Tag: Bioderma

UPDATE: CAUTER WOUNDS

After my Cauter Procedure on September 28, 2018 (read the post HERE), I thought I’d update you all about my skin condition.

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Well, as you can see from the pics above, some of the bigger spots on the upper-cheek area are getting lighter (some are gone, YEAY!). Those were the areas that used to be the home of Sebaceous Hyperplasia, so no wonder the wounds were bigger than just Milia’s wounds. I was using Dermatix Ultra, recommended by the clinic’s doctor, but after a few uses (maybe because it contains silicone and vitamin C ester?) big zits were showing up on areas near the dark spots. You see, I only use Dermatix Ultra as dark spot treatment, but if I went overboard with it, it’d break me out. So I stopped using it gradually, and went for vitamin C serum and Rosehip Oil instead.

So, what did I do to treat my Cauter’s wounds?

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At Home Treatment:

  • Double Cleansing: using Micellar Water & Facial Wash (gel texture is preferred)
  • Toning: using Exfoliating Toner & Hydrating Toner
  • Mask: using compressed sheet mask with NaCl solution (great for wounds)
  • Serum: using vitamin C on dark spots.
  • Facial Oil: using Rosehip Oil on dark spots
  • Moisturizer: another gel texture on my beauty repertoire.

Clinic Treatment (I did these at Beauty By Appointment):

  • Nd-YAG laser for skin rejuvenation and to treat dark spots.
  • BBA Glow (not to be mistaken with BB Glow). This is a treatment to penetrate the serum under the skin to make the skin looks glowing.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

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FIRST CLEANSER FOR FUNGAL ACNE

Lately I’ve been asked about this matter, as a lot of you suffered worsen fungal acne after cleansing with oils.

Been there, done that, folks! Apparently, my fungal acne prone skin hates olive oil, pronto! So, if I use cleansing oil as the first cleanser with olive oil as one of their main 5 ingredients, that will do bad things. Unfortunately my dear, lots of cleansing oil used olive oil as their main ingredients. And not only most oil is bad news for fungal acne, some ingredients mainly found in cleansing oil like Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Myristate are also a big no no for fungal acne dearest.

 

How about cleansing balm, some of you asked me. Same thing, lots of cleansing balms, whatever they named them, also contain ingredients that are not safe for fungal acne prone skin.

So, obviously I tried to stay clear of oils and balms, but lots of people still got confused of this first cleanser dilemma. I used to think that nothing could dissolve my oily based makeup and sunscreen except oil-based cleanser. Until I read labmuffinscience post. Yes darlings, we don’t need oil to dissolve oil, but look for surfactant in your cleanser.

Unfortunately, after some trial & error, there are not much first cleanser products that worked best on my fungal acne (in the meaning of they didn’t trigger them to be worse). But, I recommend you to check skincarisma.com if you want to know does your first cleanser safe for your fungal acne.

Personally, I’ve been using these two religiously, as they didn’t trigger my fungal acne.

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BIODERMA SENSIBIO H2O: Trust me, I’ve tried many brands but always going back to this. It’s not cheap, yes. But, every single time I bought expensive skincare products, I will keep on telling myself “this Is an investment, I only have one face and I will take care of it the best way I can”. Believe it or not, I’d rather spent my money on expensive skincare products that really worked, rather than buying designer shoes nowadays.

LANEIGE LIP & EYE REMOVER WATERPROOF_EX: No wonder this costs a lot for a bottle of lip and eye makeup remover. It didn’t blur and sting my eyes. It removed matte lip color, waterproof mascara and eyeliner well. And tada!!! It’s safe for fungal acne according to skincarisma.com. If you’re also prone to milia under the eyes, don’t worry, this won’t make them bigger.

TIPS: immediately wash with second cleanser aka your facial wash after using first cleanser. Personally, I love using round cotton pads, so I can detect how clean I cleansed.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

BRUNTUSAN: WHICH PRODUCTS ARE SAFE?

Uneven skin texture. Maybe that’s the right English words for ‘bruntusan’, which I believe still happen even if you passed that teenager’s years already.

If you’ve been having a constant bruntusan and nothing help, it could be Pityrosporum Folliculitis, aka Malassezia, aka fungal acne in more popular term. I’ve been intensively blogging about this, because I am one of the sufferers.

It’s almost a year now, and obviously I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride to find the right products. I am my own guinea-pig. Cosdna and skincarisma have been my go-to website to check out on the ingredients of each product which I wanted to purchase. I will stay clear for anything that stated bad for fungal acne, such as: Galactomyces, Sorbitan Olivate (Olive Oil), Sorbitan Palmitate (Palm Oil), Glyceryl Stearate (derived from palm kernel, vegetable or soy oil), Castor Oil and lots more. Basically I will stay clear from mineral oils and anything fermented (because it will feed the yeast).

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I recommend you to check on skincarisma.com to know which ingredient is bad for fungal acne before you purchase anything. These are some of the products that I purchase after I’m totally sure that they’re fungal acne safe (according to skincarisma.com).

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FIRST CLEANSER: BIODERMA Sensibio H2O.
No matter how much I’d love to try balm or oil remover, most of them usually contain PEG, Olive Oil, or Ethylhexyl Palmitate (palm oil), which is not safe for fungal acne. So yeah, I’ve been using this religiously to remove my base makeup (I use eye makeup remover separately).

SECOND CLEANSER: SIMPLE Kind to Skin Refreshing Facial Wash Gel.
As the name stated, this has very simple ingredients list which include panthenol that promotes wound healing. Don’t expect miracle, it won’t make your acne dries. But, this is a very gentle cleanser and super awesome for sensitive skin (it won’t aggravate skin because it is fragrance free).

TONER: SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Asiatica Toner.
Centella Asiatica aka Tiger Grass aka Daun Pegagan (in Bahasa), has been my favorite ingredient lately. This is a clear, watery everyday toner, perfect to wipe away any excess dirt and oil after second cleanser.

EXFOLIATING TONER: COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Toner.
I only use this twice a week, just because I need to exfoliate. Even though I am not a big fan of AHA, this is the only exfoliating toner which is safe for fungal acne (according to skincarisma.com).

HYDRATING TONER: KLAIRS Supple Preparation Unscented Toner.
I use this after exfoliating toner. This toner is free from scents and (best of all) essential oils. It’s cooling and calming when applied.

ESSENCE: LEEGEEHAAM Tea Tree90 Essence.
Mine is the old version, I believe they launched the latest version with new packaging (not sure of the formula). Tea tree is another one of my favorite ingredients, and this also contains Centella Asiatica extract.

SERUM: GLOSSIER Super Pure.
This is my second bottle, by the way. I’ve tried The Ordinary Niacinamide, but I love this one more. It has no weird scent like The Ordinary ones, and glides evenly because it’s more watery than The Ordinary. Yes, it is expensive though.

AMPOULE: (Again from the brand SKIN1004), Madagascar Centella Asiatica 100 Ampoule.
It only contains Centella Asiatica Extract, so this is very potent for skin healing. Unlike any ampoules that I’ve tried, this is more watery. Nonetheless, it absorb really well and I believe it calms down angry skin.

MOISTURIZER: MAKE P:REM Safe Me Relief Cream.
I believe this is the first ever moisturizer that I enjoy using. I love the light texture, the super light scent and it only contains 12 ingredients (which include Squalane, another champion ingredient). Less ingredients is definitely more!

OIL: BIOSSANCE Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil.
This oil is bloody expensive, but worth it. Actually, using oil as the last step of any skincare routine is just a supplement. If you don’t feel like it, you can skip this step. But I love how this adds softness, especially under makeup.

WASH OFF MASK: LEEGEEHAAM Grow Matcha Clay Pack.
I am not a sheet mask fan, as I read in Reddit that the wet environment of the sheet mask made an even better breeding ground for fungal acne. So yeah, I stick to my wash off mask, thank you. This mask has great ingredients such as green tea, kaolin and bentonite clay. Texture is thick but creamy and easy to apply.

I hope this post will help you to choose the right products for your bruntusan or fungal acne problem. Till then!

PHOTOS; SHINTA ROSVITA

 

‘ANGRY SKIN’ AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

Just when I thought my fungal acne is getting better (sigh).

Actually they are quite calm now, but suddenly bigger acnes popped out of nowhere, on my temples only! Stressed? Check! Lack of sleep? Check! Too much dairy and sugar? Definitely! Oh man, like seriously nothing helped at this point of my skincare journey.

I can’t believe I posted this before-after picture, when the after picture looked worse than the before (I so hate my life right now).

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On those horrible days, I’ve tried almost everything from Benzoyl Peroxide, Azelaic Acid, Niacinamide, BHA, AHA, Lactic Acid, Centella Asiatica to heal those two spots. Unfortunately, none worked! I assumed, I might have been over-exfoliating and my skin became confused by too many active ingredients. So, I decided to completely cut down my skincare regime, morning and night. I also limit my chemical exfoliation to once a month, rather than twice a week like I used to do. And I tried sulfur as spot treatment, using a local brand product. Why? Because according to simpleskincarescience.com, sulfur can treat fungal acne because it produces penthationic acid which is toxic to fungi, and it may also directly inhibit malassezia (read: my nightmare).

Without further adieu, here are my (much) shorten skincare routine.

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AM ROUTINE
Cleanser: COSRX LOW PH GOOD MORNING GEL CLEANSER. Not very foamy with quite heavy tea tree scent. I was worried that it’s going to cause purging, but it’s not. Pheeww!!!

Toner: SOMEBYMI AHA-BHA-PHA 30 DAYS MIRACLE TONER. I (sort of) ditched my regular toner (Nacific Calendula) for this. Thanks to their super heavy rotation ad on instagram, I am sold. So far so good, no purging. I will keep you updated, because they claimed this toner will bring miracle if used continuously for 30 days. Fingers crossed!

Serum: DR JART+ CICAPAIR SERUM. This is quite an expensive serum (must be the packaging price). I just tried to empty this bottle, even though I believe it didn’t show any magic result on my skin. But at least, it didn’t cause me any break out. I wouldn’t repurchase this, will try other serum (I am thinking Lee Gee Haam).

Moisturizer: SEBAMED CLEAR FACE CARE GEL mixed with THE ORDINARY 100% PLANT-DERIVED SQUALANE. To reduce the tackiness of the gel, I always mixed it with squalane oil. Squalane also add glow to the skin and not worsen my fungal acnes.

Sunscreen: SKIN AQUA UV MOISTURE GEL SPF 30 PA++. It’s not a clear gel, for sure. Milky white when poured, but luckily no white cast when applied. Easy to absorb and feels very light on skin. Best of all, did not cause any break out.

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PM ROUTINE
First Cleanser: BIODERMA SENSIBIO H2O. Long time favorite of mine, long before they legally sold in my local drugstores. Been trying this and that, but always go back to this (it’s da best, what can I say)

Second Cleanser: KRAVE BEAUTY MATCHA HEMP HYDRATING CLEANSER. Don’t expect too much foam if you use this, but trust me, my skin never felt cleaner and healthier.

In the shower mask: BLITHE PATTING WATER PACK SOOTHING & HEALING GREEN TEA. It’s a genius product, I might say. Who has time for facial mask to dry these days?

Toner: SOMEBYMI AHA-BHA-PHA 30 DAYS MIRACLE TONER. Yes, again in the evening. After swiping on face, I apply this on my neck too. Never neglect neck!

Spot Treatment: ACNE FELDIN LOTION. Local skincare product with 1% camphor and 6.6% sulfur as main ingredients. It smells weird at first and the super watery texture is a pain the ass to apply directly with finger on spots, but I got the hang of it. I also applied this on my temple where the fungal acnes are. Make sure to tap until they dried down.

And after 8 days of cutting down my skincare regime to the above routines, this is how my skin looks.

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Those two humongous zits are flatten (but still left red marks), some black heads are still there (one popped out in the shower accidentally-causing an open red wound), but I know it’s getting better. But it’s still day 8, so I will check back in 22 more days, just to see the efficacy of my skincare routine and the products I am currently using.

CONCLUSIONS:

  • Never ever over exfoliate. Just pick one acid that suits your skin.
  • Find one active ingredient that suits your skin the most and stick with it (trying periods are the worst, it’s like finding your skin soul-mate).
  • Avoid skincare overload. Less is definitely more, do not let your skin get confused (too many products = too many ingredients).
  • Being bombarded by so many new skincare products is hard (I know right). Search well about the ingredients and reviews before any purchases.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

A TRIP DOWN BEAUTY LANE

Kicked off 2013 with family holiday. Fun in the sun, drugstores and beauty isles. Total bliss!

Went to Legoland Malaysia and short visit to Singapore with my boys. They came back with tans on their skin, and me? Still pale but happy with all the beauty products that I managed to get on such short trip. 

Here they are:

–       Maybelline New York Lashionista Mascara

–       Bioderma Sensibio H2O

–       Essence Lash & Brow Gel

–       L’Oreal Color Riche Le Nail Art

–       Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream

–       Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Powder

–       Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops

–       Rachel K CC Cream

–       Chanel CC Cream

–       Majolica Majorca Lash King Mascara

–       Guerlain Meteorites Perles

–       Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld Eyelash Curler

–       Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

–       Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner

–       Essence Quatro Eyeshadow

–       Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

–       Essence Fix & Matte Translucent Loose Powder

–       Essence Gel Eyeliner

Can’t wait to review them one by one. Stay tune.