best spot treatment for pimples
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enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:36 am Quote

Im looking for a spot treatment for pimples. I have pretty dry skin, so I dont want anything that is too drying that will leave my skin flaky. Any suggestions?

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:03 am Quote

My 2 faves for spot treating are Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion (has worked well on cysts, IME) and now I'm starting to use tea tree oil instead. My skin tends to be dry, so the TTO is drying me out on and near those spots, so I'm still adjusting how I use the TTO.

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:37 pm Quote

I tend to use an 'assault' regime that clears my pimples within a few days.

I do a mask (Jurlique Deep penetating or Dr H cleansing clay mask) and then cleanse with Jurlique cream cleanser.

For toner, I spritz with Dr H steam concentrate (or clarifying toner).

I apply Yonka Juvenil on the trouble spots and wait for it to dry. Then I use either Dr H rejuventating mask or Decleor YY balm on the spots.

I no longer use essential oils because long term they cause dehydration and don't work as well for me anymore.

It may seem tedious to apply so many products, but 90% of the time any deep red spots disappear completely without forming white heads or scars, and any spots that have already come up tend to 'expel' their whitehead without breaking the skin.

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:44 pm Quote

My fav is my Escents Blemish Gel. It got healed my cysts quickly and got rid of most of my whitehead type acne. It's also the most non-drying treatment I've used because it uses herbal extracts + essential oils in a comfrey gel base.

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:30 pm Quote

I use a two step process: Blast the spot with BHA 5% solution, then after 30 minutes I apply a dab of Adult care clearasil (this is the one with sulpher and salicylic acid, but no benzoyl peroxide). This gets rid of the problem very quickly.

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:18 pm Quote

I also "layer" treatments: Nelson's homeopathic acne gel (with sulfur), then some sort of BHA product, then a *ton* of BPO (these last two can be any regular, drugstore-variety stuff) and sometimes a little clay mask on top with a bandage (to keep odd clay bits from getting into my sheets). If I remember, I'll add some Polysporin at some point (this seems to reduce scarring)

enjoys freebies · Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:02 pm Quote

I still have Sonya Dakar Dying Potion. It works and does not burn my sensative skin even though there is peppermint in there.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:04 am Quote

I really like Juice Beauty Blemish Serum, but find lavender EO to be also good for spot treating - especially on dry skin like mine.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:18 am Quote

I don't like most of Dermalogicas line, but I do like their acne treatment. I rarely get a pimple and I just have to apply the gel on that spot....I really like it...great results and a small size lasts forever.Sorry , but I don't know the exact name of it.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:37 am Quote

I vote for tea tree as well. It does not dry my skin.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 6:53 am Quote

I read somewhere that if you place a paste of baking soda (water +baking soda)on a pimple that it will dry out a pimple.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:24 am Quote

I spot treat with tea tree oil, I do moisturize afterwards with either a HA serum and or emu oil.

The b/f actually said toothpaste works too? Confused

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:40 am Quote

miranets wrote:

I no longer use essential oils because long term they cause dehydration and don't work as well for me anymore.

miranets do you mean you don't use essential oils straight or that you don't use products containing them at all? I did not know that they were dehydrating. Does this apply to some essetntial oils or to all essential oils? TIA

Back to the topic....
I don't spot treat my pimples anymore. Once in a while I will apply some 10% benzoyl peroxide to a pimple but for the most part mine seem to clear up quickly if I just leave them alone.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:45 am Quote

has anyone tried the MD formulations pimple treatment (not sure exact name of it)

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:50 am Quote

I tried the MD formulations a few yrs ago....it took awhile to clear up the pimples I did have, maybe it's improved now, I do really like the Dermalogica acne treatment...works great!

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:23 am Quote

I hear mixed reviews about the medicated clearing gel by dermalogica for acne. Are you able to get a sample of that when you go to places that carries dermalogica?

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:02 am Quote

BCgirl wrote:

has anyone tried the MD formulations pimple treatment (not sure exact name of it)

Hi BCgirl,

I have a sample of the MDF VitA clearing complex. I've so far used it for 3 days twice a day on a few pimples. The small ones have receeded but the large ones are still there. So, no overnight miracle sadly. But, for me neither are tea tree oil or BHA/AHA. HTH.

I'm interested in the Badescu product. Sounds too good to be true though.

Cat

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:37 pm Quote

TheresaL wrote:

miranets do you mean you don't use essential oils straight or that you don't use products containing them at all? I did not know that they were dehydrating. Does this apply to some essetntial oils or to all essential oils? TIA

I still use products with EOs, but find some formulations (like face oils) tend to have too high a %, and it sensitises my skin - like PSF's blanacing oil, lots of neem and ylang ylang, but I never knew why my face was very sensitised while I was using it, lots of redness and easily irritated (but did wonders for oil control). So I switched to a pure oil and only use the PSF on trouble spots occassionally.

As for pure EOs, I had been using them for years and years, they did seem to work for pimples, but the effect really plateaued.. Then when I started inspecting my skin after washing, I noticed that there were those shiny and tight spots of skin where the pimples were, then if I 'squint' the area becomes very crepe like.

EOs can potentially have a tannin like effect on the skin if used neat too frequently. I find products with EO concentration of less than 0,5% to work wonders than ones with anything higher than 1%.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:56 pm Quote

Thanks miranets. I had always read that those of us with sensitive skin should avoid essential oils. But then I started looking into natural products that tend to have a lot of essential oils and I started thinking that maybe not all essential oils are bad for sensitive skin. Do you find this to be true? Are there some essential oils that are good for sensitive skin or are they something that should be generally avoided unless they are in a very small amount?

What do you mean by tannin like effect? I have an idea of what tannins are but know nothing of effects they may have on the skin.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 4:01 pm Quote

The Juice Beauty Acne Serum is the only spot treatment that has NEVER dried me out no matter how much I over do it, so I definitely recommend it.

Alternately, I have a Zeno and it also works pretty well, and it doesn't dry the skin out since it uses heat, not chemicals, to kill the bacteria.

enjoys freebies · Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:47 pm Quote

TheresaL wrote:

Thanks miranets. I had always read that those of us with sensitive skin should avoid essential oils. But then I started looking into natural products that tend to have a lot of essential oils and I started thinking that maybe not all essential oils are bad for sensitive skin. Do you find this to be true? Are there some essential oils that are good for sensitive skin or are they something that should be generally avoided unless they are in a very small amount?

What do you mean by tannin like effect? I have an idea of what tannins are but know nothing of effects they may have on the skin.

Firstly, I feel like as if I am contradicting myself from our previous post about the Pore Clogging ingredients, I suggested to you to use tea tree EO to treat your milia. Well I used to massage tea tree EO into my one stubborn milia and at last that "birthed" itself Laughing

but I tend to have this terrible habit of over using any product, so my temple area where I had many blocked pores (not zits) tended to always be dry and dehydrated, and at one point, EOs did not work anymore. So I finally learnt, if you want to use EOs straight, then you must use it only as a spot treatment on an inflammed or 'risen' spot, blocked pores are simply too deep to be treated.

The EOs which I have used straight are: Tea tree, lavender, and clary sage - I think clary sage is MUCH gentler than TT and lavender, but does not work as strongly.

Certainly some essential oils are great for sensitive skin, I am understanding this as for regulating sensitive skin? BUT only in very small quantities, diluted in a proper base. Also, the quality of the EO and carrier base makes such a huge difference to its effects as well. When I didn't know better, I just bought any random EO off the shelf, but if it was solvent extracted then the entire smell/texture was different to one that is certified organic and steam distilled.

I find lemon EO to be very irritating, but it is supposed to be good for oilier skins, so perhaps can be replaced by another citrus, like orange. Also, rose, cypress, immortelle, violet leaf, tonka bean resin, are very calming EOs, but again used in a quality base like cold pressed oils. (I have always wondered why say, PSF's balancing oil when compared to Decleor's Ylang Ylang balm, does not do wonders for my blocked pores.. even though they contain ylang ylang and tea tree..)

As for the tannin effect, I read this really scary idea from somewhere, but researched it further and it did make sense. You know how leather is made? From the skin of animals.. treated with either chemicals or vegetable tannins. Now human skin does not exactly fit the model of dead hide because our cells do turnover, but when you treat it with products like astringents, alcohols, acids, terpenes (EOs major constituents), then it will start to build a layer of resistence to preserve itself.. Of course this can be off set by exfoliation and cell rejuventation. But I just worry that if we are not doing enough of either, and the harsh products are reaching deep enough into the skin or are constantly applied, then the skin doesn't have a chance to reform itself.

For Asian/African skins, they don't tend to heal as well. I have seen soooooo many Asian girls around my age, who use products like Clearasil, Clinique etc, and you can visibly see an area just around the face area which is very tight and when they smile, forms millions of fine lines.

enjoys freebies · Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:12 am Quote

I really like the Proactiv Sulfur mask. I put a little on the spot at night & it's gone in a day or two.

enjoys freebies · Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:49 am Quote

I was reading in the October issue of allure about Clean & Clear Advantage Invisible Acne Patch. Seems pretty promising and a affordable option.

http://www.cleanandclear.com/products/acne_treat/acne_patch.shtml

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=52047

*It does contain a shellfish derivative so Im not sure how it would effect someone with an allergy.*

enjoys freebies · Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:24 am Quote

Quote:

The EOs which I have used straight are: Tea tree, lavender, and clary sage - I think clary sage is MUCH gentler than TT and lavender, but does not work as strongly.

I bought a small vial of Clary Sage EO and it came with a warning sticker: "Do not apply directly to skin." Maybe check to see if what you have is very much diluted in a carrier oil...then it should be safe to use on skin.

enjoys freebies · Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:41 am Quote

I really like Bye Bye Blemish, it is VERY similiar to Mario Badescu's Drying Lotion only alot cheaper. The product has 10% sulphur, which seems to work better for me than BP. I found it at Sally's.

HTH

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