Acne & Lifestyle Blog

Saturday 4 June 2016

Does Acnecide Really Work?

If you've read my blog for the past couple of months, then you'll have probably heard me mention acne at least once or twice. It is something that has been in my life since the age of 10 and it is only now that my skin is slowly starting to go back to normal. I have some redness, the odd spot and a lot of scarring and pigmentation. Obviously, there is other treatments out there such as laser treatment, however, due my current financial status in life I don't have the funds to proceed with that treatment. But it is definitely something that is on my list for the future & something I can hopefully share on my blog when the time comes around.

Acnecide on the otherhand is cream treatment known as benzoyl peroxide or in simpler terms, bleach. When applied to the infected area(s), the benzoyl peroxide will start to react with the bacteria and germs formed within the cysts or your acne and from there it will slowly start to heal. It is recommended to use a thin layer and a small amount, and I cannot express this enough as overusing it and thinking more will make the effects work better and so forth, will actually do the opposite and make your skin feel and look worse as I have found out from my own personal experience.
It is also suggested and stated stated within the instructions that if this gets in the way of any coloured items, including your hair, you may essentially bleach it. So, I'd advise tying your hair up and making sure any bedsheets or clothing that may get in contact with your skin be something old or essentially white itself.

I've been using it for around a month and 3 weeks and have noticed a lot of changes to my skin in terms of the effects it has which when I first got it and read the instructions it did warn me about beforehand.

Side Effects Include:
- Dry Skin
- Skin Redness
- Peeling Of The Skin
- Burning Sensation Of The Skin

(Common: may affect up to 1 to 100 people)
- Itching Of The Skin (pruritus)
- Pain Of The Skin (pain, stinging)
- Skin Irritation (irritant contact dermatitis)

Side Effects I Encountered:
- Dry Skin
- Skin Redness (slightly severe)
- Peeling Of The Skin
- Burning Sensation To The Skin
- Itching Of The Skin (mildly)
- Pain Of The Skin (bearable pain)


So, What Happened Throughout My Monthly Process Of Using Acnecide?
When I started using Acnecide I had one thought in mind. That was to clear my acne up and hopefully treat anything that is lurking in the background from appearing. Now Acnecide isn't a normal spot treatment and is one which is recommended to be used for a month, twice or once a day to see actual affects, but not to be used like a regular spot treatment in which you would apply it whenever a spot appeared and it became a nuisance.

I started using this on the 15th March and ended my treatment a week before the 15th April. I decided not to carry out my full treatment due to the sensation and look of my skin. In a nutshell, it looked like Samantha from Sex and the City when she had undergone a chemical peel. Not a very nice look.
On using the cream, it felt very much like a primer. It was quite thick and chalky but was easily distributed across the skin. The areas in which I applied the cream were my cheeks and chin as these are the areas which have a lot of redness, pigmentation and spots/pimples. First day results didn't show much and neither did the side affects besides a slight bit of dryness to the skin and stinging which was bearable.

A week after using the treatment, I gradually noticed my skin getter redder and the once smoothness of my skin had turned into severe dryness. There was also a lot more stinging and itching to the skin which at times did become unbearable but after a while it did start to feel natural and not at all uncomfortable.

I'd also like to mention that throughout this stage and the next 2 weeks that my skincare routine and a little bit of makeup did come in handy in making sure my skin was cooled down and that public appearances didn't make babies cry. The skincare items I used was a dry skin cleanser and toner with a gel consistency moisturiser. I also used the First Aid Beauty Radiance Pads which is essentially exfoliating pads for daily use, but didn't find them reacting to my skin at all but in turn kind of helped keep the flaking of the skin down to a minimum.

Two/Three weeks later of using the treatment I did notice my skin gradually getting worse. The itching and stinging had upped and the redness was getting a lot more severe which my boyfriend at the time mentioned to me as he was quite worried it was essentially harming my skin. At this stage I did stop using the treatment and instead continued with my usual makeup and skincare routine in order to let my skin heal itself from there and slowly come back to its original self.

After the use of the treatment, I did notice the pigmentation in my skin had reduced gradually and the smoothness to my skin had started to gradually come back to life. The spots/pimples within my skin had also slowed down in appearing on the skin but the scarring left over from my acne before had stayed the same. As to whether the treatment harmed my skin or the areas which weren't affected? I can safely say that there was no serious harm to my skin or the areas which didn't need treated, but instead the treatment solely worked on the areas it felt needed treated too. The redness to my skin from the treatment gradually did reduce which was aided with the use of a toner for dry skin, and around a month later my skin was back to its original self.

Overall, I can't say the treatment done wonders especially for the side affects I had been put through. It did give me a small amount of results to my cheek area, but this did gradually start to return to its original state after a couple of months. Therefore, I would suggest this treatment to someone who may have more severe acne than me and that may need that little bit more help to calm the cysts and spots down. But if your acne is within the mild stage, I would suggest trying other treatments as it essentially didn't really do much for me.

What were your experiences with acnecide? Did you suffer as many side affects as me? What was your end result?

Penny
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Friday 27 May 2016

Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Moisturiser Review

Wow, it feels like it has been ages since I posted on my blog. A lot have things have happened though, but not quite Eastenders-style, but things have gone from bad to good, to okay and so forth. I won't go into too much detail but after being away from my blog for so long, I definitely had the urge to at least post something - so I thought I would start with a quick review from Clinique.

Clinique is a brand I have heard about quite a lot, especially from the Bubzbeauty days when all I did was swear by her wise words when it came to acne and skincare in general. About 6 years later, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Clinique product from the moisture surge range, which is the moisturiser.

I have combination skin as I like to call it, but whether I'm within this category I am unsure. My skin can be quite dry most of the day which tends to make my makeup cake a lot if I don't check on it regularly. However, it can also get very oily mostly on my cheeks, chin and forehead. So I definitely have a mixture of everything going on and trying to combat every problem can be quite a hassle when some products don't want to work in conjunction with another. Would you like a skincare routine on products which help battle both these problems?

Within the moisture surge range, there is two moisturisers I believe. The extended thirst relief moisturiser and the Intense Skin Fotifying Hydrator. I opted for the extended thirst relief moisturiser as this one is a gel consistency, compared to the other one which is a cream. Also, due to the consistency being gel it means it feels quite water like and thin so I wouldn't be wasting any product and also because it would help hydrate my skin that little better than a cream would.

The packaging for this moisturiser is a 50ml glass tub with a screw on lid, with a green outer packaging. On arrival you also get a lid to cover the actual moisturiser from the lid for hygiene reasons, which can be quite messy as a lot of the product at the top collects which means you will spend at least 2-3 days using the product on the lid than in the actual jar. It is also optional to throw this away or keep it, but I find throwing it away once you've used the product on it to be better and the product itself doesn't dry out or change in consistency either.

The product itself I find to be amazing. Due to the light formulation to the product it means you only need a little bit. Literally dabbing your fingertip into the pot is enough to cover your entire face. On the face it feels cooling and soothing as though you've splashed your face with water or spritz it with a setting spray. It takes about 1-2 minutes to dry and doesn't leave a sticky residue behind. Once fully dried and sunk into the skin, my skin feels really smooth and my makeup blends into my skin really well compared to if I was to use my moisturiser beforehand which was a Liz Earle one.

Overall, I am really happy with this moisturiser. If you have problematic skin or acne I woul suggest giving this moisturiser as a go, as not only does it help sooth the skin but it also helps reduce any redness. It's priced at £34 per pot, but if you use FeelUnique's 6 month offer of 10% off you can get it for cheaper. 

Penny
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