Day 5

Today will be my 3rd application of Retin-A and so far so good.

I used it on Monday and there were no adverse effects on Tuesday. I think it helped heal some blemishes faster, but other than that, it was the same as usual. I cleansed my faced using homemade cold cream and applied my trusty Devita sunscreen. Tuesday night I mixed a bit of aloe vera gel with 6 drops of oil mix to give my skin a break.

On Wednesday I dediced to use Retin-a in my neck and décolletage as well because it will be weird to have perfect skin on the face and an aging neck, wouldn't it? Plus, I have a lot of freckles, and if the freckles disappear from my face but can be seen on my upper chest, it won't match. Used the same buffering method (RA + CeraVe), but 2.5 times the amount, since I was covering a larger area.

Skin was still lovely on Thursday. I peel regularly in small amounts, so for me it was pretty much the same as every day... well, more like the day before I do my weekly exfoliating mask. But the great part is that there wasn't redness or irritation. Thursday night I washed my face with water and moisturized with aloe vera gel and oil.

Today is Friday and I'm wearing makeup for the first time in the week. It is my best skin day of the week, but I have a couple of meetings and want to look my best. Weird thing is that it was until I applied my makeup that I realized I was peeling. I brushed my face with pressed powder to set the foundation and got tiny face dandruff-y flakes on my shirt. And of course, the foundation accentuates the flakes still attached to my face, but you need to be really close to notice. Guess Retin-A is working its magic and my skin is regenerating.

Blemishes are almost gone.

Day 1

So my journey begins with Retin-A.

I had a previous encounter with Retin-A a thousand years ago, when I was 18 and absolutely hated it. Made my face red, itchy and horrible, discontinued it after only 3 days. Turns out I was using it wrong. The derm that prescribed it (1% that time) was too busy to explain correct procedure, so teenager me used it liberally every day and of course the results were terrible.

This time I did my research and will begin with baby steps.

First, I washed my face with CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, applied a bit of low alcohol Witch Hazel and set the timer for 15 minutes. I don't understand the chemistry behind it, but turns out you need to air your skin after cleansing.

Got my potions together:

My staple CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion and .05% Retin-A, which set me back 15 USD (love the mexican prices, would have been even less if I'd gotten the generic one, as it is only 5 USD but really hard to find). Instructions say to use a pea-sized amount by itself, but I tweaked it a little because I'm new at this and I just know a pea would not be enough... Not wanting to be tempted to use more, and also wanting to buffer the medication a bit, I mixed the pea drop with the moisturizer:

Left side, milky white stuff is the CeraVe moisturizer. The pearly yellowy drop on the right is the Retin-A. Mixed them well and applied to whole face. My skin was a bit red after application but calmed down in a few minutes.

Today is Monday, I will be waiting until Wednesday for another buffered Retin-A treatment. My face needs to get used to this slowly.

Day 0

Today I decided I'm fed up with the state of my skin.

I'm 34 and have had so so skin all my life. Acne wasn't crazy, mainly hormonal, pores medium/big and I didn't pay much attention to my skin.

Last November I went on an emotional roller coaster ride that wrought havoc to my complexion. Cystic acne, regular acne, alien acne, you name it. And since I'm not exactly the disciplined type, I picked on my blemishes. Benzoyl Peroxide (BP) wasn't much help, in fact I think it actually purged my skin and made it worse, so I discontinued it (didn't know what "purge" was at the time).

My "please face, calm yourself" routine (starting Christmas 2011) has been:

• water only washes
• witch hazel or rose water as toner
• Cerave moisturizer in the morning
• aloe vera gel with 7 drops of OCM oil in the evenings
• honey and cinnamon masks (2x per week)
• honey bandaids at night on problem spots
• and most importantly, control the crazy stress in my life

Skin has indeed calmed, but there are still some blemishes. The worse part: my face wasn't as forgiving as it was when I was 16. It scarred. Not ugly-ugly, but the kind of scar you feel like you need to wear makeup all the time to look presentable. And since I've been a no foundation girl all my life, I've decided I don't want to be all made up every single moment until I die (only special occasions). Skin has to get better!

Here's the proof of the damage. No makeup, no retouching.

Left side of my face.

Left side again

Right side, where the nastiest scars live (for now)

Another pic of my right side.

So this is my starting point. Things will improve. Just wait and see.