Cystic Acne and Me

I have struggled with cystic acne my whole life, it has left me with lots of deep scars, and I have spent thousands over the years trying to find a miracle cure for both the acne, and the scarring.

It has been really challenging, it is painful, it is embarrassing, and there are times when I have hated my face, which is hard to reconcile with. It has affected my confidence, my social life and my work life too.  The photo I have chosen for this blog is both typical and rare of photos of me – it is unfiltered and there is a fraction of my face showing.  While I am more comfortable with it now, I am accepting I will never have ‘good’ skin, but photographs will still be a rarity.

I now have a routine and products which are working for me.  I am not free from blemishes and doubt I ever will be – but it is less painful, inflamed and angry than it has ever been.

I have researched skincare products a lot over the years, I am no expert but the one thing I learned in the past 6/7 years that I wish I had known many, many years ago is to be gentle with your skin, oil products are not the enemy, they are a friend – but finding the right ones are important.

I thought I would share my go-to products – there are a few – I don’t use all of them all of the time but know when to switch to what depending how my skin is behaving. 

• Bumi Naturals Facial Oil. The ingredients in this product are incredible.  Jojoba oil is something I have used for years.  It really helps to moisturise my skin and prevent the over production of sebum.  Combined with other anti-inflammatory ingredients such as hemp seed oil, and rosehip seed oil I can see an immediate improvement when I use it.
• Mylky Way Soap. I never thought I would use soap on my face.  I was told not to by a doctor years ago, and that has stuck with me.  I started using it recently, my skin feels clean, but not dried out.
• Salt and Steam Flower Child Facial Steam. This is the most recent addition to my skincare routine.  I use weekly as the steam opens my pores and follow with and oil cleanse.
• White Rabbit Skincare Coconut and Rosehip Calming Cream. I have used White Rabbit day creams for years and was initially apprehensive about using this one due to the coconut oil, as I had read it can bloke pores.  However, it is light and does not cause break outs at all.  If my skin is looking particularly dehydrated, I mix some of this with the Bumi facial oil and use as a moisturising mask too.
• Bumi Naturals Broccoli, Cucumber and Rosehip Night Repair. This is a hero product.  Great as a night cream, but also as an oil cleanser.  And a little goes a long way.
• Lovely Skincare Softly Softly Calming Cleanser and Mask. I use this as a weekly face mask as it leaves your skin feeling incredible, but also as a cleanser when I can feel a breakout coming. As the product contains oats it also gently exfoliates too – without being too harsh on my skin when it is particularly sensitive.
• Salt Parlour Jasmine & Green Tea ‘Repair’ Salt Scrub. This is another product I have used for years and will no go without.  I use twice a week to exfoliate and it brightens my skin without any irritation and it glows after I use it – which I never thought my skin could do (other than in a really red, angry kinda way)

If you struggle with acne, do feel free to comment with any questions you may have about any of the products.  I am in no way an expert, but am happy to answer questions about what I have found, and am finally starting to move from the embarrassment of the skin I have been blessed with.

If you have found something that works for you I would love to hear about it too.