Kamis, 30 Oktober 2014

the journey

I'm not saying that I already have perfect skin right now, I still on my way to achieve a beautiful, healthy, and flawless skin. But, after years suffered with acne, I feel that my skin's condition now is waaaay better than before. So, here it goes..

1. Teenager: Drug store product & loooooots of dermatologists
     It started when i was a teenager, this acne (whitehead, blackhead, and pustule) peep out from my skin. It is normal since I have oily skin and genetically, I am potential to have acnes cause my father and brothers also had it. The difference is, their skin were getting better and no acne at all after high school but unfortunately, it didn't happened to me. Otherwise, it was getting worse.
      In Junior high, I only use drug store product like Clean&Clear, and Pond's, but nothing works. It did nothing to my skin except just clean it. Just like any other teenager, I felt shy, and have no confidence at all. I talk to my mom, ask permission to her so I can go to the dermatologist. She said no, but I insisted and finally she took me to the dermatologist. So we went to Dr. Djoko Susanto, SpKK. and I got face cleanser, night cream, and day cream. After a couple months, my skin was getting better.
      It did getting better after couple months but not after couple years. It started broke out and oily again, I think my skin become immune to the creams. So i decided to change to the dermatologist. My aunt recommended me a famous one, Dr, Jamilah SpKK who has a beauty clinic. Then i went there, she said that my acne is not that worse and it can disappeared in three months. I was excited, I thought she must be genius if she can make my skin better in three months. But, NO, IT DID NOT. I kept using the creams she gave to me and did a loooot of chemical peeling cause she said that it can helped to remove the scars. I sticked to go to this dermatologist for years, hoping that my skin will getting better. But again, no. It was getting better only in the beginning, but after that it just didn't work out anymore.

2. College: Another dermatologists, Lancome, & Green Mommy Shop.
      It has been 6 years since I suffered with acne, and then i graduate high school and went to college. After disappointed with the previous dermatologist, I went to MEDIKER clinic with Dr. Agus Hartadi SpKK as the dermatologist. I didn't want to go there before cause I heard that it's expensive but since his reputation is good and I almost give up about this acne thing, so i decided to go. Like another dermatologists, i got cleanser, night cream, and day cream. The cool thing was, he was using laser treatment to kill the bacteria inside and help to remove the scars. He was the one who said that chemical peeling is not good to our skin cause it will make the skin thinner, especially when we do  it many times. I was like, "crap! I did chemical peel like zillion times." I thought that maybe he's the one, he's the one who can help me get a clear skin. My skin was still good until there was a volcanic eruptions from the mountain in my town which made the air sooo dirty and the sky was covered with ash. The nightmare begin (again)...
     Because of the volcanic eruptions, my skin got worse again. I met my dermatologist and kept using the creams and doing the laser treatment but it just getting worse. the type of my acne was always whitehead and pustule, but at that time it became nodules. "It cost me fortune but I still can't have a clear skin ?! I have to change dermatologist!" So, I change to the most famous dermatologist in town, Dr. Sri Ellyani SpKK. Everytime I changed dermatologist, I always have a "new" hope. So, I started to have treatment there, and the doctor said that I need to do a TCA. So I followed her recommendation and I did the TCA. She said that it is safe and with only 3 times of TCA my skin will get better. After the treatment, my skin literally peel out for about a week. So it did made me look like a monster.
      After 9 years using dermatologists and my skin was not getting better, I decided to change to product that available in the market. When I was in the department store, a saleswoman from Lancome introduce me to Lancome Visionnaire. Honestly, I easily believe her and i took all my savings and bought it. fuh! It felt so good when i applied it to my skin but unfortunately, it did not help my skin to getting better.
        Desperate, I decided to back to dermatologist and try Erha Clinic and same thing happened. I was like "OH DEAR GOD, PLEASE HELP ME!"
          Until I read a beauty forum, which lead me to a-not-so-famous-natural-skincare-local-brand: Green Mommy Shop aka GMS. It has a thread on Femaledaily, many people use it, many acne sufferer succeed getting their clear skin. So I believed, then I started using it. In the forum many people said that the skin will purging for the first time and after several time the skin will be clearer. Everyone has different purging time, some 3 months, some only 1 month, and 6 months. It did purging, broke out so bad. My question is when will the purging phase over ? I kept using it until 3 months cause i thought it still purging until I realize, It doesn't make any sense if purging takes until 3 months. So, i stopped using it and I went to my friend's dermatologist. Cause my skin condition at that time was horrible.  


                                                              



My Skin after I used dr. Etna's prescription (2 weeks)
Ps: The first time when i see dr. Etna, my skin was 5 times more terrible
The dermatologist's name is Dr. Etna Krisnawati SpKK. and I can say she saved my skin (and my life :3). My friend said that she only use Dr. Etna's prescription in 3 months then she can use regular drug store product. When I met Dr. Etna, she said that my skin is very thin until she can see my vein. With that condition, it's impossible for the skin to accept and absorb any products. My skin need some recovery in couple months and after that it can start to accept and absorp the products I used. So she gave me pills, cleanser, and moisturizer (instead of night&day cream). My skin was getting better after 3 months, but i still used her prescription and laser treatment for about  8 months. Then I graduated and I have to move back to my hometown. So, i stop using the prescription and start using my holy grail pre-serum...



My Skin after I used dr. Etna's prescription (6 months)

3. Sunshine after the rain: Drops of Youth & Snail Cream.
          Drops of Youth from the Body Shop is my sunshine after the rain! It really help my skin to get better, smoother, and clearer. I can see the difference after 3 months I used this (only Drops of Youth, without any mosturizer night&day cream). Then, I have courage to add moisturizer to my regime. Until one day I had a trip to South Korea, and i already research in plenty of beauty blogs that snail cream is good for acne prone skin. So I bought the range from Nature Republic Snail Cream.  It consists Toner, Emulsion, Ampoule, Cream, and Eye Cream. I already using it for 2 months and I can say I am satisfied. I will write the details of my review in another post.


My skin condition now
Ps: I did not wear any foundation or photo filter

As you can see, my skin shows so much improvements. It's moist, not so oily, the pimple peep out only when i have period, the acne marks slowly disappear and not so reddish anymore, and it's not sooo white until the face and neck colors are different. It takes more than a year to recover from the first it ruined by many dermatologists, beauty clinics, and GMS. I couldn't be more grateful. So, this is my skin regime right now:

Daily:
a. Evian
b. NR Snail Skin Booster/ Etude House Wonder Pore Toner
c. TBS Drops of Youth
d. NR Snail Ampoule
e. NR Snail Emulsion
f. NR Snail Cream
g. NR Snail Eye Cream
h. Mavala Double Lash (for lashes&eyebrow)

Weekly:
a. Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask + The Face Shop Papaya Peeling Gel
b. Laneige Water Sleeping Pack_EX

         So, Ladies, if you have acne problem as mine, the key is patience, stay optimist, and try to stay confidence. My skin's now has not flawless yet, but it shows much improvements. And I still believe that I will get a healthy, clear, and flawless skin someday. Oh, and if I can suggested to you, try to avoid beauty clinic. Their creams will ruin your skin. If you really need see a dermatologist, find one who really want to make your skin healthy. You can see by the prescription they give. You can take moisturizer but say no to night/day cream. Just don't.