Skin Care that Worked and Didn't Work on My Skin's Winter Breakout

Skin Care that Worked and Didn't Work on Winter Breakout

Hi friends,

First of all I’d like to wish you all a Very Happy and Amazing New Year. May this year brings loads of happiness, success and joy in your lives. I have been missing in action since a while, all thanks to my busy and hectic days. This post has been pending since 2 weeks and today I somehow got time and privilege to complete it and publish it on my blog, so here it goes.

I have always enjoyed nice pimple-free skin, despite the fact that my skin is oily-combination. I never had any major acne problem, and my skin has always been pretty ok. However, I came to Bhuj Gujarat in October 2013 for getting my surgery - Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy done, and I don’t know if it was because of the surgery, or change of weather; my skin faced its worst in the months of November and mid-December. I faced “crackling-dryness” and weird breakouts on my skin. I saw patchiness and white spots of dryness around my nose, and my cheeks could have easily worked as pumice stone because of the roughness they’d acquired that time (and I don’t even want to talk about my lips as of now!)

Anyways, I tried a variety of products; some already tried and tested once on my “always happy” skin. I was quite disappointed to see that these products ditched my skin badly in the time of need, while there were few that stayed loyal and worked pretty well in bringing my skin back to its soft and bouncy self.
 I decided to list down these products here and I’d request to ignore the fact that most of these products have the word ‘Whitening’ in their name. Sometimes, I have this weird feeling that whether brands so frequently add this “White” or “Whitening” word to all of their products’ names just to play with our minds, or simply to describe the color of the product! For whatever reason, these “Whitening” or “White” words are, they didn’t make me a ghost or zombie and no, they didn't change my complexion even a bit. But some of these did work in curing other skin problems I had and here goes my account.

Let us have a look at some of the products below that worked well for me:

1)  Garnier Pure Active Blackheads uprooting scrub

I have always loved this scrub for its lovely fragrance, mild exfoliating granules and the way it makes my skin feel cool and refreshed because of the menthol in it. However, the true action of one of its key ingredients – Salicylic acid, got showcased while I tried it on my face after facing severe roughness, dryness, patchiness and pimples. It instantly gave cooling effect to my irritated skin, did exfoliate it well and made my skin smooth and soft to a great extent in just one wash. I made it a point to use it once every 2-3 days and it did work pretty well in healing my skin completely. The only thing not so good about this scrub may be its after-wash cooling effects in current winters. You don’t want to feel any colder than you already are, especially after washing your face.

2)      Himalaya Herbals Clear Complexion Whitening Face Scrub

This is one of the new launches by Himalaya Herbals and I quite loved using it. It has a soft floral fragrance and the scrub works well in removing all dry and dead skin cells. The exfoliating granules are quite gentle on skin, yet strong in action and the scrub did work well in making my skin tone even. It removed all the white spots of patchiness from my cheeks and gave a natural glow to my skin. I personally loved using it once every 5 days.

3)      Himalaya Herbals Clear Complexion Whitening Face wash

Another of Himalaya Herbals new launches, this facewash again worked well in cleansing my face well, without making it too dry. I usually use this facewash to cleanse my face every night before going to bed and it worked well in cleaning off the dirt and oil while keeping my face moisturized as well. The only problem is that it has peppermint and you might not like using it in winters because of the cooling effect it gives on your skin after the wash.

4)      Lotus Herbals White Glow Skin Whitening and Brightening Gel Crème with SPF 25

My sister suggested this cream to me and I am so thankful to her for this. It worked magically in making my skin back to “looking normal”. The cream does moisturize my skin well, without making it oily. It helped in making my skin tone even by removing all the patches and dryness. I am definitely gonna buy it again.

Now, coming to the stuffs that didn’t work for me:

1)      Garnier White complete multi action fairness cream

Though I loved using this cream during monsoon season and autumn, it failed miserably on my oily-combination skin in winters. Even after using a dollop of cream on my face, my mom would suggest me to use her body lotion on my face because of all the “Whitish” dryness my skin showed. I didn’t see any change in my skin after using it again and again for days after I had the “Dryness attack”, after which I finally dumped it. I might start using it again by March, but this cream is definitely not for winter season.

2)      Pond’s Pimple Clear White Multi-Action Face wash

I don’t understand why was this face-wash-scrub even made. It looks like scrub (with its micro granules) but it is named as a facewash and works as none! Initially when my skin broke out, I began using this facewash and expected my pimples to go off magically. It didn’t work at all. It didn’t cleanse my face, nor did it do any exfoliation (which was expected because of the little rough granules in it!) and it made my skin more dry, rough and irritated. I got so fed up of just seeing its tube that I threw it off!

3)      Clean and Clear Morning Energy Facewash (Purifying apple)

Clean and Clear facewashes were amongst my first ever facewashes and I quite liked using them. This facewash gives a nice bright feeling just by looking at it – lovely green color with cute soft rubbery granules in it. However, when it comes to cleansing, the moment I used it for the first time, I understood the inclusion of “Morning Energy” in its name.
The facewash is truly designed to pump energy into you, especially if you have lazy mornings, as it feels more like a glycerin on your skin, and in an attempt to completely wash it off your face, you can expect all your sleep and laziness to go away. I didn’t see any major difference in my skin after using it continuously for a week. I generally use this facewash while taking bath under hot shower, because then I won’t get tired of splashing my face endlessly with water. It is definitely not recommended when you come back home after a tiring day and just want to have a quick wash and lie down. The time it takes to go off your face completely, might irritate you and put you in a bad and “more tiring” mood. However, if you aren’t an early bird and feel lazy in mornings, this can definitely work well in bringing you in action.

So, these were some stuffs that worked and didn’t work for my winter breakouts. How does your skin fare in winters and what changes do you make in your skin care routine to take care of your skin in a better way? Share your experiences with me in your comments below.