My Skin Story

back during the days when everyone else battled with the wrath of adolescent hormones, i was basking in the glory of flawless skin. i had the occasional pimple or two, but such events were such a rarity.come college however, my hormones launched a full force attack against me. i was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, and since then, pimples and adipose cells alike have decided to come to me like flies to poo.


the university i attended kept me occupied for four years and charged me around 6000Php($130) a semester, which is quite a bargain for both me and my folks. despite the big savings i had on education because of a scholarship, i never did think of spending some moolah on skin care. sadly speaking, my blemished skin suffered from a steady diet of facial wash, pressed powder and nothing else for quite some time before i discovered the benefits of at least attempting to have a skin care regimen.


i must say that i have bought and tried a gazillion brands of facial cleansers, toners and moisturizers (loreal, himalaya herbals, nivea, pond's, cetaphil, celeteque, neutrogena, st ives and godiva to name a few) but i have yet to find my holy grail products where skin care is concerned. i have heard that clinique is good, but my salary as a struggling nurse does not permit me to spend so much on skin care alone. the stingy in me cannot afford to risk spending so much on a product that might or might not work, especially since i have bills to pay (like rent and groceries). ugh. living away from home can be such a downer at times! i could ask for money from my parents, but im big on financial independence these days, which is another story altogether. to cut all the blabbing short, I find that the following affordable products perform quite well on me:

• avon's true pore perfection line - this does wonders for oil control, but after weeks of continuous use, i have not seen improvements in the pore department. if you are big on oil control, this delivers its promise to mattify, mattify and mattify!
  
• the body shop's tea tree oil line - their skin clearing lotion for day use has poor oil control, but their blemish fade night lotion really works! (will definitely repurchase the latter!) however, if you are very particular about odors, this product is not for you. the blemish fade night lotion is such a stinker.
  
• clean and clear acne control line - three claps for good oil control and less breakouts! however, i find their pimple gel quite ineffective in drying out existing pimples. panoxyl and garnier spot treatment never worked for me either, so im not sure if it is the products or just my stubborn pimples. this retails for around 500-600Php ($13-14) a set, the cheapest among the three.
• avon advanced eye perfector and garnier brightening eye roll on - works great as a tandem! i use garnier during the day and avon during the night. the result? well, brighter looking around-the-eye area. i look like a panda without these because i work in shifts!
  
• nivea cleansing milk - effectively removes make up and feels the lightest on the skin compared to other makeup removers that i have tried (neutrogena, jergens, olay, ellana, loreal, in2it, st ives and pond's cold cream). as a bonus, this also comes in a very hygienic pump container. i hate products that come in pots as these could easily get contaminated. im not sure if this is still available though, coz i've been looking everywhere for this quite unsuccessfully ever since mine ran out.

im not immune to the calls of rows and rows of nice looking things, but i do try to google a product before i buy anything if i have the chance. i find product reviews quite helpful and im very grateful to the people who find time to share their experiences with certain products. although i am no beauty junkie, i certainly enjoyed sharing my skin story. tata! ^_^