flame916

Ok, I’ve had an acne problem since the end of middle school. It’s never been too bad, but enough of a problem that it has always bothered me.

I’ve tried a number of different products and regimens, but never found anything that worked as well as I would like or something that I was really able to stick with. Issues come up with how much time I would spend obsessing with or treating my skin. My skin is also sensitive so many of the products are simply too harsh, make my skin worse, and dry me out.

I really think that my main problem is that I just have not found something that I will be consistent with. As is a theme with some of my other goals, I had always told myself that I’d really make a consistent effort after college, when I had a more regular schedule. I’m also hoping that this site is going to be helpful for me to track my progress and actually stick with it.

So this is the first regimen I am going to try. It’s a mixture of different things I’ve used in the past or have heard about. It also doesn’t include me washing my face like 5 times a day so I may actually be able to stick with it.

Morning:
Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Daily Scrub (orange tube)
I’ve found that the scrubs really make my face feel clean and get rid of some of the old skin which helps me not pick at my face so much. I’ll do this as part of my shower
Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash (bottle of orange soap)
I’ve never actually used this stuff before, however, when I shared a room with my brother he always had a bottle of the stuff and he was able to clear up his acne pretty well. (my brother has passed away and I cant ask him for tips) I’ve tried other facial soaps and havn’t found something I really like. I’m going to use this in my shower as well after the scrub.
Neutrogena Oil-Free Anti-Acne Moisturizer (orange tube)
This is one of the more recent things I’ve discovered. Dry skin has always been a problem of mine. So you would think that a moisturizer would solve my problems right? Well I tried a lot of different moisturizers and couldn’t find something that would actually work and not make my skin worse or too greasy. I saw this stuff and figured why not give it a try as it also will help fight my acne while moisturizing. I’ve found it does a pretty good job. I’m going to use this after I get out of the shower and have shaved.

Night
Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash (orange bottle of soap)
Use this stuff again to clean my face before going to sleep
Neutrogena Oil-Free Anti-Acne Moisturizer (orange tube)
Using this stuff again to prevent my face from drying up overnight.

Some notes about this regimen. Well if your a veteran of fighting acne you might notice that nowhere in my regimen is there benzoyl peroxide. I’ve found that its just too harsh on my face for any sort of long term use, not to mention I’ve got pink streaks on my pillows and towels from using it before. You might also notice that everything is neutrogena. I haven’t really had any problems using there products and the 2 products that I’ve put as my new regimen that I’ve used before have stood the test of time as per what I actually will use.

I’ve always been terribly spoiled. I come from a well off family and never really had any sort of financial concerns. Even through college I never really had to work a job, everything was paid for. It wasn’t even until my sophomore year at college that I was given an allowance (yes before as long as my spending wasn’t ridiculous my parents just let me do whatever).

So money was never important to me. Now I’ve graduated college with a pretty much useless BA in Psychology. I have an extreme distaste for the academic world (college was fun, school wasn’t) and do not really want to go to grad school.

My senior year I started realizing how absolutely SOL I was for the real world. My resume was pretty bleak and the best thing on it was the officer position I held for my fraternity for a couple years. After applying to a bunch of internships I actually got 4 offers (which was really awesome for me as I had friends who couldnt find any and I doubted my qualifications for anything). I chose a marketing and sales internship at an insurance company. It was good for me and even became a real job.

As good of an experience it was for me, I don’t think I could ever be happy doing it. I personally dont give a hoot about the world of insurance and really hate being fake and dressing in a suit 5 days a week. Not to mention working my ass off for commission that my co-workers did everything they could to screw me out of.

I’ve always been a technology person and so I asked a friend of mine who works at a computer store to help me get a job. (not mentioning names of companies because I don’t know how appropriate it is online). I really think I could be happy working at a company like this…not to mention make some consistent money.

I go for an interview on July 26th.

Also having a steady income will help me learn to balance a budget. While I don’t know that this job will enable to pay for all of my expenses, I should be able to start chipping away at the things my parents still pay for. I’m very fortunate that my parents can still afford this…but it doesn’t mean that they should.

In my time in Australia I picked up a book on Buddhism. Why? I have no freaking clue, but I saw it in an airport bookstore and felt compelled to buy it. I’m about 95% finished with the book and have concluded that Buddhism is not for me…well not all of it.

The parts of the book about meditation really appealed to me. After looking around on the internet and talking to some friends I decided that this is probably something I should incorporate into my life. I didn’t want to fuss to much with trying to do it in Australia, the trip was pretty fast paced and academic based so most of my focus was on the trip itself.

One of my friends on the trip said she meditated regularly and that it helped her greatly. She was always so enthusiastic about everything, had the most positive attitude I have ever seen, and didn’t let anything get her down. She actually has a pretty rough life and so her attitude was really inspiring. When I talked to her about meditation she told me about how its really helped her deal with her life and helps her keep as positive as she is.

I bought another book, this one specifically on meditation, and really being able to meditate anywhere at anytime. So step 1 is to start reading this book.