FACE OFF
Teen who suffered severe acne shares four ‘miracle’ products that cleared her skin
A TEENAGER who was plagued by severe acne has shared her budget skincare routine after managing to banish the blemishes - using only four products.
Karina Banuelos suffered from angry, red skin with painful, blotchy breakouts, but found when she used lots of different products to try and clear up her skin she broke out more.
The teen, from California, devised her own simple skincare routine which has given her near-perfect skin in just a few months – taking her just 10 minutes to apply.
Taking to she shared her four-step routine, which differs slightly for the day and night.
Shunning expensive products everything she uses is under £20 each - and one free item as she grows her own aloe vera plant.
Her night routine: Step one
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- Thayer's Witch Hazel Aloe Vera Formula, Lucky Vitamin, £7.87 –
Before washing her face she takes a cotton ball and applies the witch hazel on it – commonly found in anti-acne creams – and applies all over her face.
An astringent, she uses Thayer's Witch Hazel Aloe Vera Formula, explaining it gets all the “dirty deep in her pores”.
Step two:
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- Dr. Bronner's peppermint pure-castile liquid soap, Ocado, £7.69 –
She washes her face with hot water to open up the pores and then uses a spin brush on her face.
Wetting the bristles, she applies Dr. Bronner's peppermint pure-castile liquid soap and scrubs her face, but says: “You can use any fragrance you want doesn’t have to be peppermint.”
Step three:
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- Neutrogena's oil-free moisture for combination skin, Amazon.co.uk, £16.70 –
After washing her face with the soap and water, she uses cold water to remove any product residue.
Patting her face dry, she then re-applies the witch hazel and moisturises with Neutrogena's oil-free moisturizer for combination skin.
Step four: Aloe vera
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Preferring to use the plant over any products, she grows her own aloe vera plant, helping keep costs down.
Following the moisturiser, she applies aloe direct from the plant and rubs it all over face.
She sleeps with the aloe on, like a face mask, and washes it off every morning.
Karina explained why she uses the plant, as she shared a showing how to correctly cut the stems.
She said: “Aloe vera is basically used for everything and it helps your acne, it helps the redness around your acne, it helps with scarring.”
You can grow aloe vera or buy a plant from most garden stores or supermarkets
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- Banana Boat Kids Sun Protection Lotion SPF50, Fragrance Direct, £2.48 –
For her morning routine she washes off the aloe which she has left on overnight.
Karina then reapplies the moisturiser then applies sunscreen Banana Boat Kids' sunscreen lotion broad spectrum SPF.
She explained: “The sunscreen helps with getting scars and dark spots.
“I use banana boat kids sunsceen with zinc in it.”
She varies her routine every other day, substituting the Dr. Bronner’s soap, saying: “If I use it everyday it irritates my skin and on the days I don’t use it I use regular soap.
“I use dove soap but you can use whatever you think is best.”
With people in disbelief over her transformation, she urged people to keep going having started her skincare routine last August, and has not suffered a breakout since.
Karina said: “I also have combination skin and I saw results in my face in 2-3 months. you have to be consistent or you’ll never see results.
“It’s a simple routine it takes 10 minutes for me to finish.
“Also don’t be afraid if you break out more while using it, it gets worse before it gets better bc [because] it takes out everything in your face then gets rid of it.”
People have been blown away with the results, with one person saying: “Your skin is flawless, but how you do that? Me and my notebook are ready.”
Another said: “What’s your secret??!?!!?!! I need to know ya skin looks so beautiful.”
And a third wrote: “Your face is flawless!”
While this person replied to say: “Oh my god it looks unreal now you literally wouldn’t even think she ever had acne!!”
Despite using these products she says you should use what works best for your skin type, and also recommended changing your sheets every week, cutting down on junk food and drinking more water.
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