I have reached the end of the war of the Midlife Pizza Face Crisis! Since my 43rd birthday my face has been having an acne party the likes of which I have never known. Sadly I accepted the fact that my hormones were giving my body a workout and the results were visible all over my face (literally). With a intake of at least 65 ounces of water daily, lots of fruits and veggies, and the minimum of fried and greasy foods: I was sure that my diet was not a contributor. Going to a dermatologist did not appeal to me as I wanted to try some less aggressive over the counter remedies before subjecting my face to the industrial strength stuff.

The soap-moisturizer-zit cream dance commenced.  Try this soap! Use a new moisturizer! Use a different new moisturizer! Try this zit cream! Try this zit cream but lay off of the new moisturizer. This back and forth resulted in wrinkly/zitty/dry patches that were awful!

This is soooo NOT cute!

I have been doing this dance for the last three months and I am proud to say I have spun my last pirouette and have taken a bow. After many attempts I have achieved the proper combination of product and application frequency. While every woman’s skin is different my clean skin equation is now:

• Twice daily cleaning regimen of Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub
• Once daily application of Philosophy’s Hope In a Jar (even in the zit zones of my chin and forehead)
• Twice daily/after cleansing application of Burt’s Bees Natural Acne Solutions Spot Treatment to the areas

The addition of the Burt’s Bees product gave immediate results. After two days of applying the funny smelling stuff to the areas the acne cleared up. The key ingredient in both the facial scrub and the spot treatment is 2% salacylic acid. In addition to that zit fighting magic are other ingredients that I believe healed my face also. I can sometimes scar from “feel them in your toes” zits. With the use of these products I have acne AND scar free skin.

That’s more like it!

Fingers crossed this will be the answer to any future acne woes. I have inhertied facial moles/freckles from my mom’s side of the family and that is a big enough pain in the butt.  I don’t want to share zit cream with the kid when he hits puberty.