[Acne Story/Tips] My Current Skincare Routine May 2014 + Answers to FAQ

Out of all of the emails I get, the most frequently asked questions are "what's your current skincare routine?", "how do you deal with breakouts during 'that time of the month'?", "......products recommendation that can fight pimples and pimple scars" etc. blahhhhhhhhhhhh~ majority of the mails are regarding to the little monster, A.C.N.E!

So, here I am answering to the most frequently asked questions~

Before I start, let me clarify one point. — I'm not a skin or beauty professional etc. so...all the information provided are based on my own experiences and thoughts. Even though the products I use/mention helped treat my skin problems, I don't know if they would work the same for you because our skins are different so what worked for me might not work the same for you. With that said, please treat below information as a reference.

1) What's my my skin type?
Oily/Combination + Acne-prone + Sensitive skin

2) What's my current skincare routine?

Well, I am aware that I have not been updating my skincare routine page since November 2013. That basically means I am still sticking with the routine .aka. am still using the products as listed.

But to be honest, I actually modified and added in a few products into my skincare routine in early Feb this year. Sorry for the extreme late update. In the future, more detailed information about my skincare routine will be updated in this post section followed by FAQ, if any, instead of the skincare routine page. Do take note of it. :)

[My Current Skincare Routine] (dated: 2nd Feb 2014)

The range of products I use for day and night.

To make things clearer, I'm going to separate my skincare routines into TWO — One with makeup products, one without. Without further ado, I shall introduce my current skincare routine~

Day and Night Routine IF I'm staying at home the whole day:
(WITHOUT makeup products)

Product I use in the DAY:

Arranged according to steps:

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Toner

- Hiruscar Post Acne Gel

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Liquid Spot

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Hinoki Water Mist

Product I use at NIGHT:

Arranged according to steps:

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser

- *Etude House Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub (once a week)

- *Cure Natural Aqua Gel (once a week)

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Toner
- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet (once a week if I get breakout)

- Hiruscar Post Acne Gel

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion

- Mizon Snail Repair Eye Cream

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Pink Powder Spot

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Hinoki Water Mist

Day and Night routine IF I'm going out of the house:

(WITH makeup products)

Product I use in the DAY:

Arranged according to steps:

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Toner

- Hiruscar Post Acne Gel

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Liquid Spot
- The Face Shop FACE it Power Perfection BB Cream #02 Natural Beige

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Hinoki Water Mist

Product I use at NIGHT:

Arranged according to steps:
- Biore Aqua Jelly Make Up Remover

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser

- *Etude House Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub (once a week)

- *Cure Natural Aqua Gel (once a week)

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Toner
- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet (once a week if I get breakout)

- Hiruscar Post Acne Gel

- Etude House AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion
- Mizon Snail Repair Eye Cream

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Pink Powder Spot

- Etude House AC Clinic Intense Hinoki Water Mist

*I added both exfoliators into my skincare routine in early January this year. Sorry for the extreme late update... Anyway, I bought the Cure Natural Aqua Gel since last year but I had stopped using it for awhile due to laziness and literally forgot about it's existence.

Till one day, I recalled it's existence, then I resumed using it.

I exfoliate my face once or twice a week, depends on my mood and my hardworking-ness~ ROFL. If I'm going to exfoliate my face twice a week, I will usually use the Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub for the first exfoliation session and on the second exfoliation session, I will use the Cure Natural Gel.

I use different exfoliators because I have pretty sensitive skin especially on the area of my cheeks, excluding the area of my nose. I personally find the Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub a little harsh to my skin when I use it twice a week. As an exception, the area of my nose is non-sensitive but very oily hence, I will usually use the Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub on my nose twice a week. As for the rest of my face, I will usually exfoliate ONCE using the Baking Powder Crunch Pore Scrub and ONCE using the Cure Natural Gel. I hope it's not too confusing.

Being a girl, breakouts are unavoidable, especially during 'that time of the month' .aka. menstrual period. So ladies..., no matter how good you pampered your skin, during 'that time of the month', the zits will surely come out to play. It's something inevitable but you can find ways to reduce the breakouts that will happen during 'that time of the month'.

Let me share with you some tips~:

First and foremost, refrain from touching or popping the zits! Leave them alone and eventually, they will "ripe" and heal themselves. I saw this interesting picture on twitter the other day and I find it kinda true so let me share with you, readers.

The moral of the story = Refrain touching or popping your pimple/zit!

Secondly, determine when you are most prone to breakout and lastly, deal with it.

To deal with my breakouts during 'that time of the month', I would first find out when my skin is most prone to breakout. I usually breakout during my first week and the week after of my period. Hence, what I usually do is to use Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet a week before my period and when it's going into the week after my period .aka. post safe period. It did help me to reduce the amount and the severity of zits coming out to play. By the way, this mask is one of my 'secret weapons' to deal with breakouts.

Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet contains Salicylic Acid, which is an anti-acne ingredient, that helps to prevent pimples and at the same time, tackle and treat the existing ones. Check out my review here: http://bitsdiaries.blogspot.com/2013/02/review-etude-house-ac-clinic-intense.html

There are many brands carrying anti-acne mask sheet. So of course, you can use other anti-acne mask sheet from other brands as long as it is specifically for troubled skin, I believe it would work out fine tackling zits as well. Do not neglect to hydrate your skin by the way!

As for guys, apparently you guys don't have the ~~golden~~ shitty time of the month so I don't know if you have a breakout cycle but nevermind, you can also try to determine when your skin are most prone to breakout. From there, you can decide on when to use the anti-acne treatment products, such as the Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet, to tackle the zits.

FYI, Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet is not the only mask sheet I use. I use facial masks twice a week and I have many mask sheets that serve different purposes — whitening, hydrating, soothing, pore tightening, oil-control and many more. Let me know if you are interested and wanted to know more about the mask sheets I use. I might consider doing a post sharing more details about them~

One thing to take note which I have said this a zillion times... As our skins are different, what worked for me might not work the same for you. Therefore, even though Etude House AC Clinic Intense Mask Sheet worked out awesomely for me, it might not work out as good for you. Hence, I strongly recommend to go ahead and try out different mask sheets that are designated for troubled skin and see which one works better for you then, you can consider adding that into your skincare routine.

On the other hand, in my opinion, what we eat or drink play a part in breakouts. With that said, try to stay away from (or eat less) greasy, spicy foods, seafood particularly "shellfish", junk foods, dairy products, soda/sweet drinks etc. Instead, consume more veggies in your diet and drink plain water or non-additives pure green tea. You can also take in health products such as vitamin pills etc. but for me, I don't do that. The only health product I consume is Chlorophyll drink. Google for more info.

Also, by having a good life routine does help and improve the skin conditions thus, don't be an owl and stay up late at night. Sleep early instead!

4) Products recommendation that can fight pimples and pimple scars
When people asked me for products recommendation, usually I will not state a specific product and ask you to go get this or must get this this this etc. because as stated before, "our skins are different, what worked for me might not work the same for you". I usually only share my experience on the products I used that worked for me. Hence, I always reply like "you might want to give this a try..." etc.. Whether you want to give the product I mentioned a shot, it's all up to you.

So for products recommendation, just check my skincare routine and you will know what products I'm going to share.

Here's an advice... If you are having pimples, just choose skincare products that contain anti-acne ingredients such as salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide or tea tree oil etc. However, be warned that some signs of dryness are inevitable as anti-acne ingredients usually might cause skin to feel dry. If that's a problem to you, just add in an oil-free and non-comedogenic hydrating moisturizer into your skincare routine. In any case, I will advise all, especially for people with sensitive skin, to do a small patch test prior using the product or if there is any tester available on the shelves, test it prior purchasing the product.

Another note for people with sensitive skin... Be cautious to product that contains tea tree oil as it might cause an allergic reaction. Take note of the concentration — 100% is extremely strong... I personally have tried using 100% pure tea tree oil on zits and I suffered from bad allergic/irritation after application. Then I lowered down the concentration to 5% and it did not work out for me as well. It left me with bad allergic reactions/irritation(red, burnt, peeled, extremely itchy patches) again. From then, I stayed away from touching any products that contain tea tree oil. So do take note of the allergic reactions/irritation that might caused by Tea Tree oil.

As for post acne marks/scars, you can try getting whitening/spot treatment that is specifically for pimple scars. There are many various whitening/spot treatment products from different brands in the market.

Throughout my acne journey, I tried a few kinds of whitening/spot treatments and my personally favorite is Hiruscar Post Acne Gel, which is still a part of my skincare routine. It's a light gel and it did lighten my post acne marks. It gets absorbed into the skin without leaving a layer thus, it can be used under makeup without interference. Check out my full review here: http://bitsdiaries.blogspot.com/2013/11/review-hiruscar-post-acne-gel.html

5) During the time when I suffered from horrible breakouts, do I wear makeup?
OF COURSE, I DO! But I tried to use products that state "non-comedogenic", which means "less clogging pores" and I tried to wear as minimal makeup as possible because thick makeup can cause acne condition to become worse. Back then, I worn 1 or 2 layers of The Face Shop FACE it Power Perfection BB Cream, covered my blemishes with DHC Medicated Acne Concealer and finished with Maybelline Pure Pact Mineral Healthy Perfecting UV Compact Foundation. Is it too much?

Anyway, nowadays I only wear BB cream alone.

6) What sunscreen do I wear?
I don't wear sunscreen and I have zero knowledge on sunscreen so, sorry I can't help on any questions regarding to sunscreen.

I hope this would help...... There are still many questions that I wanted to post it here but I think I shall stop for now. Otherwise, this post will become super lengthy. I will write up another FAQ post in the future so keep your questions coming!