seriously??

For the past week I've been losing a straining battle with my skin. I am most certainly experiencing one of the worst breakouts that I can remember. Certainly one of the worst since I stopped Lithium (which is known to cause skin issues). I chocked it up to being hormonal because it started just before AF made a grand entrance. But instead of steadily getting better it has steadily gotten worse.

I hate when my skin breaks out even a little bit. This is atrocious. I look like I have a freakish bumpy skin rash. (These aren't the kind of pimples that come to a head and can be easily disposed of with a warm wash cloth. These are horrible, painful cyst-like bumps that take FOREVER to go away!)

Perplexed and frustrated, I went to Walgreens to pick up something, anything that might help end the breakout that is making me feel like an overly hormonal teenager. I found a system that looked promising and as I was examining active ingredients I thought about the new Clean & Clear cleanser that I'd bought a couple of weeks ago when I ran out of my other cleanser. (Stupid me, I'm always looking for a skin-miracle-in-a-bottle and try new things every now and again.) When I looked back at the timing of the breakout the only thing that had really changed was my switching to this cleanser. So while I was still looking in Walgreens I picked up the very same cleanser and checked the ingredients...

Can someone please give me a logical explanation as to why Clean & Clear decided to put MINERAL OIL and PETROLATUM (aka Vasoline) into an acne treatment?!? Since when does slathering your face with additional OIL help clear up acne??? I am SO furious. Because a) I was stupid enough to buy the cleanser without checking the ingredient list and b) Clean & Clear was stupid enough to put OIL in their acne wash!

From here on out, I am a Neutrogena girl. I will never, ever again buy another Clean & Clear product. In the mean time, I am covered in pimples. My face looks awful and I have these terribly painful bumps behind my ears. I even found a pimple on my earlobe. WTF?? Hopefully the stuff I bought today will help clear it up in a few days or, at most, a week.

In other news, I picked up my car from Expert Tire this afternoon. The final bill came to $654. It went on credit. UGH. The bright side of this is that my car has all new quality brakes, my 'change oil' light is no longer on, and it no longer veers slightly to the left. And, though I can't really tell right now because I don't drive long distances anymore, the 'shakes' associated with unbalanced tires are no more. So, am I glad I did it? Absolutely. Am I glad it set us back $654 and change? HELL NO! But, that's life, eh?