Hi and assalamualaikum everyone. Aku 24 years old and had suffered from acne and the scarring for good 5 years. When I was younger, zaman sekolah dulu-dulu I had fairly good skin almost flawless, just an occasional acne during period. Adik-beradik perempuan aku pun have sort of good skin. But that was it, until aku masuk universiti.
Aku 19 tahun bila aku terpengaruh dengan housemate aku untuk try this one local skincare set called XYZ. Yes every skin reacts differently. Housemate aku yang pakai kulit terus jadi putih flawless licin but I was the unlucky one. From the clear skin I used to have skin aku got so worst. Acne aku teruk sangat that people around me started to pointed it out all the time. When I had clear skin, aku memang completely zero knowledge regarding skincare. So kiranya local product tu product pertama yang aku pakai. For a year aku breakout non-stop and my mistake was not seeing dermatologist right away. Aku try and error byk product lain from natural to drugstore to another local product.
So, after a year aku decide to seek dermatologist. And I did few session of chemical peels and I saw 60% improvement. Tapi semua orang pun tahu rawatan dekat klinik memang mahal dan aku memang tak boleh afford to go there every month and do every treatment possible. Yes, memang berkesan. So after that, my acne is not completely healed but it is in control. So, starting from 2015, aku start to do thorough research regarding everything and up until today aku still buat research regarding on what I put on my skin.
So, here’s a few advices from me. Jauh sekali nak banned local product. Just solely for the sake of sharing sebab aku tahu semua orang tak kira lelaki ke perempuan dreamed of beautiful skin. These are the things I wish someone told me masa aku breakout teruk for one year. Sadly, aku takde anyone to tell this. And it was a grave mistake of me to not educate myself sebelum guna one product.
1. Seek dermatologist help
First and foremost, one of people mistake is they randomly buat facial at any spa or medispa WITHOUT first consulting any physicial. Please pergi tempat yang tulis KLINIK. Contohnya, Klinik Hana and Klinik Kulit or even korang pergi klinik biasa as long as KLINIK yang ada physicians. Bukan some sort or beautician or aesthetician ye. For maintanence purpose mcm nk pamper yourself, boleh pegi spa or medispa. But if korang nk MERAWAT please go to klinik okay. Um, do you know acne is a medical condition? Acne is a chronic disease. So, bila korang jumpa derm, they would prescribe you with antibiotics, and kalau severe sangat they would recommend isotretinoin (accutane and roaccutane) or tretinoin cream. These all korang hanya boleh dapat with precription doctor ye after they grade tahap severity acne korang. Antibiotics and those retinoids I mentioned can do such big difference and improvement but ONLY when used as INSTRUCTED. I repeat when used as INSTRUCTED! Recently, aku terbaca this one local skincare incorporate tretinoin and hydroquinone in their night cream. Yes, tretinoin is a powerful product for almost all skin concerns, but it comes with contraindications that you need to be aware of. For example, tretinoin tak boleh pakai for breastfeed mom and pregnant woman while hydroquinone if it used more than 3 months can cause ochronosis (please google to see how it looks like) in the future. Memang dalam masa sekejap Night Cream from local product can does wonder to your skin but the side effects can do more harm than good in future. So please please consult dermatologist or any physician for prescription drugs. Jangan main beli je sebab orang sekeliling pakai satu hari then terus jadi cantik! Doctor akan explain the indication the side effects and the RIGHT WAY to use it. And if skin korang still no improvement, there would be other interventions mcm prescribe sprinolactone and do allery test. So ingat okay consult doctor!
2. Know the ingredients
Here’s a link (cosdna.com). Korang pergi je website ni and key in the specific name of the product and the list will come out. So aku usually akan tengok ingredients keyed-in from the latest date. Then, from there, korang akan tau if that particular product could possibly cause irritation or acne to your skin. Since, sekarang aku acne-prone, aku akan sentiasa avoid product yang causes acne. This website helps a lot, mcm let say you guys in Watson and contemplating nak beli this one particular product, korang boleh just key in and see the ingredients. I am not a chemist so aku tak tau that much about the ingredient. Then, aku akan compare the ingredient stated dekat the packaging with the ingredients stated in cosdna.com. Make sure sama okay! And if you guys are extra rajin, boleh google ‘what ingredients should dry skin type avoid or acne prone avoid’. Like for me, over the years, I know I am not suitable with any products yang contain palmitate or salicylic acid. After years of observations and try & error okay. So learn and hear your skin out!
3. Do thorough research regarding the product
So here, this is also essential okay. So, what normally I would do is, buka youtube and google to read review other users. One of the channels I am very fond of is Dr. Dray (dermatologist) and Wishtrend. They explain betul-betul all the do’s and don’ts. Yes, memang semua orang punya kulit react differently but in case 9 out of 10 people broke out while using the products, aku prefer not to buy it. Other than tengok and baca review, it is also important untuk korang tahu pasal product tu itself. Like, for example korang nak pakai Vitamin C serum (everyone raves about this!) korang perlu tahu the indication, interaction with other products and contraindication. Contohnya, Vitamin C could possibly cause purging because it mildly exfoliates the skin and bring all the comedones to the surface, and bila pakai Vitamin C please please please use SUNSCREEN DILIGENTLY, otherwise it would be a total waste effort korang malam tu sapu vitamin C sbb the next day the UV harm your skin again. Then, since Vit C has an exfoliating effect, it shoudnt be use with other actives (AHA, BHA or Retinoic Acid), at least at the same regime. Thats just very briefy about one product. When korang buat research, it will help you guys to use the product the right way, so that would make the product efficacious. So they key here, know your ingredient and know the product well.
4. Design your own skincare routine
So after korang dah buat research thoroughly, its time to design your skincare routine regarding your skin concerns. So the basic for me, mestila first SUNSCREEN, cleanser and moisturizer. Untuk all the amateurs this 3 would be sufficient. For me, my night routine is slightly different from my morning routine sebab at night aku ada incorporate ACTIVES. Before designing my skincare routine aku banyak tgk youtuber yang same with my skin concerns. But aku tak tiru 100%. Aku cater my skincare routine according to the weather, my budget and my concerns. If I had to pick one skincare product, I would definitely pick sunscreen because I cannot emplasize enough betapa pentingnya sunscreen!! I would love to share about my skincare routine but maybe at some other post.
So mesti some of you guys thought I am now having clear skin already because I did a lot of readings and research. Lol, actually no. But I no longer have that red angry acne all over my face. I still got some acne sbb like I mentioned acne is a chronic condition. Just sharing what I know so that korang boleh prevent a bigger problem macam acne yang very severe. That would save you guys from all the scarring. Maybe some other time I would share my skincare routine and share pasal all the actives. But for now, I guys this would be it. Just do you research and hear your skin.
– Mrs. F
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