In search of my HG

My skin is totally out of whack. I have always had combination/oily skin with the occasional breakouts, but lately the breakouts have been stubbornly persistent and it is causing me a small measure of distress. After all, who wants to suffer the indignity of acne at the age of 30?!?! This can NOT go on.

I've been thinking about it a lot and I suspect the culprit is my skin care regimen: I've been using Clinique's Turnaround Concentrate since May as I got a sample with my bonus while in London. It was featured in In Style and Fashion magazines as this great product for oily/acne-prone skin so I decided to give it a try. I had good results in the first couple weeks using the sample as it seemed to smooth out my skin, so I forked over the $50+ for the full-size product. After a while though, I noticed flaking and just attributed it to the "visible" effect of the skin renewing itself. Now, I think it's just too strong a product for my skin--so much so that the dry skin is clogging my pores and causing break-outs. So good-bye Turnaround Concentrate and hello ???

I've never been the kind of girl who was really into beauty products and make-up--maybe it comes from not having girlfriends who are particularly superficial that way. When I find a product I like that works, I generally stick to it. And because my skin care products have often been recommendations by aestheticians, the idea of going to beauty counters to find new products is rather foreign to me. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

I was at the Kiehl's store a few weeks ago and picked up some samples there, including the Sodium PCA Oil-Free Moisturizer, which I find has just exacerbated the problem. I read the reviews for the other Kiehl's samples I got on MakeUp Alley and given the mixed reviews, I am very wary of giving them a try, so back to square one.

I went to the MAC counter after work yesterday to pick up some StudioTech (my all-time favourite make-up to date!) and ended up with some skin care samples, including their Day SPF 15 Light Moisture and Studio Moisture Cream for night. I knew that they had a skin care line but it's their cosmetics that are top-of-mind for me so I had no expectations for their efficacy. Imagine my surprise upon reading the great reviews for these products online--80+% would buy again! Now I'm hopeful that these will be my HG.*

To hedge my bets though, I stopped by Sephora and scored some samples there too, including Dr. Brandt's Poreless Moisture and Philosphy's Hope in a Jar. These latter two products weren't as well-reviewed so I'm not as keen on them. (Although I'm as much a sucker for good marketing as the next person, and I've always loved Philosphy's branding so I almost wish Hope in a Jar will live up to it's name.)

Keeping my fingers crossed....

* HG = Holy Grail as per MakeUp Alley.