It seems logical to think that once you pass puberty you don’t have to deal with the embarrassing breakouts any longer, but that’s just not reality. Sadly, as a female adult, there’s still hormonal acne to contend with. Without using a period tracker, I could always tell when Aunt Flo was coming by the breakouts that would pop up around my jawline, chin and lower face. Although it wasn’t severe, it was highly annoying and just added to the feeling of wanting to hide away until my skin returned to its previous blemish-free state.
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Enter Amareta, a skin care brand customized to each stage of the hormonal cycle and developed specifically to treat skin during your menstrual cycle, pregnancy or breastfeeding. The brand credits the lack of “hormone-disruptive chemicals, synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrances, harsh acne-treatment ingredients or questionable plant extracts” as the reason its products work to keep your skin balanced and clear during the typical 28-day cycle. I had nothing to lose, so I committed to trying it for a month to see if this natural, gentle approach would work in fighting those pesky period pimples that held my face hostage for weeks at a time.
For me, hormonal acne typically occurs a few days or a week before menstruation due to the increase in progesterone and testosterone levels, so I started using the products two weeks before I expected to see any breakouts pop up. I stuck with a routine, cleansing with the Petal Soft Cleansing Balm ($68), toning with the Brightside Balancing Toner ($42) and hydrating with the Pure Peace Clarifying Serum ($52). All products are designed to tighten pores and control sebum production to prevent breakouts, and are free of harsh ingredients like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.
Three weeks after my menstrual cycle, I had completely forgotten what my original goal was. I was so busy with work and life, I had stopped paying attention to my main goal of attempting to control my hormonal acne. Throughout my experiment, I just maintained my cleansing, toning and hydrating routine and using the cleansing balm to remove my makeup at night. One day, unceremoniously, I looked in the mirror and realized I had gone an entire month without a single pimple popping up. The best products are always the ones that you can effortlessly incorporate into your life and they do what they say they do. Couple this with the promise and clear, glowing skin all month long, and it’s easy to see why I continue my Amareta skin care regime before and after the arrival of Aunt Flo, long past my one month experiment.
