Marionnaud Natural Cellulose Cleansing Sponges: Review

I've got to be honest. Rather than spending my money buying Clairsonic or other cleansers of the sort, I'd rather buy quality skin care items and use a cheaper alternative that does the job. But really, I don't have the funds for it so I tried this out on a whim. Fortunately, this trial turned into a great discovery, which is why I'm sharing it with you.

Current Skin Care Routine (Acne Control): January 2015

One of the biggest problem (for me) that a beauty blogger can have is being plagued with acne on various parts of the face. As a beauty blogger, there are expectations one must meet. One of them is having (almost) perfect skin. It's like an unspoken rule for beauty bloggers to always look flawless. I know this rule isn't absolute but sometimes I feel that the struggle is real. The case is also true when I try to film beauty videos. I feel pressured to do something about my problematic skin. Most of the time, I am ashamed of my skin condition.

The thing is, we don't choose what kind of skin we have from birth. Unfortunately, I have oily, acne prone, sensitive skin. This means I get greasy easily, I get acne (sometimes cystic) and that my skin easily reacts to different skin care products. Just because it works for someone else, doesn't mean it'll work for me too. It also doesn't mean I don't take care of my skin. I am very religious with skin care. I take a shower everyday and wash my face at least twice a day. Despite all these, I still can't eradicate all my skin  problems.

Today, I will be sharing with you the products I am currently using to help with my current skin condition. These are all products prescribed to me by my dermatologist from Skin 101. If you didn't know, I regularly get facials and treatments at Skin 101 SM Muntinlupa. After trying to manage my skin on my own for such a long time (but not getting the results I want), I finally decided to consult their in-house dermatologist and was prescribed with a whole new skin care routine.

Updated Skin Care Routine: Acne Control (March 2014)

Before I start throwing back memories on my acne battle since first year in high school, I think you guys should have an idea of the items that I'm actually using as of the moment.

I'm not sure if it will come as a surprise to you but I have dermatologist prescribed items with me as of the moment. Have you ever heard of Advanced Aesthetics? How about Dr. Javellana? Well, if you do then that makes everything easier for me. If not, well, that's too bad cause I won't be talking about her on this post. You can, however, go here for some details you might be interested in. But basically, I use her skin care stuff. I'm not actually a patient. I just got my friend to tell me where she gets her skin care stuff and I went and bought it without consultation with Dr. Javellana herself. I know it's risky. But the staff are also quite knowledgeable about their products and they would be able to help you in choosing which products and what concentration you need for yourself. I just followed their advice and I figured I can just come in for a formal consultation if the problem still persists after using the skin care set.

So the skin care set comes with a soap, erythromycin solution, growth factor serum, bleaching cream, sunblock, tretinoin and ceramides cream. I used to use all of them but the clinic is a little bit far and it takes some effort to go there and purchase the products so I mixed her stuff with some of my skin care 'discoveries'. It is not recommended to use this set along with other products, at least that's what the assistant said. But then again, she can't stop me from doing so. That's why I will tell you more about my daily routine.

DAY

1. Soap

 I'm using this Clinique soap as of the moment because it was gifted by my aunt from the US.

My trusty face soap that I will get back on using once the Clinique soap is all out-- Be Organic Aloe Jojoba Natural Handmade Soap

In the set, there was this soap called Pink Soap. That's what you're supposed to use for your face. I used to wash my face with it but I used it all up and decided not to bother going to the clinic just for one piece of soap. Right now, I'm using Clinique's bar soap. I'm not entirely sure of the name but it was just sent from my aunt in the US and as soon as I finish it up, I will get back to my Be Organic Aloe Jojoba Natural Handmade Soap, which I buy from Sesou in Glorietta 2.

2. Erythromycin Solution

 I got this solution from Dermcare

I started using erythromycin even before Dr. Javella. Flawless also uses erythromycin as topical antibacterial. I believe this is an essential part of the set that kills the pimple forming bacteria off your face. This is the first one that runs out in the set. And like the soap, I really don't want to go back every 3 weeks just for this so I just go to this nearby facial spa called Dermcare and buy their erythromycin solution. The place is more convenient, I can just walk to get there. And the best part? Their solution is much cheaper! :)

3. Growth Factor Serum (Vitamin A Solution)

Out of all the items in the set, this is the one that lasts the longest. One small bottle can last for about 6 months or so. You only need about 3 drops every application. It is also multifunctional. It helps tighten pores, remove dead skin cells and helps in drying up existing zits. I love this to death. I can probably live without the other items from the set but not this one.

4. Bleaching Cream

I'm sorry that it looks kinda messy but I'm almost out of this and I don't have a new one to take a photo of.

Just as you would expect, bleaching cream is used for whitening. Not exactly to lift your shade lighter but I guess to make your skin brighter and glowy. Of course, it also helps in lightening pimple marks, which I believe is its main purpose.

5. Sun Block

You can't leave the house without sunblock while using whitening products. This SPF 60 cream helps protect you from the sun's harmful rays. It sets matte, it's not greasy at all, which is why I love wear it everyday as I believe it also helps controlling my oil production.

6. Eye Cream

This is not really a part of the set but I like to use this THEFACESHOP Wrinkle Stop Eye Cream to moisturize my under eye area. I am in my mid-20s after all and skipping eye cream is not the best idea out there. I have a full review on this product (in different packaging) over here. Notice how this cream already has its own spatula. Yay!

NIGHT:

Steps 1-4 are the same at night so I will go straight to Step 5, which is after applying bleaching cream.

5. Tretinoin

Instead of sun block, I apply a light layer of tretinoin/ retinol cream 0.3% on my face before going to sleep. It also helps in cell renewal. This causes micropeeling to help slough off dead skin, which in turn helps trapped oil and dirt from... well, staying trapped.

6. Ceramides Cream/ Moisturizer

Last but not the least, I use a moisturizer. It used to be the ceramides cream for me. It's an expensive moisturizer I bought from Advanced Aesthetics to keep the peeling at bay. But since it's super expensive and only lasted for two months, I switched to Nature Republic's Aloe Vera soothing gel to help lock my skin's moisture. After this, I go about using the same eye cream I use during the day.

7. Spot Treatment (Optional)

This step is not necessary but when I do get cystic acne, it gets super painful that I need the aid of this Clear Away Spot from THEFACESHOP to help heal them. I can only use it at night because it creates pink powder spots on areas where I applied this. I would totally look weird if I use it during the day.

As you can probably tell, I have a very long skin care routine that I religiously follow. If you don't like to put on a lot of things after a shower and before going to bed, then this is not the routine for you. I can only care so much about the time I spend with skin care if the routine doesn't work. But since this routine works for me, I don't mind. I've used this for ten months, incorporating some weekly routines and other skin care discoveries that I get to encounter.

I would love to talk about those weekly routines in this post but since it's already pretty long on its own, I'd probably just save that post for later so be sure to watch out for it. While waiting for that, let me know about your own skin care routine and give me an idea of what to try out next down in the comment section.

Current Skin Care Routine: Acne Control

Okay, so I'm going to talk about my skin care routine for acne control. I used to only have one routine. I stick to it (like glue) until it fails me and I try other stuff or go back to previously tried routines. Basically, I have tried a lot of stuff for acne control over the years. Sometimes, I'd hit jackpot and 'discover' an effective regimen but the thing is, if I stick to it for a long time, I'd develop tolerance and it would probably not work as good as before.

Thus, I have decided to have two different skin care routines as to avoid this 'tolerance' I'm talking about. For now, I'll be talking about my routine when I get noticeable breakouts (red, big and swollen). For my other routine (when I don't have much zits to worry about), I'll probably talk about it in my future posts.

Here's a list of the things I need/use at this moment:

1. Ice
2. Tomato (Yes, I am talking about the fruit.)
3. Kojie-san Soap/ Defensil Soap
4. Ponds Clear Solutions Facial Wash
5. Ponds Acne Expert Toner
6. AHA + Antioxidant
7. Ponds Flawless White Day and Night Cream
8. Katialis

Okay, so I will be explaining the items above one by one.

1. Ice

- I get an ice pack/ wrap an ice cube with a towel and lightly dab the ice pack over the red swollen area. I do this after cleaning my face. This is good to lessen the redness and swelling. Thanks to the coldness, vasoconstriction occurs. I use this once or twice a day. Usually, I do this for two consecutive days. Once the swelling has tamed a bit, I stop doing it. Oh, and be careful not to burn yourself. Just dab it on for a few seconds, release for a few seconds and repeat.

2. Tomato

- I basically get a tomato from the fridge. I like it a bit cold because vasoconstriction helps with the redness and swelling. I slice like 2mm of the tomato and just gently rub it (juice) all over my face, leave it for like 10-15 minutes and it works as a mask. I use this maybe once or twice (max) a week.

3. Kojie-san Soap/ Defensil Soap

- This is the soap I'm using for my face and body during bath or night showers. I just recently found out Kojie-san is also responsible for Defensil. :D

4. Ponds Clear Solutions Facial Wash

- This is the wash I use when I wake up and before going to sleep. Using lukewarm water is nice to open the pores for through cleaning. I don't get to use lukewarm water all the time though. I usually just use tap water.

5. Ponds Acne Expert Toner

- It has salicylic acid and tea tree oil that helps with pimple control. If I'm not mistaken, since the toner is of room temperature, it will help close back the pores (from washing with lukewarm water). I use this after taking a bath and before going to sleep, after cleansing.

6. AHA + Antioxidant
- Once the toner has dried, I apply my AHA + Antioxidant lotion that I got from my dermatologist. I buy it from her but I think there are commercially available products with AHA. Google is your friend so you can most probably just search for products similar to this. Out of all the products I get from her, this is the only one that was not scratched from my skin care routine. This helps with pimple control as well as helping me remove dead skin cells. This results to younger looking skin. Hurrah! I only use it once, after toner (usually during the day).

7. Ponds Flawless White Day and Night Cream

- For the day cream, I wait a bit until the AHA + Antioxidant has been fully absorbed by my skin. Since it's in lotion form, it takes a while so I usually put on body lotion at this time to conserve time. Anyway, this would act as my moisturizer and sunscreen. It also has whitening properties so I believe this helps with erradicating some pimple marks.
- For the night cream, I use it after toner and apply it over my face. And yes, you guess it right. I use it at night, before going to sleep. This acts as my moisturizer and again has whitening properties to help with my pimples marks.

8. Katialis

- This is a very cheap product we commonly know as something that helps with insect bites and stuff like itch or something. I use it on areas with pimples. It has salicylic acid and antibacterial properties so it works really well in drying up pimples fast. I lightly dab it on the affected area after the moisturizer. I usually use this at night because this product has an awful (tolerable) smell.

That's it! This skin care routine works well for me but I cannot gurantee it would work as well for you.

Watch out for more acne control routines I've tried. I will be talking about it one by one in the future so you may have options to choose from, if you wish to do the same for yourself.

For my other skin care routine, click here.

**All photos in this post were taken over the internet. Credits to uploaders. Thanks!