Skincare Regime

My skin is better now than around 3 years ago. I used to have many pimples and breakouts. I have oily, sensitive, blemish-prone skin with enlarged pores. Basically all the skin problems that come with oily skin.

I'm not sure why my skin became better over the years. Yesterday at Guardian pharmacy the sales assistant asked me if my skin type is dry skin! I took that as a compliment as it means my skin is not so oily any more.

Whenever I wear makeup, it only lasts a few hours. I wear compact powder, eyebrow pencil, eyeshadow and matte lipstick. (I need to improve my makeup skills). After a few hours the makeup will dissolve.

Anyway back to skincare... I think one of the reasons is that I drink lots of water and sleep a lot. I sleep like 10 hours a night. I also currently do not have stress. Just the stress of chores, what to cook/eat, thinking/planning a lot on how to spend my time etc. They are good problems to have. First world problems.

Back to skin. When I had bad pimples, I used Differin and oral meds called Isotretinoin. That got me over my bad acne. The scars seemed to get lighter over time. Once my bad breakout stopped, I stopped those 2 meds but they helped with my bad acne.

After that, I used a lightening acne facial wash by Oxy which I'm guessing helped with hyperpigmentation. I'm not sure because it could be a combination of factors.

I also used a scrub and clay mask twice a week. These helped me to exfoliate and draw out impurities  respectively. For blackheads, I used a charcoal peel off mask and Biore strips. Those make my skin less congested. All this exfoliating makes new skin regenerate.

To prep my skin for moisturizer, I use a spray on toner. Then an anti-aging serum called Missha Time Revolution. I'm not sure if it does anything but I just use it to tone my skin. For my moisturizer I used Fresh Umbrian Clay Oil Free Lotion which helped to absorb oil and reduce oiliness.

Now, I use Fresh Seaberry Face Oil in place of my moisturizer. It makes my skin feel very hydrated, not oily. More like dewy. It is counterintuitive to think that putting oil on oily skin works, but for me it did. My skin feels healthier inside out.

I just bought Hada Labo lotion and can't wait to try it... It is supposed to make skin super bouncy and hydrated as it contains hyaluronic acid which draws water into the skin. 

Anyway I am addicted to my skincare routine. When I'm lazy I will just use micellar water to cleanse my skin but I rarely ever am. I actually enjoy my skincare routine and look forward to it. At least I have one part of my life that seems to work. Minor successes like these help me feel better about myself!