To start things off (after I wash my hands, of course!) is my eye make up. For my everyday eye make up, it usually only consists of liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner, and mascara. To take that off, I just put some Clean & Clear Soothing Eye Make Up Remover onto a cotton pad and gently rub. Because this is an oil based make up remover, it really tackles all my eye make up and makes it fairly easy to remove.
Now, as you look at the next picture I know what you're thinking "baby wipes?!". I choose to use baby wipes because it is inexpensive, it does not seem to irritate my skin, and it does a pretty good job at removing about 75% of my make up. I tend to switch in-between the brands Equate (Wal-Mart Brand) or Baby Life (Shopper's Drug Mart Brand). For everyday face make up, I apply primer, concealer, foundation, and a setting powder. Never use baby wipes alone to clean your face because it does have chemicals in it (and so do make up wipes). Immediately after I wipe most of my make up off, I move onto the next step...
Washing my face and applying lotion. The last steps to my skin care routine. Whatever skin type you have, don't ever exempt yourself from washing your face and moisturizing! Cetaphil is an amazing brand and in my opinion, extremely underrated. Ever since I was young, I would use cetaphil on and off. 21 years later, I have fully committed to it and don't see myself switching to any other.
As you can tell, my skin care routine is fairly simple and there is a reason for that! I had struggle with acne for many, many years. I eventually had enough and made the decision to try out accutane (or the medical name - isotretinoin). Accutane is an oral pill that can be taken to treat severe acne. There are many side effects that come with accutane and it is fairly strong, which is why it is not just simply given to anyone and all users are cautioned. After taking it for 7 months, my skin is now pimple free! I say "pimple free" and not "clear" because I still have a lot of pigmentation and scars.
before accutane (left) - after accutane (right)
Before and during the treatment, my skincare routine has remained fairly similar. I just had to cut out things such as clay masks and exfoliating. Essentially, what I learned through my treatment is: having a simple care routine is okay and sometimes beneficial. So often we tend to wear and tear our skin even more applying so many chemicals and products.
In the end, I am happy with the results of my accutane treatment and it was a tough journey to endure. But I've gained back so much confidence and don't regret it one bit!
xoxo
P.S. I've been thinking about whether to share my full accutane experience or not. It is a scary thing to think about and the process needs a lot of patience and strength. If requested, I would be happy to share or answer any questions people may have about it (:
