Growing up I had the most beautiful skin (well at least that’s what l believed). I didn’t go through all the troublesome puberty and adolescence skin changes so I always thought I was lucky when it came to skin issues. Never really did any skin routines, all the exfoliating, toning, scrubbing etc. All I literally did was wash my face with just plain water and used my bare palms. Most of the times l really didn’t put on any moisturiser because my skin is very oily. I never wore any makeup and the first-time l did l was 22 years old and it was my graduation day.
How I got acne.
Trouble with my skin came when I was pregnant with my son. 7 months into the pregnancy l still had my nice and clear skin until l started to notice rush like small pimples starting to develop on my face. I really didn’t make a fuss about it until the rash became bigger, developed into horrible blackheads and in no time my skin was covered in acne. My skin was ruined and l couldn’t do anything about at the time because of the pregnancy. I read a lot of articles on acne, its causes and treatment and ended up dismissing my acne as pregnancy acne caused by the change in hormones. With that I convinced myself that it was going to clear away after l gave birth.
Treating the acne
After giving birth I waited for almost 3 months before I started working on my skin. The acne was still there and I thought it was because I still had some residual pregnancy hormones in my body. Boy was l wrong. I soon realised that the acne was never going to clear away on its own and started to try out acne products. At first, I went the natural way. I tried out aloe-vera as we had the plant at home and there was no change. I did all the egg solutions, turmeric mixtures, used tomatoes, potatoes, honey and sugar scrub, honey and cinnamon mask, I mean I tried every recommended fruit or vegetable.
Every remedy I could find on Google I tried it and nothing really cleared up my acne. Well, I didn’t give up and I went on to try over the counter products. I got the full set of Neutrogena products. All those blackhead clearing scrubs, cleansers, toners, moisturisers. I even got the famous spot stress control. I used all that for months and there wasn’t much change.
Finally, a treatment that works
2 years after giving birth I still had rough skin and horrible acne. I resorted to using makeup to cover the horridness of my skin. It messed up a bit of my confidence which motivated me to search even harder for an acne treatment. Then one day I just bumped into an acne regimen product review. The young lady in the video was sharing how she also once had horrible acne but now had a clear skin after using a product she found online. Her before and after pictures really convinced me and the fact that she was not doing a paid review. However, one thing that made me hesitant to jump right in and buy the product was that the vlogger who shared her experience is Caucasian.
As a black woman I was worried about whether or not the product contained any skin lightening chemicals. I pried through YouTube trying to find an African person who had used the product before. When I didn’t find anyone I just decided to go ahead and purchase the products. After all I really didn’t have much to lose at that time.
Acne.org Regimen
I went online and spent quite a bit of time doing some research on the product, and looked at testimonials and reviews. I bought the products but I started with the smaller bottles as l was only trying out the product. The kit is a bit pricey and comprises of a treatment, moisturiser and a cleanser. I received my product shipment after 4 weeks. It took that long because I bought the products in the USA, and I was in Zimbabwe at the time. I had read on how this acne regimen was a fast, overnight working kind of product so I was patient. Within 3 months of religiously using the prods I started to see my skin changing. I decided to drop the cleanser from the kit and swapped it out for the African black soap.
By month 6 my treatment and moisturiser bottles had finished and my skin was now looking great. The acne was really clearing up. I bought my second batch of bottles but this time I just bought the treatment and the moisturiser. I also bought the biggest bottle sizes that were available. Within a year of using the Acne.org regimen my skin had cleared up. It didn’t lighten my skin, instead it got rid of all the blemishes and left me with a nice even skin tone. No more acne on my face and I have been using the Acne.org treatment, moisturiser and the African black soap since June 2018. I will go ahead and shed more light on the products I used to clear up my acne. You can also get the Acne.org products here.
The acne treatment
The Acne.org treatment is a gel based 2.5% benzoyl Peroxide. The treatment is gel based so that its easy to apply and also so you won’t get any white residue when you sweat. It is pH balanced to keep irritation to a minimum. The secret to using the treatment is to start slow with a small portion. Don’t use a lot of product the first 3 weeks so that you give your skin time to get used to the benzoyl peroxide. Use only a pea size amount once a day the first weeks and slowly up your dosage and frequency from there. You may experience a bit of itchiness when you first use the treatment. Don’t worry about it, your skin will not be used to the treatment just yet.
The acne treatment moisturiser
After applying the treatment and leaving it to dry a bit you should apply the moisturiser as the treatment tends to leave your skin feeling dry. The Acne.org moisturiser contains no pore clogging or irritating ingredients so it is safe to use on acne prone skin. The moisturiser has licochalcone which acts as an anti irritant, calming down the skin. With the moisturiser you can use as much as you want and as often as you need.
The acne treatment cleanser
Like I said earlier I use the African black soap as my cleanser as I found it to be more effective than the one on the regimen kit. The specific brand I use is Dudu Osun. It’s made from natural ingredients. It’s made from shea butter, honey, aloe-vera, camwood (osun), palm kernel oil, cocoa pod ash, palm bunch ash, lime juice, lemon juice, water and fragrance. The soap is a gentle cleanser not only for the skin but also for hair and scalp. The reason why I like this soap is because of its exfoliating properties. This emanates from camwood which is the soap’s main ingredient. Apart from acne, Dudu Osun can also be used to clear eczema, for dry skin, psoriasis, dermatitis and dark spots.
PS: One thing I want you to know is that Acne.org regimen is not a cure for acne. It just clears your skin and helps prevent any future acne breakouts.
Great post Viola. I’m gonns try them. Im excited