Hellobee Boards

I used toner and face wash with salicylic acid when my skin was acting up!

@aprk: I try to avoid chemicals in my regular life and am working extra hard at that now that I'm pregnant. In the past two weeks (I'm currently 5w5d) I've broken out worse than I ever have in my life. I honestly keep apologizing to DH for the fact that he now has a wife with the skin of a 15 year old (bless him for saying he hasn't even noticed!).

Anyhow, before I got pregnant I was using the oil cleansing method and I kind of fell of the wagon recently but since I started back up it's been helping my skin, but the best thing I've found so far is apple cider vinegar (a 50/50 blend of ACV and filtered water) that I use as a toner after cleansing. It's helping my skin clean up a lot and is helping the red marks from previous pimples fade.

Good luck - I know how frustrating it can be. I feel like it's been a real hit to my self-esteem, but things do appear to be improving

I am just about 34 weeks, and my skin has been terrible the entire time. For that matter, my entire life! it's awful. I've tried everything under the sun (before pregnancy) - prescriptions, dove, clean and clear, neutrogena, proactiv..you name it, I tried it.

with pregnancy - my skin is FINALLY clearing up - and this is my secret. sometimes I get breakouts, but for the most part, it's working!

1) washing pillow cases every week without fail
2) not resting my phone against my face (or for a long period of time)
3) washing face well morning and night with cetaphil
4) using bare minerals makeup
5) making sure not to touch my face AT ALL - I'm so bad at this, and this is usually how I end up breaking out (on my chin specifically!)
6) using target brand topical treatment (I think 1% or 2% either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid) when there's a particularly bad one.

I know some of that sounds like common sense, but I did not realize how much I was touching my face until I decided to consciously stop touching. I also don't pop anything anymore - if I have a whitehead, I'll put the water as hot as possible and wet a washcloth, holding that to it, over and over. if it's ready to go - i'll pop it with clean hands and then put a dab of spot treatment. if it's not ready, I leave it alone with a dab of spot treatment.

lol sorry if that sounded like a novel! but i know your frustration and wanted to try to share what seems to have started working over here!