Hey, Beauties...
Today, I thought that I should touch on my journey and relationship with my skin. I think that it is only fair that I let you guys in on what I have gone through with my skin, which is also the foundation of where we are today. What I want to achieve with this particular blog post is for my readers to understand the complexities of our skin and how knowledge is the key to best-taking care of your skin accordingly.
Up until the age of 12, the only skincare products I knew were Sunlight bar soap, Vaseline, and Aqueous cream on fancy days or I think my mom used it on me during the winter months, she would mix it with my Vaseline. At the time I had no clue about any other skincare products aside from the Barbie lotions I would receive on my Birthdays. and now that I think of it, whenever I went to town with my mother, we would go to a clothing store named Edgars and I remember I would spend my entire time there browsing and smelling those lotions, perhaps that is how far back my fascination with skincare goes, that was a little bit of a backstory but let us get back to what this blog is about.
My skin issues started rather early in life, I am what many would consider an early bloomer, therefore I went through my puberty stage at an early age. I don't know the exact date or time when I first got my first acne pimple but what I do know is that I was 12 years old when I noticed that I am started to get pimples on my face, and the problem was not necessarily that I got pimples, the problem was that I could not stand them so I would pop them and I honestly enjoyed popping them so I did not understand the damage I was doing skin.
The pimple popping left me with dark spots, which was the issue. After all, for someone with a lighter complexion like mine, it was extra visible and at the time I did not understand why or that I was the one making it worse. Around that time, my older sister was also battling acne, so when my mom took her to the dermatologist to check her skin, I asked my mom to tag along and that was the first round of my journey with dermatologists.
My very first dermatologist was Dr. Rauntenbach, he was a very kind and gifted dermatologist. I do not think I remember or even understood what he said about my skin at the time, but I remember he gave us this acne care package I do not remember what the products were in that package, however, I think it was your mini skincare routine essentials, face washes, and moisturizers. What I do remember was those medicated orange cap lip balms, that I did not like because they smelled horrible even though they got the job done. That care package did help me a lot, I know this because that is the reason I considered Dr. Rauntenbach my trusted dermatologist.
I stopped going for frequent checkups for like 2 years because my acne clear for a while, but when I turned 14, I guess I fell off the wagon and the acne came back, so I asked my mom to make an appointment with the dermatologist but sadly we found out that he had passed away, that was a real bummer for me like I said he was a kind person, but now I had to find a new Dermatologist.
At the time, Dr. Jacobs was considered to be the best dermatologist in town so I got my appointment with him. Honestly, I do not remember a single thing about that appointment, I do not even know what he prescribed, but I think that is when my series of products that burned my skin began. I obviously I went back for a follow-up check-up( I like to stick to one doctor) and once again I never paid attention to the things he said. The reason was A. I probably zoned out and B. my mom was there to listen for me so I just followed the instructions my mom gave me lol.
What I do remember is that when I turned 15, he finally prescribed me pills to help with my situation, at the time I did know what those pills were, back then I was only interested in celebrities and seventeen magazines anything else was a bore to me, I just wanted a clear skin. He told me to start drinking them on the first of my period and that I might experience some nausea, I did what I was told and I did experience more than just nausea, but it was not too bad it lasted for a couple of hours, I only realized when I was 16 that he just put on the pill. I honestly did not know what it was at the time, it was a conversation about my skin that I had with some girl at school that made taught me that I was on the pill.
So those pills did start to help but I was still not happy with my skin and I think like a teenage girl it really plunges your confidence because you wanted to look like the flawless celebrities and you know the media back then really just depicted that perfection and that is what we strived for. So by the time I turned sixteen I was experimenting with all these major skincare brands, living in boarding school also did not help because I remember I once saw a girl using these Oxy acne pads that she said helped clear her acne and when I went home I convinced my mom to buy it,
My darling mother wasted her money but she was so supportive she just went along with it, so she bought it and I was so excited. I truly believed that this was gonna be my saving grace but when I tell you that product burned the living light out of my skin to the point where I got scabs on my face, and you must know that at the time I did discontinue it from the first burn because there was this mentality that if it burns, it working but with that particular product I knew I had to discontinue it as soon as possible.
That did not stop my quest for a product that would help me, I tried them all, and I mean that, and most of them would burn me, dry me out or leave a white residue behind and nobody wants to look like they are mimicking Casper the friendly ghost. I later discovered Gentle Magic and my mom is the one that introduced me to it because she said they used to use it back in her day and it worked, so she bought the whole range and low and behold it did really work and so much so that I even became a mini influencer at school and saw the other girls using it too, it was going good for quite a long time with Gentle Magic,
I thought I would stick to it forever, but I guess my skin became used to it and the toner started to burn me. I stopped using the toner and continued with the cleanser and moisturizer but they also did not do anything for me anymore so I was back to square one. I discontinued it and I gave up looking for products. I would just wash my face with normal soap and use that Nivea Creme, I still like that creme because of its thick consistency it kept my dry skin moisturized.
At 17, I decided to drop my dermatologist, because I just felt like he did not know what to do with me anymore, he was a good doctor, but unfortunately, I just felt he was giving me things that were not working for my particular skin. For the time being my aunt started booking me for facials at spas and they would help but the problem was that I would only help for a short period, and then the products they recommended were too expensive and the others stung, I was too sensitive for them.
At 18, I just went back to using sunlight bar soap and Nivea creme to moisturize again and at the time I started asking my GP for advice on how I could take better care of my skin and she advised me to drink my water and a balanced diet but then she examined my skin and decided to put me on a treatment for 6 months, that was gonna help me clear my skin completely she put me on Oratane, which is a milder treatment than Accutane. And after years and years of looking for something to clear my skin, I finally got something that helped and got me what I wanted, she gave me skincare products to use while I was on Oratane similar to that care package got from my first doctor.
I would not say that my skin has been perfect ever since I used Oratane, I do experience breakouts now and then but now the difference is that I can sort of tetellinghatretelling at I have been doing wrong, for instance, I am still struggling with drinking enough water, and I do not always maintain a healthy diet and I sometimes still cannot resist popping my pimples so I am still learning and growing and it is one of the many other reasons why I started this blog to find better ways to take of my skin within a community where I can learn from and for my beauties to learn from me.
May your Skin Glow and Love Grow
Zenani, Pretty Simple Beauty
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