It was dawned on me, that I am nearly out of my 30's, and as I sit here typing, I can smell the strong aroma of tea tree oil that I have carefully dabbed around my nose to dry out some teenager-y spots! Ya know how your mum always tells you "spots aren't just for your teenage years!".... she was right!
As a teen, I fortunately wasn't plagued by acne, but I did have those irritating bumps under my skin which never really turned into anything, but were really sensitive and just huge! They'd take residence on my forehead, sides of my nose, tip of my nose, chin and if I was really lucky, above my lips. T-Zone pretty much! If I'm really honest, I didn't do an awful lot to get rid of or prevent breakouts in my early teens - camera phones weren't a thing, so other than very occasional digital or disposable camera shots, I didn't really worry about astethics. It was more when other people began to comment that I became self-conscious.
My first face wash was from the tea-tree line at the Body Shop. I didn't use it regually, I didn't moisturise or exfoliate. I just whacked that on in the shower and then slathered my face in Rimmel's cover-up stick concealer... as did most of the girls in my year group!
It wasn't until I was about 19 and at university (and the invention of Facebook, therefore my face being visible online!) that I properly looked into skincare!
My god-mother has always been a beauty counter regular, so she took me to Clarins for a 'consultation'. At this point my skin was still bumpy but greasy. (yuck!). So I was suggested to use the
'Gentle Foaming Cleanser with cottonseed'. I remember feeling after about 2 weeks of using this every evening (I wasn't wearing a lot of make up then) my skin began to clear up dramatically! I wasn't using a moisturiser at this point as I felt my skin was greasy enough and had no dry patches (oh how little I knew!)
By about 23, as with most products, my skin outgrew the Gentle Foaming Cleaner. My skin now was less greasy and a bit more 'normal', and felt that the foamer was drying me out. Clarins by this point had brought out their 'Daily Energiser' range, which was touted as being aimed at younger skin. So, after another chat to the Clarins lady, I came away with the
"Daily Energiser Cleansing Gel". The gel formula felt great! It melted away the more makeup that I now wearing, and still kept my skin clear. For a brief while, Clarins made a Daily Energiser Gel Cream Moisturiser, which I loved! It came in those fancy glass jars. I felt like it plumped and smoothed out my skin, and the gel formlua felt very light. I repurchased about 6 months later, however the formula had been changed to straight cream moisturiser, which was really heavy and broke my out within a couple of hours!
I still use this cleanser five years later. The only changes I've noticed are that if I use this in the morning, my skin will feel very tight makeup won't really sit on my skin very nicely, so I was my face at night with this. I couple this with the Soap and Glory "
Daily Youth 6-in-1 Multi-Active Moisture Lotion" after washing my face. I tried TONNES of moisturisers! If they didn't break me out, it felt like wearing a facemask all day. I've also been using the St Ives facescrub for spot prone skin.
Some say I'm a creature of habit for now continually using the same products on my face - I say it's trusting what I put on my face! Case in point - tried out a sample of the Clarins Pure Melt Cleanser over half term... I now have 5 breakouts and a stubbord dry patch between my eyes!
Miss B x
