Tuesday 27 January 2015

Week 3: Banish Acne Scars

Welcome back lovely people!
Now before you accuse me of lying about the roller actually working let me first explain my weekend and why I have some lovely new scars appearing.  
I went out Friday night and came home pretty late and made the terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE decision to go to bed with all of my make-up on (which I had a lot of on).  Now, if sleeping with my make-up on Friday night wasn't bad enough, I got lazy on Saturday night too and decided to go to bed with all my make-up on.  SUCH a bad habit, I know. SO bad for your skin, I know.  So now my skin is repaying me for the damage I did to it over the weekend, hence the new scars around my cheek area. But I've been doing a couple masks and drinking my water so hopefully she won't be mad at me for too long *giggles*

Here are a couple of pictures right before I used the Banish Acne Scars M Roller:
 
 These were the loooovely new scars that I was talking about *sarcasm intended*

Same exact routine goes for this week as the last two weeks, sanitize the roller 30 minutes before you use it, apply to an already clean face, roll every which way applying light amounts of pressure (we don't want any bleeding), finish up with the Vitamin C Serum, then finally sanitize your roller and store away for the next use. 

Here are a couple of pictures the next morning:

Some before and after pictures from October 2014 to January 2015
The iPhone 5S quality smooths out the image, but this was taken on October 3rd, 2014.
Canon PowerShot SX50 HS, taken on January 27th, 2015.
Again, iPhone quality taken on October 3, 2014.
Again, Canon PowerShot SX50 HS, taken on January 27th, 2015.
___________________________________________________________________________
I have yet to mention up until now what camera I have been using, duh.
I use the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

 Click here for my Week 2: Banish Acne Scars blog post! 
Click here for my Week 1: Banish Acne Scars blog post!

Click here to purchase products from Banish Acne Scars!

Stay tuned for my next blog post and take care,
Glynn

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.  Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
 Helen Keller

Monday 26 January 2015

Week 2: Banish Acne Scars

Welcome back wonderful people!
My family went to Ottawa for the weekend (January 16th-18th) to watch my older brother's hockey game.  He plays for his university's hockey team and they were facing a team from Ottawa so we decided we would make a trip out of is and sight-see.
Struggling to lift the 24K gold bar at the Royal Canadian Mint, that thing was heavy...
Always end up finding some friends where ever I go #canadianmoose
Be sure to check out my Instagram for more photos: http://www.instagram.com/glynnj_
Nice little action shot of me on the World's Largest Skating Rink ;)
Now since Ottawa is 5 hours away from where I live, we got back pretty late on Sunday so I was not able to take any pictures of my before and after (due to the lighting).  I did stick with the rolling and I have to say I'm noticing some changes.  Of course it was only my second time rolling so I can't see HUGE SIGNIFICANT chances, but I can see it working!
Keep in mind, I do have hormonal break-outs happening right now because that damn period still hasn't come -.- so I have new spots showing up.

I apologize for not posting any pictures but I will for sure keep you posted for Week 3 and lots of pictures will be coming your way!

ALSO, if any of you are wondering what sort of make-up I had for the day, a separate blog post is posted with all the products I used as well as Step-By-Step pictures (let's face it, I'm a make-up lover!).  You can check out that blog by clicking here!

Click here for my Week 1: Banish Acne Scars blog post!
Click here to purchase products from Banish Acne Scars!

Stay tuned for my next blog post and take care,
Glynn

“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop."
 Confucius

Sunday 11 January 2015

Week 1: Banish Acne Scars

Man oh man, it feels so good to finally be posting this blog!  For those of you who are new to my blog and this is the first one that you have stumbled across, 
WELCOME! 
My name is Jessica Glynn but I mostly go by my last name (pronounced "gl-IN").
And I've been meaning to create some sort of documentation of the changes that my skin went through in my first year of university.

The pictures of me in the pink Nike T-shirt were taken on July 31, 2011 so roughly three and a half years ago (16 years old, no face make-up on).  As you can see I had pretty decent skin; very clear, not much discolouration, and freckles on and around the sides of my nose.

All throughout high school (grade 9-12) my skin was pretty much like this, aside from the monthly PMS blemish or stress pimple during exam times.  It wasn't until my first year of university where the problems started to occur. 

Now, here's my theory of why I think my skin took a turn for the worse:

1.  University was my first ever time actually living away from home (because my school was far away from my hometown, I lived on Residence) so therefore this caused some stress 
2.  Living on residence meant that I'd have to buy a "Meal Plan" which is basically a shit ton of money on overly expensive fatty foods in cafeterias.
3.  If you've ever completed your first year of university/college you'd know that... that shit is tough work.  There are a lot of assignments and readings and it got very stressful very fast.
4.  Lack of sleep (due to school work and social life)
5.  Increase in caffeine which is definitely something you want to avoid if you can

Basically, university = no sleep = stress = lots of stress eating = poor health choices. 

Here are a couple of my Instagram pictures at the time (most of which I had make-up on in but you get my point):



In my first year my acne reeeeeally flared up and I had a bunch of pimples and small bumps which caused me to pick at them and pop them (which if you have active acne right now DO NOT do! It is so bad for your skin).  The summer after my first year I decided that I needed to do something about it because it really bothered me.  I tried out the Spectro Gel for about 4 months and saw little to no results.

Then I decided to splurge on the Cetaphil line and thank God I came across that brand because it did wonders to my skin.  I have a separate blog post that I can link to if you'd like to check out more about that (click here for that!).  But Cetaphil cleared up my acne and got rid of all my active acne which left me with the scarring that can be seen in many of the pictures that I post in my blogs.
Hopefully you're still with me...
So this is what brings me to THIS blog post. My very first demonstration of the Banish Acne Scars System!
In the Kit that I received there was an information sheet which explained how the system works, how to use it, notes, etc. 

How the Roller Works (taken directly from Daisy Jing's information sheet that comes with the Banish Acne Scars Kit)
 
The bristles on the roller puncture micro tiny holes so tiny that it will not produce any scars.  These holes dig deeper into the epidermis of the skin.  To fix this "hole" the skin produces collagen and elastin.  This will help new skin rebuild itself and repair the scar.  
For most of our skincare, the serums and creams we use only penetrate the upper dermis of the skin, not penetrating the inner most parts of skin.  Therefore for effective treatment, it's necessary to treat the deepest layers of skin.  The minuscule "hole" in the skin creates a channel for vitamin rich serum to penetrate the skin.  

Directions (taken directly from Daisy Jing's information sheet that comes with the Banish Acne Scars Kit) 

1.  Start with a clean face. Wash your skin with the Banish Acne Scars cleanser.
2.  Sterilize your roller every time you use it.  Pour some alcohol into the cleaning container.  Set the roller head in the container for at least 30 minutes.
3.  You are now ready to begin.  Clean and sanitize your hands.  It's important to have a clean area so the area you will be treating will not get infected.
4, 5 & 6.  Start with a small area and move back and forth a few times.  Start out gradually with a few strokes.  After going in one direction, move perpendicular to that area and roll the roller back and forth.  Move along directions of the face.  Avoid eye area.
7.  When done rolling, apply some of the serum onto the skin.  Apply a dropper full of serum on palms and gently pat along the face.
8.  Avoid wearing makeup or creams for the rest of the day.  Skincare and makeup routine can be followed as normal the following day. 
9.  Clean roller again and dry before storing it back in the case.  It's important not to store a wet roller in the case, as bacteria could grow. 

Notes (taken directly from Daisy Jing's information sheet that comes with the Banish Acne Scars Kit) 
  • Roller should be used a maximum of 10 times before purchase of another roller.  The reason for this is to avoid any infection on the skin.  Additionally, it is best to replace the needles as old needles can be dull and injure the skin.
  • Store Vitamin Rich Serum in a cool, dark place.  When the serum becomes a golden yellow colour, it means it has oxidized.  It is recommended that the serum be repurchased every 2 months, as efficacy will fade away over time. 
  • Do not share roller with anyone.
  • Please note that scarring is damage to the skin and don't believe any product or treatment that will guarantee flawless skin overnight! It takes months, upon years, for the skin to heal.

Click here to purchase products from Banish Acne Scars!

Stay tuned for my next blog post and take care,
Glynn

“One should be able to see things as hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Thursday 8 January 2015

Banish Acne Scars!


Welcome back beautiful people!
So after readings hundreds and hundreds of reviews on the website and debating back and forth, I finally decided to purchase a "Banish Kit" from the Banish Acne Scars website.
Now before I go into detail on the actual product let me first give you the 4-1-1 on "BanishAcneScars.com"  The actual brand was created by Daisy Jing who struggled with acne-scarred skin and had tried everything on the market.  Trying all those products ultimately left her feeling hopeless and set that nothing would ever work.  Rather than just excepting her skin for what it was, she decided to create her own brand of products that are all natural, safe, and effective in treating acne scars.  And with a 100% money back guarantee there isn't really much to lose.  So I ordered it. (dun dun duuun)
I ordered the "Banish Kit" which includes everything in the picture above:
- Banish Microskin Roller in the M size (Level 2-Moderate)
- A small container to sanitize the roller in before and after using 
- An information sheet with directions and notes 

The website was having a sale for $69.00 (as opposed to their regular price which is $79.00) and with shipping and all that jazz the grand total came to $91.74 CAN, which if you ask me, is somewhat expensive.  Nonetheless, I've tried everything else and all the reviews were so positive so I caved and bought it.  The package took about 2 weeks to arrive here in Canada and I plan to use it for the first time this Sunday (January 11, 2015) so there will be a detailed blog post regarding that and a video demo to accompany it!  Really looking forward to the results of this kit and of course I will keep you posted on here!

For now though, I leave you with a couple pictures of my "before" skin (freshly cleansed, toned, and moisturized) which were taken taken January 6th and 7th so that way you can follow my journey when it begins on Sunday!
 
  (Those damn PMS breakouts really take a toll on my chin and jawline man, but hey! What can you do? By the way, my skin didn't just magically tan on the 7th; the pictures were taken at different times during the day, too bad eh? hehe)

Click here to purchase products from Banish Acne Scars!

Stay tuned for my next blog post and take care,
Glynn

"Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we're all in this together."
 Brené Brown