Awake
I’m awake. I am. I swear.
My first thought when I got pregnant: Yay!
My second thought: OMG
My third: shit…I can’t use retinol for nine months.
Admittedly I’m a retinol fanatic and believe everyone, or almost everyone, should be using some version of it to prevent fine lines, poor texture and the occasional breakout.
All good. I got lucky as pregnancy did unbelievable things for my skin and hair and I drank about 150 ounces of water a day. No harm, no foul.
And then nine months later, I thought, awesome! Botox. Retinol. Wine.
And hormones. Lots and lots of hormones. And lack of sleep. And new mom skin – which is perpetually dehydrated for absolutely no reason at all. And then…the dreaded retinol purge.
All of these factors culminated in a three month war between me and my skin. And HO-LY-SHIT. I was not prepared.
Never having acne as a teen, the occasional period chin pimple was about as bad as it got. Nope. This was next level. Red. Inflamed.
I fought with my skin. Bumps and blister like breakouts it was bad. It was too dry then it was too oily. Retinol speeds up cellular turnover – meaning, imagine all of the little breakouts and blackheads you’d have erupt over the course of, say, 6-12 months all coming to the surface at once. Fun! Throw in some redness and peeling and it’s the dreaded retinol purge.
Most people throw in the towel at this point and say “hell no”. I knew if I pushed through I’d get to the perfect skin part sooner or later. I didn’t expect later. I’m guessing this is due to the hormones and such but it seemed to last forever.
I was close to giving up when I noticed a shiny new product from one of my favorite clean skincare brands, True and Olive.
I’m an original user of their smooth and mild Hello Organic Facial Cleanser (which I continued to use during and after pregnancy) and after my Husband dropped my Bloom Organic Balancing Oil and shattered the glass jar I threatened divorce. It is the only oil I’ve found that isn’t oily – if that makes any sense at all.
Enter Awake Clarifying and Renewing Toner. And when I say enter, I mean leap into my postpartum-skin arms and help me. I needed something mildly exfoliating that wouldn’t further dry out my skin that wasn’t too rich to flare up a breakout. And magically it appeared. Here’s the breakdown of what it is and how it works:
- 20% vitamin c – evens skin tone and texture
- 5% botanical hyaluronic acid – a humectant that plumps the skin
- 10% MSM – detoxifies and combats inflammation
- 2.5% retinol – see above
- 2% salicylic acid – unclogs pores
- 3.5% niacinamide – improves skin tone and brightens
- witch hazel – removes oil
- aloe – promotes wound healing
- lavender – an antiseptic
After receiving this to check out, I decided to incorporate it into my morning and evening skincare routine for a month. I also decided not to review it for a month. Partly because I wanted to provide a truly honest review. And partly because I wanted to see if I could clear my skin up any further before taking a photo for you all. Well here you go.
Clear skin, finally. The single change I made in my skincare routine was using Awake twice a day. Can you see why I’m a fan?
Also – I fully support small batch, artisanal skincare. This company was co-founded by Husband/Wife team Matt and Christine who refuse to mass produce a huge line of products that “might” work. They research, test and then release products one by one. After loving their first two releases I was anxious for a third release. And it was definitely worth the wait. Pick it up on Amazon here and let me know what you think!
