Laying it Bare: Working with my Skin

This will probably be the most honest blog post i ever write.

Since i can remember, i have never really been happy with my skin. I have sensitive, acne-prone, oily, combination skin. I have been plagued with breakouts and those pesky under-the-skin blemishes for a long, long time. Now, i probably have a day at a time where i think, "my skin's not looking bad today". I tend to go from one bad blemish to the next. I am on some tablets prescribed from the doctor but i don't really feel they're doing anything, and i will be going back for further consultations.

I thought today, i would share with you my skin and how i handle it, because your skin is important and it's one of those things you can't really get away from.

As i said, my skin is oily/combination and i've come to learn that it's fairly sensitive, and acne-prone. I've used many things over the years that has made my skin a lot worse. I had to find out the hard way that i'm actually allergic to Benzyl Peroxide, as i was prescribed something containing said product from the doctor and it actually burnt my skin. If you look closely around my mouth, you can see the line where my skin was burnt and were i didn't put the cream. My skin is actually a lot redder now, thanks to the burn from that cream. I also can't use a lot of products that some bloggers love, such as the La Roche Posey Effaclar Duo as again it burns my skin. I have now got some new cream from the doctor that does help to clear up bad bouts of skin, but it does dry my skin out and i have to moisturise heavily afterwards. My under-eyes, thanks to my sensitivity, can get sore from time to time and i have to use some moisturising eye cream to help combat that. My most troublesome spots are my cheeks and more recently around my mouth.

CHEEKS

You can see from these images the three types of spots that i suffer from, at the top you can see the red ones that often scar, in the middle you may notice that all over my skin i have tiny, little bumps on my skin and at the bottom is a red, under the skin spot. If you run your hands over my skin, you can feel lots of little bumps all over. I have no idea why, or what they are but that's something i really hate about my skin. It never feels completely smooth, even if i have no terrible blemishes. They don't come to a head, nothing happens - they're just always there. The under the skin ones are probably the worst, they don't really come to a head but they're really, really sore. Even if i don't touch them i can always feel them. I tend to get bad skin on one cheek worse than the other skin too, which is i suppose better than having awful skin on both. I find that by not overloading my skin with make up is better for it too. I don't actually use foundation, i just use concealer all over instead but honestly, i find it really hard to cover a lot of my bad skin and just have to deal with it.

I try to use a lot of tea tree products on my cheeks, i find that it's fairly soothing as may tea tree products also have ingredients such as aloe, and it's not super harsh on my sensitive skin. It does sometimes take longer to see results, but it brings them on without drying out my skin or making it any more sore.

CHIN & MOUTH

Getting bad skin around my mouth is more of a new thing for me, i keep getting bumps, white heads and under the skin nasties in the corners of my mouth and also on the sides of chin. I think these ones always look extra nasty, especially as recently i've gotten into wearing bright lips and that just draws attention.

I try to stick to tea tree here too, the skin is very sensitive in this area but the cream prescribed from the doctor is use very frequently on the sides of my chin as there's usually larger surface area break outs rather than one spot.

FOREHEAD

My forehead is my least troublesome area. The skin hear is not as sensitive as the rest of my face, and although i also have a lot of the little bumps here i don't have as many break outs here and i don't really get the under the skin kind here either.

I don't tend to use any other spot saving products here, other than when i do my skincare routine. I use go between using a Superdrug Tea Tree Facial Wash and the Good Things Stay Clear Cleanser, as well as the St. Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub a few times a week, or when i feel i need it, and the Boots Skin Clear Treatment Wash. I try not to overload my skin with too much, as i just don't think it helps. I don't really use face masks too often either, as a lot of the time i feel they dry out my skin further and then i end up with more problems.

I hope you appreciate my honesty here! I just feel like sometimes it's nice to show others that they're not on their own, and i really struggle with my skin too. I would love your advice on how to deal with troublesome skin too!

K|xo