Sorry for such long hiatus. Dealing with a lot of things at once is no joke, people! Being physically and mentally healthy at this time is like liquid gold, don’t you agree? I’m trying to #stayhome as much as I can during this Covid19 outbreak (on almost 30 days now-and I didn’t even go out to do my groceries anymore). But doing nothing at home, literally can do serious damage to my bank account if I’m not careful. Online shopping is so tempting, don’t you agree?
As much as I tempted to try lots of new skincare products, I’d try my best to stick to the ones that work well. Here are a few of my favorite things if I have to repurchase during this hard time. Till then, stay safe and healthy.
DRUNK ELEPHANT A-PASSIONI RETINOL CREAM
Personally I prefer this rather than The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion. I apply this on dry, clean skin followed by their B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Serum. I believe this helped my bumpy skin (due to close comedo) and it didn’t cause me any purging. The one thing that I don’t like is the expensive price.
DERMA E VERY CLEAR ACNE SPOT TREATMENT
It didn’t zap away pimples in one night, but it healed them well. This gel will help to reduce the redness and worked well on cystic acnes and those pesky little bumps too. Totally recommended, even though it’s not cheap for a spot treatment.
AVENE TOLERANCE EXTREME EMULSION
I pick emulsion rather than moisturizer because they are lighter in texture. This is my favorite emulsion, it contains minimal ingredients and safe for Fungal Acne. Hard to find here in Jakarta, but always restock when I travel abroad.
LA ROCHE POSAY SEROZINC
Refreshing, cooling, mattifying. What’s not to love about this Zinc Sulfate face mist/no fuss toner? Make sure to hydrate properly after this toner/face mist.
COSRX ACNE PIMPLE MASTER PATCH
Being one of the pioneers of acne patches, they really stick like no other. If you have super oily skin like me and having trouble of sliding acne patches, this one’s for you. This works really well on extracting the puss out of matured pimples. And please guys, do not wear them under makeup, they still show.
There’s nothing worse than painful comedo extraction that left my face like tons of open wound.
THE NIGHT AFTER THE BAD FACIAL
Thanks to my super-sensitive skin, my skin will become red and looked worse painful comedo extraction. And yes, I do hate those traditional method when the therapist did cleansing, then straight to steaming only for a few minutes and start pricking, pressing and popping. I’m sure until today there’s still debate on “should you really pop up everything in facial treatment room?”
I am an anti-extraction. I don’t like the pain (it hurts like hell) and the after-math. But, things are done, and all I can do is to let my skin to calm down, soothe and heal them after all the aggressive treatment.
Let them be for at least 6 hours after. Don’t touch, don’t pick, and avoid using makeup at all costs. Just go home straight after the treatment and sulk (LOL). Feel burned? Spray VICHY Mineralizing Thermal Water in between, and let it dry by itself.
After 6 hours passed, do double cleanse. I use Bioderma Sensibio H2O first (with cotton pads), then Drunk Elephant Beste No 9 Jelly Cleanser after. Gently pat dry with soft, dry and clean towel.
Skip toner. Instead, I use this DIY Oatmeal solution (chill them inside the fridge, because cold temperature might help to reduce redness, irritation and puffiness). Dampened the compressed sheet-mask inside the icy cold solution, put it on for about 20 minutes.
Or if you don’t have time to make your own sheet mask, I do recommend BE PLAIN Bamboo Healing Mask. Infused in bamboo water, this will help to soothe and refresh. Keep it in the fridge, as cold stuff will help lessen the inflammation.
While my skin is still damp, I apply APIEU Madecassoside Ampoule. You see Madecassoside is known as best solution for damaged skin from dryness. Pat gently to absorb then move on to next step.
Serum. I use this AQULABO Vinyasa Calming Serum. As the name stated, it’s a calming serum to reduce stress on the skin after a horrible extraction.
Don’t forget to (still) hydrate your skin. I personally love ISNTREE Hyaluronic Acid Water Essence, because it has been tested as a low irritation skin care product.
Avene Tolerance Extreme Emulsion is the final step, just to make sure that on your skin’s most sensitive state, it will stay hydrated, soft and supple. Oh did I mention, this calm the redness too?
Extra tips:
When your skin feels inflamed with burning sensation after facial, you might want to consider drinking an Ibuprofen pill to ease any pain.
Stay out of the sun, and keep cool (literally). Warm weather will worsen the burn sensation, so it’s best to stay indoor while healing and turn on that AC.
ONE WEEK AFTER THE FACIAL (STILL HEALING WITH NEW ZITS POPPING)
Remember that each of us human beings have different pain tolerance and healing level. While my skin took longer to heal all those scabs and back to their original state, yours might not. So again, I do recommend (again and again) to listen to your skins’ needs before you do any facial treatments.
Super glad that 2019 is almost over. Definitely not one of my best year, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it (LOL).
Just a quick update on my skin condition, I believe when I got older, my skin easily and rapidly reacted to skincare products. Bumps and adult/hormonal acnes are still easily appeared. The good thing is, I’ve managed to control my fungal acne come back with the right products. In fact, I didn’t suffer any fungal-acne breakout this year.
After trial & error here and there, I became more aware on what ingredients that actually work, or in the other hand, caused the problems. In my case, I try to avoid:
Butylene Glycol, because it might trigger comedones.
Centella Asiatica, because it’s not good if you are still suffering from acne or having acne-prone skin like mine.
Essential Oils or any facial oil, because my skin didn’t react well after using them.
So yes, it became harder to find skincare products for me. Other than avoiding non-safe fungal acne ingredients, now I also have to check those ingredients above. And trust me, it’s not easy!
This (much shorter) list is based on my own personal experience and after checking all the ingredients on cosdna and skincarisma. No worries, this list is mostly different from my 2018 list (with additional categories and check out my HG products with *).
Enjoy reading and happy holidays, folks! Make sure you spent your money wisely when it comes to skincare products (talking like a true champ, LOL).
Been in a very tough situation lately, I have to admit this is not a very good year for me. And I’m sure you’ve heard it everywhere, when you are stressed, so does your skin. Just look at my stress acnes!
I’ve been fighting them for about two weeks now, but I know I’m not alone. So I decided to do some research online and write down this post.
WHAT CAUSED STRESS ACNE? Obviously, STRESS. And if your skin is already acne-prone, stress can make acne worse. You see, hormones released and produced during stress will increase further skin inflammation. And for some people, stress will vigorously make them pick at their acnes which can cause bigger problem like scars and such.
WHAT DIFFERS NORMAL ACNE & STRESS ACNE? I personally believe stress acne is redder than ordinary ones, and doesn’t necessarily have pus in it. Sometime, it formed a painful cyst too. And also what I personally experienced, stress acne will show up on areas you’ve never had acnes before. I also experienced more blackheads and whiteheads.
HOW TO MANAGE STRESS ACNE? Seriously guys, if I told you not to stress over it and stay calm, you’ll kill me, right? I tried to manage my stress first, by hanging out with friends and trying not to bring work problems home. So, find your chill first, then try to handle the stress acne. First, drink more water, less caffeinated & dairy drinks and alcohol. Then, do basics skincare like cleanse, tone and moisturize. Don’t overdo things like adding more unnecessary steps to your skincare routine. Or worse, do cleansing more than twice a day. Remember to stick to your basic routine and products.
MY BASIC SKINCARE ROUTINE DURING STRESS ACNE
FACE CLEANSER: DRUNK ELEPHANT PEKEE BAR
This stuff is MAGIC in a bar form. It’s fragrance and soap-free, doesn’t contain any essential oil and have honey in it (you know how I love honey).
TONER: SIMPLE KIND TO SKIN SOOTHING FACIAL TONER
The name said it all. It is a soothing toner, feels and looks like water. I’d recommend to stay away from exfoliating toner when your skin is stress. Choose a hydrating toner that’s light and alcohol free.
SERUM: VICHY MINERAL 89
Why 89? Because it does contain up to 89% of natural origin Hyaluronic Acid. This will protect skin from pollution, stress and fatigue. And I chose hydration serum during my stress acne period, rather than my regular Niacinamide or vitamin C serum (it’s like taking a break from the hard stuffs). I also skip moisturizer after this, just because I feel this already helped with the hydration.
SPF (AM ROUTINE): SKIN AQUA UV SUPER MOISTURE GEL SPF50+ PA++++
Long time favorite of mine. SPF in a gel form, easy to absorb, doesn’t leave any white cast and never broke me out. It’s super light in texture and good for makeup base too.
MORE TIPS:
Don’t overkill your stress acne with spot treatments, especially those with tough ingredients such as Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicylic Acid. Trust me, they will look worse (looks more red & irritated).
Instead, try to hydrate your skin as much as you can. Personally, I love to spray my face with Avene Thermal Spring Water during the day.
And also, try to touch up your SPF during the day. Usually, I reapply every four hours even though I stayed indoor most of the time. Because I wear makeup, I like to use Kose Suncut Protect UV Spray SPF50+ PA++++.
Double cleanse if you have makeup on. My all time favorite is Banila Co Clean It Zero
Stay clear from anything acid and retinol while stress acne attacked. Treat them first with tender, love and care.
Do I have
other products than K-Beauty skincare? Of course, dearest. I do have a few of
European drugstore brands in my collection. Disclaimer: unfortunately, most of
them were purchased when I travelled abroad, because they don’t carry them
where I live (Jakarta, Indonesia). Boohoo!!
EAU THERMALE AVÈNE or simply called Avène.
Thermal Spring Water
I guess
every girl in this world must have this in their vanity. I use this before
first toner, right after cleansing. Why? Because I have hard water in my home,
so I need to neutralize my skin before everything else. It has ideal
calcium/magnesium ratio to help improve skin texture. And I love the cooling
& calming sensation on every spray it made. Super love!
3 in 1 Make-Up Remover
This is like
a cleansing milk, non-rinse ones. Its’ milky texture will turn into fluid when
rubbed. Please note that this has fragrance (but claimed to be tolerated by
sensitive skin). It removed base makeup well, but not recommended to use to
remove eye makeup.
Vichy Laboratories Mineral 89
I am sold by
one of their claim that it acts as a protective shield against pollution. And
after more research, I found out that this only has 11 ingredients (which is
great for sensitive skin), with the highest concentration of their Thermal
Mineralizing Water plus Hyaluronic Acid. Currently, I use this as daily
moisturizer, by the way.
URIAGE EAU THERMALE or simply called Uriage
Creme Lavante
Another
Thermal Water based product in my collection, this is a fragranced cleansing
cream. Even though it’s fragranced, it’s safe for sensitive skin (proven by
yours truly). Usually I use this in the morning after my acid night (which is
only twice a week now). Mind you, this is soap-free and contains 1/3 nourishing
milk. It won’t dry out skin but in the same time it didn’t leave any filmy
residue after cleansing.
Hyseac SPF50+ Fluid
It’s
specifically tailored for combination to oily skin, so yes on this point. It
contains licorice extract which known for its’ ability to reduce excess sebum
and prevent new blemishes. Another yes. It didn’t leave my skin look shiny or
white or greyish or patchy.
Eucerin Ultra Sensitive Soothing Care
This is
actually a day and night moisturizer, but I use this as a daily moisturizer for
AM only. It’s preservative-free, paraben-free, paraffin-free, fragrance-free,
alcohol-free, colorant-free and emulsifier-free. Since I’ve experienced redness
here and there, especially after that over-exfoliating period, this really help
to calm them down. It’s very light and contains SymSitive, their patented
ingredient specially developed for hypersensitive skin. I do recommend this to
strengthen skin barrier.
Biologique Recherche Lotion P50T
This
specific type (they do have lots of type) of acid toner has been developed to
suit all skin types from sensitive to dehydrated skin. I was too excited to try
this hype acid toner, I applied this every night. Yes, I ended up having
over-exfoliated skin. So, I do recommend to use this only once or twice a week
(diluted on a cotton pad moistened with water). I don’t mind the vinegar-like
smell, it reminds me of Apple Cider Vinegar.
LA ROCHE-POSAY
Thermal Spring Water
What is it
with me and Thermal Water? Well, this is another favorite Thermal Water of
mine. Naturally rich in selenium, well known as a powerful antioxidant, this
face mist not only refreshes but also tones and rebalance skin. That’s why on
my bad skin days, I will use this as a face toner to replace my regular toner.
Serozinc Face Mist
To beat the
shine with only mist? Yup, this will do. This is actually a mattifying face
mist, specially made for oily skin people. As the name applied, it does contain
zinc sulfate to target signs of oily skin. No worries, it’s also clear like
ordinary water mist, and I believe this is also a great toner if you’re
sensitive to anything.
Bioderma Sensibio H2O
Need I say more? Tried many of cleansing water for makeup, from another brands, another countries, but keep on coming back to this. Even though this doesn’t dissolve eye makeup, but a great base makeup remover.
After my
update on AM Routine last week, here’s the second one, PM Routine. Please note
that they’re all also fungal-acne safe (based on skincarisma.com checking).
Avene 3 in 1 Makeup Remover (I don’t understand why they put in quite a strong fragrance into this one, luckily it’s safe for me).
Purito
Defence Barrier pH Cleanser (this is my second tube, and I love the clear gel texture
that made my skin feels super clean but not tight).
Biologique
Recherche Lotion p50T (don’t buy this if you are super sensitive to vinegar
scent. It really smells like one and the price is out of this world. But worth
every single drop).
I’m From
Mugwort essence. (I skip hydrating toner, and go straight to essence. But
still, I will layer up to five times depends on how sleepy I am, LOL. For the
last layer, I mixed with Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster to avoid
stickiness).
Drunk
Elephant Glycolic Night Serum (only on acne days, and only on the spots).
Mad Hippie
Vitamin C Serum (my new favorite serum. I use this on areas that need to
brighten, like around the nose and lips, and some newly formed acne scars).
Vely Vely Pink Calming Gel (this is my first ever face and body moisturizer. At first, I was hesitant to put it on my face. So I tried it on my neck. It didn’t cause any break out, so I decided to apply it on my face, too. It did what it claimed: soothing & calming. And I love the pink gel with pink microbeads in it).
shintarosvita 
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