Acne & Me - Starting Over

So after 7 days of hell involving my face being inflamed, burnt and peeling, I am back to normal! Rejoice! Using the moisturiser and cleansing lotion by Cetaphil really helped in getting my skin back to it's normal state. That is not an advertisement for Cetaphil in anyway whatsoever - I stumbled across it's existence on an acne site and thought i'd give it a go. After a week of patience and zero make up, my face was back to it's original, soft self. But now with even more spots due to my face being so, so dry and inflamed.

However, I have noticed that whilst using Cetaphil as my only cleanser/moisturiser that my skin is looking so much more clearer and brighter. I don't know if this is because it is soap free/non comodgenic and isn't reacting with my skin like other cleansers i've used in the past have possibly done. 

This duo has really helped my skin, burnt or not.

  There are a few negatives i've encountered whilst using the Cetaphil products. One being the moisturiser is simply too heavy/greasy for daytime use. When I was using it throughout the day whilst my skin was healing it did not absorb into my skin at all. It was like I had a separate layer of grease on my face, my skin was that shiny and greasy feeling. I had to perservere with it though simply because it's sole purpose was to hydrate my very dry, peeling skin and it was gentle/non reactive. Now my skin is back to normal I would not use it for daytime use at all, I have purchased a separate day moisturiser. I do use the Cetaphil moisturiser at night to counteract any dryness I may get from using Differin. I wake up and my skin is baby soft! The second negative is with the cleanser. When I wasn't wearing any make up it was perfect as there wasn't anything to properly remove apart from the collection of any dirt throughout the day. However when I started using make up again, it simply does not remove make up easily. I have to wash my face with it about 3-4 separate times and each time use a soft flannel or cotton pads to help take off my make up, then afterwards to make sure any leftover residue has gone I use my Lush Tea Tree Toner Water. It's a bit long winded but I have noticed a difference using the cleanser so I won't just stop using it due to the fact it's that gentle it won't take my mountain of make up off straight away.

I have reintroduced the usage of my acne creams. For the past two nights I have been using Differin and this morning I reintroduced Duac. However I will not use Duac again for another 2-3 days as this is the cream that I react to very easily. I seem to react fine to Differin but not so much Duac. Gradual usage though hopefully will be the answer. I have established a morning and night skincare routine now which should help my skin become more adjusted to the creams. 

My daytime moisturiser lifesaver.

My morning routine includes washing my face with the Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser first, then allowing 20-30 minutes for my face to completely dry so that when I apply Duac it will be as effective as it can be. Then Duac is applied very thinly to my face, there is no need to apply loads as this can cause a lot of irritation due to the benozyl peroxide. Once applied, I wait at least half an hour for the cream to absorb and work it's magic, then I apply Boots Simply Sensitive Protecting Day Moisturiser SPF 15 as my moisturiser, then apply make up if needed, etc. It's really important to leave enough time between cleansing/application/moisturising to make sure the products do not interfere with the cream. It is harder to stick to the morning routine if I am on an early shift at work, because I am normally so tired that I don't wake up early enough to give myself enough time to do the above. I am going to try and apply Duac on days off or late shifts instead.

At night it is pretty much the same. I remove all traces of make up and dirt using the Cetaphil cleanser along with a soft cloth or cotton pads. Then wait another 20-30 minutes for my face to dry and then apply a thin layer of Differin, wait for at least half an hour and then slather on Cetaphil moisturiser. 

Not long now until i'm back on the pill either, so here's hoping for good results!