What happens when life ruins your skincare routine. And Malar Rash.

Things have been really unorganized and not so great lately, so my skincare routine has really suffered. Between all the practical exams, practical lessons and Lupus flare ups, my skin has gone from OMG WOW! to OMG HOW?!

My neck is normal... My cheeks are extremely red.

I'd like to welcome you to the last few months of my life; stress, illness, and an "I don't care" attitude.

Around the beginning of August, I wound up getting a really bad cold which left residual coughing for many weeks to come; I also missed out on celebrating my birthday, another kick to the face. And then the flare ups and chronic fatigue hit like nobody's business. My downfall was the accumulated stress of having to go to college, whilst still sick, performing physically demanding treatments for practicals, dealing with confusion about my timetable, fearing that I'd fail all my subjects, and not being able to balance out my health. I also didn't take care of my skin. What was in my cupboard for the past 3 months has really been the same, maybe having added like three new products during that time.

My skin was doing okay until late September, when I went to Melbourne. Living in Sydney, the sudden change of climate and municipal water that is 800km away from home really messed with me. I had taken the completely incorrect skincare with me; I'm rather familiar with Dermalogica being used in a treatment setting, but the products I had were not the appropriate products for me. One thing I didn't skimp on was my sun protection, SPF 50+.

I returned from Melbourne with accumulated stress when I had to face reality - the one where I wasn't lying down for another student to practice iontophoresis and microcurrent treatments. Returning to school was difficult, I was slightly behind, but I managed to complete what I did; then the fatigue hit again. During this time, I didn't care. My skincare routine was in shambles; I wasn't actually in a routine. I was putting whatever on my face and hoping for the best. I blankly stared at my cupboard and picked out whatever I wanted; sometimes there were no actives. I didn't exfoliate regularly, or I'd forget I exfoliated the day before, but still had dry bits of skin flaking off in areas, so another round of exfoliation was required. I realized that the texture of my skin had changed; I had erythema (redness), darker patches, dry patches, congestion on my nose and chin, and now my complexion is all over the place due to sun exposure.

Lip swatch with flushed cheeks out of nowhere- Mid October.

Looks like the joint pain of Lupus has been joined with my lovely Butterfly; Malar Rash.

Thursday 3 November 2016.

It might look like everything is clear, but the butterfly mask is being worn. The texture, feel and appearance of the skin either side of my nose is rather different, it's slightly raised and flaky, a little red/purple looking; typical of the malar rash, no matter how mild. I can attest that this is affecting me because I am so tired and in pain. There's no skincare that is going to help this, I'll have to wait until it goes on its own.

Friday 4 November 2016.

Now, coming into my thoughts; how am I going to change my skincare for summer? What products are in my arsenal to use? Is my skin going to be a tight, dehydrated mess as it was this winter? I decided to pull whatever stick was up my butt and said to myself, "LARA, YOU HAVE TO GET BACK INTO A ROUTINE AND CLEARLY NOTHING HERE IS WORKING, GO OPEN SOME NEW PRODUCTS AND THROW THE OLD ONES THAT DON'T WORK OUT."

Products I used and tested for review in the past 3 months with so much as little care for actually creating a routine:
Antipodes Manuka Honey Skin-Brightening Day Cream + Manuka Honey Eye Cream* [PR]
Sun Bum SPF 50+ Spray [PR]
Juliette Armand Elements 03 Hyaluronic Acid Serum + 05 Exfo Line Mask* [Sample gift]
Pelactiv Hydra Daily Defense [Sample gift]
Babs Bodycare Face Oil [Gift]
Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm (finished) + Amazing Face Brilliance Facial Oil + Age Support Cream travel set [Gift]
Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel + Skin Smoothing Cream + AgeSmart Multi Vitamin Power Firm + Daily Microfoliant [Gift]
Jozelle Argireline Skin Enhancing Serum [Purchase]
Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF 50+ [Purchase]
Lush Cup O' Coffee Face and Body Mask [Purchase]
*Added during week of publishing this post.

What I need to do:
Drink heaps of water.
Make sure I wash my face properly every night.
Layer my skincare.
Be consistent.
Be patient.
Eat better.
Take my medication on time.
Use sunscreen; better still, stay out of the sun.
CHILL OUT.

I am really hoping to achieve results with the brightening products from Antipodes.

Thanks for reading; I just needed to vent my skin frustrations, although the problem lies way deeper than a simple phase of not caring.

If you go off track, just come back, be patient, results will come with time.