| | What's new on ~*~*CurvyCurly~*~* all natural now!'s "Photo Albums" pages Recently created and updated albums: | ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Skin: Trying to fade these damn dark spots!!!
- For the past 2 years I have been battling with cystic acne which I am 99% sure is caused by hormonal imbalances. In the last several months I have been able to control the breakouts with dietary changes. I still get a bump every now and then but not nearly as often as before.
However, whenever I do breakout no matter how good I am about not picking, there is always a dark spot left behind (and I mean DARK!!). I'm am on the lighter side of brown (not really yellow though) and the dark spots are EXTREMELY noticeable and embarrassing!! When I take pics to post to fotki or lhcf, I ALWAYS have to retouch the dark marks. I have never liked foundation and up until this bout with cystic acne, I never wore it-I was always a lip gloss and mascara kinda girl. Well now I will not leave the house without concealer and foundation, even if I am going to the corner store really quick. It depresses me that my face is like this because I've always felt like I had a pretty face but it is disfigured now.
As far as what I've tried....I've tried pretty much everything. I've tried things that promised to deliver in couple of weeks. I've tried things you have to apply 3x a day. I've tried products marketed towards black women, white women, hispanic women Indian women. You get the picture. I have had minimal results with all of them. Let's not forget the "home remedies" for dark spots. Here's a list of some of what I've tried:
Palmer's Skin Success Fade Cream (fail)
Ambi Fade Cream (takes a LONG time to work)
Ambi Even & Clear Moisturizer (okay, but didn't fade anything)
Concha Nacar de Perlop (also takes a LONG time to work, particularly for really dark marks but it does fade the not-so-dark marks within a matter of weeks)
Baking soda mixed w/ sea salt-fail
Mederma Scar Cream-fail
Scar Zone Cream-I'm inclined to think this works to some extent (still testing)
Tea Tree Oil (good for drying up active pimples)
Neosporin (seems to PREVENT dark marks once pimple starts to heal or at least keep them from being as dark)
Aspirin masks (good for active breakouts...doesn't fade jack though)
Moisturizers w/ salicylic acid (same as aspirin masks)
Skin Brush (reduces pores, doesn't fade marks)
St. I'ves apricot scrub (mildly effective at exfoliating top layer of skin so products can penetrate better but way too rough on the skin)
TCA PEEL 15%-on order will report after 1st peel
Zinc vitamin supplement-I've read that cystic acne can be traced to zinc deficiency. I'm going to start zinc supplementation on 1/16/11
Vicco Tumeric cream started on 3/21-the smell is really perfumy but it was recommended by someone who looks to have gotten good results from it. So I'll just wait and see what happens.
As of 3/15 I started using Neutrogena Visibly Even Cleanser
so as you can see, I've tried a lot. There are somethings I haven't tried just because I will only spend but so much on something that's not a sure thing. This album will mainly document the use of the Mederma Cream since I am just starting it. I paid $25 for a .70 oz. tube at Walgreens, which I feel is pretty steep. I am praying it's not a waste. I will also still be using the Concha Nacar de Perlop nightly along with moisturizing my face with Neutrogena Acne Stress control with Ambi fade cream layered over it (may try putting the ambi on my spots first then adding the Neutrogena but we'll see).
I am going to track the use and (hopefully) results of these products beginning today 12/28/10 and ending 1/28/11. I would love to see progress within 30 days. I am very tired of trying things that will take months to work. I don't feel anyone should have to suffer with these horrible marks for that long.
*update: though there was progress in 30 days, it take a lot longer to fade the marks unfortunately :( I am still working on it and I have not timetable for when I think I'll be mostly clear of the marks. I am not sure when I will do another peel especially considering they don't fade the marks completely and there's a lot of downtime involved. I'm not sure I want to deal with that during the warmer months.
- Album was created 1 year 5 months ago and modified 1 year 1 month ago
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| ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Natural Now!
- I chopped the rest of my relaxed ends on 3/7/11 so now I'm natural for the second time and I plan to stay that way this time.
- Album was created 1 year 2 months ago and modified 1 year 2 months ago
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- 8 files
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| ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Products
- products in heavy rotation or products I'm experimenting with.
- Album was created 1 year 11 months ago and modified 1 year 5 months ago
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| ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Transitioning Year 2 (June 2010-until?)
- I'm planning to transition at least until December 2010, putting me at 18 months post. I may go longer, I may chop sooner...time will tell though..
update: well I made it to December and I'm still in it to win it! I have been having mad urges to chop but I'm staying strong. I'm going to try to make it to May (23 mos. post). Hell I might just make an even 24 months and go to June. Of course I'll update if that changes though. - Album was created 1 year 11 months ago and modified 1 year 5 months ago
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| ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Henna
- (Jun 27, 2010)
- I haven't done henna on my hair in about 3 years so I figured I'd give it another shot, not only for it's conditioning properties but for a little color without chemicals. After this henna treatment, I'll determine how often I'll do it from here on out
- Album was created 1 year 11 months ago and modified 1 year 11 months ago
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| ~*~Curvycurly~*~ | - Transitioning Year One (June 2009-June 2010)
- My last relaxer was 6/27/09 and I've decided not to retouch. I miss my natural hair and I don't think the chemically treated hair can withstand the frequent cowashing I do from working out 5-6 times per week. I also have some rather stringy pieces in the front that definitely don't look texlaxed.
I plan to trim as I go and not do a big chop like I did last time.
update 6/12/10: I'm still hanging in there with the transition and will be 1 year post on 6/27/10. I am still at APL and my ends are not looking too hot so I'm guessing they're breaking as my new growth is growing. I'm still too chicken to chop though. I want my natural hair to at least be shoulder length (unstretched/APL stretched) before nixing the relaxed ends...still hanging in there.
Right now I am trying to concentrate on preventing breakage and therefore preventing a premature chop. I have started back using Ayurvedic powders and oils and will probably do a henna treatment in the near future. I am contemplating going completely shampoo free until my transition is over (considering only shampooing every 6-8 weeks or so just to clarify/remove buildup). I am also going to start deep conditioning after every cowash as well. I'll keep the album updated with my progress on this new regimen. - Album was created 2 years 7 months ago and modified 1 year 11 months ago
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