When I was a teenager, I saw my brother break out-the typical T-zone acne that my mother tried frantically to fix and wound up healing itself. I watched and smugly told myself that my skin was perfect, that I would never break out like he was.
I forgot that I am two years younger than he is, so my break-out wouldn't come for a little while yet.
I also forgot that pride goes before a fall. Two years later, my face exploded. Three trips to the dermatologist produced no results. He said it would probably heal itself, gave me some retin-A, and sent me home to wait.
I waited. And waited. And waited.
Mary Kay's skin care cleared up my skin for about two years. Then, for some reason, it stopped working. Tweaking the products I used produced no results. Proactiv only made it worse after six months of religious use. I could fill a blog with the different skin care systems I used that were "guaranteed" to work.
Years later, I understand two very important things about my acne.
1. The basis of my acne is hormonal. I have polycystic ovaries, which cause a lot of pain, obesity, facial hair, blood sugar problems, various collateral hormonal imbalances, and acne. Birth control may help, and I will see about obtaining it soon, but it must wait for medical insurance.
2. Acne patterns have a great deal to do with their causes and, thus, treatment tactics. Acne in the T-Zone is caused by oily skin that clogs pores and can be treated by the "traditional" methods such as Benzoyle Peroxide and Proactiv. My acne resides along the jaw line and the edge of my face, leaving the T-Zone clear. This acne is caused by dry skin. Much more difficult to treat with skin care.
Especially since every chemical known to man causes my skin to erupt.
This brings me to Lushusa.com.
I was actually introduced to Lush products via one of their Dallas stores. When I entered, a few days before my birthday and under obscene amounts of stress (so naturally with pimples on my jaw that were waving and greeting passers-by with inappropriate enthusiasm) I was accosted by a flamboyantly gay man who grabbed me by the hand and LITERALLY walked me through every product in the store. The staff were the company's biggest fans, always a good sign, and I was soon sold as well.
All organic. Non-animal tested. Handmade. Lush is about the closest you can come to rubbing angel wings on your face every day. I am going to make an effort to review their products as I use them, but here are the ones I've been so fortunate as to use so far;

Coalface Cleaner: This is one of the few products they sell that smells HORRIBLE. But the astringent properties are unmatched. My face literally squeaks after I use it. Of course, it's a little drying, but I don't have to slather on moisturizer after I wash my face with it, just lotion up like normal. There are, of course, veins of coal in it that give a nice exfoliation, but the coal deposits are a little chunky, so you wind up only getting a scrub once a week or so.

Aqua Marina Cleanser: One of the weirdest cleansers I have ever used. The best way I can describe it is calamine mixed with modeling clay wrapped in seaweed like sushi. I never could figure out how to use it without a lot of awkwardness. It doesn't foam, it just turns kind of milky when mixed with water, and then you've got the seaweed hanging around. It slowly breaks up as you rub the cleanser around, though, eventually tearing into parsley-sized pieces. In fact, the first time I used it I ran downstairs and woke Roomie Corrie up from a nap by screaming, "LOOK, I'm a slice of garlic bread!" It's a nice, gentle cleanser with pretty great astringent properties and not drying at all. If your skin is easily irritated by scrubbing, you'll love it.

Baby Faced Cleanser: I hesitate to even call this stuff cleanser. It's more like rubbing straight vaseline on your face. Of course, it sinks in more easily than that, and leaves the skin thoroughly moisturized, but not good for oily or combination skin. People with dry, dry skin, though, will love this one. It's got a creepy little baby face stamped on it, though, not sure how I feel about that one. Especially since it melts and looks like the cover art for a death metal band.

Greased Lightening Cleaner: Not so much a cleanser and more of a spot treatment, a very little bit of this clear, odorless gel dabbed on breakouts soon zaps them dry. The problem I've had with spot treatments in the past is that they are over-drying for my skin, irritating, or set off one of my many chemical sensitivities. Greased Lightening does none of these things. It simply lands on my skin and immediately dives deep to avoid being seen. Pretty great stuff.

So that's it for the cleansers. I'm more excited about their moisturizers, but that'll have to wait for my next post, since I'm tired and getting a headache.
Happy lathering!
~Erin