I’m always on the hunt for the next product that could be the answer to my long suffering acne-covered, skin prayers.
Yes… acne as a grown up… fun times all round!
I’ve blogged before about my very long struggle with my skin (click here for a quick recap) and in that time I’ve tried pretty much everything on my face to differing success.
Pregnancy certainly took its toll on my skin and I don’t think I’m alone in that. A lot of new mums see a change in their skin especially in terms of acne flare ups, or 'mumacne' if you will (#sorrynotsorry). It absolutely sucks and if you’re finding it tough, do go to your GP as there are a lot of options to explore.
For various reasons I’ve decided right now is not the time to go for the nuclear option, which in my opinion is Roaccutane. When you’re in the middle of having your family, it’s not really the time to be considering going down that road and seeing as Diantte is partly to blame for my current predicament I’m also avoiding going down the pill route.
I’ve been down the antibiotics road, the eliminating foods from my diet road, topical treatments and pretty much every possible destination in terms of acne.
For me, right now I’m all about managing my skin day to day for the short term. Since I’ve become a mum, it’s definitely veered more into the hormonal bracket of acne, which means depending on the time of the month my skin is either dormant or very fucking angry, mostly along my neck, jawline and chin.
Unfortunately it’s still on the cystic end of the scale which is both painful and hideous, but to be brutally honest, I am so consumed with other things like looking after my toddler, my own mental health, my work and my family, I just don’t have the same time I used to for lamenting my awful skin as I once did.
But having said all of that, I do like it when I find products that are effective.
Cue The Ordinary’s Salicylic Acid 2% Solution, which will set you back a measly €5.30 for a 30ml jar… I mean are they kidding me? It’s a bleedin’ steal at that price.
The Ordinary is a brand I’ve wanted to try for yonks, but with their foundation being out of stock for so very long due to demand, the brand fell off my radar until now.
In terms of skincare, most of us know that Salicylic Acid is one of the ingredients you’ll find listed in a lot of products these days. It’s known for its exfoliating properties and is very useful for those with blemish prone skin, like me.
This formulation is 2% which is fairly strong and in fact, the brand don’t recommend you slap it all over your mush or use it for a long period of time, as it can leave the skin feeling red or inflamed or overly dry.
I used it sparingly at the start, by simply dabbing on the areas which were most problematic. It’s fairly runny and comes in a dropper, so it was a bit messy at times. It’s lightweight and disappears into the skin very quickly, just don’t rub it in too much or it will start to lather, dab instead.
After a few days, I didn’t have any negative effects, so I used a little more morning and evening over larger areas of acne and after using it for one complete cycle and I love it. It’s reduced the amount of bad breakouts, they haven’t been as angry or widespread and my skin has been much less greasy.
So far, I’ve used it morning and evening and followed by an oil free moisturiser and I’m going to keep using it every other day to see how that works, but for it's price tag it's a no-brainer in my book!