by Jennifer Saake

Created on: August 14, 2007

I have terribly sensitive skin and have never been able to wear traditional makeups well, even high end brands and doctor recommended ones. So I basically stopped wearing makeup at all and had to learn to live with break outs and redness, irritated more by anything I tried to use to hide them. Then when pregnant with our youngest, I broke out in a painful, red, bumpy, acne-like rash across both cheeks. It would not clear up even with medical aid, looked horrid and hurt all the time.

I was desperate to find a solution when an infomercial for mineral makeup came on the television. I had seen the commercials for months and ignored them because I couldn't see how this makeup could be any better than anything else I had ever tried. Besides the price was astronomical and even if I could get coverage for my blistery face I figured I would only end up with more irritation by the time I wore it for an hour, so why bother. My doctor willingly wrote me a prescription for an acne medication and I gave it a try, all the while worrying about the impact on my unborn child, though he assured me that it was safe.

The acne and rash continued only to worsen and become more sore and humiliating. It hurt to smile, to walk outside in the sun, of even to have a breeze blow hair across my cheeks. I tried a few over the counter products on my face in effort to hide or heal the acne, but everything hurt to even apply and burned when in contact with the raw sores on my face. Then I stumbled across that infomercial again and spent the whole hour listening to testimonials. I still couldn't swallow the price tag, but finally broke down and ordered some mineral makeup samples off the internet in hopes of doing nothing more than hiding the mess of my face when I went out of the house.

Much to my surprise, when I tried the makeup it actually felt soothing to my skin from the first moment of application. Not only did it cover my acne amazingly well, within a week of daily my skin was beginning to noticeably improve as well! At the end of two weeks the rash was gone, completely healed.

I was in awe. For all the high cost and intensive acne treatments I had ever tried and all the makeups I avoided, who knew the answer to my pregnancy hormone triggered breakout would be mineral makeup? I continued using mineral makeup products through the remainder of my pregnancy, the hormonal ups and downs of postpartum days and nursing and now when chasing an active toddler (though I have changed brands to a less expensive company that also avoids two potentially irritating ingredients found in some mineral makeup brands, talc and bismuth oxycloride).

There are mixed reviews out there about if mineral makeup is really all it claims to be, but for me it has made night and day difference for my skin. I have never found a product that has worked better for my acne. I've gone from never wearing makeup because it only caused more outbreaks, to rarely going a day without my minerals in order to keep outbreaks away! I gladly share my story with anyone who struggles with acne, especially when hormones such as pregnancy are involved.

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