Friday 31 May 2013

Blemish treatments - the good, the bad and the ugly


If you have read my yesterday's posts, you will learn that I have had bad breakout recently on my face due to over-usage of different types of facemasks.  I want to continue with the story by sharing with you a few blemish/ spots treatment products that I have manically purchased, tested and used as a result of this.

I did a first impression review on the Origin's Spot Remover Gel (£13), you can click here to revisit.  Since then I have used it 2-3 more times, until I used this for my bad breakout recently.  Things have gone from bad to very ugly.


I applied this gel on my 3 big spots (forehead, right cheek, chin) two nights in a row, when I woke up on the 3rd morning, my spots have turned into bright red colour; they were inflammed, sore and traumatised.  This gel was way TOO STRONG and POTENT for my skin (please note I have sensitive and dry skin).  It has dried out my spots but the salicylic acid (an essential ingredient in lots of other blemish treatment product to dry out the spot) and other ingredients inside this little bottle must have been too damaging for my skin.  I felt very upset because not only it has killed the spots, it must have penetrated into the skin that made it all inflammed and irritated.  I stopped using it straight away and I will never ever use it again - it didn't work for me sadly despite having heard so much great stuff about this gel.

I rushed to Boots on that day and looked for something soothing but healing instead for my inflammed spots.  The skincare expert recommended A Dermo Purifyer Active Concentrate by Eucerin (£9.50) (A German brand).


This milky looking lotion has a refreshing scent to it.  I applied this only on my inflammed spots for 2 days (day and evening).  It has helped the healing of the inflammation because this formula must have been uber light.  It didn't irritate my skin further and my inflammed spots felt a lot calmer as well.  Whilst my spots were healing, I had another one creeping up on the forehead area so I applied this concentrate on it for 2 days, it didn't help getting rid of the blemish much in my opinion.  As I was reading more about this product, it actually used as a skin clarifier to improve skin complexion, which I think it is similar to La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Cream (£13) to unclog pores in areas you think it needs a bit more attention to.  In terms of blemish treatment, this Active Concentrate by Eucerin didn't help much but it has definitely helped my irritated and inflammed skin to heal nicely.

As I was still manically worrying about my skin wouldn't return to its normal state, and with a couple of other blemishes booming to the surface of my skin in other areas, I came across Essie Button's post on Spot Treatment Spotlight.  I decided to give another product a try.

I bought Simple's raid action spot zapper (£5.49) as it seems like the mildest one but effective for Essie.  It contains Zinc and Chamomile, and claims it's perfect for sensitive skin.  It has a roll-on applicator.  When applied on my spots, it had a cool sensation and didn't sting at all.  It is definitely very soothing.  I applied this day and night for 2 days, again it didn't do much for me but it didn't make my blemishes worse.  I would still keep this in my radar and try it again next time when I have a blemish (hopefully not in the near future).


As my spots were healing and treating other new blemishes - although the situation was under control, I was still worried deep down.  I took a deep breath, and went through my beauty cupboard once again, and I found my La Roche Posay Effaclar A.I. Targeted Breakout Corrector (£9.19) sitting there.


I bought this a while back to help a blemish mark to fade away which worked amazingly well so I didn't think of this as a blemish treatment product.  However as I researched into it more, this is actually used as a targeted breakout treatment as the name suggests.  I started applying this on my old blemish scars and new blemishes for 2 nights in a row, no joke, it has significantly healed the scars and targeted the new blemishes.  I mean, it didn't work wonder in completely getting rid of my blemishes but the extend of the healing and treating power to my blemishes was remarkable.  This is a white cream, you can either smear it on the spots so that the cream is blended with the skin and it look invisible.  I, however liked applying a fairly thick layer on-the-spot, but it would dry up and the surface of it becomes hardened.  The next morning, all I did was to cleanse my face as usual then the white hardened cream will get washed off; and you are left with a nicer looking blemish and eventually it healed it completely.  I am still applying this cream on the blemish marks every night and it continues healing my scars nicely.  This is definitely my star product!

My biggest learning is that -
  • There is no quick fix to treat blemish
  • Time heals everything
  • Know your skin type and choose the right product
  • Sometimes a product is gentle doesn't mean it is not effective, like the La Roche Posay Effaclar A.I. Targeted Breakout Corrector
 Whilst I was painfully suffering from blemishes and the scars that left behind, I didn't want to just use any old concealer to cover them up.  This was especially a concern when my spots were inflammed.  The fear of an ordinary concealer would actually infect my spots further made me completely freaked out.  I discovered this Cover Stick by Eucerin Dermo Purfiyer (£9.50) whilst getting the Active Concentrate.



This cover stick only comes in one colour - I would say it is about half to one shade darker than my foundation shade (I use 010 for Chanel Vitalumiere, or 051 for Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation).  It contains Salicylic Acid together with other ingredients.  Whilst it covers up your spots, it also helps to heal them.  I found this works amazingly well.  The texture is a 'dry creamy' form, which I applied it either straight from the bullet or rub some of this product onto my finger and blend it on the areas I wanted to cover up.  It works like an 'eraser', it COMPLETELY covers up my spots - that's what I called MAGIC!  It blends well with your foundation, and stays put pretty well.  I am still using this to cover my scars as I feel that it has skincare benefits until I am sure my blemishes won't make their return and become re-activated again!

I hope that this has given you a few insights into the many blemish treatment products out there - I want to know which one you have used and think they are good?  


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