Post Acne Treatment, after you popped your pimples, what do you do????

So, I’m the type of person who cannot resist the temptation of squeezing the life out of my pimples...Oh, patience is a virtue.

Anyway, just a few tips to handle this temptation a bit better:

1. 1.       Make sure to sanitise your hand before touching your face(gel sanitiser), sanitise the spatula to scoop out your creams and stuffs too.

1. 2.       When you feel a red bumps, slightly hurt but not yet see the white heads... try to resist the temptation to pick it...I failed so many times, now I have to deal with permanent hyper pigmented acne scars.  First thing I would recommend you do is to use Meishoku Bigan Medicated Lotion, which contains salicylic acid and sulphur derivatives, this will help calm the redness and no further inflammation. Dont worry if you have small open woulnds, it doesn’t irritate at all even though the herbal scent is strong. Palm it, don’t put on cotton pad. Give it a day or so for it to work J this thing actually shows effect overnight for me, happy...

          http://www.joseibi.com/product-review-meishoku-bigansui-medicated-lotion/

1. 3.       While using the medicated toner (if you are opposed to using Asian brand, rethink because it works, and it so much gentler than all the benzyl alcohol out there), if you pop the pimples, try to pop it correctly using the pimple tool. Video link is below. Disinfect your hand, the tool and surrounding area before and after. Drain the liquid/blood from the wound with cotton wool or clean tissue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq1c1iHQp8Q

1. 4.       Once you pop open your pimples, and after cleaning it, avoid putting on any skincare or makeup products on top. After washing, apply the medicated lotion, put on a dab of honey, and follow up with Vaseline, then seal it with aqua-protective film (transparent), do this twice a day for 1-2 days.  The wound would heal within a day or two then you can use your normal products.
2. 5.      Be sure not to do deep cleansing/peeling masks during this time...It will aggravate wounds further.
3. 1.       Drink cooling tea: like dandelion tea or azuki bean tea(Japanese and Chinese cooling tea). You can get dried dandelion(Pu gong ying) from chinese herb stores, and azuki bean from normal asian grocery(get the whole one, slightly roast it, crush it and steep it in hot water for 5 minutes). Azuki has diuretic action, promotes internal cleansing, and dandelion has cooling energy to counteract the heat which causes pimples. Also, avoid spicy and oily food J
   Reference: Chinese Herbal Secret, Stefan Chmelik

You can get the Meishoku Bigan Medicated Lotion from Ebay retailer alphabeauty

Good luck and be happy J

History of Whoo Secret Court/Repair Cream/All-in-One Creams Ingredients Breakdown

I was on a quest for clear skin and was looking into Asian Skin Care products. There must be a reason that Asian girls have flawless skin. I came across this amazing blog which introduces me to Korean and partly Japanese Skin care especially products which are not widely known in western countries.

The review about this cream and its complementary essence can be found here

http://hope-inablog.com/beauty-reviews/the-history-of-whoo-secret-court-cream-review-the-history-of-whoo-ja-saeng-bichup-essence-review/

being attracted to the effect of the court cream on pimples...my gosh...my  archenemy... I bought this cream in sample size from ebay as my Korean is nil to negative, market is just too hard to handle.

I, being super paranoid, always try to find more review, but i failed...I found history of whoo official website and discover in this series, there are 2 other creams: repair cream and all-in-one cream.

http://www.whoo.co.kr/

The main ingredients for all 3 creams are remarkably different. Therefore, i procrastinated from my day job and find out the benefits of each one of the active ingredients. Please note i do not have a full ingredient list...you probably should try to look on the net...sorry...

So, I found these pictures on the Korean department website

http://en.koreadepart.com/item/1352797365/

and from these, I have tried to pinpoint ingredients benefits.

 

All-in-one cream:

Coix Seed: Sweet, tasteless, and slightly cold-natured, coix can promote water metabolism, remove dampness, strengthen the spleen, relieve the stagnation syndrome of qi and blood, clear away heat, and discharge pus. The nature of this grain can help with inflamed skin . So i think this one would be helping with pimples and its redness and soreness...

http://www.itmonline.org/articles/coix/coix.htm

Chinese Dioscorea(Dioscorea Japonica/ Chinese Yam): high in saponin, actually is promoted to treat hot flashes. It is believed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. From what i read(books and internet in general), it seems like yam extract can be used to as a steroid to calm skin so again good for redness.

http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/saponin

Lotus Seed (from the picture not the name) and lotus root: cold in nature, therefore can clear the “heat” which increases and causes pimples.

In general, all the main ingredients are cold in nature which ultimately reduce the body heat in oriental medicine, and can help prevent break-outs.

Repair Cream

Milk vetch root (astragali root): has immunostimulating effect, rich in polysaccharides and flavonoids (antioxidants)

Platycodon: rich in saponin and triterpene, therefore, similar with the yam, it has anti-inflammatory effect

http://herbalinformation.awardspace.com/?cm=p&fn=platycodon_grandiflorum

Ledebouriella Seseloides Root(siler root)(similar effect to platycodon)

Licorice root: another ingredient that rich in saponin. It is also known for its whitening effect, so I think this one would be good for scaring.

From the ingredients, anti-inflammatory, whitening and anti-oxidant effects seem to be dominant, so just like the name, this is good for repairing, may be post-acne and helping with scaring.

Secret Court Cream

Bupleurum: has inflammatory effect, improving immune system

https://www.theartofhealing.com.au/herbs-bupleurum.html

Anthriscus Sylvestris hoffm(cow parsley): I don’t know if it has the same effect as parsley???

Schizonepeta (Japanese Catnip): anti-inflammatory effect

Mint: pore tightening, preventing break-outs

In all three creams I think this one is good when you actually having break-outs, it will help reduce redness (which I do see when I’m using it), prevent further breakout.

I’m just waiting for pay day to get the all-in-one cream and repair cream and try them out, and will try to review them too...

I hope this article is helpful.