How my skin went from HELL to HEALTHY with Revision Skincare
I started using the Revision Skincare line around a year ago. Prior to that, I’d barely used anything on my skin for a year, because my skin couldn’t tolerate anything. In May of 2017, I had an adverse reaction from a cortisone shot in my foot, which made my hormones go haywire, which led to my face breaking out with a combination of perioral dermatitis and rosacea. When I tell people I had a bad break out they assume I’m being dramatic. Then I show them the picture below and whelp. If you know what either of those things are, and how debilitating they can be for your appearance, keep reading!
This was my skin in May 2017 (on a good day) after a bad breakout of Rosacea and Perioral Dermatitis that lasted for 2+ months.
My face was red, blotchy, rash-y and filled with pimples that flaked and oozed pus for 2 months. If you’ve ever suffered from erratic skin, I know you know I’m not exaggerating. The only thing to clear it was using barely any skincare products and taking antibiotics for 3 months. For almost a year after the breakout, I used nothing more on my skin than a gentle face wash, Greek yogurt as a mask, an eye cream and sunscreen. Beyond that, I was afraid to put anything on my skin because I never wanted my skin to break out like that again. In my mind everything was a potential trigger. I basically threw out or gave away serums and anti-aging treatments and used next to nothing.
Prior to that, I wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with inflammatory skin problems. I developed Rosacea in 2009 and have battled it on and off, including occasional flare-ups that result in acne or rosacea. There are a lot of things I CAN’T use on my skin, so for the last decade, I’ve been careful. I read labels, research ingredients and ease into any new products slowly. But I’ve never seen my face as bad as I did 2 years ago, so I’d given up hope of anti-aging serums or peptide-rich treatment moisturizers. I also benched bronzer, highlighter and contouring (I love make up so much, so that was a huge drain).
A year ago I ran into my friend Ali and her skin looked different, almost flawless. Like a Kardashian, yet there wasn’t much make up. I was like, “okay, what are you doing?” She started telling me about Revision Skincare but I was like, “No, I get Rosacea, I can’t use much because my skin is hypersensitive.” She pulled out her iPhone and showed me pictures of her face broken out with Rosacea pimples a couple of years earlier and attributed her clear and bright complexion to Revision. Her pictures shut down my, “But you don’t understand” – her skin, when broken out, was pretty bad.
A few of my favorite things from Revision Skincare! Keep on reading! Get a free gift when you enter code DOUG at check out!
We bonded over annoying and hard to solve skin conditions and I became open to the idea that I could try products again beyond a simple moisturizer with SPF. I’m in my early 40’s and not being able to use skincare treatments was bumming me out. I asked Ali where I would start and she said the Vitamin K serum. It’s really great at reducing redness and skin inflammation – which Vitamin K is known for and it also has Arnica Montana extract (definitely good after a laser or in-office injectables). I was willing to ease back into the skincare treatment game, so I only started with that product. After a month my skin was really smooth, hydrated and even. Ali suggested the Clay Mask as well, which is a once or twice weekly purifying mask to deep clean the skin and rid it of impurities. I literally only used those 2 products for 3 months and my skin looked really good and I had no side effects.
Head to my favorites page at https://revisionskincare.com/pages/dm and if you spend $100 or more enter code SOOTHE at check out to receive a deluxe sample of my go-to favorites pictured above!
From there, I dabbled in a few more things since my skin seemed to be tolerating Revision well. Several people recommended the DEJ products from Revision – they are an advanced all-in-one age defying treatment and it comes in the form of a day cream, night cream and eye cream. I began with DEJ eye which includes a boat load of peptides to hydrate and plump the skin to reduce crow’s feet and puffiness and Vitamin C to help brighten dark circles. It also has prebiotics to strengthen the skin’s healthy Microbiome. I recently began using the DEJ Night as well and I love it because it has Retinol .025% (which is the most my sensitive skin can tolerate) and it doesn’t dry out my skin or make it flake because it has peptides to hydrate, antioxidants to ward off inflammation and also the probiotics. It’s light and effective.
DEJ from Revision Skincare for Face/Night/Eye
If you’re into SAFE sunscreen, you know it’s all about physical sunscreen right now. The Revision Intellishade TruPhysical is a broad spectrum SPF 45 with a light tint that seems to adjust to my skin. The sunscreen is 100% mineral based, no hidden chemicals and it also has bio-available peptides and anti-oxidants. It’s my finishing touch. If you’re not into 100% physical sunscreens, they have their classic Intellishade Origional and also Intellishade Matte (I love this in the summer because I tend to be more shiny – it also has a darker tint that goes well with a summer tan).
Here’s my skin one year after using Revision Skincare:
Here’s an unedited selfie in June 2020 after using Revision Skincare for about 12 months!
Treatments from Revision:
After my skin did well on those products, I added in a few more treatments. Some I use as needed, like the Vitamin C serum and the hydrating serum. The neck and body firming products are a 2x a day obsession:
C+ Correcting Complex 30%. This Vitamin C serum contains the highest concentration of THD Ascorbate acid which is 30% and it also contains Vitamin E and the microbiome technology. I have to tread light on this, because sometimes alpha hydroxy acids (which vitamin C is) are triggering to Rosacea. So I don’t use on my cheeks and nose (which are my trigger areas) but I use on forehead/jaw/neck/chest. I especially love on my chest, as I have visible sun damage there. This doesn’t sting my skin like other Vita C serums have in the past.
Revox7 – This powerful light serum has 7 different peptides to plump and firm skin in the areas where you’d want Botox. For me, between the eyes and on the forehead and sides of the eye. It seems to smooth things out and a little goes a long way.
Hydrating Serum – This beautiful oil free serum is packed with Hyaluronic Acid to smooth and refresh dry areas. I don’t need this a lot, but I love it in the winter, especially around my nose and mouth area, which gets super dry. I’ve used it more during the stay-at-home orders during the Covid-19 pandemic because of the HVAC at home, which tends to dry out my skin.
These two firming products, one for face and one for other body parts are beyond amazing. Yes, they work. Keep reading.
Nectifirm Advanced – a treatment cream for under the jawline, neck and décolletage. Yes, guys worry about the neck and chest skin too. For me, it’s more about the droopy skin right under my chin. I want to firm that before it becomes that hanging chicken neck that further detracts from my already weak chin. I really love this product, I use it 2x a day.
BodiFirm – Okay, this stuff is pricey, I’ll admit it, but it works. It’s a contouring lotion for firmer, more toned-looking skin. This product won the 2020 New Beauty Awards for how well it works. I don’t know how or why it works, but I use on my stomach area and the skin definitely feels more taught after 2 weeks.
The results are unmistakable.
I can’t remember the last time my skin has looked this smooth, bright and refreshed. I will be honest in saying that every now and then I’ll get a pimple or a little Rosacea patch – but that’s normal. I dial back treatment serums for a few days to let my skin acclimate. I have come to accept that my skin won’t be 100% clear and perfect all the time. That’s what concealer is for. I take my skincare regimen one day at a time and when trying something new I go slow. I don’t want the fear of a break out or flare up to impede treating my skin for signs of aging. So I go slow but I forge ahead. I’ve been using Revision for the last year and I’d say 70% of what I use on my skin is Revision. If you follow me here or on Instagram @theworldofdoug, you know how much I love talking skincare and treatments. Please feel free to DM or email me questions or suggestions at doug@theworldofdoug.com
As part of this blog post, Revision Skincare sent me several products to try and review (beyond the products I’ve been using and buying on my own for the past 12 months). The products I was gifted included: DEJ Night, DEJ Face, BodiFirm, Intellishade TruPhysical, Nectifirm Advanced (I had been using the regular Nectifirm for the last 6 months the Advanced is the new next-generation), Gentle Cleansing Lotion and Finishing Touch Scrub. All the others mentioned above are my own! If you order through this link, I will receive a small commission on sales: https://revisionskincare.com/pages/dm - Now through February 19th 2021 use code SOOTHE at check out to get a free gift of 5 samples sizes of my favorite products.