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An ode to clear-skin

or 'Instagram, please send me a miracle'

By Lois HallPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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When I was 15, my skincare routine was to scrub my face once a day with an 'acne cleanser' that was essentially just glorified dish soap. At the risk of sounding like an old woman (I'm 25), I'll try not to moan too much about how deprived I was in my youth of the range and accessibility to decent skincare that teens so happily consume today. Bad skin was just something I lived through, like period pain or my English teacher trying to explain that feminism was no longer relevant.

In fact, bad skin is something I'm still living through, as a fully-fledged, full-time job, bill-paying adult. My hope that 'it'll settle down when you get older' dwindling with every passing year. Making do with layering up foundations and the grapevine recommendations from equally clueless friends. All the while, watching from afar as modern-day teens showcased perfectly flawless skin across socials.

So what can you do? Well cue Covid-19, the rise of mask-related acne and quite frankly nothing better to do, I began my quest to clear my skin for my post-pandemic debut. And like most things, Instagram knew of my quest before I'd quite registered it myself.

Product: Starface Pimple Patches

How It Found Me: Instagram

Starface was the gateway drug. Starface was my first ‘why-the-hell-not’ purchase. The branding showed such promise and flair - their quirky, colloquial copy made me feel seen, like ‘they got me’. They regularly posted ‘collabs’ and ‘social justice’ versions of their product with rainbows and colour variations. And their photos were fantastic. Clear skinned models rocking these cute little stars, made me think damn if I had bigger balls, I might actually leave the house with these on.

The Basic Premise: Little sticky hydro-stars to put on your spots to make them disappear.

After the novelty presenting my star-studded face to my perplexed boyfriend wore off, I found I was getting through these things like nobodies’ business. This should probably have been my first warning sign that this product wasn’t quite for me. I imagine if you’re blessed enough to get perhaps a couple of spots a week, the standard 32-pack could easily last you a month or so. However, someone like me could easily use 4-5 of those puppies per night. This led to me rationing my supply in an attempt to save my wallet and so my skin wasn’t getting the consistent attention I think this product demands.

Did It Work: When used correctly, there was significant enough a change to my skin after the ‘overnight application’ the company recommends for me not to entirely rule this out. One of the benefits of the stars is having a physical barrier to stop scratching/irritation occurring which I really loved. But once the stars are off, they could very easily flare up again within the day and if you’re out of stars, you’re out of luck

Rating: 3/5

Price: £9/$10.99 per 32 stars (£12/$14.99 if you want the cute little box)

Would I Buy Again: Probably not – my skin could guzzle £40 worth of these a month.

Product: Skin+Me Subscription

How It Find Me: Facebook

I honestly didn’t know what this was when it first popped up on my Facebook while I was casually un-tagging myself from whatever photo-dump my mother had decided to post about. They were these thin, long tubes with an interesting distributing mechanism – promising that all my skincare needs could be met with a single cream. Further exploration of their website revealed that they were boasting prescription-grade medication tailored to your individual skin goals. Then they reeled me in with the first month free so what was there to lose?

The Basic Premise: Nightly cream by dermatology experts (or personalised prescription subscription).

One of the first things you have to do when signing up for your cream is to take pictures of your face without any makeup at all. Top-tip for anyone who doesn’t want to accidentally stumble on those when scrolling through your camera roll later: burn after reading. Then you fill out a form and low-and-beyond, a few hours later you get a personal message from a dermatologist saying ‘hey chum, your quest for good skin ends here!’. They then send you a neat little package that fits through your letterbox containing your own stick with your own name on it with instructions to use it every night for the month.

Did It Work: Honestly, during lockdown the postal system near me has been absolutely rubbish, so the product didn’t actually arrive until 2 weeks after it said that it would. By which point I’d already burned my bridges with Skin + Me and written it off as a complete scam. Having bowed my head in shame when the product finally arrived, however, I have noticed some change to my skin. At this point, it’s hard to tell if it’s a side effect of the gallons of water I’m now drinking a day or the product itself, but I’m willing to give it a go.

Rating: 4/5

Price: £19.99 p/month

Would I Buy Again: If this month goes well then yes – however £20 a month is fairly steep on top of my other skincare products so it has to wow me.

Product: The Ordinary – Retinol 1% in Squalane and Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

How It Found Me: TikTok

I’d heard some great things about the Ordinary and honestly looking at their prices I thought it couldn’t get much better. Until I tried to identify what it was that I actually needed. If it could have been possible for me to go to a store and get upsold by someone who knows what they’re talking about, I may have jumped on this train sooner. Turns out all it took was a few recommendations from 15-year-olds on my carefully curated feed.

The Basic Premise: Retinol for the wrinkles, Niacinamide for even skin tone – each applied with their trademark pipette.

Okay so the wrinkles thing is probably a bit pre-emptive but my sister told me I’ve stopped producing collagen (which is bad) and the retinol is meant to help. I have to say these are the only 2 I’ve tried so I can’t recommend anything for different skin types. But if you’re reading this and my combination, breakout-prone skin sounds familiar and you’re looking for a cheap staple to help your skin feel bright and happy, this is the place to start.

Did It Work: Yes – honestly if you’re not on this already, take a look now.

Rating: 5/5

Price: Approx: £6 - £10

Overall, I think I'm well on my way towards my clear skin goals - but if anyone has any other recommendations (looking at you Instagram) please send them my way.

skincare
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About the Creator

Lois Hall

Freelance writer, fledgling screenwriter and exceptional cluedo player. she/her

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