You guys know I am a consumer. It's true. If it's for sale, I want to buy it. If it promises to make my life easier, me prettier, my hair silkier, lose inches, weight, I am all over it. The thing is, many times it's just a fad that I go through. I go all crazy over something for a week, or maybe a month and then as fast as I fell in love with it, I'm on to something new that promises something even better.
The past 6 months my face has decided it's a 14 year old boy. There is nothing more embarrassing than being a 35 year old woman with the skin of a teenager. I've stopped eating red meat, because I was convinced the hormones were one of the main reason I kept breaking out. We're talking huge, cyst like zits all over my cheeks, chin and forehead. As soon as one went away three more would pop up. Here's the thing - it was so bad people actually feel the need to comment on it. Like I didn't notice.
And if being embarrassed weren't enough, it has been uber painful. Like so much pressure, I can feel my heart beating in the center of this big assed zit. Like tears running down my face if I hit it by accident, and throbbing pain the rest of the time.
Is there some perception that people with adult acne don't wash their face? I don't know, maybe there is. But I was seriously tempted to start every single conversation with, "Hi, yes I know I have something going on here. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm clean. I totally wash my face and shower daily. It's not my fault." It's a little too much information, but this is what I'm thinking people are wondering and maybe need to hear from me.
At the end of the day, it was starting to affect my confidence. I was finding ways to creatively hide my face while I was talking to people - pretend I was playing with my hair, rest my chin on my hand, pretend I was stifling a sneeze, I had thought of it all. The thing was, what kind of guy wants to date a woman who...well....has acne like a 14 year boy. I grossed myself out, I'm not gointg to lie.
I've seriously tried everything.
I went to the doctor to get a topical antibiotic cream for my face. It did nothing more than dry my skin out. I tried Bare Minerals because they advertised how amazing their skin care products are, and how they actually moisturize and heal damaged skin while you wear it - it just dried my skin out. I tried Clinique - also advertising how awesomely moisturizing it was and how it fights acne. Really, didn't do much more than dry my skin out.
I determined that the reason my skin was breaking out so horribly was because it was dried out. Having used Proactive in the past, I absolutely refused to do so again. It saps all the moisture out of your face and your lips crack when you smile. So you might not have acne, but you can't laugh without bleeding. Not really my idea of a solution.
It seemed as though my issue was that my skin was too dry. So I bought 100% argon oil by Josie Maran. I thought I had found the miracle healer for my face. And for a few days, it really appeared as though my acne flares and settled down and my face wasn't feeling as dry. But it was $20 for a tester size and I didnt' see results to the point where I was willing to spend $70 on a full size. Once I stopped using it, I realized my skin wasn't actually absorbing the oil. The oil was sitting on top of my skin. It wasn't moisturizing. It was masking the real issue.
In a last ditch effort, I found some old samples the RE9 line from Arbonne. I used this stuff in the past and had some amazing results, but I kind of thought that it wasn't really the Arbonne, but more so that my skin had matured and decided it didn't want to rebel like a teenage boy anymore. I also thought that eliminating the red meat and extra hormones had worked and I was in a zit free zone!! Time had shown me I was wrong, though, so I thought..."What the heck! I have nothing to lose, let's just try it."
Oh. My. Goodness.
Within 24 hours, I noticed a difference.
And I'm not just saying that you guys. I wish I had taken before and after pictures just to show you the difference 24 hours made. The dry, flaky skin was gone as my skin actually absorbed the cream instead of it just sitting on top. The acne scabs (gross, I'm sorry) that I did have were noticeably smaller and healed. I've had a few surface zits since starting but I've heard that it takes a month for a zit to pop up, so I'm convinced those were there before.
I'm going to be honest...the trouble that I have with Arbonne is that I can't just go to a store and pick it up. It requires a bit of forethought to purchase it before you're actually out of the product. Also, it is expensive. It cost more than the $20 cold cream that you buy from the local drug store. However, that being said...the so called trouble is absolutely worth the results. Nothing I've used even comes close to the results I've noticed in a week. In terms of cost, I find that I am spending $20 here or $40 there and in the end, it equals waaaaaay more than the $60 that Arbonne costs. It's not being thrown away or sitting idle on my make up table. And they don't contain parabens and other such gross, unhealthy ingredients.
My confidence is back. I feel prettier. My skin is glowing and pretty and even the red scars are beginning to fade.
So, here's my PSA:
Do you suffer from adult acne? And don't know why? Is your skin dry, sore and flaky with huge cyst like zits? Are you embarrassed by your skin? Then seriously, use RE9 by Arbonne. I know a seller, I can totally hook you up (no seriously, I can!! Inbox me. I'll give you the deets!) Tell your friends, tell your family, tell the stranger on the street. There is no need to suffer in silence, when the answer is just 24 hours away :)
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