Showing posts with label TFD1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TFD1. Show all posts

Friday, June 7, 2013

The Forehead Diaries 1

My skin is terrible. For a week, it looked decent - then when I decided to sleep at 5 am - subsisting on tea, coffee, cola and biscuits - it dies on me again. So I've decided to try to monitor what I put on my face by creating The Forehead Diaries. Just like a journal, it might not be 100% accurate - I can't promise to write down what I've put on my face everyday, but I'll do my best, so I can see what's going on with my skin. It might also motivate me to put all the stuff I'm supposed to.

All pictures taken with the webcam of a mac. No flash but at different locations so the lighting can be very different..

Let's start with a picture of right now, Day 0.




That was a picture before my nightly/early am (it's 4 am) routine. Sorry for the bad pictures!

So, yeah.

Evening
  1. Neutrogena Deep Clean Facial Cleanser
  2. L'oreal White Perfect Whitening Toner
  3. It's Skin Facial Therapy Essence Skin
  4. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
  5. Stieva-A 0.05% Tretinoin
  6. Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque - not used regularly, only when there's a really big zit.
Yes, I know I have oily skin and am supposed to be using the DDM Gel instead of the DDM Lotion. Unfortunately, this is the only moisturizer I have on hand right now. I'd also like to finish it since I'm sort of hoping to finish some of my stuff before I buy anything.

Morning
  1. XX Sulfur Soap (I've forgotten the brand since it was there for a while, but it was very cheap)
  2. VMV Superskin 3 Toner - once every 2 days
  3. It's Skin Facial Therapy Essence Skin
  4. VMV ID Lotion - once every 3 days
  5. Neutrogena Ultrasheer Dry-Touch Sunblock 45 SPF

I didn't take a picture after Day 1. For Day 2, my skin was feeling sensitive so I replaced Morning 4 with Evening 5.


Urgh. Skin - why you so bad? The lighting is diffrent, since I took it in different places. You can see new zits on the right side of the picture and the middle. Since I was very busy for a week, my next picture is on Day 9:



I still have new zits popping out and up, most notably right between my eyebrows. I've noticed that zits don't tend to stay as long, though still pop up as often. Healing time is also quicker. There's less hyperpigmentation once the zit is gone. I have a feeling my sleeping habits are the zit producing factor.

After Day 9, my schedule went to EFF again. Some nights, I'd live with 1.5 - 3 hours of sleep. Sometimes I got so tired I just washed my face and left it at that. I've also had to use heavy foundation and removed it with the last of the old Elianto - it's gone now. I don't know how I feel about that. My skin got worse. Since I haven't been following the regime, I wouldn't call it a day exactly (more like a crossover study), but I feel that I should show how my skin looks like right now before officially closing TFD 1.


Moral of the story: Stick to a regimen! Also, sleep and relaxation are just as, if not more important than a good skin care routine. I found this round's morning and evening routine more effective than a wash alone. Unfortunately, less stress (or at least 6 hours sleep) is necessary for me not to turn into a pizza-face: I believe the TFD1 regimen might be effective if done religiously (and if I increase the VMV dosage). I do like VMV. Since the toner is a year old, I think this is the one I should be focusing on finishing (and reviewing), but I don't know what I'd buy afterwards: I'd rather not use an antibiotic on my face all the time.

Since I will be transferring to a new location with much less space, I'm going to have to revise my regimen to something simpler (or at least something that will take up less space). Once I've settled down, I'll see if I can make something else. I might post a review or two of some of these products once I've used them again.