I Haven’t Used My Acne Medication in Four Weeks: Here’s What I’ve Been Using Instead

If you’ve been reading my posts here, you know that I’ve really struggled with adult acne, and especially with being comfortable in my own skin. Recently with my dermatologist prescribed medications, I finally felt that I had found a routine that worked for me, but the products often left my skin dry, red and, at times, very itchy. Sometimes, after using these medications, applying different products and makeup on my skin would also cause irritations.

Then I found the Boots No7 Protect and Perfect and Boots No7 Youthful lines, and now I think I’ve finally figured out exactly what my skin’s problem is.

It’s moisture. I actually need more of it.

I was a little wary of all of the moisture in these products. After all, I can be sort of an oil slick, and I’m always afraid of waking up in the morning to discover that the products I applied the night before haven’t sunk into my skin, and now I have a giant grease face.

But these products didn’t just work well; they actually improved my skin over time. On the packaging they promise better looking skin in four weeks, so that’s how much time I gave them.

Let’s start with the Boots No7 Youthful Replenishing Facial Oil. This is the product I start with every night before bed, applying it to a freshly washed and cleansed face.

Ingredients
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Rosa Moschata Seed Oil, Isostearyl Isostearate, Alcohol Denat,. Tocopheryl Acetate, Parfum (Fragrance), Isopropyl Myristate, Retinyl Palmitate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Salicyloyl Phytosphingosine, Tocopherol

This non-greasy blend of jojoba and rosehip seed oils sinks into my skin in but a moment. I usually concentrate it around the areas where I’m driest and red, like the apples of my cheeks; the sides of my nose, where I have some broken capillaries; and the areas on my chin where I have some acne scarring.

There’s also a little warning on the back that literally says, “May make surfaces slippery,” and they aren’t kidding. The bottle is glass, and I almost dropped it on my bathroom floor several times. In spite of that fact, though, it makes a wonderful precursor to…

The Boots No7 Protect and Perfect Night Cream, which is my follow-up to the Replenishing Oil. It blends in seamlessly, and has a clean scent that doesn’t irritate my skin. As far as the Day Cream goes, I wasn’t sure how it would work out, but I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the time when I use moisturizers with SPF, they tend to clump up when I try to put makeup on top of them, but that isn’t the case here. It dries nice and matte.

Night cream ingredients
Aqua (Water, Eau), Glycerin, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Sorbitan Stearate, Demethicone, Butrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter, Beurre De Karite), Ethylhexyl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Acid Glycol Ester, Dimethiconol, Butylene Glycol, Parfum (Fragrance), Sucrose Cocoate, Methlparaben, Carbomer, Laureth-7, Ethylparaben, Dipropylene Glycol, Retinyl Palmitate, Xantham Gum, Ascorbyl Gluoside, Tetrasodium EDTA, Potassium Hydroxide, Lupinus Albus Seed Extract, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol, Phyllanthus Emblica Fruit Extract, Polysorbate 20, Gingko Biloba Leaf Extratc, BHT, Tocopherol, Butylparaben, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Silica, Propylparaben, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Day cream ingredients
Avobenzone (3.0%), Octinoxate (6.0%), Octisalate (2.5%), Aqua (Water),Glycerin,C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate,Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter,Dimethicone,Isononyl Isononanoate,Cetearyl Alcohol,C18-36 Acid Glycol Ester,Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide,Sorbitan Stearate,Mica,Polysorbate 20,Alcohol Denat.,C13-14 Isoparaffin, Dimethiconol, Butylene Glycol,Methylparaben,Potassium Cetyl Phosphate,Ethylparaben,Parfum (Fragrance), Laureth-7, Retinyl Palmitate,Sucrose Cocoate, Dipropylene Glycol,Xanthan Gum,Ascorbyl Glucoside,Tetrasodium EDTA,Citric Acid,Lupinus Albus Seed Extract,Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol, Carbomer,Phyllanthus Emblica Fruit Extract,Potassium Hydroxide,Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, BHT, Tocopherol, Butylparaben, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben,Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7,Cl 77891 (Titanium Dioxide).

The Eye Serum and Intense Eye Cream, I mostly use at night, but I have taken to using them before my makeup application at times, as well. I tend to get cakey under my makeup, otherwise.

Eye serum ingredients
Aqua (Water), Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Isononyl Isononanoate, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Butylene Glycol, Stearoxymethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Octyldodecanol, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Isohexadecane, Boron Nitride, Hydrolyzed Manihot Esculenta Tuber Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Cyclohexasiloxane, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Hydroxide, Tocopheryl Acetate, Methylparaben, Ethylhexylglycerin, Polysorbate 80, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Retinyl Palmitate, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract, Ethylparaben, Polysorbate 20, Silica, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrapeptide-21, Tocopherol.

Intense eye cream ingredients
Aqua (Water, Eau), Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea, Beurre De Karite) Butter, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Stearic Acid, Alcohol Denat., Palmitic Acid, Titanium Dioxide (Nano), C13-14 Isoparaffin, Butylene Glycol, Methylparaben, Laureth-7, Ethylparaben, Retinyl Palmitate, Sodium Polyacrylate, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sodium Hyaluronate, Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Extract, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, Lupinus Albus Seed Extract, Carbomer, Potassium Hydroxide, Steareth-20, Phyllanthus Emblica Fruit Extract, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol, Polysorbate 20, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Manganese Oxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, Tocopherol Dipeptide-2, Potassium Sorbate, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide.

The only downfall with these two is that I found the serum to have a very chemical-like smell.

I don’t have a physical reaction when I put it on, but the smell is not pleasant. At all.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering what my skin looks like now after four weeks using these products every day. Well, let me give you a look see…

The last time we visited my boyfriend’s parents, his mom said that my skin looked “rosy and matte,” and coming from a woman who works in the fashion industry, I take that as high praise. Now, my skin didn’t look awful four weeks ago, because my prescription medication was doing its job, but now it feels better. It feels soft, refreshed and, well, probably how it’s meant to feel?

These Boots No7 products are all available now at most drugstores, including Walgreens and Duane Reade. And they’re also available at Target and Ulta.

Have you tried any of these products from Boots No7? Or any of the brand’s other skin care?