AB + Tret skin transformation over approx 8 months (routine in comments)

Background: PCOS with hormonal cystic acne for the last 10 years at least. I would get acne ranging in intensity during the whole month, peaking right before my period (key factor that said it was hormonal). Got diagnosed with PCOS January 2023 even though I have been suffering from it since I was about 17. Only took 12 years. Got prescribed tret and spironalactone.

Skin concerns : acne, hyperpigmentation, texture, brightness, elasticity

Climate : dry (average annual humidity 35% approx), hot, dusty (think Utah or Nevada).

Skin type: normal

Before AB: Pic 1 is taken after 4 months of tret which already cleared my skin quite a bit. Honestly I don’t have a photo from Jan 2023 because I was embarrassed 😅. But I think the picture from May is still a reasonable baseline.

Introduction of AB:

Early products (and now HG) –

1. ILLIYOON Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream
2. COSRX propolis toner
3. Milkydress undereye brightening cream

Later additions based on need/want/“oh this looks cool let me try”

1. Naturie rice skin conditioner
2. SKIN1004 Madagascar centella sunscreen
3. COSRX overnight rice mask
4. A’pieu overnight sleeping mask
5. BoJ red bean paste

Routine:

AM – wash face with water (truly a game changer), naturie skin conditioner , propolis toner, non AB moisturizer, AB sunscreen

PM – non AB cleanser, naturie skin conditioner, tret, propolis toner, ILLIYOON cream, overnight mask (only one, not all at a time) , spot treatment (benzoyl peroxide cream) if needed.

Product frequency:

Tret – 4 days / week, I usually do M-Thu and then give my skin a break from Fri – Sun

BoJ red bean paste – every Saturday

Other sheet masks – Fri and Sunday (my “let’s have fun with skincare” days)

Everything else – everyday

Philosophy:

For a long time I was chasing the “perfect skin”, only to realize that it doesn’t exist. What exists is creating the right balance for what I needed. Everyone’s version of perfect skin is so different and that’s what I hate about influencer culture to an extent. Since I started AB after I was already on Tret, my main focus was to restore hydration and hence restore balance to my skin barrier. Given that the climate is so dry, I went with hard hitting products right off the bat.

Once I had a good routine down with some basic stuff, I started to add in “extras” like the BoJ mask, sheet masks or overnight mask. This way, if I don’t feel like doing these extra steps I still can rest assured that my skins basic needs are taken care of. I hope that I can share some of my thought process to help anyone who may be feeling confused themselves.

Questions I asked on this journey:

What was my main concern?

I was worried my skin wasn’t balanced – in the sense that the tret was pulling it to be so dry on top of the climate. So I just focused on giving my skin some extra love. Every time I bumped up the Tret dosage I was very slow to make this change. I would start by using it every other day for only 3 days a week for two weeks. Once I felt like my skin was okay with this change, I then got more frequent with the usage.

Did I religiously use Tret everyday?

Well no tbh. One time I went on a 15 day vacation and left it at home by mistake. 💀 But I did truly believe that because I had taken care of my skin for the rest of the year, I should be ok to skip the Tret for two ish weeks. It was scary at first but I think I quickly realized that some fluctuations are ok and you just have to have fun with your self care routine! And that is why I introduced my fun skincare days.

Does my skin look like this everyday?

Absolutely not. Right before my period I will get some acne. Just this past December I had a HUGE cyst on my cheek. I nursed that with lots of Tret and spot treatments, and it took 3 whole weeks to heal but I think it turned out okay in the end. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, sometimes I feel like social media tells you that your skin HAS to look like that every day but it’s simply not possible. And that’s ok! When I started to accept that, I feel like every “setback” was not a setback. It was actually a characteristic of my skin. So that’s what I started to think of it as instead of thinking it’s some kind of “error”.

I hope this was helpful to at least some of y’all!