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California, United States
Hi! Thanks for visiting ^_^ My social media platforms: Instagram: meowmier Youtube: http://goo.gl/U5SnNM (formerly under the username francesvlogs but I don't have access to that anymore). I don't really do videos anymore simply because I think blog posts are more informative. Hope you enjoyed your time here! :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

What I do to reduce/ prevent scarring

Hey guys ^_^

So today I thought I'd talk to you guys more about skincare. Not that I'm an expert :) but just sharing from the accumulation of past experiences ;)

So most of you know that my face had a major breakout about 1 month ago, so I was really busy trying to reduce scarring XD and now my face is all cleared up, I thought why not talk about scarring?

One thing I can emphasize over and over and OVER again, is that you must try to whiten your skin when you're recovering from breaking out! Whitening is not about getting paler, but rather it prevents hyperpigmentation that result from scarring. So if you want to prevent scarring, whiten your skin!


While natural yogurt works great, a little extra whitening products always help tremendously as well!
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These were what I used. I wasn't planning to use these Biotherm sample products, but since I had so much break out, I wanted the maximum whitening possible, and white D-TOX claims to really brighten up your skin. And I must say, I really like them ^_^ In fact, I enjoy them so much that I panicked when I realized I was running low on the products, that I went onto their website to buy the serum and the moisturizer 囧 (waiting impatiently for the products to be shipped to me ^_^). The serum has a very nice refreshing smell to it (kind of reminds me of grapefruit?) and the moisturizer is very thin but at the same time surprisingly hydrating enough, perfect for summer ^_^ (yes that's how I rationalize my purchase... need skincare suitable for summer! lol I was trying to use up my skincare from winter and it's just not working... my skin felt dull from the heavy skincare). I found that my skin has become even brighter (as if it's not pale enough yet XD) after using the Biotherm products. Not saying you need to use them! Just saying they worked on me :)  I believe Biotherm is only available online for US residents.

Using sheet masks will help with brightening as well. It doesn't matter what kind, I found that my face looks brighter after using any My Beauty Diary sheet masks. But you can go for masks that contain Arbutin (bearberry extract) which has whitening properties. Those work fantastic as well ^_^


My last advice for preventing scarring is to wear BB creams instead of foundations AND concealers

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First makeup item I ever used up!!! YES!!! (well besides mascaras and eyeliners lol) well it's a small tube XD 

To me concealers are the WORST things you can do to your recovering skin, cuz I found that the pigments in concealer often lead to darkening of my scarring areas. While concealers did help me feel better cuz it hid my scars, I found the scarring so not worth it. Foundation kind of gives the same problem. BB creams, on the other hand, not only does not cause hyperpigmentation, but at the same time also whitens and brightens your skin. Plus it gives good coverage. Go for a BB cream that has whitening properties. For me, the SKIN79 BB cream (doesn't matter if it's gold label or pink label or prestige one they all work) really worked on me. My scars faded so much faster when I wore BB creams. The only downside to BB creams is my face would look paler compared to the rest of my body.


That's it! I hope you guys found this helpful ^_^ and good luck if you're fighting breakouts!


<3 Frances

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Update

I just wanted to add "my explanation" on why concealers/foundation leads to darkening of scarring area :)

I'm not sure if there's a scientific way to explain it. Concealers and foundations will only darken your skin if the break out area has open wound (which in my case they usually do). My theory is the pigments in the foundation and concealer can penetrate your epidermis through the wound and settle there (that's where your melanocytes are at too, in the epidermis. So if you naturally have more dark pigments they will show up on your face). I don't know if this is scientific, but from my experiences when I use concealers/foundations on open wounds, and after they healed, they tend to look darker than the skin around it, because my skin absorbed the pigments from my makeup (think that your skin can absorb skincare products and even yogurt and stuff, so your skin can easily absorb pigments from your makeup as well, especially when there's open wound). Kind of like the color of a freckle except they will be the shape of my pimple where the open wound was at TOT of course the hyperpigmentation wouldn't be permanent because your skin cells shed off everyday and you will get an entirely new layer of epidermis over time XD but it takes time for that to happen. Plus depending on how bad the break out was, some scars might be permanent. So I just avoid using concealers/foundations all together when I have breakouts with open wounds. This is just from my own experience though :) as far as I know, no one really complained about how concealers make them scar. I just happened to notice that because before I started using concealers, my skin always heal fine and didn't scar. After I started using concealers (when I started really getting into makeup XD) I noticed that I scar more and it takes forever for the scar to fade :( (well cuz waiting for skin cells to turnover haha) so that's why I say avoid using concealers and foundations when your skin is recovering from breaking out :) 
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7 comments:

  1. Great advice!!!! :) I read your post and was enlightened! :)

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  2. I love how you give good information on skin-care! I'm quite lucky when it comes to my facial skin. I don't scar there (sadly, everywhere else I do ;A;)

    Thanks so much for this post! It'll be helpful if I ever do start getting scars on my face~

    kyasedi.blogspot.com

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  3. WOAH! Thanks for the entry! : D Super helpful! I'm completely BROKE atm, but I will definitely bookmark this entry for future reference! : D

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  4. this is so helpful!! I never knew concealers made the scars darker! ahhhhh I have to stop applying concealer to my scars then! >< I should use my bb cream concealer then... but then it makes my face paler than my body too~ T__T booo~ I've never tried the biotherm whitening cream but I will look for it next time if I see it!

    At the moment I am using nivea whitening face cream/wash that I bought at china~ haha idk how well it's working though >< & I'm using missha/skin79 bb cream but my face feels so oily in the summer because it's soooo hot!! ):

    ahhh~ I wish my skin was lighter~ But California is so sunny all the time and I have to walk to school everyday T__T like a mile in the sun & I can't bring umbrella like I do in china because i'd look weird >< I wish i could just use an umbrella! hahaha~

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  5. This is so helpful! :) Thanks Frances

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  6. Omgosh, thank you so much for this! I get the worst of scarring :( I want to go out and buy all those Biotherm products now...but I don't know if they sell it where I am, sigh. And...really? Concealer? TT_____TT I...cannot live without concealer but I will try to stay away from it if it prevents scarring. This is such a helpful post! I use Bio Oil at night to prevent scarring and it seems to work a bit...I get lazy sometimes and don't apply it on some nights, sigh sigh.

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  7. Omgosh, thank you so much for this! I get the worst of scarring :( I want to go out and buy all those Biotherm products now...but I don't know if they sell it where I am, sigh. And...really? Concealer? TT_____TT I...cannot live without concealer but I will try to stay away from it if it prevents scarring. This is such a helpful post! I use Bio Oil at night to prevent scarring and it seems to work a bit...I get lazy sometimes and don't apply it on some nights, sigh sigh.

    ReplyDelete

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