When in England. . .

It’s pretty much an accepted fact that drastically changing your life can change your skin. I would say that moving to a different country with a different climate to enter a different program, function on a different schedule, and eat different food qualifies as a drastic change, right? Well, let’s just say that although I’m happy to be here, my skin isn’t quite so thrilled. This doesn’t make me particularly happy, because, let’s be honest, you’ve all probably guessed by the fact that I write in a fashion blog that I care about how I look. I’ve tried a few different measures to make my skin behave: I’ve broken out the arsenal of drying products and assaulted my skin with them—didn’t work. I think that part of the reason that I’m breaking out is that my skin started producing less moisture as a response to England’s wet climate, and all my usual products are now over-drying my skin, leaving me with clogged pores. With that in mind, I tried getting rid of all of my topical products, and using only my face washes. Didn’t work. I figured that maybe my heavy-duty exfoliator and gentle-but-powerful cleanser are still too much for my skin here. I tried using less of both my face washes, and adding a light moisturizer. That seemed to help a little, but when you’ve already got a few massive zits front and center on your face, using a moisturizer isn’t going to do much for them. It’s kind of a catch-22; if I use a topical product, it’ll dry out my skin and make it over-produce sticky oil and clog my pores with dead skin; if I cut back on products to help my skin’s balance, I’m still left with a few really gross zits.

Even though the obvious answer is patience until the zits go on their own, and then proper maintenance after, I’ve never been terribly patient when it comes to my face. I still really wanted to try something. I was at Boots earlier today, and though I tried to steer myself away from the skincare section, some products there caught my eye. I saw several things there that I’d used, several that I hadn’t, and several that didn’t particularly seem like they would help me—I mean, a blackhead mask would be great if I had blackheads, and a cream that guarantees “visible results in 4 hours” seemed like it would go against my idea not to overdry my skin. Then, my eyes lighted on a tiny purple vial in the semi-generic Boots brand section. It wasn’t too expensive, but it wasn’t so cheap that it didn’t look like it would work. It wasn’t so large that I’d never go through it, but it wasn’t so small that it would only be good for one use. It was purple! Actually, only the vial is purple—it’s a clear gel that goes on with a want, and it reminded me of a Boscia topical gel that I used last year with fantastic results, so I decided to give it a go. I can’t say if it’s brilliant yet, but it smells like the Boscia gel (and if it really is like it, I’m going to have to stock up before I go home--£3.19 as opposed to $20 is a bargain not to be missed), it seems to be working thusfar, and I have a good feeling about it. I’m sure that none of you care, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my thoughts about it.