My Skincare Journey with Proactiv
So, my issues with my skin have been something I've dealt with for a hell of a long time. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that last year I went on the medication Roaccutane and spent five months battling through the side effects to get the skin I have today.
A M I N I S K I N C A R E B A C K S T O R Y | If you don't know about that journey, you can read more here, but for now I'll give you a little recap:
I started getting blemishes when I was about 14 years old, you know, typical teenage skin. It was very oily and I just chalked it up as something you go through at that age and although it was a bit rubbish, it didn't actually bother me that much at the time because I was never really made to feel self-conscious about it by friends or boyfriends. I tried a range of skincare to try and treat it - including a lady in Clinique giving me the entirely wrong products - and some things would help a little but nothing ever truly cleared it. Fast forward to my late teens and I got into blogging (not seriously until 2012 but I was always reading!) and beauty blogging totally took over my brain. I tried every combination, every lotion and potion and, again, nothing ever truly solved my issues and I'd never had a blemish-free day yet. The only thing that stopped the cystic, painful, under-the-skin blemishes was cutting out diary - they halted almost instantly but I still had tons of little blemishes everywhere.
It was towards the end of 2015 and into the beginning of 2016 that my skincare issues truly peaked. I was going through quite a stressful time and that manifested itself in the form of the worst breakout I'd ever had. My skin went from not-great-but-manageable to being straight up horrific. I had never been upset by my skin in the past, but this was the first time I actually cried about it. I didn't want to go out of the house. I remember putting on a full face of Estee Lauder Double Wear and you could still see the bumps so I cancelled my plans for the day. It genuinely made me depressed and I'm not one to base my self-worth on my appearance, but when you have to live with it day-in-day-out then it does start to get you down. Especially when part of your job is in the beauty industry.
So, I decided to accept that I had the dreaded A-word and went to a private dermatologist (Dr Langtry, if you're in Newcastle) as I couldn't physically wait the 17 weeks for an NHS appointment, as it was seriously affecting my mental health. Fast forward five months - you can read about my results more here and watch my YouTube video here - and I had the clearest skin I'd ever had in my life.
S O, W H A T A R E T H E N E X T S T E P S ? | I'm so happy with my skin being reasonably blemish free that I want to keep it that way forever (hopefully!). So, that's where Proactiv comes in. Their products are designed to help with blemishes and to keep your skin clear, but they can always work after Roaccutane to maintain the complexion, which is what I'll be using it for.
As you can see from the photo, I still have patches of uneven skin, I still get some small blemishes (around that time of the month or sometimes reactions to products I'm testing) and I also have milia, which are those little white 'milk spots' you can get around your eyes. These were a side effect of Roaccutane and, unlike normal blemishes, are a bit harder to get rid of. I'm hoping by using Proactiv, that their exfoliating products can help buff these little away and I'll have super clear skin.
In my next post, I'll be chatting about the first event I went to in London with Proactiv and the products they've recommended to keep my skin in tip-top shape.
