These past few months, I've been sharing with you different beauty products that I've already tried and tested. While there were products that worked so well and made me ecstatic, there were also products that disappointed me and failed my expectations. Perhaps starting this beauty blog may have altered or strengthened other people's perception of me. Some may see me as vain,
"maarte", or even
"magastos" (yes, these products don't come in free but believe me, I'm as frugal as can be), but thankfully, others could go beyond what they see and find what I write helpful.
Why did I start this beauty blog anyway?
We all have our own insecurities. Some are insecure of their weight, their height, their eyes, nose, legs, you know what I'm talking about. Whatever positive remark others may say about us, we will always find a negative in ourselves.
My skin is my biggest insecurity. If you've read some of my previous entries, I've mentioned that I have extremely sensitive skin. My skin tends to flush most especially when the temperature is high, there would be moments when I suffer from prickling (thank God for anti-itch ointments that I always have on hand), cosmetics would USUALLY cause a reaction, and what I hate most is that I can't eat everything that I want. My skin is so sensitive that there was a time I was even brought to the emergency room because I developed some form of allergy all over my body, the nurses had to inject me with steroids to immediately lessen the redness and irritation. I've already taken various types of vitamins just to strengthen my skin's immunity.
Puberty hit and I started to develop pimples when I was 16 years old. I had a few but it didn't really affect me that much. I started using commercial products to help stop its occurrence and heal it (and just because my friends were using them, too), and I later realized that it was the biggest mistake I have ever made. We all have different skin types and I should've known that earlier. Instead of healing the few pimples I had, these products irritated my skin more and pimples spread all over! It was a disaster. I panicked so much, used more products to help it heal, but these all annoyed my skin. I swear I didn't know what to do.
Teenage years should be the best years of someone's life. I wouldn't say mine wasn't good, I had a lot of fun during those years, but it indeed wasn't the best. At this stage, you develop your identity and gain confidence. You make a lot of friends, establish relationships and form connections. Don't get me wrong, I did not become a quiet type. In fact, I was one of the noisiest in school, but what people do not know is that my self-esteem can't help itself but weaken and decrease. It was difficult, but keeping it to myself made it much harder.
Some people think that having acne is just a physical problem and crying over it is nonsense. They are wrong. Acne affects you psychologically and emotionally as well. It will make you feel out of place and unappealing, thus making others seclude themselves from the world. There was a moment when elder relatives saw me after a long time and blurted out "What happened to your skin??", that was so embarrassing I wanted to hide myself under a rock. There would also be times when I would look at myself in the mirror and feel hideous, of course, a crying session would follow (don't laugh hehehe!).
I asked my parents to bring me to the dermatologist and seek for professional consultation. After a few visits, I finally had my problem under control. Because of what I experienced, I became careful of what I put on my skin. I would always read the ingredients, research and read on dermatological articles and the do's and dont's. My doctor told me I was lucky I didn't pick on it because that would have probably caused scarring.
Although not as much as what I had, I still experience skin irritation. But I try to stay away from harsh products and whenever there's a new product, I read reviews and research on it first. Acne affects the majority of the population and whenever you feel down, please know that you are not alone.
Based on my experience, here are the things that you should do whenever you experience skin irritation:
1) Keep your hands away from it. Don't touch it. Don't pick on it. Your hands have a lot of bacteria and touching the irritated area would make it worse. Picking on it may also cause scars.
2) Don't panic. Don't use numerous products that you don't even know the ingredients of. Seek a professional.
3) Don't try to cover it with lots of cosmetics. It will make the condition worse. (I rarely use liquid foundation until now, I'm scared of it!)
4) Don't use numerous products at the same time so if ever your skin develops a reaction, you'll know what's causing it.
Yes, I try products because I still haven't found what's best for me. But please remember that whatever product I use and review on this blog had been researched, the ones that didn't work probably gave the majority great results while it did not give the same effect on me.
Believe me, this is just one of my insecurities. I definitely have more! But I don't think about it that much anymore. We will always see something unsatisfying about ourselves, but be convinced that you are beautiful and others feel the same way about you too. People will love you for who you are and not for what you have or don't have. Try focusing on the positive and think of ways to enhance it, while working on the negative. I have accepted that my sensitive skin is a part of me, and it is something I must live with. But I don't need to suffer from it because there are a diversity of ways I can do to make it better.
I developed this blog because I want to help others feel good about themselves and boost their confidence, because I'm hoping that what I write could probably give them ideas on how to enhance what they already have.
Insecurities suck but we have a choice not to let it take over us! And please know that there is something you can do!
Thank you for reading this long post. Sorry also for not being able to update this blog daily.:( Watch out for more product reviews in the coming days and remember to always feel beautiful!:D
