My Personal Beauty and Skin Concerns — Did I Find The Solutions I Was Looking For?

I started blogging about beauty and skincare a few years ago mainly to share my research and findings only because the kind of information I needed for my own beauty and skin concerns — acne-prone skin, acne scars, dark circles, understanding skin undertones  — didn’t seem to exist.

My blog has come a long way from there and now includes other topics too. But I thought it would be interesting to look at my own beauty and skincare concerns and see if I have found the solutions and information I was looking for or not.

So if you’re up for a trip down memory lane, hop on.

Managing acne-prone skin and acne scars

For as long as I can remember acne has been a part of my life. In my teens and twenties I tried so many different acne treatment solutions from brands like ProActiv, Eucerin, Clinique and I also tried solutions prescribed by an aesthetician but nothing really worked in the long-term. I realise now the issue was all these solutions were reactive in nature and designed to manage the symptoms as they happened and not really focus on the cause of the acne.

Only after doing my own research and reading did I realise there are lots of different kinds of acne and there are different ways of managing each one. As I approached my 30s and after having a baby, my skin went through some major changes and I developed hormonal acne (acne around the jawline) and my skin type changed from normal to oily.

I’m happy to share I did find a solution and managed to put together a skincare routine with products that work for my skin concerns. But I do have to say that skincare is a work-in-progress and I’m constantly tweaking parts of it to see if it I can achieve better results.

For now in my skincare routine I have my double cleansing routine down and understand the importance of keeping my acne-prone skin extra clean to avoid future breakouts. I really enjoy the BANILA CO Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Purifying followed by the Fresh Beauty Soy Face Cleanser; they work really well to keep my skin clean and hydrated.

I’ve also found a moisturiser — Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream — and sunscreen — Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 –I really like and use daily.

What I think I’m still working on are the steps in between cleanser and moisturiser, which are toner / essence / serum. I’m currently on the hunt for:

• an exfoliating toner to use twice a week to clear the skin’s impurities

• a vitamin C serum for brightening the skin and reducing the appearance of acne scars

Hiding dark circles

I have tried a number of eye creams and home remedies to try and “get rid” of my dark circles but to no avail. After doing further reading and research I understand now that the bluish-grey circles around our eyes is a pigmentation problem many men and women with medium to deep skin tones can have — I can’t blame sleep deprivation for all of it. Panda eyes are my DNA.

And I am so happy that I have found two solutions to help me with my dark circles!

The first is the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the shade Biscuit (Medium Dark 2). It has a peachy undertone, which works incredibly well to cancel out the bluish hue of my dark circles really well and also brighten around my eyes. But due to the peachy undertone of this concealer I can only use it around my eyes.

The second solution is the Live Tinted Huestick in the shade Rise. It’s an orange colour corrector I apply around my eyes and follow with foundation on top. I like this solution for days my dark circles are particularly dark and need extra help brightening.

Understanding skin undertones and matching foundations and concealers/colour correctors to my skin tone

This might seem like a strange beauty concern to have. But the reason I was so keen on understanding skin undertones is because it is quite literally the foundation of makeup application. I’ve had my fair share of photos where my face looks like a ghostly entity floating on my neck because I didn’t match the foundation to my skin tone correctly.

Here’s all the important facts I learned about undertones and colour theory in makeup in a blog post: Understanding These Two Basic Facts About The Colour Wheel Will Seriously Improve Your Makeup Game.

Personally, I have discovered a few brands that I think work incredibly well for medium to deep skin tones and they include: Fenty Beauty, NARS, Makeup Forever and MAC. And the right way to match a foundation to your skin tone is to swipe it on your jawline and on to the neck and if the foundation shade match is right, it should blend seamlessly into the skin between the jaw and neck. By matching foundation to the jaw and neck area, it means that your whole face will match the rest of your body — bye bye ghostly floating head issues!

I’m currently using the Makeup Forever Matte Velvet Skin Liquid Foundation and I really like the way it matches my skin tone. I do find it a bit heavy for everyday use in hot weather so I am on the hunt for a good powder foundation as an alternative.

Concealers and colour correctors work differently because you have to match the tone to the area of your face you’re trying to conceal. In my case, I have a concealer with a peachy undertone for my eye area and a neutral/golden-toned concealer for my cheek area.

I’m a big fan of the Colourpop No Filter Matte Concealer for use around my face and cheeks.

Overall, I’d say on the makeup and beauty front I feel a lot more confident and assured that the products I’m using work well for me. I find skincare more challenging and complex and so I think I’m making good progress in this area but still have some more learning and well-informed experimenting to do.