January Favourites

Here are some short reviews of what I've been using the most this month.

Stridex

Stridex is an american brand but easy to find on Amazon. I use the maximum version which contains 2% salicylic acid. I like this as they cost around £8 for 90 pads, they do the job and they don't contain alcohol (win), my only complaint is they do contain irritants which can be quite drying. I use these after cleansing and before a serum, cream or moisturiser.

FAB Ultra Repair Cream

When stridex makes be dry I have this to turn to. Its a thick moisturiser although I find it doesn't break me out as it does contain Shea or cocoa butter. I find its a great cream to keep on hand when my skin is dry or irritated. I use this as a night cream as it doesn't contain SPF, although I believe there is a version that does.

Dr. Organic Tea Tree Face Wash

This is a good SLS free cleanser. Great for acne and any skin type and I would recormend this for sensitive skin. I use this in my night-time cleanse with a muslin cloth.

Eucerin Even Brighter Day Cream

My favourite day cream at the moment. If you have seen the review then check it out:

http://obsessedwithskin.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/goodbye-hyperpigmentation.html

Goodbye Hyperpigmentation

Hyperpigmentation (PIH) is often a part of scarring. For example when acne leaves a scar it leaves a dent and a red or discoloured mark. These products help over time to reduce and after 2 maybe 3 months can remove these discolourations.

Eucerin: Even brighter day cream SPF 30
As a day cream Id recommend this to anyone with or without active acne. It leaves skin feeling moisturised without feeling very greasy. Its free from thick moisturisers like cocoa or shea butter so is unlikely to cause breakouts. 

For Hyperpigmentation (PIH) it contains B-Resorcinol and Glycyrrhetinic Acid. Eucerin claims that these can repair the skin and help protect it. It also contains SPF 30 which is vitally important if you're going to spend any amount of money on skincare. This is because, epically when using glycolic acid,  any amount of sun can make PIH much worse and can undo any effects these products have had on you.

Reviva 10% Glycolic acid Cream
Glycolic acid is the number one thing I recommend for PIH. At 10% its very effective although first time users should  try 5% or less first as it can irritate skin and you want to build up tolerance. I use this as a night cream although its not very moisturising, if you have dry skin id recommend putting a thicker moistener over the top. It does sting a bit when I use it, but its only for a short while (as to be expected wit some acids).

I find my skins always at its brightest the day after I use it, and its really effective on PIH.

Non of the products mentioned are tested on animals.

The 5 Most Important Pieces of Equipment Needed for Revision or Studying

Whether I'm cramming for a big test or doing a little version this is the equipment I always have on hand. Over the past few years my revision technique has changed and diversified. I recommend you try something new next time you revise because for a long time I just used a notepad, a pen and a revision guide and ignored all other techniques that turned out to be very effective.

All levels: GCSE and A Level

1. A Revision Guide

I can't even force myself to use a textbook when revising, they're just so big and not very concise. That's why I like a revision guide. To the people from the UK my favourite brand is CGP. They are much easier to revise from and as soon as I started A levels they were the first things I bought. Another great thing is that some come with online versions so if you don't want to carry round a book or you quickly need to look something up when you not at home you can just go online. 

2. Fine liners

Everything looks better when done with fine liners and a large array of colours. Not only that but they make revision more interesting and I find they mean I'm more likely to revise if I have them. Personally I first bought some cheap fine liners from wilko because I didn't know if I was going to use them. Recently though I decided it would be worth buying a more expensive set.

3. Flash cards

Flash cards are a great companion for as you can make colourful notes on them and revise from them. I recommend looking around for them though as I find they're a third the price in my colleges shop.

4. A3 paper

Again, a great companion for fine liners as you can make colourful posters and mind maps. Although the downside is its hard to find as they don't sell it in most supermarkets or small stationary shops. I got mine from staples (a 30 page, 90 gsm sketch pad) but you can also find some on Amazon.

A Level

5. Subject A-Z or Dictionary

Recently I was recommended a set of subject A-Zs. I find them useful as at A level there are more words that I have to learn in chemistry and physics, most textbooks don't have glossaries and Google can often be confusing.

A Practical Guide to Acne

As someone who's had acne and who's researched it a whole lot, this is my straight forward, no nonsense guide to acne.

Myths

• You can dry out Acne. It doesn't really work like that, if you dry out a spot, you're not drying what's inside the spot, your drying out the skin around it. This can make it more angry and more prone to scaring.
• A daily scrub will help. Imagine the grain of sand in your scrub and compare it to the size of your pore. There's no way it can possibly remove the dirt from it, and if it was big enough how would it get back out of your pore?
• It's sugar isn't it? This is where people split. Acne can happen for a number of reasons, I'm not saying sugar is or is not a trigger for breakouts, but a healthy lifestyle never hurt anyone.
• Baking soda, Apple cider Vinegar and Lemon Juice will solve all my problems. Never put any of these things on your face. Constant use of any of these things will make your face irritated as they are not the right pH for your face. Stick to properly formulated products.

Treatments

The ones that work the Best:

• Benzoyl peroxide: Anti-Bacterial. Recommended to be used at 2.5 - 5%, I recommend only at night and always where sunscreen of SPF 30 and above.
• Salicylic acid: Acid exfoliant + Anti-Bacterial. Recommended to be used at 2%, if you find you skin sensitive to it you can use 0.5 - 1% and work your way up to 2%. Recormend product: Stridex. 

The ones that don't work as well:

• Tea tree oil: Anti-Bacterial. Not as good as Benzoyl peroixde.

Skincare Routine

What should skincare routine be made up of? I break it down into 3 Steps.

• Cleanse, day and night: Cleansing is very important and must be done twice a day. If you wear make-up you can use a wipe but always cleanse after. Never use a scrub. Cleansing will not rid you of acne on its own, but if you don't cleanse any thing you treat your acne with will be much less affective.
• Treat, day and night: Use benzoyl peroxide at night and Salicylic acid at night and day.
• Moisturise and Sunscreen, day: Use an SPF of 30 or above in the day, every day, all year round. This is very important as Benzoyl Peroxide can pose a skin cancer risk if you don't use sunscreen. Even in winter. Moisturise if your skin feels dry, if your worried about breaking out from the moisturiser don't go oil free, opt for some thing like Simple's spotless skin moisturiser as it also has acne fighting ingredients.

La Roche-Posay

The great thing about french brands is they offer good value for well tested products. La Roche-Posay is no exception. I think the main thing you'll notice if you upgrade your skincare routine from supermarket brands to mid-range pharmacy brands is, other than the price, all over face treatments (as appose to spot treatments) and alcohol free toners.

Effeclar Duo [+]

One thing about french bands are the confusing names. It takes a while to get used to each name for each range for each brand. Effeclar is La Roche-Posay's answer to acne. Effecalr Duo is a full face treatment (in the UK, its a spot treatment in the US). This is something you don't really find in cheaper brands, but there is a spot treatment if you feel you need it, and I feel it really makes a difference from blemishes and larger acne to scarring. Although I don't feel this will clear moderate acne unless another cream is used along side like Benzyl Peroxide.

Serozinc

Again weird name, its a spray toner or spray onto cotton pad if you don't like being sprayed in the face. As I mentioned earlier: alcohol free, which means you can probably apply as much as you want without drying your skin. I think this complements effeclar duo, but if I could only pick one, it would be effeclar duo. 

A Few Things From: The Body Shop

I went into the Body Shop as I do quite often and picked up a couple items. Here are some quick reviews.

Tea Tree Toner

I'm I fan of toners, I think even the simplest skincare routine should include a toner. What is often overlook especially in cheaper ranges is leave on products and I think a toner offers a light weight leave on.


I like the tea tree toner from The Body Shop because although it contains alcohol, its not much, not enough to feel it when you use it. I think its a good price as it's 400ml for £5.50. This places it well between cheap alcohol filled toners and the alcohol free toners like lush's' tea tree toner.

One thing that's sets it apart from other toners is the mattifying powder it contains for which you have to shake up to use.

I don't think this product alone is going to give you clear skin, but it sure will help. If your looking for a lighter alternative to benzyl peroxide this would be a good consideration but won't be as affective.

Blackhead Remover

If you've not seen one of these before it might look like a surgical instrument buts its not that scary. Buy placing pressure around a blackhead it pushes them out like squeezing with you fingers never could. If you don't believe me then check out all the videos on youtube.

That aside, I've used blackhead removers in the past three times the price, this being £4, and there really is not difference. I like this one because it has a square handle meaning it doesn't roll around.

Its easier to push out larger blackheads but once you get a good technique your be extracting like there's no tomorrow. It works best after steaming or placing a hot cloth on your face. I like to do it after I've cleansed my face using hot water till I can feel the ends of the blackheads poking out.

Natural vs Chemical

Often the word natural is used to make a product more appealing but is it really better? The answer to that is complicated so I shall first go over each product in your routine then go over some specific ingredients.

Chemical means something made in a lab.

Organic vs Natural: what's the difference? Products that say they're natural most of the time don't mean they're 100% natural. In fact very few are. To be called natural they don't even have to contain much of a natural ingredient. Some products show what percentage of something is natural. Organic on the other hand means 100% natural unless its referring to a specific ingredient. Be careful when reading packaging. I will be using the word natural to refer to products that use natural ingredients for their main purpose such as active ingredients.

Cleanser

I don't often recommend using an acne cleanser unless you can pay a bit more to get something better formulated. In this case it doesn't matter whether its chemical or natural.

Moisturizer

This one can be controversial. Personally I use natural moisturizers as they break down on the skin unlike chemical ingredients although shea butter is best avoided as it takes longer to break down. A natural moisturizer is also good for supplying nutrition to the skin.

Treatment

In this category I'm grouping toner/liquids and serums/gels. Here are some ingredients that I like. Most natural and some chemical . I like them not because of their source but because of how well they work.

• Salicylic acid sometimes called Beta hydroxy (BHA) acid is natural as it come from willow tree bark. This is best as a leave on as will have a minimal amount of affect in a cleanser, especially a cheap one.
• Glycolic acid and Lactic acid sometimes called Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are natural. The most important one for acne is Glycolic. They both help to fade and eventually can  remove acne scarring. This is also best in a leave on.
• Benzyl Peroxide is chemical. It work much better than Tea Tree and leaves your skin less drying. 2.5-5% works best. Not great for a cleanser as it can bleach clothing.

Nip + Fab pads are great as they contain Glycolic, lactic and salicylic acid.

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