TOP 4 ACNE PRODUCTS GREAT FOR ACTIVE SPOTS AND ACNE MARKS
If any of you have discovered my blog from following me on Instagram, you’ll see that I talk about acne and suffering from acne prone skin a lot. My acne journey started at the age of 15, and still remains to this day now I’m in my early thirties!
Recently, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovaries), which explains why the acne tends to appear around my jaw line and occasionally working its way up to my cheeks. It probably means I’ll always battle with hormone led acne, which in some way was a relief to hear about PCOS, as I was starting to wonder what on Earth was wrong with me, suffering bad skin all this time.
Although hormone balancing contraception pills, like Dianette and Yasmin, made the most impact over the years, these aren’t the best. These oestrogen heavy pills are great for short term, but after being on them for so long, they can cause lasting damage and even create new problems.
Over the years I’ve found a few things to work: cutting out dairy and sugar (which I no longer do anymore as life is too damn short. I did this for a long while and saw great results, but now I’m not quite as dedicated), skin peels (with salicylic acid and lactic acid, both great for active spots and old marks), a quality range of skincare products, and a dedicated regime. I’d love to tell you drinking water helps, but I’m useless at guzzling the stuff, so I’ll leave that for you guys to try!
But overall, if you’re like me, sometimes acne never really leaves you, but you can control it and keep your skin in the best health possible, so that you keep it at bay and enjoy having fresher, clearer looking skin in general (don’t forget to look after the areas of skin not effected by acne too, for example, my forehead and upper cheeks are always fine!).
Here’s 4 products I’ve been loving this Summer:
COSRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid
Sometimes, with acne, you don’t always have those angry red clusters of spots, but more under the skin bumps, blackheads and whiteheads that give us an uneven skin texture. I have lots of whiteheads around my nose and tops of my cheeks, in which I swear by glycolic acid to tackle them.
This COSRX (a fantastic brand aimed at acne prone skin) AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid is formulated with 7% Glycolic Acid (AHA) which works to gently exfoliate the skin and help reveal a radiant, even-toned complexion.
I started off using it as my toner step, after cleansing and applying a small amount to a cotton round and swiping over my nose, forehead and cheeks. I left my jaw area as I focus more on actual cystic acne products there. I’d say it took around 3–4 days before seeing a difference, and overall, my whiteheads were fading, pores became smaller, and the skin looked much more radiant and bright!
COSRX Clear Fit Master Patch
I feel like ‘spot stickers’ have become more of a thing in the acne world this year, and for good reason. Some acne sufferers don’t have outbreaks all across their complexions, but more so the pesky large ones that errupt on their own and can’t be hidden! For these, this is where I feel that dedicated application stickers soaked in acne fighting ingredients really help target the spot and help to speed up it’s healing time.
The COSRX Clear Fit Master Patch comes as a set of patches that directly tackle breakouts. When you open them up, they come as clear hydrocolloid patches which when directly applied on a breakout/ pimple sticks to your skin and absorbs any sebum. The patches fight the spot causing infection and bacteria, keeping them controlled and preventing them from spreading to other areas of your skin.
The COSRX Clear Fit Master Patch is transparent, so if you want to chance wearing it during the day, it’s really hard to see! I’ve been trying these out during the evening though, and I’ve found that the healing time is hugely increased. The next morning, the redness is much less, and my usual ‘spot life’ goes down from 6 days to about 3–4 (I take ages to heal).
Funderm Was Bad Anti Pimples Gel Treatment Invisible & Oil Free
When this 4-in-1 invisible treatment landed on my desk, I immediatley checked the ingredients. Salicylic acid, glycolic acid and niacinimide all present — box ticked for me. Honestly, these three ingredients are ones I’ve found to be amazing for fast acting acne relief. That along with lactic acid (which I find better for use in skin peels as it’s great for fading marks), are my acne go to ingredients. If I know they are present in a product, especially when combined with natural ingredients too, I tend to expect good results.
This gel combines with ingredients like yogurt and Hamamelis Virginiana Leaf Extract, for a slightly more gentle care approach of tackling pimple
prone skin.
You apply it to clean, dry skin, so I’ve preferred using it on days when I’m not wearing makeup, or to apply a light layer before going to bed. I have even applied this to my cheeks and jaw, and then added the COSRX patch on the angrier spots.
I’d say if you have an all-over, angrier looking complexion with clusters of little spots and occasional out bursts of large cysts, this gel is a good one to apply on an evening basis to control the sebum, sooth irritation and unclog your pores. I found that although it took a couple of days to shrink my cluster of angry spots, it seemed to prevent any new breakouts forming. My skin remains fairly clear when I’ve gotten into a routine using this.
Because it’s invisible and feels nice to apply, it doesn’t dry out the skin and just works it’s magic without being noticeable. Here’s some other positives I discovered from this, as it costs £35, it was pricier than I thought it would be but it does pack a punch:
✓ Will not dry out your skin
✓ Totally invisible
✓ Formulated with an exclusive, clinically proven active complex
✓ Cruelty free
✓ Oil-free, SLS & Paraben free
NuSkin LumiSpa Cleansing Kit for Acne Prone Skin
Now I’m on day 5 of using this silicone cleansing device, and I didn’t want to review it properly until a little later on. However, day 5 and I’m feeling like I have the smoothest, most exfoliated skin ever so it’s totally worth a mention on here!
First up, I’ll mention that I do swear my skin cleansing devices because they all work to really shed away the dead skin cells and deep clean, so every bit of dirt gets removed. However, the bristle head ones I’ve used before, like Clarisonic and Magnitone, I’ve struggled to use after 3 months because the bristles get so dirty and it’s expensive changing up the heads every few weeks. If you wear makeup regularly, a silicone head is literally the best thing because it just becomes 100% clean after running under warm running water!
I’ve got the LumiSpa device with the acne prone cleanser, a cleanser rich in salicylic acid and formulated with a blend of algae and plant extracts, so it;s gentle, but works hard to clear up acne and give dull, marked skin that brighter, fresh appearance.
The cleanser — no matter if you go for the blemish prone, dry skin, combination skin, oily or normal — the famous ageLOC ingredients in each cleanser target the visible signs of skin ageing at the source, so if you’re in your late twenties or early thirties like me, you’re also tackling aging skin, too.
The Silicone Head and Activating Cleanser together must be working to slough away dead skin cells and attack any acne causing bacteria, because literally from the second day my skin felt like silk, and my jaw acne is hugely reduced. I have pigmentation and light scarring, and I’ve read that continued use of this cleansing device can get rid of the red marks much quicker, revealing fresher, healthier skin.
It feels incredible to use, like a relaxing face massager. I use it for just two minutes, twice per day, and make it a bit of a thing like I’m turning every skincare routine into an at-home spa experience. I’ve joined NuSkin so if anyone is interested in purchasing the LumiSpa too, just contact me on Whatsapp here or fill contact form:
and I can offer the wholesale price!
