Warning: bad skin ahead

Thought I'd put that warning there because I'll be talking about these peeling pads I've used a few times during this 1 week period. This will be a relatively quick one as I've been away shooting and only just came back late the other night with full makeup and hair glue still in my hair.

So here's the thing - I get break outs every now and then, but it's been a little worse this time round. 2 weeks before this big shoot that I was booked for, my skin started breaking out around the mouth and on the forehead. This was probably just under a week before the big shoot and you can see the bumps around my mouth and the pigmentation from acne scars. You'll also see that big bump (Percy) on my forehead and some smaller bumps surrounding it (his friends/fam). 

Now, I have to admit that I have a bad habit of popping my spots, only when the white head peeks out though and never a blind pimple, which was what it was on my forehead. Percy's decided to take his sweet time to brew on my skin this time. Normally I'd wait it out because not even acne stickers really work on my blind pimples, but it was getting way too close to the shoot day and Percy's been brewing for a few days already I was getting desperate; at this point I've already squeezed the spots around the mouth where I could (TMI).

So I've tried everything that I have. Unfortunately I've ran out of B.liv's "Kick Spots Out" face mask, which I've always loved to use when I have troubled skin like that and this has really helped me out in the past. So I've tried using mud mask to clean out as much impurities as possible. This has worked in the past but I wouldn't count on it as  "go-to" method.

At this point I'm panicking a little because part of my job is to have good skin, or smooth skin at the very least. Then I remembered a makeup artist I've worked with mention the Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix pads to me. I was a little skeptical because my skin has reacted to a glycolic face wash before and it wasn't pretty, and I haven't started a chemical peel regime before and thought I'd start after a wave of shoots that I have in my diary in case anything happened. 

Desperate times comes with desperate measures and I went out and got it - no regrets.

I started using it 5 days before the shoot day, so if I reacted to it the next day, I will still have time to let my skin chill and give me some time to "fix" it. Thankfully my skin didn't react badly to it - quite the opposite in fact: the blind pimple's gotten smaller and the skin feels less congested.

This product contains Glycolic acid, Salicylic Acid, and Lactic Acid - all 3 are AHAs, which exfoliates the top layer of the skin, and all of which really helps with congested skin and acne over time. 

It's not suggested to use this more than 3 times a week, but I have actually used it 4-5 times within 7 days. Look, desperate times comes with desperate measures; it was a gamble too because, you know what they say about too much of a good thing...

At this point I was clearly freaking out. My skin definitely feels less congested and the spots around my mouth haven't flared up again like they have done before, but Percy is still there! That night I used these pads again and my favourite moisturising face mask (part of my pre-shoot routine) and thankfully it's gone down quite a bit for the actual shoot day, which is great news.

I'm not gonna lie, this product hasn't worked a miracle for me for the shoot, but it has definitely helped as Percy has managed to size down and I didn't experience pain with this blind pimple, and with the rest of my skin feeling less congested. Although my skin still looks bumpy, it is actually better than what it looks like. In face, the next morning a lot of bumps have gone down and Percy has sized down considerably and loss some colour.

Now, I wouldn't give all the credit to this peeling pad because I strongly think that it's that coconut face mask I've used that has ultimately really helped with it, but don't forget that AHA exfoliates, making products later on more effective than when applied on congested skin.

This has all been my personal experience and I may come back to it having use these pads regularly over a longer period of time. First impression though I am actually liking it a lot because it's so good for busy people (or lazy people) who don't really have time, and for those (like me) who don't prefer using scrubs with bits in them, and still want a good exfoliation.

I would definitely use this with caution and make sure that your skin is tolerant to these 3 acids before using it regularly. With acids like these you may experience purge, which should go down eventually. Otherwise, please stop using this product and always use during the evening routine and apply sun cream during the day. Chemical exfoliation makes your skin more prone to sun damage, so I always apply any acids and vitamin C treatment in the evening.

So that's it, really, I rambled more than I should, but I hope you liked it anyway, despite scaring the crap out of you with my no makeup bumpy face. It's always these times where I think, "I just want good skin, is that really too much to ask for?" Oh yes, that is where the blog name comes from.

Signing off, I thought I'd show you a work in progress/behind the scenes selfie I took WITH makeup and some funky hair.