Dealing with breakouts and acne scarring // Skin Care that is working for me!

Problematic skin is something I've always had to deal with. My skin hit an all-time low over a year ago and although I don’t get too many breakouts now, I was left with some confidence-wrenching pigmentation and scarring.

I started using the whole Avene Cleanance range just over a year ago, whilst my skin was at its worst. I can't praise the range enough, but there are a few products from the range that really stood out in regards to pulling my skin through, and I'm still using religiously. Alongside those, there are a few other products that I've used and have found to be helpful for my skin and the pigmentation. 

So this is me, without a scrap of make up on. The 'Before' picture was around 5-6 months ago. My skin was a lot worse than this over a year ago! The 'After' picture was taken this morning, (Oh god the courage this has taken), and I look incredibly pale stood in front of my window. Just a note, my skin tends to look worse when I'm tired at the end of the day or if I've had no sleep! 


Here, I share my experience with the main products I've used - But if you don't feel like watching a video, I've given a brief (or not so much) overview below too! 

No7 Anti-Dark Spot Facial Sun Protection SPF 50

Pigmentation is worsened and thus prolonged with UVA and UVB, so it’s essential to protect the skin from further harm. I only picked this No7 SPF 50 because I had a No7 voucher. I probably wouldn’t use it again purely because it’s said to last 20 uses with each application being a full finger length? Well, I’ve used it very sparingly around 5-6 times so far and there’s under half left already so this may be a little porky!

Avene Cleanance Cleanser

Not like other acne cleansers that make the skin feel tight and dry afterwards, instead creamy, smooth and very thorough! I don’t use it every day and night, just whilst I’m in the shower. I hate splashing my face; I can’t seem to be able to do this without flooding the bathroom and inadvertently washing my hair!

Liz Earle Spot-on

Perfect bag sized spot fighter packed with antiseptic ingredients, tea tree oil and vitamin E. I use this throughout the day on gigantic spots that seem to pop out of nowhere, just to dry them out and speed up the healing process.

Zineryt 

Made up of  Its Zinc Acetate (Anti-irritant/antioxidant), and erythromycin (Antibiotic)

When I first used this I was amazed by the swift results, but found that it stopped working after a couple of weeks. Then after my skin had a break and I got another bottle, it’d work again – So I guess you can say it provided temporary relief for me.  Amazing if you’re going on holiday or to an event I suppose! It smells incredibly strong though, and it dyes anything it comes into contact with whilst still wet. It’s worth it.

Avene TriAcneal

This is again something I slather over an active breakout, but at night instead. When I first started using this it tingled which, to me, always makes me feel like it’s working its magic right away, haha! It’s a light chemical exfoliator so shifts dead skin and works its way to smoother, clearer skin. I’m on my 3^rd tube and swear by it.

Alpha-H Liquid Gold

I’ve only had this about a month, but have noticed quicker fading since then. Its £35 so pretty steep, but I’ll buy this again. This is also a chemical exfoliator, but definitely feels more intense than Triacneal, and now that my skin has improved slightly, I’ll stop using it every night – Eek!

Lancome Visionnaire

I actually tried to buy the full version of this but was told by the Lancome Consultant that my skin looked great, I was too young and she was therefore unwilling to sell it to me. She probably didn’t realise that underneath the max cover double wear foundation was a bit of an uneven mess. It smells gorgeous though and feels somewhere between a light serum and cream. It feels really nutritious on the skin, promotes radiance and gently soothes.

Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate

As mentioned in the past, this is a great treat, I tend to use this twice a week as it’s quite a heavy serum with Neroli and Vitamin E, both well known to reduce the redness of scarring and to promote skin integrity. I’ve been using this for ages and it lasts very well. I sometimes like to layer this up alongside a lighter serum and moisturiser sometimes for a real moisture kick. It sounds overpowering but my skin loves it! 


 I think the greatest ingredient for acne scarring, above all, is time. I've been so incredibly impatient with mine and its taken a couple of years to see improvement, but with the help of these products I've really found a regime that seems to work for me.  There have been a few along the way which really haven't agreed with me, or have just had no effect whatsoever (For example, Hiruscar)!


I really hope this has been helpful for some of you. Oh, and this morning I went shopping with just tinted moisturiser on. Achievement! Let me know what products you've really found helpful! 


S x