Skin Story: routine that cleared up my face

So my face isn't acne prone or anything like that. I have fairly sensitive skin and it reacts differently to some things. I had a clear complexion without any pimples up until last October I'd say. Then everything started to going down hill. I didn't know what was going on and figured it wasn't my facial routine because it was the same since I started wearing makeup and then suddenly it started to look really bad. I didn't have pimples but white heads that would form and stay, form and stay until my cheeks and chin looked horrible. I went to my dermatologist to find out what was wrong he said not to worry and just do what  was doing, so I did. It didn't work for obvious reasons. So I started to do my own research and set out to cure it myself. I tried masks, exfoliating. That helped a little then I began to read up on the benefits of  benzoyl peroxide on the skin and went out that day and bought 10% benzoyl peroxide cream and that night I washed my face and put this on without any moisturizer cause that seemed to be helping form the break outs. I did this for a week, then my skin began to dry out so I knew I needed to moisturize, but I didn't want to go back to my old one because it felt so heavy, thats when I looked up gels and serums to replace it. I went through many and just last month I found MAC charged water gel moisturizer. this was my miracle product, it moisturizes but doesn't clog my pores. So I had the bumps and majority of the clogged pores down, then I moved onto the scars and remaining clogged pores. I replaced my toner with witch hazel and it worked great but did nothing for the scars. So I tried bubzbeautys apple cider vinegar toner and my face has cleared up amazingly. I have combination skin with oiliness around my nose and  chin.
 So overall I use:
random cleanser (really doesn't matter to me)
DIY apple cider vinegar toner (see apple cider vinegar post made previously)
MAC charged water gel moisturizer
Clean and clear acne cream with 10% benzoyl peroxide

The Big Buzz: BB Creams

So the hot new thing in the States and many other western countries is BB creams. The ones made by non Korean brands are advertised to be the holy grail of foundations, that's not true. They are basically tinted moisturizer but amped up slightly to provide slightly more coverage. Some are over priced and I don't see how it's worth it.
I've been using BB creams for over a year now, but overall I love the Korean brands the most, it just seems like they have more research and years behind them because they have been popular over in eastern countries for years. It seems like the buzz has come over to the states and everyone wanted to be apart of the craze so they took something and slapped a label on it. By no means am I putting those companies down. Some of the companies make good make up and that's what they are good at, but when you take something that's worth $15 in another brand and hike up the price to $40 for the same thing with just a couple more shades I think that's unfair.
Overall I love BB creams because they do a lot to help your skin while still covering it. It has become a miracle product for me because foundation has always been too heavy on my skin and to flaky. Its a happy medium between coverage and weightlessness.
So if you want to try a BB cream and have lighter skin go for the Korean brands like skin 79, etude house, lioele etc. but you are a darker shade I would go with the garnier BB cream. Its the most comparable in price and has a darker shade that will fit darker skin tones. If you don't like foundations as much as I do and a darker than many of the shades Korean brands offer and want to try the smashbox brand go for it. I may be a little bitter about it but I think there should be more shades available for the same price that I pay.

Apple cider vinegar/ green tea toner experience and overview

So I do watch a lot of videos and one video by the amazing bubzbeauty made a video about this DIY toner. So basically her recipe for the toner was one part apple cider vinegar to two parts green tea. I tried it and I thought I was having allergic reaction. I called my friend who had already tried it, screaming in the phone I said "did your face turn red and get hot from the toner you made". She told me while laughing at my misery that it did not that and that she basically thought I was a ditz. Well I found out from this experience that I will from now on water down things like VINEGAR to about one part vinegar to three parts green tea. My skin is sensitive but not to the point where I would know unless I did something like this to it. Now I use it everyday without any side effects and actually have had amazing results, just as she said my scars are disappearing and my overall skin feels better. I haven't had any pimples since I started this about two weeks ago which amazes me immensely.
So I would recommend this, but just alter the recipe to your skin type and test it out on a small part of  your face before adding it to any face routine. If you have dryer skin I'd recommend adding olive oil to this as it can be drying. It lasts up to two weeks in the fridge.

You'll need:
Glass jar of some sort
Organic apple cider vinegar
Green tea (organic tea bags recommended)
Olive oil (optional)

Do a ratio of 2-5tbs green tea to 1tbs apple cider vinegar depending on skin sensitivity

Review: MAC mineral charged water gel moisturizer

So I've been using this moisturizer for a little over a month now and have only good things to skin about it. It has even out my skin I no longer have dry patches and there are no white heads in site. After putting this in my daily face routine has cleared up and become brighter. It's light weight on the skin and just absorbs into the skin so well. The product itself is flawless for my skin type (combination). And you only need about a pea sized amount. but there are some downfalls, it comes in a tub form so its not very sanitary. It's a bit pricey if your a college student like me. $40 for a moisturizer is a little much, but I love it enough to buy it again, so that's saying a lot considering. So overall if your are suffering from dry patches and if heavier moisturizers clog your pores, I'd recommend this highly. Go to  mac counter and ask about this product. 

Quick Tip: Stop Scarring from Pimples with this Easy Trick

materials you'll need:
three q-tips
sewing needle or pin
rubbing alcohol
spot band aids (small circular kind)
triple antibiotic cream

So, everyone knows you're not supposed to pop your pimples or it'll scar. Well I'm here to tell you the opposite. I always end up with pimples that could ruin my day. Don't touch it right yet! Just cover it up for the day, this way your not trying to cover up a newly formed scar (which always ends in disaster). When night falls take your makeup off, don't clean your face just yet. To prevent infection start off by rubbing some alcohol on the pimple. Now comes the gore. take a pin and poke the pimple to make a small hole(this way you don't end up having a huge cut on your face). Next take two q-tips on each side of the pimple and press together until you see blood. This means all the dirt has been removed. Now just to be safe take the rubbing alcohol and do the same as before and rub it on the spot. Now you can clean your face. Then with another q-tip place about half a pea size on the spot and cover with a band aid. Resume with face routine. Then go to sleep.

When you wake up remove the band aid and the pimple should be nearly gone. There will be some redness and in the next few days maybe some peeling, but keep putting the antibiotic cream and band aid on every night until the pimple is completely gone. This will insure that the pimple leaves no trace!