AHA & BHA

Exfoliating the skin is a very important step in taking care of your skin. Just imagine that you apply tons of expensive skincare products on your dead skin cells everyday (such a waste!), then you will appreciate the cleansing or deep cleansing step in your routine. Our skin is renewing itself everyday, thus exfoliation is crucial to get rid of the old dead skin. The chemical exfoliation has taken over the physical exfoliation in recent years, and I can tell you the reason why. I have acne prone and oily skin, I take exfoliating seriously. I used to use scrub cleanser/sugar mask to exfoliate once/twice a week, but I feel that it is too harsh on my skin. Besides, I only see the results (silky smooth skin) right after using it, it won't last longer than 1 day. 

I bet you have heard of AHA and BHA if you’re combination/oily or acne-prone skin. They are hydroxy acid that helps to exfoliate skin a.k.a chemical exfoliation. Acne-prone skin normally caused by dead skin clumps together and clogs the pores along with oil which leads to whiteheads and blackheads.

The AHA is alpha hydroxy acid that's water soluble and great for exfoliating the surface of the skin. It is a common ingredient used in products targeting skin rejuvenating and scars fading, mainly for dry or sun damaged skin. While the BHA (beta hydroxy acid) is oil soluble which is normally used to regulate sebum of clogged pores. It is generally used in skincare products for oily and acne prone skin and for treating acne. You can read more about them here: Everything you need to know about exfoliants and exfoliating from Paula's Choice

In 2018, I have tried a few different AHA/BHA products and it's time to share my experience of using them! The AHA/BHA products that I will be sharing in this post are leave-on exfoliants which do not require to rinse off after applying them.

#LaRochePosayEffaclarClarifyingToner
I was looking for skincare product that ables to regulate my sebum and reduce my whiteheads and then I saw the La Roche Posay Effaclar series was having promotion in Boots London last year during my vacation. I quickly googled the reviews of each product and found that they have good reviews on oily and acne prone skin. Then, I bought a set of Effaclar series that includes Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel, Effaclar Clarifying Toner and Effaclar Duo [+]. 

I started using it without in-depth research of what the ingredients are (I admit I was lazy that time).....I found that the cleanser has no significant effect on me and I would like to finish what I was using that time. So, other skincare products that I used during the period of trying out this toner were the same other than switching my regular toner to this Effaclar Clarifying Toner. 

It is a very light weight toner almost like tap water texture but with a tad bit of chemical-ish smell, but I started to love the smell after getting used to it. Maybe because it works for my face and I'm so in love with it! I got some tingling/burning feeling when I first used it with a cotton pad. After the first week of using it, I got very serious pimples, those huge pimples with white pus on sides of my jaw, I quickly stop using it and kept blaming it for making my skin worse. Then I tried to find out the ingredients of it and found that some consumers also experienced the same as I did. I read the reviews of people using AHA/BHA from The Ordinary (since it is an affordable brand with many kinds of chemical exfoliants, they have tons of reviews online) and realized that it is normal to break out during the starting of using AHA/BHA product. I waited till my pimples subsided and gave it another try! 
BAM!!!
I have finished using the toner! Surprisingly, my face sebum is regulated and I got less pimples other than some minor hormonal pimples. Before using this, I would get serious volcano-like hormonal pimples every month on both sides of my jaw. After using this toner, I got less pimples and blackheads that even my boyfriend could tell that! How amazing it is! My skin feels less bumpy (less whiteheads) than before.

I could not find the older version of the set that I bought since it was bought in Nov 2017. I think La Roche Posay has come out with a new product to replace the old Effaclar Clarifying Toner cause I can't find it anywhere!!! I have found the love of my skin but then it is not available anymore, can you imagine that? 😭😭 This is the Effaclar set that Boots selling right now:
Effaclar Purifying Gel Cleanser 125ml, Effaclar Astringent Lotion 200ml and Effaclar Duo [+] 40ml

[Photo crops from Boots UK website]

The closest toner that I could find is Effaclar Clarifying Solution Acne Toner cause of the similarity of the ingredients but it is only available at La Roche Posay of the U.S..

Ingredients of the three different Effaclar toners:

1.   Effaclar Clarifying Toner [Old version that I bought]:

2.   Effaclar Clarifying Solution Acne Toner [U.S. Only]: Water • Alcohol Denat • Propanediol • Glycolic Acid • Sodium Hydroxide • Capryloyl Glycine • Phenoxyethanol • Benzyl Alcohol • Ppg-26-Buteth-26 • Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil • Menthol • Tremella Fuciformis • Polysaccharide • Butylene Glycol • Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract • Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract.

3.  Effaclar Astringent Lotion [New version]: Aqua / Water, Alcohol Denat., Glycerin, Sodium Citrate, Propylene Glycol, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Disodium EDTA, Capryloyl Salicylic Acid, Citric Acid. Parfum / Fragrance. (CODE F.I.L.:B41288/1). Find out more at Boots UK

As you can see in the ingredient list of Effaclar Clarifying Toner, the salicylic acid (BHA) and lactic acid (AHA) are actually near the end of the list, which means the percentage of AHA/BHA used in this product is considerably mild. The lactic acid is favorable to reduce the appearance of acne scars, it is more moisturizing and less likely to cause irritation. Salicylic acid is the best ingredient to treat whiteheads and blackheads.

Reason that stops me to purchase the newer version of the La Roche Posay Effaclar toner is the second ingredient in the list, Alcohol Denat. You can find out more about why I don't use products with alcohol as the main ingredients here. To cut it short, ask yourself this question: why would I spend over $30+ on a product mainly made of alcohol and hope that it would improve my skin? Have you ever heard anyone said alcohol could improve her skin? 

Repurchase: I wish I could

Recommend: Not the available version 😭

#COSRXAHA/BHAClarifyingTreatmentToner

Many Youtubers have been raved about COSRX products in earlier of 2018. I wonder if it worths the hype and bought their AHA/BHA toner to hope for a replacement of the La Roche Posay Effaclar Clarifying Toner. Even though I have used a BHA toner before, but I still get slight tingling/burning feel when I start using this toner, but it doesn't last long. It also has a not really pleasant chemical-like smell, and I also hold my breath for few seconds when I spray it onto my face. I have used three-quarter of it and feel that it is average, my face sebum is still under control but then it doesn't really reduce the whiteheads as much as compared to La Roche Posay Effaclar Clarifying Toner. I have to do triple cleanse every night to minimize the whiteheads. 

The ingredient list of this toner is short and there is a saying that shorter the ingredient list, the better it is. The Glycolic Acid (AHA) in the ingredient list is a common/popular AHA for exfoliating the dead skin to treat scarring. Salicylic acid is not used here and it is replaced by the Betaine Salicylate. I suspect this is the reason why my whiteheads are not under control with the use of this COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner. Betaine Salicylate is an alternative ingredient to Salicylic Acid when the usage of salicylic acid is prohibited or the amount permitted is restricted. Take note that Willow Bark Water is not equivalent to Salicylic Acid although Salicylic Acid can be extracted from Willow Bark. You can read more on the relationship of Willow Bark Water and Salicylic Acid.

I would recommend this to people who have mild/occasion whiteheads/blackheads but it might not be strong enough for people with oily and acne-prone skin like me. However, this could be a great product to start with for people who never use any AHA/BHA exfoliant before. It is recommended to start with a milder one so that your skin will not be burned by strong exfoliants.

Side note on triple cleansing: first with micellar water as I used heavy sunscreen in the day, followed by foam cleanser and gently scrub with gauze cotton cloth, then using another gentler foam cleanser to gently pressed out the whiteheads with the bubbles formed from the cleanser. Then, I will pat the COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner on my face. I tried to skip the steps of scrubbing with gauze cotton cloth and/or pressing whiteheads with foam cleanser, but I can feel the whiteheads all around my face and I really hate it! So I guess the COSRX AHA/BHA is not really effective in reducing whiteheads. I learned the scrubbing method from a Taiwanese Youtuber "Meg Lu". Since my face is really oily and acne-prone plus I am staying at the West side of Singapore where air pollution is quite severe here, so I would do this scrubbing every night. Maybe with this step of scrubbing and the AHA/BHA toner would be enough for some people who has thinner/drier skin, but not for me. I can see the whiteheads standing on my pores and saying "HELLO!" to me after gently scrubbing. I must say "BYE!" to them and I adopt another Taiwanese  Youtuber's "Dr. Ivan 6" method to get rid of them. He suggested to use a gentle/mild cleanser that forms bubbles and gently presses the areas that have whiteheads/blackheads with bubbles on face. This works for me! Sometimes when I feel lazy to do the whole procedure, I can feel many whiteheads on my face, when I complete the whole process, my skin will be smoother 😉

Repurchase: Hmmm..don't think so since there's so many AHA/BHA exfoliants in the market now

Recommend: Depends on the skin type

#Paula'sChoiceWeightlessBodyTreatment2%BHA
The last exfoliant that I tried this year is for body not for face, so you can skip this if you're not troubled by back acne. Yes, I have acne all over my skin, face and body! How sad 😭. Most  of the time I'm wearing T-shirt or tops with sleeve cause my back acne is very serious! I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo below, but my bacne is really troubling me. Sometimes I would tell myself, don't care about what the others think when they see it, but sometimes I would remind myself that it can be quite unappealing to see so many pimples and pimple scars on someone's skin.

So I started to think of what can I do to reduce them and I thought since I could control my face acne/pimples with BHA, why not I use it on my back? Then I found the Paula's Choice 2% BHA Body Lotion which has quite many reviews on how it reduces the bacne. So I decided to give it a try and ordered it online. It has slight chemical-ish scent almost similar to the La Roche Posay Effaclar Clarifying Toner and I kinda love this scent too. I come to a conclusion that the chemical smell is the smell of Salicylic Acid after using a few different AHA/BHA products. This is a very light weight lotion and my skin absorbs it very fast once I applied it on my skin. It is not sticky or oily at all, so I don't mind to use it even living in a high humidity country. I use this every night after taking shower and my scars from the bacne have faded!!! BUT, it does not reduce the pimples, I still get new pimples all over my back, sad case. I even tried to use Epsom Salt which introduced by a Youtuber who cured her bacne with Epsom Salt. My skin is too stubborn to be cured, and Epsom Salt is not helpful for my bacne. However, I do notice my bacne has been reduced lately after switching my normal body shower to Cetaphil cleanser, and with the use of Paula's Choice 2% BHA Body Lotion, my bacne is slowly clearing up. I'm so happy that I finally found a way to clear them! 😊 

One thing that caught my attention is the Salicylic Acid (BHA) is on top of the ingredient list, so I guess this cut the crap to deliver what it claims, a BHA product that helps to exfoliate skin. Some reviewers say that it does reduce their bacne but some say it doesn't. So I guess it actually depends on individual's body as our bodies are mainly affected by not only the environment, but also our mood, daily activities and not to forget the food that we eat. So normally I would try to gather as many reviews as I can before buying a new product to try but I know it might not work the same way like what others said. So after dumping dollars into buying many skincare products that are not suitable for my skin, I would highly recommend one to buy a travel/small size of skincare product that you never use before. Although I bought the normal size of this body lotion when I first purchased it but I thought I could use it as my body lotion if it did not help to control my bacne, so I would not waste it anyway. 

Repurchase: Depends on my bacne

Recommend: Can go ahead with the sachet size if you're not sure your skin could tolerate the 2% BHA

Do bear in mind that using AHA/BHA can be drying your skin, so remember to properly moisturize your skin whenever you use AHA/BHA product. Other thing to take note is never mix hydroxy acid with Retinol or Niacinamide in your skincare routine. 

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored, I bought the products with my own money and reviewed based on own experience only.