After 10 days...Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum review

As in my last post, I started using Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum when I realised that the skin around my mouth has gotten very dark.

So after about 10 days of using this product, I must say that it has noticeably  lighten the dark patch of skin. It has lighten to the extend that I need not put much make up to make it less obvious. I am REALLY happy with the results and really think that if I continue to use it for a month, the dark skin would disappear or become less noticeable.

Of course I have also used whitening mask with Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum to quicken the whitening process (its quite embarrassing walking around with what looks like a moustache... if you know what I mean).  What whitening mask did I use? My Beauty Diary Mask sheets and I would do a review on that soon!

Update: I have used it diligently for 2+ week and the dark corners around my mouth has almost completely faded away!!  I am still using this product on my acne scars to help fade away the acne scar marks.

Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum (So far)

After noticing that the skin around my mouth is getting darker and darker, I went around looking for something that would really help lighten it. I tried lemon and cucumber juice but I was too impatient to wait for the results (and it stings too anyway).
I saw Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum at the duty-free shop at the airport and since it was on a promotion, I grabbed it.

I have been using it diligently for around 4-5 days and I would put on sunblock after applying the serum. I must say that it is gradually fading away though not to obvious yet, and I hope it would be much lighter after 1-2 weeks? Cause I have started school and it is quite bothersome having to hide it from friends and being very cautious about myself. Because of the dark skin, I look like a have a mustache 24/7 and that forces me to wear make-up + concealer to school everyday. I am not really a make-up person and wearing make-up so often is not good for my acne prone skin.

To be fair, I have also been using whitening masks in conjunction with the serum.

Since I have only been using it for less then a week, I cannot say that Clarins White Plus HP ~ Intensive Whitening Smoothing Serum is totally effective BUT I would continue to use it and update all of you about my progress. WISH ME LUCK! :-)

WHAT SERIOUSLY!!

Just when my acne problem is getting better, I GET ANOTHER PROBLEM!
A few days ago, the skin around my lips and chin area started getting darker, it is very noticeable! I am a female with fair skin and now I look like I have a mustache! This is really making me very upset, there seems to be no way that my skin would ever give me a break. I have been trying many methods, lemon juice, cucumber juice, whitening mask etc and I think it is making it worse than before! I just splurged on Clarins Whitening Serum, I really hope that there would be SIGNIFICANT improvement after 3-4 days.  sigh... This is really bringing me down.......
Is there any suggestions of what is this and how can I help to make it better? :(

#Tip 2 : Moisturize

As weird as it sounds, though your problem is oily skin you still need to moisturize your skin!
Our skin is a very weird thing, when there is too little oil on your skin, your skin would produce MORE OIL!!! I am also sure that other then cleanser you would have all these creams and lotion for acne and oily skin, what all these products would do is to remove oil from your skin so that's why you would need to moisturize your skin.

I use the brand Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser. I find that it is really good as there are times when my skin becomes as sensitive as a mine field and when I use other popular brands, it stings my skin.

#Tip 1 : Keep your Skin Clean!

For those with acne problems I am sure one of the problems it that your skin is very oily.
In my case, my skin is CRAZY there are times when it is super oily and there will be times where I will have patches of dry flaky skin.
The reason why you get acne is because you have excessive oil under your skin which would build up under your skin and when it becomes too much, it would burst out to become acne spots.

So my advice is that NO MATTER how tired or lazy you feel today or tomorrow,
GO AND WASH your face CLEANLY!
If it is really bad, twice a day it really helps I promise!
And when I say wash I mean you really stand there in your washroom and gently wash your face with cleanser for at least 2 mins, wash away all that excess oil and dirt from your skin will help tremendously.

Also please do wash your hair often too as it does affects your face too.

Really find a good face wash that is GOOD FOR YOU, seriously don't trust all those commercialized brands, it is really not for our skin. You would take sometime to find the one that works best for you, I am currently using the cleanser that my dermatologist gave me. However, I would recommend you to try the brand Simple. I have used several of their other products and it works really well for me!

My Enemy: Acne

Well sometimes I would think back and wonder whether is it something that I did not do or did wrong during my puberty that caused me to have acne problem.

Like almost everyone else, during my puberty period I started to get pimples but it never worry me because I presumed that once my puberty ends, all these pimple problem would go away. Hmph I was so wrong, when I turned 15 almost all my friends had beautiful clear skin while I started to realise that the once innocent pimples started to become red angry acne. At that time it still was not too bad but it started to worry me. By the time I turned 16 and was preparing for my O levels exam, my skin became so bad that sometimes I did not even want to go out as I would not know how others would think of me.

I tried almost everything out there, cleansers that "guarantee" to clear the acne spots, expensive dead sea salt, etc. I even went to my family doctor to get special face wash and roll on cream. They all seemed to work for like the first 3 times? AND THEN? Everything would go back as it was before if not my skin would become WORSE.

Mind you at that time I was already going to be 17 and any girls at that age would care so so so much more about their appearances. I started to get very irritated when friends and relatives would give me that "Look" and say "Oh what happen to your face?" "Let me teach you how to protect your skin" "Are you not washing your face?" I mean seriously, why so insensitive?

My mum and sis were very nice and understood the emotional stress that I was feeling and tried their best to source for any good cream and medication to help me.
My mum brought me to a dermatologist : SK Tan. I was very nervous because I was afraid he would say that I am a hopeless case. But fortunately he is a very nice doctor. He asked me whether I wanted to take the medication Oratane. I did my own research and I concluded I was not brave enough to eat this medicine. Instead I opted for a a less strong medicine with the help of his skin care products. Definitely after the medication my skin got so much better BUT the moment I am off it, everything comes back.

I do not want to rely on all these medication and now I am trying my best to keep my skin as clear as possible with just skin care products and mask. My Face is still has with acne scars and suffer from outbreaks.

So all I think I can do is to share with you what I know will not help your acne problem from my experience (though not much :)) and what I am trying now and whether it works!

Everything starts with a Prologue

Hello!

Welcome to my cyber world, where I can post almost about anything and everything about my life!
Hmmm... I am just a 18year old student living my life not really to the fullest. (haha)
Well in here, I would write what happens day-to-day in my mundane life
and also my acne journey.
Just getting started and I really hope you would enjoy my post as much as I enjoy typing them!