skinstitut

I hate taking photos of my skin, especially bare faced. I am currently feeling insecure about posting this photo. but in a moment of strength here I am. bare faced on the internet. omg 😬😬 I have always had some kind of breakout but since March 2020. it has progressively got worse. While Sydney was in lockdown from March to June I promised myself that once the quarantine lifted I would take my skin care seriously. immediately made an appointment with Laser Clinic Australia and started a 6 month course of microdermabrasion and enzyme peels. I took this photo today- which is 1 week since I got my first enzyme peel. like most of you I have been trying product after product and despite my seemingly clear forehead, I am still incredibly insecure about my skin and the lack of a quick fix. The products I have been using religiously for the last 3 months are: CeraVe - Moisturizing Cream For Normal To Dry Skin this cream is incredibly thick, I have dehydrated skin and surface acne so for the week after a peel and/or microdermabrasion session my skin cannot handle any active ingredients except for hylauronic acid. this has saved my skin and has shrunk my downtown from a week of peeling to 1 day to no peeling. skinstitut - Rejuvenate 15 Serum I use this in the morning, just a pea sized amount to wake up and brighten my skin. with winter almost over, by skin is becoming less dry in the morning from the heater and cold weather but I will continue to use this over the summer just need to remember to wear a lot more SPF before any sun exposure skinstitut - Retinol Serum hands down. the best retinol I have tried. I am wearing this only a night and put it on before the Cera Ve cream. again only a pea sized amount. skinstitut - Glycolic Cleanser 12% the strongest cleanser I have used. this can't be stressed more. only use this once per week. the bottle says 2-3 times a week but I would really suggest speaking with a skincare professional to diagnose your skin before using regularly. If I don't immediately put moisture back on my skin through the products above, my skin dries out a lot. but it removes so much dead skin that once I dehydrate my skin, I get a glowly smooth complexion 😊💕 my skin is not perfect, and I am not expecting perfection. I just want to feel more comfortable in my skin. So hopefully there are a few people on here that can relate, and if you have been here and are now on the other side of accepting your skin and recovering from acne, would love to chat! 🌸

I’ve struggled with malassezia Folliculitis/fungal acne for 6 months.My skin’s improved but you do need patience! Now I breakout occasionally, have redness and pigmentation. Disclaimer: Everyone’s different & this is what I’ve learnt. Leave suggestions below! Treatments: I ruined my gut health and ended getting constant yeast infections which links to malassezia as both are overgrowths of fungus/yeast! I recommend an anti-candida diet. Celery juice, apple cider vinegar in water, probiotics and supplements to boost my immune system all helped. I used Folliculitis scout to search for malassezia-safe products. I’ve used other websites and tbh some of them aren’t accurate or their recommended products broke me out. Every oil (except squalane & MCT), fatty acids and lipids is used by malassezia to grow! Once you eliminate these (which is hard), you can use glycerin or amino acids in your skincare routine and makeup bc they need oil, lipids or fatty acids for malassezia to grow off them. Skin barrier health and moisture is important. Don’t use too many treatments bc your skin will just get sensitive, dry and produce more oils. Also the Nizoral shampoo will ruin your skin barrier even if it kills malassezia off. There are other ways to treat it! Skincare routine: Morning: Benton - Deep Green Tea Toner green tea extract inhibits and combats malassezia. It’s a soothing and moisturising toner/essence. It’s antibacterial properties can target other types of acne too. skinstitut - Vitamin C 100% mix w/moisturiser for pigmentation/scarring Like I'm Five - All Day Soothing Gel Lotion I LOVE THIS. It has xylitol that combats malassezia, glycerin and hyaluronic acid as humectants and panthenol for healing. It’s on iherb for 12 AUD too! A steal! The Ordinary - 100% Plant-Derived Squalane squalane has helped my skin go from oily to normal, hence stopping your skin from over producing sebum where malassezia grows. elta md SKINCARE - UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46 have had a hard time finding a good sunscreen this is one of the few malassezia safe sunscreens. Helps with hyper pigmentation. Nighttime: BIODERMA - Sensibio H2O Soothing Micellar Cleansing Water have tried others and always go back to this. Tried MCT oil, it’s malassezia-safe but oil cleansing is time consuming for me personally. ETUDE - Soon Jung, pH 6.5 Whip Cleanser I’ve tried vanicream but this massively changed my skin. facetheory - PoreBright Serum N10 only use on problem areas 2x a week. Salicylic & azelaic combats malassezia. Or AZCLEAR - Medicated Lotion Benton - Deep Green Tea Toner Like I'm Five - All Day Soothing Gel Lotion The Ordinary - 100% Plant-Derived Squalane

Sooooooo, I went through a rough time earlier this year with my skin - and I was consistently breaking out with large, sore, cystic pimples on mainly my forehead and my chin - and when I say consistently, I mean consistently - I could never catch a break from them, every week there was a new one or two 😩 I was previously using Skinstitut and I just didn’t feel like the products were working how I wanted them to, they were making my T-zone oily etc, but I won’t get into that here - I have done a post on the products prior, so check it out if you are interested. I started to research different brands, and different types of products and ingredients. I didn’t want to spend a fortune on products, so I decided to try some products from The Ordinary. I completely culled my skincare routine. I was using the cleanser, niacinamide serum, hyaluronic serum and the moisturizing factors + HA. This made my skin feel so tight and dry and I started flaking (complete 180 degrees to what I had!) - I didn’t like the feeling, so I started to look into different brands, and this is where I came across skincare influencers and Korean Skincare. I listened to what these people had to say about different skin types, different ingredients and I gradually introduced new products to my routine. The below routine is what I have been using for a month or so, and I can happily say this has changed my life (as you can tell from the photos)! AM Routine: Wash face with water only innisfree - Green Tea Moisture-Balancing Toner PURITO - Centella Green Level Buffet Serum skinstitut - Ultra Firming Eye & Neck Cream innisfree - Green Tea Moisture-Balancing Emulsion skinstitut - Age Defence SPF 50+ PM Routine: Double cleanse with The Ordinary - Squalane Cleanser Innisfree Green Tea Moisture - Balancing Toner Purito - Centella Green Level Buffet Serum Skinstitut - Ultra Firming Eye & Neck Cream Innisfree - Green Tea Moisture - Balancing Emulsion The Ordinary - 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil Then, once a week (on alternate days or when I feel necessary) I will use : The Ordinary - Salicylic Acid 2% Masque The Ordinary - Retinol 0.2% in Squalane innisfree - Green Tea Hydrating Sleeping Mask pixi - Glow Tonic innisfree - Jeju Volcanic Color Clay Mask (Yellow-Brightening) The Ordinary - Lactic Acid 10% + HA I also like to use a sheet mask every now and then. Let me know your thoughts on the products I have mentioned - or let me know what helped clear up your breakouts ! xx

Skinstitut - the start of my skincare journey. I had never dealt with acne or breakouts growing up until I hit my early 20’s, where I started breaking out on my chin, so, around June-2017 I started going into a clinic and having microdermabrasions / peels etc. The therapist there recommended that I start using Skinstitut - I had never really been into skincare products so I thought I would give it a go. They were expensive, but if you bought 3 at a time it worked out to be cheaper. The products I was recommended were : AM Routine: skinstitut - Gentle Cleanser skinstitut - Rejuvenate 15 Serum skinstitut - Multi-Active Mist skinstitut - Age Defence SPF 50+ PM Routine: Skinstitut - Gentle Cleanser skinstitut - Even Blend Serum Skinstitut - Multi-Active Mist skinstitut - Moisture Defence – Normal Twice a week I would also exfoliate with skinstitut - Glycolic Scrub 14% When I started using the products, I absolutely loved them! The products, combined with the skin treatments seemed to really be working for me. But, as time went on, I started to notice that my face was getting quite oily. I had advised the therapist what was happening, and she told me that I was probably dehydrated and using too much product - I know that I am not dehydrated (I drink thattt much water!!!) and I definitely don’t use too much product - they are so expensive, I try and savor as much product as I can! I kept my skincare routine up, but wasn’t noticing any changes, if anything my T-zone in particular was getting more and more oily. So, I decided to change the products I was using - and this is where my love for skincare began! I would love to know anyone’s thoughts on Skinstitut - have you used it ? What did you think of it ? Let’s have a chat!!