In my head, I'm picturing my little blue bottle of Super Pure wearing a cape (pastel, of course) that flows gloriously in the wind. My skin has been my biggest nightmare for the past seven years. Forget the boogeyman or that creepy doll that for some reason keeps getting her own movie. Nope, my skin has been haunting me since I was just a wee little teenager and nothing has worked. I had bad acne. I don't want to say terrible because while it certainly was my biggest insecurity (which says a lot because few things trump my insecurity about my huge nose), it could have been worse. It was, however, seemingly never ending.
There wasn't a moment since middle school or so that I haven't had some sort of breakout on my face. Sometimes it would only be a few pimples, then it turned to my cheeks, then it was all around my mouth and nose. Then the horrible habit of popping zits and picking skin turned those zits into scars and I was left with not only active breakouts but scarring that added even more redness to my face.
I've been going to the dermatologist for years and haven't been able to find the right combination for my skin. We typically treated it topically, choosing creams and gels to treat from the outside in to try to alleviate my acne. It wasn't cutting it anymore, so I was prescribed a generic version of Aldactone at a low dosage to treat my hormonal (lower face) and persistent acne. Basically, it reduces the amount of sebum (oils, for one) that excretes from your skin and lowers androgen levels. Androgen (including testosterone) can trigger both the growth of hair and acne in females because it triggers sebaceous glands. Acne, however, will surface faster than hair, hence why androgen levels in females can affect breakouts.
In short: I've been taking oral medication to tackle my persistent hormonal adult acne. I feel confident that I'm not jinxing myself by writing this post. I currently have zero active breakouts and I was just recently able to up my dosage, which I'm hoping will continue to work wonders with my skin.
However, there was one last thing left to tackle: my scars. They have been my never-ending problem. Even when I was having good moments with my skin where my breakouts weren't out of control, my acne scars were so red and dark that it was still impossible to go anywhere bare-faced. I had no idea where to start when it came to acne scarring. Was I supposed to treat them like regular scars? Did I need something special? Was I supposed to slather something all over my face and cross my fingers? Or was I supposed to wait for them to fade naturally if that was even possible.
A friend told me that one of her friends uses and loves the Glossier Super Pure serum to even out the redness in her face and fade her acne scars. I figured there was no harm in trying out this product. If it made me breakout, then fine, it made me breakout. I know how to handle acne when it comes to covering it up. If it worked, however, well...that wasn't something I even believed in after the years of rough times with my skin.
I've been using this product in combination with only my normal face wash and my oral medication for the past three weeks. I don't do crazy masks, I'm not using any acne regimented system at the moment. My Spironolactone and Glossier Super Pure Serum are all that are taking care of my skin right now.
I can not for the life of me remember the last time I could look at myself in the mirror with no makeup on and not want to cry. I've had moments of pure misery staring at my reflection with red blotches and inflamed under-the-skin zits surrounding vile whiteheads. I've wanted to cry and crawl out of my own skin so I didn't have to deal with it anymore. And now, for $28 and whatever my copay is for my medication, I have skin that doesn't make me embarrassed anymore.
Am I going to throw away my foundation any time soon? No, of course not. I love makeup and I love the way foundation smoothes out my skin. But am I going to need to use three pumps and two layers of concealer anymore? No. Baby steps, my friends.
Glossier Super Pure is a niacinamide serum that is teamed up with zinc to soothe redness in your skin, including blemishes. It helps to flush out impurities in the skin, including excess oils and grime that can collect in your pores and cause more breakouts.
Niacinamide is a vitamin that has anti-inflammatory properties, making it great to treat inflamed acne. Zinc seems like an unlikely ingredient when it comes to treating breakouts. I mean, isn't it just one of those elements we had to learn about in chemistry? True, but it also boosts immune function, which can help control any inflammatory response to a buildup of oil or bacteria on your skin. Those buildups can cause the skin around the pore to turn red and swell. Sound familiar?
Do I think that Super Pure and Super Pure solely ridded my skin of every last bit of acne? No, probably not. Do I think that it single-handedly faded the acne scars that I've been wishing would vanish for years? You betcha. My only complaint, truly, is that the bottle is so small and you don't get a lot of product. Still, I'll definitely be repurchasing when I ran out because I love knowing that I'll be able to wake up the next day with the redness in my face diminished enough that if I had to go out in public without foundation on, I could do it without wanting to die from embarrassment.
Fellow acne-sufferers: what's your favorite skin product?
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Before buying anything from cosmetics I read review of Smartwritingservice.com. It's the only source I can truly trust.
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