I will probably start using it a couple of times a week.
I am becoming more of a fan of the Ferro cosmetics. Every time I use it, I always think I don’t like it. Then, at some point during the day, I look in a mirror and think that it doesn’t look half bad. I think it improves throughout the day, which is a rare thing for makeup. I am still trying to get the technique perfected, but I am willing to keep trying!
Fingers crossed!
Karissa and Andrea, I hope that you are having success with your new regimen. Please keep us updated on your progress.
Well, I hate to jinx anything, but I think I may have turned a corner. My big gnarly breakouts have almost dried up, and I have fewer new ones. The new ones I do have are not nearly as bad, so I hope that means things are looking up. I am 11 days into the battle (well, at least this stage of the battle).
I have to admit to using one additional acne product. My skin looks so bad that it’s embarrassing to be seen bare faced. I am using Bare Escsentuals Rare Minerals Blemish Therapy because it has a little bit of color, so it helps to camouflage the redness.
I got my sample of the Ferro cosmetics. Not being a big fan of mineral cosmetics, my socks weren’t knocked off. I liked it as well as any other mineral makeup I’ve tried, though, so I ordered a full size. I figure if it works as well as what I had been using, minus all the unsavory ingredients, then I should stick with it. Maybe once I get more used to using mineral cosmetics, my opinion of them will improve. I’ve heard it’s all in the technique with that stuff.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update!
Karissa, your skin looks great, girl! Don’t be too hard on yourself with the discoloration. I have it on my chin and jawline. It may take a little bit of time but the marks will fade.
I also wanted to touch on something Andrea mentioned about the good stuff bringing all of the junk to the surface. It really does sound like the facial skin is purging. I went through it with the Pevonia and have before with other medicines(prescription and OTC). I’m almost betting the masque will help loads! The thing that sucks is when the skin purges…that’s when you tend to get the big ones.
Throwing lots of encouragement out there for the both of you!
Really? I thought Bare Escentuals was supposed to be the epitome of pure and healthy. In fact, don’t the infomercials recommend it for acne-prone skin? That’s aggravating.
How often did you use the Carley’s mask? I haven’t tried it. Maybe I will tomorrow.
Thanks for the natural shampoo recommendations. Have you ever heard of/tried WEN by Chaz Dean? I’m not sure how pure it’s supposed to be, but I know it’s supposed to be free of detergents, and that you don’t need to use conditioner. Seems too good to be true. I thought about giving that a whirl to see how it does.
diane, I love the burts bee spot treatment. I was actually on the team that tested that line over the summer, and I had to stop testing it. actually I think about 90% of the girls did. there was a forum for us, and I didn’t hear very many good results. and they all said the didn’t like the smell.
the scents that kill me are the strong fake ones. if it is natural, I can usually handle it. I love that spot treatment. I liked it better when they had it in a roll on.
andrea, I hear ya so well. be careful with Bareminerals. it has Bismuth in it, and can irritate acne prone skin. it was my all time favorite mineral makeup until I learned that. i think you have to really become a pro at application and then you will find it has great coverage. Ferro is amazing! i can’t wait for you to get those samples.
and as far as the natural shampoos, you do have to play around and find what you like. a shampoo bar is pretty hardcore to start off with. you are stripping off all the silicone out of your hair, and making it a ratty mess. I promise it will be better. The Amazon Beauty Shampoo is fantastic But I think you fall in love with the Belengza stuff sold under my Nimli link on my shopping page. they have options.
My mom has always told me about everything in life, “it always gets worse before it gets better.” Cheers to the better part!
Diane I hope the burts works so you don’t have to switch over at all!
Ive been using the Burts Bees new natural Acne line. I was sent it since i’m a Buzz agent. At first i didn’t really think it was going to work since the spot treatment was a liquid and not a gel or cream like i was used to but it seems to work without drying my skin at all. Im not exactly thrilled with the smell but so far between the spot treatment and the skin cleanser ill deal with the smell because it seems to be working. So far the only time i’ve been breaking out is when i don’t use the BurtsBees in the morning and at night. The smell isn’t even that bad, and its better than the chemicaly smell of products ive used before.
I pretty much could have written your post. This stuff clears up the existing acne quickly, but I am getting some pretty gnarly new ones. The big, deep, cystic kind. Yay. All I can hope is that you are right, that this is a transition period, and they will eventually stop appearing. I was told at one point that effective acne treatments often make things worse at first, because it brings all the congestion up to the surface, creating whiteheads. I’m putting faith in that, and just sticking with it. I’m dying to use some drying lotion on the new blemishes, but I’m going to hold off and let this stuff have a chance.
I am not the fan you are of the natural soap as shampoo. I guess I just need to keep giving it a chance, but I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around using a bar soap as shampoo. I can understand the theory of not using pore-clogging hair products, because they can deposit junk on your face, so I’m going to try the natural soap again. If I just can’t get behind it, then I will try to find more natural hair care products that are still in the usual form.
In the name of purity, I am also switching to mineral makeup. I have ordered the Ferro samples from the link in your sidebar, and I’m also using Bare Escentuals. I am not a huge fan of mineral cosmetics, because I don’t think they offer enough coverage to hide my bad skin. Still, I want to do all I can to give this the best shot I can.
Tomorrow is my weekiversary, so I’m hoping that the next week will see an improvement. I will send you pics so you can tell for yourself.
One thing I will say is that the website says you will see an improvement is pore size. I have found that to be true. I have large pores and blackheads on my nose, and I have seen a great improvement there. Yay!
Here’s to a better 2nd week!
sounds like something we could all use!