Keeping It Real: Starting my Unblemish Journey…

**WARNING:  What you are about to read and the pictures you are about to see are 100% raw and real.   This is my skin story.  I just wanted to share my struggle in hopes that maybe it could help someone else out there.**

Hey guys! 🙂

Many of you guys that have been reading my blog for quite some time know that I’ve struggled with the condition of my skin for quite some time, and I’ve done several blog posts and even a YouTube video about it quite some time ago.  I have oily, acne prone skin, post-acne scars and hyperpigmentation.  Enlarged pores.  In high school and undergrad my skin was particularly bad and even though it may not have showed to others, it really affected the way that I felt about myself….

I’ve tried quite a few things and rested upon a regimen centered around Retin A Micro and spot treating with Tea Tree Oil to help with my acne, which had still been working pretty well….until I started my intern year of my pediatrics residency program.  Stress, Seasonal Affective Disorder, not eating very well; all these things had my face exploding out the wazoo.  I wasn’t drinking enough water or really taking care of myself at certain times.  I’ve gotten better.  Definitely trying to drink more water and making juice more of an occasional thing.  Eating lots of fruits and vegetables (especially avacadoes in the form of guacamole, for which I’ve developed a pretty strange obsession….but I digress).  Trying to get more rest and reduce the amount of stress in my life.  But I still get quite a significant number of blemishes…

I still get at least 4-5 breakouts on my face regularly, depending on the time of the month, but I can live with that.  My biggest struggle as of late however, has been hyperpigmentation, which is a very common consequence of moderate to severe acne with lots of extraction (aka pimple popping), of which I’m definitely guilty.  So needless to say I’ve been trying out different things to help with that.

Not too long ago my good friend Talisa (who I’ve mentioned quite a few times here on the blog), shared her story about how Unblemish by Rodan + Fields (the two dermatologists behind Proactiv, which I’ve tried and didn’t work very well for me…probably because I was a teenager with severe acne who didn’t have the discipline to stick to a regimen…but again, I digress lol).  Literally, the only reason I’m trying this out at all (because it is fairly expensive) is because of her success story (and her unwavering persistence that I try the regimen).  I asked if I could share her progress pictures and with her permission they’re here on the blog today 🙂

Talisa at the beginning

2 months in

August 2013

Now Talisa’s skin to me has always been fine.  Definitely not as bad as mine (and you’re all gonna get to see what   that STRUGGLE called my naked face looks like later in this post).  But here’s two things about that.  Number 1:  Self confidence can really outshine any physical insecurities or imperfections you may have.  Number 2:  Everyone’s struggle with their skin is their own, even if it didn’t seem like a big deal to me, it’s something she wanted to make better.  Honestly, I’ve come to just learn to live with the ebs and flows of my skin.  Getting better at learning what makeup items do and do not work for me has been great because at least I can “cover it up”.  But keeping it 100:  I HATE doing that!  I DON’T like wearing foundation.  At all.  I never wear ANY make up to work because….come on, I’m a resident, I really don’t have time for that at 5 in the morning??? But there are times I literally wish that when I’m going out with my friends and stuff, I could just wash & moisturize my face and go, without having to even out my skin tone with foundation. It. Sucks.

So..here starts the beginning of my Unblemish journey….

I’ll be chronicling my skin’s progress (or lack thereof) monthly here on the blog.  But to start, here are some pictures of my naked face as of today.  Like I said, in this post I’m keeping it AWL the way real so I’m sorry if you get grossed out or turned off from me or my blog because of this, but this is literally what I deal with every single day *shrug*.

To be perfectly honest with you, this is for me is a pretty bad skin day.  I’m PMSing so definitely breaking out pretty badly.  Quite oily.  Post-acne scars and hyperpigmentation galore.  But compared to what my skin used to look like in high school, this is nothing.  Don’t cry for me Argentina….smh.

But!  We shall see how this goes.  I’ll definitely be updating you guys on a monthly basis.  But the journey starts today.  Hopefully this works.  But if not, I’m still fearfully and wonderfully made, and makeup is there to help *shrug* lol.

Love and God Bless,

– T