Are you sick and tired of your blackheads, white heads, and pimples? Tell me all about it. I know how it feels to try lots of treatments and products, get so hopeful, and still end up where you started. It may be that your acne is a genetic pre-disposition, which means that there's not much that you can do to cure it except lessen the appearance and discomfort.

My ongoing battle with acne

But maybe, just maybe, you are doing a few things that you don't know causes or worsens acne. Acne is generally caused by over-production of oil, bacteria, and uncleared dead skin cells which clog pores. Using the wrong product will trigger acne, but sometimes it's what you do rather than what you use that causes the problem.

Here are five common habits that cause acne. Any of these sound familiar?

1. Over-drying your skin. It sounds like common sense to strip your face of oil to prevent more oil, so a lot of people use drying products such as harsh facial washes, alchohol-based toners, and abrasive exfoliators to get rid of the sebum. But it doesn't work that way.

It doesn't matter how great your skincare system is - if you're not careful about the other junk you put on your face, you will. Still. Break. Out. I've made quite a few mistakes these past few weeks so lately my face looks like a blemish exploded on the surface and made little babies while shitfaced with alcohol. Terrible imagery, I know. But that's how my face looks like at the moment.

My recent FOTD photos show no blemishes, but that's because I use two heavy concealers to cover them up. They're like magic or (if we're must be more prosaic) Photoshop in a tube/jar. I love the MAC Studio Finish Concealer but sometimes a blemish is too dark or fresh that I need something more opaque and absolutely budge-proof. This is where the Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer comes in.

Ta-dah!

This MUFE Full Cover concealer is pretty awesome in covering up ANYTHING on your face. It could be a mole, pimple, blemish, anything will disappear when you wear this and it will not rub off even if you sweat or oil up. It's truly waterproof - it just dries and stays put much like how an Urban Decay Primer Potion would (you know what I mean if you've tried UDPP).

So let's do it!

What I love about the product 

• Completely opaque. It's perfect for covering up very dark blemishes, moles, angry zits, or discoloration. It meant business when it said "full cover, yo".
• Waterproof. When it dries, it's a lot like how the UDPP primer is. You can't make it budge anymore unless you rub very, very hard or use a cream/oil makeup remover. Perfect for oily and sweaty skin.

It's no big secret that I have an ongoing love affair with Clinique. The brand is quite pricey locally, but the products I use work extremely well on my skin. Again, it's always a matter of being hiyang, so I'm really lucky that I found my skin's "soulmate"!

I'm a fan of the Clinique Moisture Surge because it gives me a nice glow and more supple skin without the oiliness. However, it's not designed to help much during and after a big breakout. I try a lot of products for this blog so something always ends up giving me pimples - I need something that can help clear them and deal with the pesky blemishes that crop up afterwards. That's why I wanted to try the Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturizer (P1,600/50mL).

It's pretty good. Here's why!

What I love about the product

• Helps dry up pimples faster, especially the smaller ones. It has salicylic acid, a key ingredient that targets acne. It has no parabens and has very little comedogenic ingredients. (See here for reference)
• It lightens blemishes, but this takes time, two weeks at least. I'm very happy with it nonetheless.
• Blackheads and whiteheads are no longer a problem whenever I use this.

Super light gel texture

I'm 23 but the sad fact is that I still break out regularly. Sometimes it's before my period, often because I am trying out a new product for a review. I've heard from countless magazines that Mario Badescu is good for acne-ridden skin but thought that it's too expensive for me - wrong! It's quite affordable so I decided to buy the Mario Badescu Drying Cream (P795) when I was at Rustan's some weeks ago.

The Drying Cream promises to "heal and conceal under surface blemishes". I was a bit baffled about what the copy meant when it said surface blemishes, but I suppose it means pimples. The cream does heal pimples (albeit slowly), but I wouldn't recommend that it be used as a concealer since it's too white!

What I love about the product

• As promised, it dries pimples. I give it two to three nights, depending on the pimple's severity. Really bad pimples won't get worse if you use this cream.
• Great for pimple poppers (I'm guilty!). It covers up the wound, dries it, and sanitizes the area without stinging.

I've read about Mario Badescu years before in magazines, but my curiosity was piqued when Kristine of Temptalia raved about it in 2009. I never got to try it though because I had the impression that MB products are expensive, but that idea is quite off the mark!

On a trip to Rustan's Makati the other day I chanced by the wall of Mario Badescu skincare in the Essences section (near the Glorietta 4 area). I quickly checked the price and saw that the Drying Cream (for drying acne) was only P795. Well, it's not dirt cheap, but it's certainly not expensive.

I abhor blackheads. They grow steadily and are so hard to remove! Argh! Good thing my blackheads aren't that obvious because I have fine pores, but still, I know they're there and I feel the discomfort.

FYI: blackheads are a type of acne and is caused by oxidized sebum or oil. This substance hardens and darkens during the process of oxidation, hence the tiny bumpy thingies all over and around our nose. Gross, I know. Facials are the best way to get rid of them since the hot vapors soften up the sebum while the pricking removes them physically, but who has the time to go to facials? They are also heavy on the pocket when done regularly (although I would still recommend them if you have an acne problem).

The next best thing to facials is using pore strips. They are basically strong adhesives that latch on to the offending bumps and peel them off neatly, saving you from manually popping and pulling them out by yourself. Now, one product I've recently tried and loved is the Purederm Nose Pore Strip.

What I love about the product

• Cheap at only P79.00, available in Watsons personal care stores. There are three individually foil-wrapped strips in one pack. The P139.00 box has six strips inside.
• Easy to apply and remove. Effortless, really. Although you need to set aside 15 minutes of your day for it.
• Took out at least 90% of my blackheads. Yay! The adhesive was pretty strong. It stung just a bit when I peeled it off (like duct tape) but nothing uncomfortable.