Makeup 101: Hiding Blemishes for Acne-prone, Oily, Sensitive Skin

Makeup causes acne. I guess you've heard about this myth but for some (including me!) not wearing makeup is out of the question! Luckily, this is just a myth and acne can still be prevented even if wearing makeup. Just make sure that the makeup you use is noncomedogenic or doesn't contain ingredients that can irritate the skin.

I have acne-prone, oily, sensitive skin and I've always had the feeling of "I can't face the world with them seeing my acne marks, dark eye circles (put imperfection here) so I have to put makeup on". You can read my post about my acne story here. Having too much imperfections always (lucky you if only sometimes or never) makes you overdo your makeup that turnout into makeup bloopers like too much makeup - either the mukhang espasol scene or mukhang patay scene.

I used to purchase popular local brands of concealers and pressed powders just to even out my skin tone and to cover my pimple marks but at the end of the day, I only find more spots to cover. I found out that the brand of cosmetics that I was using contain ingredients that causes or worsens acne (to name some are bismuth oxide and mineral oil). I also was a victim of the just mentioned makeup bloopers (hehehe) but not anymore!

I did some research a few years back and I found about a young local company of authentic natural personal and beauty products - it means at least 95% of each product is natural. I tried their makeup and it  is the only makeup that didn't break me out. I just stopped using it because I found their makeup too sheer and having my imperfections covered were impossible. 

But as the years went by, this company's research and development department was able to improve the formulation of their makeup line and so tadaaa! I'm now (and I bet a lot more women are) using the Human Nature Perfect Coverage Mineral Foundation and the Human Nature Mineral Powder. Along my search for makeup for my acne-prone, oily, sensitive skin, I discovered the Ellana Mineral Concealer. Ellana is a mineral cosmetic brand that is meant for Asians and especially for those who have sensitive skin.

Now let me show you how I do this hiding blemishes agenda. 

Let's start with my tools and makeup:

1. Human Nature Perfect Coverage Mineral Foundation

2. Ellana Mineral Concealer in Radiance

3. Human Nature Mineral Powder

4. Ellana powder brush for the foundation and the powder

5. Ellana concealer brush for the concealer

My skin color is between Human Nature's Orient Pearl/Vanilla and Island Shell/Honey so what I do is I use the lighter shade (Vanilla)  for my foundation and the darker shade (Island Shell) for the powder. I use Radiant for my concealer for it was the shade that Ellana recommended for my skin color and tone.

Step 1 - foundation

15-20 minutes after putting moisturizer, the last part of my skin regimen (you can find it here), I apply the foundation using a powder brush (even if applying the Human Nature Perfect Coverage Foundation with its provided applicator actually looks better than being applied with the powder brush). For my case, I use a powder brush simply because of my huge acne. I find applying makeup with a brush much gentler. 

Applying the Human Nature Perfect Coverage Foundation evens out my skin tone, provides me a shine-free face throughout the day and can cover my redness and minor blemishes.

Step 2 - concealer

I use my Ellana concealer brush to apply the mineral concealer on my blemishes. It's hard to get the "natural look" if I simply use my fingers to apply the concealer especially on areas where creases are.

Step 3 - powder

Human Nature Mineral Powder has sheer coverage and complements Human Nature Perfect Coverage Foundation very well. It makes the skin looks instantly smoother and actually like glowing naturally. I use my Ellana powder brush for this. Applying the powder also reduces the concealer I just applied (this is actually good to prevent the too much makeup look in polkadots version hihi) and evens out my skin color better. The foundation I used is light for my skin color so I used a darker shade for the powder.

Here are the step by step results! :)

What I like about this makeup routine is that it looks natural and doesn't look ugly especially when someone takes a photo of you with flash on. Human Nature and Ellana cosmetics line caters to the Filipino skin so finding the perfect shade for your skin color and tone would be easy peasy.

Here's the before and after shots so you can clearly see the difference.

I hope you find this post helpful! Can you also suggest other brands for acne-prone, oily and sensitive skin like mine? 

Human Nature products can be bought at any Human Nature branch, online or through our online minishop, http://www.sarisaristore.com/donyapoorita <3

My Skin Care Regimen for Acne-prone, Oily, Sensitive Skin

Everyone wants healthy, glowing, beautiful skin but not everyone is blessed with it. After years of being a hamster, trying different products and methods that will work for my skin type, I'm here to share with you some of what I've learned and discovered - my skin care regimen for acne-prone, oily, sensitive skin. To read my personal story on acne, please do continue reading. If you're solely interested in the skin care regimen, just skip the next paragraph because my "brief" acne story might be long enough to bore you. Teehee.

I had pimples as early as grade school, worsened in high school and now, in my 20s, it's terrible more than ever. I don't just have ordinary acne but I have cystic acne - a lot of it. Some of my acne can't be seen but if you touch my face, you'll be able to feel the cystic acne that can be as big as almost a size of a 5 peso coin (not exaggerating). This acne dilemma is not only painful physically but also socially and emotionally. If you also have acne, I believe you would strongly agree with me. I have very oily, sensitive and acne-prone skin. In the middle of the day, I had to use two (yes that's 2) of the blue oil-absorbing sheets of a popular brand here in the Philippines. The amount of oil on my face is more than enough to make the blue oil-absorbing sheet turn completely transparent. 

My face is also sensitive that I really have to be careful with the products that I use that's why I read the ingredients label of the products that I use not just for my skin but for my hair too. 

Here are some of the ingredients that I avoid because my face reacts to them very badly.

Synthetic Fragrance/Parfum,phthalate
found in shampoos, conditioners, cosmetics etc. 
It irritates sensitive skin a lot.

Bismuth Oxychloride
a lot of commercially available face powders, foundation, concealer contain this skin irritant. 

Mineral oil, dimethicone, petrolatum, paraffin
these are usually found in moisturizers and cosmetics. 
These cause premature aging and can clog pores, can instantly give more acne especially if we have the same skin type!

SLS/SLES (sodium lauryl sulfate / sodium laureth sulfate)
ALS/ALES (ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate)
most shampoos contain this and could really irritate the skin (if you're getting body acne especially on your back and shoulders, this might be the culprit)

There are a lot more of ingredients to avoid 

not just because of acne but also ones that can cause internal problems and even cancer. 

I encourage you to read the label and start protecting yourself from these ingredients. Inform your family and friends too - you might just save their lives.

Now that you're informed about the ingredients to avoid, here are the products that I discovered that don't contain ingredients that make me breakout so bad. 

The typical skin care regimen is cleanse, tone and moisturize but what about for people with acne-prone, oily and sensitive skin? My skin care regimen is influenced by Dan's regimen (see www.acne.org) but being emotionally and socially damaged because of acne, I really can't leave our house without any makeup on so I did some changes with respect to Dan's regimen.

What I do is precleanse, cleanse, tone, treat and moisturize.

Precleanse
I have to do this to remove traces of makeup and excess oil before I cleanse.
You may skip this part if you didn't or don't put makeup on. 

I put about 2-3 pumps of Human Nature Sunflower Cleansing Oil onto my palm, massage it on my skin gently and wipe it off with facial tissue.

Cleanse
I use Human Nature Nourishing Facial Wash, it's an organic facial wash made for normal or sensitive skin. 
It contains tomato extract which helps soothe and repair skin. This facial wash doesn't sting nor itch my skin.
I love the way it makes my skin feel squeaky clean without it feeling dry and without making my skin experience redness after too.

Before the next step, make sure your skin is already dry and make sure your face towel is clean. You may use a facial tissue for drying your skin or just have it air-dried.

Tone
To make sure that makeup has been really removed, I tone my skin with Human Nature Nourishing Toner to compliment with the facial wash.
What I also love about this toner is that it contains not only tomato extract, but also chamomile, lavender and rosemary that are perfect for treating inflamed acne. 
If you put too much toner (like toning twice or more in a row), it gives a sticky feel so don't put too much! The toner sometimes stings but I think what was stung are some scars from acne. :o

Treat
5-10 minutes after toning (enough time for the toner to be absorbed by the skin), this is where Dan's regimen highlight comes in - 2.5% benzoyl peroxide.
I apply a generous amount of 2.5% benzoyl peroxide on the whole face to prevent and treat acne.
I use Benzac 2.5% and it can be bought in Mercury Drug stores or Watson's for around P650 if I'm not mistaken. 

UPDATE: Benzac 2.5% and Benzac 5% now available for only P570 and P585, respectively, at The Donya Poorita MiniShop.

Moisturize/Moisturize with at least SPF 15
Wait for 15-20 minutes before applying your moisturizer. 
This is the time you give your skin to absorb the benzoyl peroxide. 
Also, applying the moisturizer earlier would make spreading it on the face hard - it's like tugging with your skin. 
In the morning, I use Neutrogena Moisturizer with SPF 15 while before bedtime, I use Human Nature Night Moisturizing Cream with plant collagen. 


It's just been around a week since I started this skin care regimen of mine and so far, I'm seeing good results. I took photos around my jaw line because that's where my worst acne are at right now.

As you can see, the small pimples were treated very fast while the size of the big ones are reduced. Acne marks and scars are left - that's another dilemma that I tackled temporarily at another post (click here to see). If you can't stand to go out of your house with those acne marks, you gotta read this post. 


I'll update this post for more pictures, don't worry. I hope this skin regimen works for me for a very long time... and so for you too. Do you also have some acne stories to share? Any questions? Please do let us know!

UPDATE! (October 31, 2012)

I'm really sorry for the late update. My bad. :(
I took photos around my jawline after 6 weeks after this skin care regimen. In the 6 weeks that I have not updated, I still experienced breaking out (I'm not sure but it might be the purging stage) and had this little pimples around my jawline but not as worst as my before picture where there are really huge bumps. I patiently continued my regimen and little by little the small pimples dried out.

As you can see, compared to the before photo where I used to have very huge bumps (multiple cystic acne), what's left are a lot of pimple marks and a few of very little bumps. This is an awesome improvement for my skin condition. I am still wishing that this skin care regimen works for me for a very long time. After this acne issue, I'll be working on how to get rid of not only my acne marks but also the acne scars (the irritating pock marks!) which I will tackle in another post.

What do you think of my skin care regimen? Let me hear you out. Let's help each others' beauty shine through and win this battle against acne! 


Human Nature products can be bought at any Human Nature branch, online or through our online minishop, http://www.sarisaristore.com/donyapoorita <3