After what seems like hundreds of web pages, I think I might have found something that could possibly work really well for my skin....Glycolic Acid! Sounds scary, doesn't it? I've been getting more and more drastic when it comes to my skin, but I think this is my last step before really taking a plunge. The exact product that I'm talking about is Reviva Labs 10% Glycolic Acid Cream. I read up about it and scientifically, it sounds pretty good.
According to "science" in skincare, Glycolic acid penetrates the outer layer of skin, and dissolves the substance or "glue" that holds the dead skin onto your face. So when it loosens up that glue, it releases the dead skin. It's basically an extreme exfoliator. And we all know that exfoliating it the best thing that we can do when we're trying to remove acne scars from our faces!
I've read from reviews that the 10% cream burns a bit, especially if you don't start off with the lower percentage of 5%. But I'm a rebel, and jumped right on that 10% one. I just received it in the mail, and am soooooo excited to try it. I put a small piece on the inside of my forearm as a test, and its been 5 hours, and so far I haven't had any kind of reaction, so I cant wait to slather this bad boy on my face tonight before I go to bed.
I'm gonna give this a shot tonight, and report back to tell you my thoughts on the product so far.
Wish me luck!
Kristina <3
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Acne scarring and hyperpigmentation
Hello!
So first official blog post, and its serious. One thing that I noticed that I just could not find information relating to me specifically is advice on Hyper-pigmentation acne scars for my skin. I'm gonna throw it out there and let you know that I am half Puerto Rican and half Black. Growing up, I had pretty bad acne and typically people with my skin tone get dark marks after the pimples go away. I'm also a bad girl, and tend to pick or try to pop pimples (awful, I know), so I am left to deal with these dreadful scars that are a constant reminder of my past. I have been attempting to cover up these dark spots for far too long, and I dream of the day where I can just wake up, wash my face(to remove eye boogers...gross) and walk out the door with confidence. So far, I've always tried covering them, but not really treating them. So I decided, New Year! New Skin! And I've started my skin journey to get that flawless skin that I've always deserved. As scary as this is, I've decided to post my before pictures here, and my pictures of my skin the way it is now, so that you can see the progress I've gotten, and any progress that I will hopefully be getting in the future. I really hope that I help at least one person out.
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These first two pictures are when I first started. They were taken around January. Attractive...I know haha
And these two pictures are now! Not much of a difference. It's been about 3 months, and I still look pretty much the same.. As you can tell, my methods so far have not given me the dramatic results that I want. But anyway, back to the post!
Have you seen that Garnier commercial with the dalmations, and the lady starts talking about dark spots? I decided to go out and give that a try. I picked it up at my local RiteAid for $17 (ouch, a little more than I expected to pay for it), but I didn't care because I was so excited to find this magical spot corrector. After using it for 2 months, I have to admit...not impressed. First off, it made me break out! Break outs are what cause the dark marks in the first place! So this did not make me happy. Secondly, it didnt really do much. I've been taking before and after pictures, and I cant really tell the difference. But I do like it as a moisturizer, so I will continue to use this until the tube runs out.
Another thing I tried to do, was actually pretty drastic for me. I discovered and bought this thing called a "derma-roller" and what I am about to tell you, might scare you. It's basically a roller for your face, only thing is the roller has a bunch of needles on it that is meant to puncture your skin. I know, I know it sounds terrifying. But it's not like its a torture device or anything. The needles are tiny, and the purpose of them are to puncture the skin just enough trigger your skins natural ability to produce collagen. When the needles puncture your skin, the skin goes "ouch!" and begins the healing process by producing more skin cells to replace the "damaged" skin. Now, your skin isnt actually damaged. The derma-roller tricks your skin into thinking its damaged, so that the new skin cells reproduce. Now the trick to this is to give the skin some time to start producing new cells , so that the old skin cells are ready to "fall off". This is good, so that your new clearer skin comes to the surface. A few days after derma-rolling, I help my skin out a little by exfoliating, just to help the old skin kinda slough off. Between this and the Garnier Dark Spot Corrector, I think it helped a bit. Unfortunately, I think when I disinfected it by keeping it in a cup of rubbing alcohol for too long (overnight) the wheel started to rust. So it stopped spinning and kept getting caught on my skin. OUCH! So even though it has been showing some results, I think I'm going to give it a rest, and try some other methods and hope I can get faster results. The warmer weather of summer is coming, and I'm growing a bit impatient. So I'll keep you updated on the different products I'll be using until I receive the clear skin that I want.
Til next time!
Kristina!
So first official blog post, and its serious. One thing that I noticed that I just could not find information relating to me specifically is advice on Hyper-pigmentation acne scars for my skin. I'm gonna throw it out there and let you know that I am half Puerto Rican and half Black. Growing up, I had pretty bad acne and typically people with my skin tone get dark marks after the pimples go away. I'm also a bad girl, and tend to pick or try to pop pimples (awful, I know), so I am left to deal with these dreadful scars that are a constant reminder of my past. I have been attempting to cover up these dark spots for far too long, and I dream of the day where I can just wake up, wash my face(to remove eye boogers...gross) and walk out the door with confidence. So far, I've always tried covering them, but not really treating them. So I decided, New Year! New Skin! And I've started my skin journey to get that flawless skin that I've always deserved. As scary as this is, I've decided to post my before pictures here, and my pictures of my skin the way it is now, so that you can see the progress I've gotten, and any progress that I will hopefully be getting in the future. I really hope that I help at least one person out.
.JPG)
Have you seen that Garnier commercial with the dalmations, and the lady starts talking about dark spots? I decided to go out and give that a try. I picked it up at my local RiteAid for $17 (ouch, a little more than I expected to pay for it), but I didn't care because I was so excited to find this magical spot corrector. After using it for 2 months, I have to admit...not impressed. First off, it made me break out! Break outs are what cause the dark marks in the first place! So this did not make me happy. Secondly, it didnt really do much. I've been taking before and after pictures, and I cant really tell the difference. But I do like it as a moisturizer, so I will continue to use this until the tube runs out.
Another thing I tried to do, was actually pretty drastic for me. I discovered and bought this thing called a "derma-roller" and what I am about to tell you, might scare you. It's basically a roller for your face, only thing is the roller has a bunch of needles on it that is meant to puncture your skin. I know, I know it sounds terrifying. But it's not like its a torture device or anything. The needles are tiny, and the purpose of them are to puncture the skin just enough trigger your skins natural ability to produce collagen. When the needles puncture your skin, the skin goes "ouch!" and begins the healing process by producing more skin cells to replace the "damaged" skin. Now, your skin isnt actually damaged. The derma-roller tricks your skin into thinking its damaged, so that the new skin cells reproduce. Now the trick to this is to give the skin some time to start producing new cells , so that the old skin cells are ready to "fall off". This is good, so that your new clearer skin comes to the surface. A few days after derma-rolling, I help my skin out a little by exfoliating, just to help the old skin kinda slough off. Between this and the Garnier Dark Spot Corrector, I think it helped a bit. Unfortunately, I think when I disinfected it by keeping it in a cup of rubbing alcohol for too long (overnight) the wheel started to rust. So it stopped spinning and kept getting caught on my skin. OUCH! So even though it has been showing some results, I think I'm going to give it a rest, and try some other methods and hope I can get faster results. The warmer weather of summer is coming, and I'm growing a bit impatient. So I'll keep you updated on the different products I'll be using until I receive the clear skin that I want.
Til next time!
Kristina!
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