(review) dermaroller & cystic acne

(SPOILER: THIS IS A GODSEND!!)
4 in 1 Micro Needle Facial Roller by Revive Beauty ($12.99 at TJ Maxx)

Microneedling is supposed to work by forcing your skin into healing-mode. People use it for scars, wrinkles, pigmentation... I guess it increases collagen production, too. This tool will poke holes into my skin, so any serum I put on afterwards will penetrate deeper. Kim Kardashian gets her ugly face Dermarolled ("vampire facial") so it has to be good, right? Haha.

 This roller is kinda painful (and I have a high pain tolerance, so beware...) I used the 1mm roller on my face, up and down all over. Everywhere, over my cystic bumps and pustules. Afterwards I applied tea tree oil to kill bacteria. It stung! Then before bed I applied my serums and creams. You know the struggle is real.

The next day my face looked 50% better! All the open sores were scabbed- I picked the scabs off and it's only red skin no more pus! YAY!! (Normally the scab-pus-scab-pus cycle lasts weeks before disappearing) So the tea tree oil penetrated deep enough 😂 my skin is smoother and I almost cried.

OK, monthly update: so I've been using this dermaroller 2-3x/week and my face doesn't seem to be getting better than 80%. But if this is the best I can get I'm happy. Sometimes when I roll over the cysts they bleed or pus lol that's gross. I've also noticed dermarolling my forehead makes me sneeze.

Final thoughts: I like this tool. Most of all I like how it allowed my skincare products to penetrate cystic bumps. I will definitely use it on cysts in the future and any skin issues that refuse to heal in a timely manner. I will also be trying it out on my stretch marks with retin-a *fingers crossed*

One month update on stretch marks: I think this is helping the Retin-A penetrate and the marks are improving slowly. No change to my cellulite tho. And now my thighs/butt stick to the toilet seat lol tmi! I try to Dermaroll my stretch marks 2-3x/week.

3month update: I'm still hopeful but not much change

WARNING: you must roll at a slow smooth pace and not drag the needles, they will slash your skin like knives! 🔪

Oregano Oil BURNED My Face

I should just rename this blog: TASHA IS A DUMBASS!

In case you're new here- I have rosacea subtype 2 which is like pus-oozing "pimples" and cysts constantly. It's caused by a demodex mite infestation. I've had to wipe my face down with tea tree oil every night for the past year to keep my skin looking somewhat-ok (I seriously look like a meth addict on a GOOD day, life is a nightmare). Anyways, I hate tea tree oil. I read online that oregano oil works to kill demodex just like tree tea oil- so I tried it! LOL omg...

WARNING: UNDILUTED OREGANO OIL WILL BURN YOUR FACE OFF!

Stupid me did not dilute the 100% oregano essential oil because I thought I didn't need to. I feel no pain with 60% glycolic acid, and 30% TCA peels are fine lol I'm invincible against a little spaghetti herb, right? NOOOOOOO!!

I've never felt so much burning pain in my life, I must have splashed water on my face 10min straight and it still hurt. The next day my face feels like it's been thru a serious tca peel, it's red and physically warm to the touch.
Day 3: starting to peel/flake
Day 5: finishing peeling

Note: if you ever burn your skin with an oil, the correct dilution method is NOT to rinse with water- you need to slather an oil (like coconut or olive oil) all over!! Water only spreads the problem.

UPDATE: I've started using a 50/50 mix of tree tea oil and macadamia nut oil-wiping my face down every night- then using Tazorac cream overnight, stopped the pustules/demodex. It took 4-5 months to get pustules to stop. I still have redness issues but 😀♥️ I have my face non-oozy! And very few cystic bumps. And a bunch of ice pick scars ☹️

DIY: Mario Badescu DRYING LOTION

This is a simple homemade version of "Drying Lotion" that I think works better:

In a baby food jar mix 2 parts water with 1 part tea tree oil.

Add a small amount of calamine lotion, allow to settle at bottom of jar.

 Use this for pimple spot treatment overnight: dip a Q-tip straight down to the calamine lotion layer & straight back out.

(do not shake up the jar!) Apply directly to the pimple, do not rub in, allow to dry. Wash face in the morning.

WARNING: it is important to use a GLASS jar lol I've used plastic in the past and tea tree oil is dangerous!

it ate thru the plastic and left a mess all over my countertop.

Can you believe women put this stuff on their face?! WOW

embarassing sunburn & tan lines?

I stayed out in the sun too long and got a sunburn :-( and even worse the tan lines weren't even cute!  WHY didn't I wear a sexier bikini?!  So I scoured through the internet for a hack to fix my problems... (which was frustrating as Hell because I'm allergic to aloe and everyone's #1 suggestion is aloe. EYE. ROLL.)   Here's a photo of my bikini bottom/hip area :-( you can see it's RED and blistered ---->

Fun fact: aloe is in the same plant family as garlic and onions LOL garlic makes me feel sick (and I think it tastes like wooden pencil), and I HATE onions. Now that I know these plants are all related it makes perfect sense! Crazy, huh? 😂 #TruFax

1. BURNS- how fast does Neosporin work on normal burns?

because I was slathering it specifically on the big red spot up top of my bikini bottom... 2 days later there was no change :-(

 

 

2. PAIN- a 'hack' told me to marinate in Noxzema (cold cream for you face) and that felt good/cooling... but the minute I rinsed it off I was back in pain and still red. Another 'hack' told me to soak cotton balls (or washcloths) in milk and put them on the super burned spots... ok, but it didn't say if I'm supposed to rinse off afterwards(?) I assumed no rinsing off and after an hour I smelled funky and felt gross.Washcloths soaked in witch hazel, on the other hand, had a very nice cooling effect :-)

I also read about taking oatmeal baths or pressing black tea bags against your skin, but I didn't try those.

 

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE I HAVE FOR PAIN= I took a maximum strength pain reliever every few hours, aspirin also helps with the inflammation :-) White willow bark is supposedly a more natural form of aspirin but I haven't tried it *shrug*

 

3. REDNESS- supposedly tomatoes will remove the red from your sunburn... so first I cut a tomato in half and rubbed it all over my body LOL I am such a hippie! I stood in the bath tub until the juice dried and tomato seeds were stuck in every inappropriate place possible(!!) and then rinsed off. This is ridiculous! I found some Yes to Tomatoes bodywash at Ross and tried marinating in that next. OKAY we're done with this hack, it's not working! You know the color when hamburger beef goes bad? It's red but with this brown/grey overcast-- that was my skin :-p abort mission!  >.<

Another 'hack' told me to spray my body in vinegar HAHAHAHA NO! I can't smell like that, sorry.

 

4. SOOTHING- ok so by day 3 my skin was getting tight and painful (preparing to peel, oh joy!) A few 'helpful hacks' suggested different oils for sunburn so I picked up a few oils: grapeseed oil, arnica oil, lavender oil, and coconut oil. So I mixed these up in a little bottle (mostly the grapeseed with a few drops of everything else) and massaged my entire body. I smelled so good! It massaged right in and dried rather quickly, so I repeated every couple hours. Anica oil helps reduce swelling and pain. This did NOT prevent me from peeling however, grrrrr! BUT while rubbing this massage oil in, some skin did gently rub off without hurting so that was nice :-) Good hack!

Another 'hack' told me mix a couple drops of tea tree oil in olive or coconut oil- HAHAHAHA NO! I can't smell like that, sorry.

 

Many 'hacks' suggested Vitamin E *sigh* ok I'll tell you why this is a fail for me. The vitamin e oil never dried/soaked into my skin. And trying a punctured vitamin e capsule & rubbing it on- well that felt thicker sticky and gross, still did not dry & there was no way I could put my clothes on after that. I will never do that again! Gross! I read that Aloe is high in vitamin e and that is why "aloe is so good for sunburns"- but aloe has NEVER worked on my sunburns! so I'm not surprised vitamin e is also worthless to me here

5. PEELING- time to exfoliate my ugly, damaged body *sigh* in case you didn't know: shaving your legs is great for removing dead skin cells so if you do that (gently!) then you won't have to worry much about exfoliating them :-) for the rest of my body I bought some scrub gloves. At first I used my bodywash with the gloves (St Ivea Oatmeal & Shea Butter, it's good for dry skin) ...but frustration= eventually I was just using the gloves dry rubbing across my peeling skin and making a huge mess just to make the nightmare end!! it was like grating cheese or something :-) AHHHHHH!

[just as a sidenote here: don't think you can scrub your tan lines off lol I tried and all it did was cause damage *sigh* more damage that needs to heal so more time your body will be miserable]

One PAINFUL 'hack' I encountered was to use an AHA cream... Don't Do This! glycolic acid is exfoliating and will eat away at the dead skin- but when if you accidentally touch any fresh skin IT BURNS!! and the pain is not worth it.

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1WEEK LATER: my sunburn has healed into a nice tan :-) And now I will use Malibu "Hemp Golden Glow" ($5 at Walmart) to keep my tan glowing as long as possible. I use this lotion year-round for a healthy glow so I highly recommend it. I rub it all over my body after showering, and then again on my legs before bed [because I shave every day and that fades leg tan fast!] And make sure to wash your hands with soap and clean between your fingers or else they might turn orange, haha