Solving acne: The Easy Way

I've never been shy about my experience with acne. Whiteheads, blackheads, the dreaded cystic. I've had it all and even as an adult, continue to have to deal with these f*ckers.

All my weapons against zits have been topical and over the counter. I've been to a dermatologist, but for my eczema, not for acne, so I haven't gone through the hardcore prescription stuff like Accutane or Cortisol shots, but I have had major struggles. Especially with Cystic Acne and especially when I was a teenager. I have always been willing to try anything to help.

If you've been lucky enough to never have had a cystic acne experience, I envy you, but I'll explain what they feel like. They are hard, start deep under the skin, seem to take weeks to come to a head, they throb and are so painful! There's no head to extract or try to pop or lance; you wish you had a needle because if you could just get that stuff out of there the pressure would ease and give you relief! But just because there's no visible head, doesn't mean they are invisible! Ohhh no! The skin is swollen and raised for what seems like months. Then, if you are able to get it to come to a head and manage to pop it? IT GETS WORSE! The wound takes forever to heal! You try and get all the "ick" out, if you can get the sack you consider yourself lucky; however I've had cluster cystic acne before and let me tell you, no matter how hard you try, you just aren't going to get all the sacks the first time so the infection gets worse and it's just heinous. Blech! 

Topical/over the counter spot treatments can help, but they dry out the top layers of your skin which causes redness and flaky skin, making the acne more pronounced and sometimes more painful.

Sheesh!

I don't get the cystic acne as much as I used to, but I do still get them (and other spots). And now I have a new weapon in my arsenal.

Cut up piece of bandage!

Hydrocolloid Bandages.

What are those???

Hydrocolloid Bandages are blister band-aids! You know, those ones you use on your foot if your shoes are too tight/too loose and you wind up with a blister across the back of your heel? Yeah! Those!

I was watching one of my favorite YouTubers Rachel Whitehurst (she's awesome, but she cusses, be warned) and what she said blew my mind! Apparently she had been alerted to these helpful little beauties via Tumblr.

I immediately went to Ebates.com and placed an order for the Target Brand bandages, went and picked them up at my local Target (YAY site to store pickup!) and gave them a try.

Now, I didn't have a cystic zit at the time, I DID have a whitehead zit that had just surfaced and naturally I didn't take a picture of it. Because I had the dumb that day.

BUT I did what Rachel had suggested, I cut the bandage to fit (I actually made sure that the fattest part of the bandage was on the zit part) and stuck that sucker on there. I left it overnight and let me tell you that white part was completely gone the next morning!

I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!All that was left of that zit was a bit of redness that was easily covered up by my tinted moisturizer! IT'S A MIRACLE!

Ok, peeling off the well worn sticker wasn't painless, it is VERY sticky so it pulls at any teeny hair, but it's easier if you wash your face a bit first, then peel it off, then wash your face like you normally would.

How did that work???

The bandage was made to draw out moisture and any infection from a blister while cushioning the skin and not leaving it dried out. So yeah, it's pretty much the perfect product for acne that is too stubborn to rise to a head but too deep to apply anything topical to kill the infection! Now, the trick is to leave the bandage on as long as possible, that way it draws it all up into the bandage material; but walking around with a weird piece of flesh colored bandage may not be possible. So leave the piece on as long as you can, then peel it off to see if the blemish can be dealt with (extracted or treated topically). If yes, then do your thing, but if you don't want to risk scarring, leave the hydrocolloid on until you get the result you want. I didn't experience any itchiness or anything, and frankly, you know how everyone tells you "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR ZIT" and you still touch it? Yeah, I felt confident that I could touch the bandage and NOT make my zit worse! A FIRST!

There are other options of hydrocolloid bandages available too! 

If you don't want to cut the pieces yourself, you can go to Amazon.com and try the Nexcare or Hydra-Band versions of a hydrocolloid bandage; these are pre-cut into varying sized circles so it's a
"peel and stick" option. I haven't tried those, and frankly the Target brand bandage that I have to cut is so much cheaper I don't mind cutting them to fit the size I need. 

So there! Something new to try that is inexpensive and fairly easy to obtain that won't cause the damage and scarring the old ways of dealing with your acne have been! Let me know if you try it and what your experiences are!

Tinfoil: It's not just for hats anymore!

I can't remember which Pinterest link I saw that clued me into this gem of a tip. But I do fully credit Pinterest!

I saw a pin regarding glittery nail polish easily, tried it and discovered that it works with EVERY polish!

Here goes: (follow the pictures left-to-right, top to bottom)

You're going to need tinfoil, cotton balls or pads and nail polish remover. I use Acetone because it's cheap.

Pull a decent length of tinfoil, enough to make a long rectangle when folded in half length ways. Then fold end over end, creating a smaller rectangle. Tear the rectangles off, then tear them again, repeat until you've got a decent stack of tinfoil rectangles.

Soak the cotton ball in acetone, place it on your nail. Take a foil piece, start wrapping your nail, making sure you wrap as tight as you can. Sealing the foil around your finger as much as you can. I wrap once, then fold the end up, then wrap the rest around my finger. Continuing that process until your whole hand is silver tipped is awkward. But I find the appearance to be funnnnnnny, reminiscent of Family Holiday dinners where my cousins would put olives on their fingertips!

I wait 1-2 minutes, then gently pull off the tinfoil fingertip, pushing/pulling a little to make sure all the polish attaches. And Presto! No more polish! No back and forth! You're done!

So there you have it! An easy way to quickly change your polish!

Stained your nails? EASY fix!

Have you ever used a dark or colorful nail polish, then after taking it off eventually you discover *GASP* your nails are stained BIG TIME?

Me too! My best friend (HI SCHMOOPS!!) gave me a terrific tip on how to remove the stain with minimal effort but maximum results:

Lemon juice and baking soda! That's it!
Spoon or dump some baking soda into a bowl, then add lemon juice and mix until you make a liquidy paste. It should feel very gritty, but not dry. You need it to stay liquid for ease of use. Then, dip your fingertips into the grit and massage your finger tops with opposing hands. Just like you would wash your hands normally.

It takes about 3 minutes, then wash your hands! Repeat if necessary, but I only needed to do it once and my darkly stained nails were pristine! (Naturally I didn't take a before or after picture of my nails. Frankly because I didn't think it would work as well as it did!)

The clean-up is as easy as every other step. And it's cheap! You probably have the elements in your kitchen already. Give it a shot! You won't be disappointed!

A little Lip service

Inspired by a Facebook post by my darling friend, Anne (aka Muse Mama) I decided to give a little Lip service! Lip color that is!

Here's my lips, with nothing on them; naked as lips can get.

I didn't even put any regular lip balm on like EOS or Burt's Bees!










I've been a big fan of lip tints for a long time. Sometimes a lipstick can be too hard looking, and a gloss can fade away too fast. I'm happy to report that Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter are a beautiful alternative to both!

Rich in texture like a lipstick, but creating a gliding and slick-smooth surface like a gloss with a terrific hydration and decent wear; bonus, Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butters come in 20 shades! TWENTY! That's a LOT of choices, my friends! Playing it safe, I purchased two of the Lip Butters. Pink Truffle and Red Velvet.
(Pink Truffle is on the left in the product picture but on the right in the swatch; Red Velvet is on the right in the product picture and on the left in the swatch)

Pink Truffle is in the pink family, but it's more muted than it is baby or bubble gum pink. I found it to be my go-to when I just want a little color. It's a good "bare but not" look.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Pink Truffle

With no liner needed, it gives a fuller appearance without being overbearing. 

To kick it up and frankly, the name just made me grab it with my hot little hand; here's Red Velvet. A blue red that's got a sheerness that makes it easy to wear with or without liner (this is without). Also, I found that layering Red Velvet over another more "blah" color like a brown-ish neutral really boosts the look of the original color.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Red Velvet

As you can see, it's totally wearable on it's own as a daily as well. The pigment is stronger in person, but don't be afraid to use it on the fly! The colors slightly deepen with more layers, but not by much so it's not like you have to have a light hand applying them.

These are my two favorites and the ones that I think are good starters for those who are leery of lip products. They cost about $7 US and can be found at most major box retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

Even the best look has got to go!

Down the drain of course!
You never, and I mean never want to sleep in your makeup. I don't care how "natural" it is, don't sleep in it! Especially your eye makeup. I've long grimaced at bi-phase makeup removers (the kind you have to shake-shake-shake) but I've found one that meets my demands. 1. Affordable and available. 2. Does the job. 3. Doesn't burn my eyes.

Enter in L'Oreal Paris Clean Artiste Waterproof & Long Wearing Eye Makeup Remover.

Photo courtesy of lorealparisusa.com

A little shake to activate, a cotton round (or cotton ball, whatever your preference) and you are ready to take off the art you beat on your eyes. It takes off even the most stubborn waterproof eye shadow, liner or mascara, including the marvelous CoverGirl 24 hour Mascara I wrote about previously. It takes a little swiping, but the effort in removal isn't nearly as difficult as putting on the makeup in the first place!

There was a little residue, but it was nothing the Baby Shampoo Tip I wrote about couldn't make quick work of.

Even with my contacts on, I didn't experience any burning. At all! I was shocked! Normally with a bi-phase remover there's some sort of burning or irritation, however mild. I thought maybe I wasn't getting all the makeup off, but nope. I got it all and my eyes were perfectly fine. Major points!

The cost varies, the suggested retail price is $6.99 US, I believe I got mine for under $6. Now, there's little to no excuse not to take off that makeup!

Why didn't I think of that before?

A friend of mine got a terrific tip from her mother and posted it on her FB and I'm passing it along here *to clarify, the tip was for their dry eyes problem*:

Have you ever looked at the warnings on whatever face wash you use? The majority out there say "Avoid eye area"...well dang, how am I supposed to get my eye makeup off?? Here's a little bit of genius that had me saying "Why didn't I think of that before?"; Baby Shampoo.

That's right! Baby Shampoo! It doesn't sting your eyes, it gets the majority of eye makeup products off your precious little face! If you use waterproof eyeliner or mascara and use an oil based remover first, that's fine! Just wash your eyes with a little baby shampoo too and get rid of that greasy, swirly residual mess on your peepers and you are done!

If you don't have a kid and have a bottle of the stuff already, just purchase the travel sized bottle, I picked two up for $0.99 a piece. I use only about the size of a small shirt button of baby shampoo to clean my eyes at night and in the morning. It gets rid of the morning eye crusties without making it impossible to put my contacts in.

I use the standard golden yellow Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo, the smell is soft and the results are undeniable. My eyes feel great, there's no trace of whatever version of eye art I've painted on and it leaves the skin around my eyes feeling normal instead of tight and dry. I still use my prefered face wash after I've washed my eye area with the baby shampoo.

Give it a try yourself, you might be as pleasantly surprised as I was.