Me and my acne: Week 30 update.

There is a reason why I have left doing another one of these posts for this long. Apart from forgetfulness on my behalf, I left it two weeks before I updated the blog because my skin seems to be improving, and I wanted to make sure it had improved enough before I danced/shouted/screamed about it and then jinxed it!

Here is what my skin looks like at the moment;


As you can see, I still have about ten active spots at the moment, but most of the redness you can see on my skin (mostly on my forehead) is just the after-effect of having acne, which I'm hoping should fade in time.
When I went to the doctors just under 2 weeks ago to sort out my skin, he prescribed me Dianette, which is a contraceptive pill aimed at women who were struggling with their skin. Although I have to wait 2 more weeks to actually start taking this medication, and my Lymecycline ran out two weeks ago, so at the moment I'm acne-medication free, apart from my Retin-A which I apply weekly.
This is what makes it so surprising that my skin has cleared up. Why would it be worse when I'm on medication to clear it up?

I am using a few new products in my skin-care routine, which I will indicate whilst going through my normal day to night skincare regime, but I don't think that that really has anything to do with clearing up my skin, although who knows?!.
Morning I use Hibiscrub and double cleanse my face, and after I tone with Vichy's 'Purifying Astringent Toner' (new), and then apply Vichy's 'Capital Sun SPF 50 Mattifying Face Fluid Dry Touch' (new), and that's it for the day.
My night-time skincare routine comprises of a little more. I take off the majority of my make-up/face cream with a blob of Cetaphil and a cotton pad, after which I use the Hibiscrub to double/triple-cleanse my skin and make sure it's squeaky clean. Then I have two options. Twice a week I just use Retin-A on clean skin. The other nights, I follow my cleanse with the same Vichy toner, and then apply Nuxe's 'Huile Prodigieuse' (new) all over my face until it has sank in, and then a layer of Lush's Vanishing Cream (new), and then after that I layer Eucerin's 'Aquaphor' all over my face until I'm a gooey sticky mess! And then I'm done! I find this is the only way to combat the drying effect a retinoid has on your skin.
I'm also using No7's 'Total Renewal Microdermabrasion Exfoliator' and Lush's 'Cosmetic Warrior' (new) face mask. I normally do this after my skin is moisturised enough and before I apply the retinoid for the week.

A break from oral acne antibiotics is maybe what my skin needs, but right now I'm really pleased with the way my skin is behaving, and I just hope it clears up more and more each and every day (one can wish!). I'm also looking forward to seeing what effect starting the new medication Dianette has on my skin, and let's just keep our fingers crossed it gets rid of my acne for good!

HibiScrub.

I had finished my Korres facial soaps a few weeks ago, and was a little bit stuck with what facial wash/cleanser to go for next. I didn't particularly want to go for something too high-end and expensive, since I double-cleanse every night and every morning because of my acne, and therefore go through facial washes/cleansers like nobody's business. I didn't want to get something I'd had before, because I wanted to try something different. Forever on the search for the HG of facial cleansers, y'know!

Then my sister, who is under a consultant dermatologist for her acne (another similarity between us!), was recommended something called HibiScrub to cleanse her skin in place of her normal facial wash. Then someone my mum works with said that she had used it and it was amazing at getting her skin squeaky clean, and really helped to clear up her acne.
Basically, it is a surgical wash that surgeons prepare the skin with before the operate on it. Because it is a surgical product which needs to be used for an aseptic activity, by nature it has to kill every little bacteria/germ on the surface of the skin, and this is why it got recommended to my sister for her acne. I think, especially if you have acne like I do, it's important to find a product that cleans the skin well. Although we all know that having acne doesn't mean you don't wash, the lack of a decent cleanser and regime will exacerbate the current problem, so this is why when my mum and sister mentioned it to me I had to go out the following day and buy it.

Because it is quite a strong solution, you have to dilute it down before you use it as a facial wash. As you can see from the photos, I decanted half into an old tube of cream (I made sure the bottle and pump were clean beforehand of course!), and filled the rest with water.

It is recommended if you have quite sensitive skin or you find it dries your skin out after using it, use it every other night or every two nights.
But since my skin produces oil like mice produce baby mice and my skin is as resilient as a soldier right now, I use it every morning and every night. I don't find it dries my skin out, even when using my Retin-A and my skin peels off, there is no irritation whatsoever. Although when I've maybe scratched and the skin has broken through completely, it does definitely sting. So if you were thinking of using it on broken skin or suffer with a condition which means your skin is weepy and really sore, I wouldn't use it, or consider diluting it right down and using it once every two days.
I also would say try not to get it in your eyes, because it will sting like crazy. Plus, it doesn't taste too nice either. Complete blegh.

It was about £9 (I can't remember how much exactly, sorry!) from the our local chemist, but all chemists/pharmacies seem to stock the product, so it's a product you can get hold of quite easily, in normal circumstances. There seems to be a little bit of manufacturing difficulty at the moment, so you will struggle to find a bottle of HibiScrub at this present time. But hopefully the manufacturers sort out whatever the problem is and make sure all the chemists/pharmacies are stocked up with it!

The most important bit: it does the job of completely ridding my face of all the impurities accumulated throughout my commute, my hospital duties, and the commute home, and leaves my skin feeling and looking amazingly clean. My skin was literally glowing with cleanliness, which was lovely!
This stuff actually works, and my skin has cleared up no end. Although I still have the odd spot, I can definitely tell a definate difference.

I know it's not organic, and it's not made from natural ingredients, and it's not by some really fancy French company and it's name is a bit boring, but it works. And because of that, I am going to use it forever and ever.