CoachGlitter

Your personal Fairy GlossMother!
 

Zits happen! Tried, Tested & True products that really work to combat your mild to moderate adult hormonal acne.

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Some days I feel like i'm 37 going on 15 because of the horrible cystic breakouts that I would experience like clock work each month. I've been pretty lucky to have had great skin most of my life including my teenage years. Of course now I can appreciate how great my skin was after experiencing almost a year straight of out of the blue, out of control hormone issues. Ladies, we know our hormones fluctuate but mine went absolutely berserk!  Unfortunately I began to develop large, painful cystic breakouts which are very different than your normal pimple. These you can feel under ground a few days before they surface and makes its debut on your face with a huge presence, usually before a really important event!
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So after going to dermatologists, medical (nurse) estheticians and my gyno I finally got my hormone issues under somewhat control. I'm still getting a few monthly hormonal breakouts but not nearly as bad as they were last year. But in the process i've discovered a few new products out of the thousands out there that really work and a couple of old ones that are worth repeating for all of you who may have missed my previous raves.
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The first product is The Clarisonic. After all these years (5? 6?...i've lost count) it's still my #1 must-have skincare tool for anyone with a face. Do you have a face? Then you need one. Whether you have nearly perfect skin, dry, breakout prone, oily, congested types you need this! It will help thoroughly yet gently cleanse and exfoliate your skin. It's gentle yet effective and with daily use your skin will look more radiant, feel softer and look smoother. This tool is a lot like exercise. It has a positive cumulative effect with regular use. For more details on why I love The Clarisonic check out my previous blog devoted to it: http://coachglitter.posterous.com/skincare-bootcamp
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The next product is great for anyone who is starting to see the signs of aging; fine lines, wrinkles, crepiness, sun spots, age spots, etc as well as mild breakouts. It's Help Me by Philosophy. It's an over the counter Retinol which is much more gentle for your skin if you're not ready or don't need Rx strength Retin-A. It helps to exfoliate the skin and clarify. This is a night time use product and once you start any AHA, Glycolic or Retinol/Retinoid product you must use sunscreen during the day. Do not depend on the sunscreen in your makeup products alone. You have to use sun protection because your skin is much more sensitive and prone to burns. It's like you have brand new baby skin and you would never expose a baby without SPF to the sun, right?
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For on the spot treatments Rare Minerals Blemish Therapy by Bare Escentuals is still my absolute fave! It has worked for me for years on just about every normal pimple but on the really crazy, huge, painful, undergrounder, extremely stubborn cystic type breakouts it would barely shrink them.  If you're lucky and don't have the extreme type of cystic breakouts then this will be your Holy Grail pimple killer. Keep it on hand for yourself, your husband & your teens if you have any. They work with ZERO pain, "sizzle" factor aka burning, peeling, drying, etc. It's a lightweight loose powder that you apply with the brush that it comes with and you treat the spot as soon as you feel it come up on the skin. I have used this on set on breakouts that I see on the talent in the AM and literally by the afternoon it has either shrunk considerably or disappeared altogether. It's seriously amazing!  Here's my previous blog for more details on this product: http://coachglitter.posterous.com/my-secret-sauce-for-cystic-hormonal-breakouts
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My last product discovery is my newest and most exciting one yet and it's for those of you who have tried everything like me, and nothing worked for those very stubborn, very large, very painful, out of control, hormone pumped up cystic breakouts. Sounds super sexy, huh?! Well, take it from me that this works and I couldn't be more thankful that it does. As a freelance makeup artist I work just inches away from other people's faces and people expect you to have great looking skin as well as makeup application. I know new clients judge my face. I would do it too! So having a giant, pea sized breakout on my chin is not a boost to my confidence when i'm working with a new high powered business executive, politician or actor.
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So what is this mircacle in a bottle? It's Jan Marini's Age Intervention Transitions Serum. I am not kidding. It's like this product was sent to me from heaven. It was designed for those who suffer with adult, hormonal, cystic acne. The really stubborn kind that would make you run for the dermatologist for an emergency cortisone shot right before an important event like your 20 year high school reunion or wedding day! Since most of us can't get shots regularly (and by the way, that has its risks too), this is your next best thing. Your skin's new BFF!! For me personally, I saw a difference in my skin's texture and a very noticeable decrease in the soreness from the breakouts overnight. With continued use (going on over 4 months now) it has lessened the severity, number and size of my cystic breakouts greatly. I can't say i'm 100% breakout-free but the one or two that I do get are much more manageable, easily concealed with makeup and I don't feel as self conscious that I have a giant 3-D object portruding from my face. One word of warning! This product stinks! A lot of skincare products stink especially cosmeceutical and Rx strength because they don't mask the natural scent of the active ingredients with artificial fragrance. But i've never smelled anything quite like this. It smells like a mild eau de skunk. I'm not kidding but guess what! If you can get over it after the first night of use you'll actually get used to it. It doesn't even bother me or my poor hubby any more. He did notice it too and asked if I smelled skunk, ha! I think it's worth getting over the stink factor because it works so effectively! If you can't stand the smell trying putting a dot of a light fragrance oil under your nose but I promise you that the smell won't bother you after the first few nights and of course after looking at your greatly improved skin!
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Now I've been around long enough to know that when it comes to skincare, the old adage "YMMV" or Your Mileage May Vary is very true.  I know how it feels to want to cancel plans and hide in your house because your face hurts and you feel so self conscious from horrible cystic breakouts. I hope that at least one of these products will help and work for you saving you time, grief and money! Please share with me your results and any of your own Holy Grail products!
xoxo,
Tiffany :)

Filed under  //   Bare Escentuals   Help Me   Jan Marini   Philosophy   Rare Minerals   acne   adult acne   aging   anti-aging   beauty   clarisonic   cystic   cystic acne   glowing skin   hormonal acne   hormonal breakouts   hormones   pimples   skin   skincare   zits  
Posted April 17, 2012
 

DIY Facial Mask for Gorgeous, Decongested Skin! The amazing Aspirin Mask!

Boo! Hope I didn't scare you too badly! And no, that's not shaving or whipped cream on my face. It's the famous aspirin mask!  This amazing, super simple, effective and downright cheap DIY skin treatment mask is perfect for those with congested, acne prone & oily/combo skin types. It's the best thing i've ever tried to elminate black & white heads which for even those of you lucky ones with beautiful normal or drier skin types can benefit from. The mask can be applied all over or just to the areas that you tend to get clogged pores and/or breakouts.  In my picture above (stop laughing at me already!) you can see I avoided the area all around my eyes as I don't need the mask there. 

The aspirin mask isn't just for your face though. It's also fantastic to exfoliate off the last lingering areas of an old spray tan or self tanner or before you get sprayed/self tan to exfoliate dry spots like elbows, knees, feet/heels, wrists, etc.

So why aspirin? Aspirin is a salicylic acid which is a potent Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA). You've probably seen this ingredient in your acne treatment products. BHA's are best to unclog stubborn blackheads and works wonders on shrinking adult hormonal acne which I know about all too well =(

Obviously, if you are allergic to aspirin DO NOT DO THE ASPIRIN MASK!!  If you don't know if you're allergic, you have extra sensitive skin or it's your first time I recommend doing a small test patch area before diving in and doing your whole face.

How do you make the aspirin mask? Like I said, it's soooo easy! There's many versions of the aspirin mask but here's my favorite recipe that i've been doing for many years now.

You'll need:

  1. The cheapest generic aspirin you can find. If you can get your hands on uncoated aspirin grab it! Or you can use aspirin powder but this is more costly than a giant bottle of generic.
  2. 100% Pure, No artificial dye or fragrance added Aloe Vera Gel (available at any drug store, Target, etc)
  3. Sturdy spoon to crush the aspirins.
  4. Piece of wax paper, plastic wrap or a pinch bowl like the one in the pic to crush and mix up the mask.

To make the mask:

  1. Simply take 5-8 aspirin depending how much of your skin you'll be masking. If you're doing just your nose or chin you'll only need 2 or 3. 
  2. Take one aspirin at a time on your wax paper, pinch bowl, etc and crush each one into a powder with your spoon.
  3. Then add a few pea size drops of Aloe Vera Gel and mix into the aspirin to get a smooth paste. Make sure not to use too much of the aloe vera gel which will result in a very running texture that will drip off your face. Start with a small amount of aloe vera gel and add more if needed.
  4. Finally, apply the mask where needed! Be careful not to get it too close or in the nostrils as it can cause sneezing but using the aloe vera gel will help elminate this.

Other mixing mediums that you can use is pure organic honey like Manuka, Pure Jojoba oil if you have drier skin and glycerin.  I don't recommend using just plain water because you are guaranteed to have a major sneezing fit. You definitely want a thicker base.

Wear the mask for 8-12 minutes and rinse off with luke warm water. For extra exfoliation wet your finger tips and very gently massage your face with the mask after it's already dried, before rinsing off completely.  **I personally like to do this before I take a shower so I can easily rinse off every trace of the mask. You can use the mask 1-2 times a week or as needed. Remember that while exfoliation is essential to reveal beautiful, glowing skin you can easily exfoliate too much or too aggressively so don't go too crazy. Less is more!

That's it! If you end up trying the aspirin mask Tweet or FaceBook me a picture of you! And if you have a different recipe that you love please share it with the rest of us here under the comments.  Happy masking and hello beautiful skin!

xoxo, Tiffany :)

 

 

 

 

Filed under  //   DIY   acne   adult acne   aspirin mask   blackheads   breakouts   skincare  
Posted February 12, 2012