My acne story part 2 • How I cleared up my skin

Click here for My Acne Story part 1 

It has been 1,5 year since my first acne story post. If you haven't read it yet, the link is above. 

As you can read from my first acne story, I have been struggling with acne after stopping with the birth control pill for 8 months. That was around June 2013. Since I have taken the pill again, my face hasn't fully cleared up like it was used to be.. 

In these 1,5 year I was still experimenting different kinds of products to help clearing up my acne and scars, but what happened was even though the acne was not as bad as before (because of the birth control pill) while healing my acne scarring, few new pimples would still frequently come popping up. 

FEBRUARY 2014

My stress caused by studying wasn't a good thing either: it gave me even more pimples and even hair loss. While I was in Seoul, Korea for 6 months I have tried different kinds of beauty brands such as Laneige, Etude House and Innisfree, but none of them worked on healing my acne scarring.

APRIL? 2014

JULY 2014

Back in the Netherlands, I was not as stressed out anymore and that was also shown on my face: less new pimples but still acne scarring.

I was stuck with a skincare routine which didn't do anything for me from the brand Ageless, which was recommended by a beautician in Hong Kong. And while trying "commercial" skincare products I would frequently get like a rash all over my face. They are small little white soft bumps all over my face and I still haven't figured out what it's called. But after a few days it will slowly disappear. I think it's caused by using the "commercial" products which has a lot of different ingredients in them, what my skin couldn't handle and break out or it can be something hormonal too. I had a hard time finding the right products for my skin. 

Until I came across CloudyApples on Youtube. She's such an sweet, quirky and down-to-earth Youtuber, which is why you should definitely check her out! She talked in two of her videos about oil cleansing and her top 5 beauty oils. After watching her videos I went to a natural drugstore and bought few natural skincare products to try out and it has been really good for my skin since then! 

I also started to go to a beauty therapist to get a deep cleanse facial. This was my face after the first facial. Don't be shocked, because it's a normal effect.The beautician went all over my skin to get rid of all my impurities such as black and white heads etc. After a few days my skin was healing fine. 

OCTOBER 2014

The combination of a skincare routine that works for me and deep cleans facials has helping me so much on clearing up my skin and healing my acne scars. 

This is how my current skin looks like:

MARCH 2015 

As you can see from the pictures my skin has cleared up so much! I still have pigmentation marks, redness on my cheek and besides my nose and just a few little spots. I used to use lots of make-up to cover up my skin but that would emphasise my bad skin even more and wouldn't give my skin a chance to heal.

I'm happy that I have become more relaxed on my skin. Even though I don't have a perfect skin, I am able to embrace the imperfections on my skin: I like my pigmentation marks. I think it gives me a raw and real look just like freckles. I love my redness, so it gives some colour to my face. Lately I stopped using foundation and just went for a nude/naked look. I just go for concealer to even out and brighten my complexion, a bit of blush/contour and focus on my eye with tightening, eyeliner and mascara.

After this long proces I have learned that having perfect skin doesn't describe who you are. Don't get too obsessed with your skin: people see through your skin imperfections. It's the inside, the personality that counts.

Any skin imperfections you have been dealing with? X 

p.s. I will post my skincare routine soon! :)

*Disclaimer 
I am not a dermatologist or any skin expert. I am not saying that if you want to clear up your skin you should take the birth control pill. I have tried several alternatives first, before I went back to it. There are also other ways to clear up your skin that you can try. For example finding the right (natural) products that works for your skin, maybe change your food intake and other little changes would already make a big difference. Please do you research and get some advice from a beautician or a dermatologist also. This is my process in how I get rid of the acne and acne marks, which means that it  worked out for me, may not work out on you.