Mamas, raise your hand if you've experienced skin issues either during pregnancy or after! I'm willing to bet that a good portion of you have a hand up right now...and I'm right there with you. I didn't have any major problems after Henry, although it did take me awhile to deal with my hormones regulating postpartum. I had minor breakouts here and there, but with Charlie it was a whole different ballgame. At the beginning of my pregnancy with him I swore I was having a girl because of the initial breakouts I experienced. My face was clear and perfect with Henry, so I figured it must be because I was growing a little girl this time around, and had different hormones coursing through my body! I was obviously wrong, but luckily halfway through that pregnancy my skin cleared back up and all was well again.
Fast forward to a year later. Charlie stopped breastfeeding right at his first birthday this past August and I started breaking out soon after. And this time it was pretty bad! I tried all sorts of things- over the counter medication, random natural remedies, essential oils...and nothing helped. My diet is already pretty clean so I knew that wasn't the problem, but I still tried cutting out dairy, sugar, you name it. I finally decided to "give in" and visit the dermatologist after it didn't get any better after trying so many things (and making it even worse), and I'm so glad I did.
She put me on two different medications, which I still use now. Aczone in the morning, then Aczone again at night with Retin-A Micro over it. The first five months were horrible. The medicine made me break out even more, and I felt so embarrassed- there I was, 32 years old and dealing with the skin of a teenager. But with the encouragement of my doctor, along with the numerous online reviews that said to stick with it even when it gets bad during the purging stage, I did...and months later I'm finally clear.
The biggest problem for me was on the sides of my face, and those areas took the longest to clear. Although my skin is clear, I'm still left with red pigmentation marks there (look closely and you can see them in the photo above) but those are thankfully fading too.
I know that in the span of things, acne isn't something to lose sleep over, but it still affected my self esteem so much. I felt so sad waking up and knowing I would have to deal with another bad skin day, and there were so many times, especially during the beginning stages of taking the medicine, that I just wanted to cancel any plans I had and avoid being in public. That might sound silly, but unless you've experienced problematic skin you might not understand.
Anyway, I wanted to share this with you guys in case there's someone out there dealing with similar issues. I know that many people like to go the natural route, but sometimes you just have to go the medicine route too. In my case I'm SO thankful I did, and I highly recommend both medications.
And in case you're wondering, here are the products I use daily (and have forever!): face wash, lotion, eye cream, foundation, concealer, mascara, lip balm, blush, and highlighter.
Before you go, I would love to hear if you experienced any postpartum skin issues and what helped! Thanks for reading. xoxo
