Acne Woes | Starting My Lumie Clear Journey

I'm so comfortable with my body shape and my weight but, my skin really gets me down. I've always had good skin (except when I was a teenager) but as a whole, my skin's always been clear, don't get me wrong I've had to work at it. See, I don't love wearing a ton of makeup - some shadow, liner and mascara are really as far as I go, having clear skin is a must to ensure I don't have to start wearing a ton of cosmetics just to get out of the door.

Adult-onset cyclic acne is a pain in the ass.

My acne started at the same time as my poor health and my chronic sinusitis. I'm not sure which played a part in causing the constant cyclic outbreaks but whatever it was I've struggled to try to control it ever since. I've tried super-strength antibiotics, acne antibiotics that last months, I've tried antibiotic creams and lotions, creams that literally felt as though I'd burnt my skin off *ouch* and I've tried every wonder cream and supplement out there. Some have cleared up the acne but I found it returned a few weeks later.

I've heard of others being sent for light treatment via dermatologists but with the state of our NHS, there was no way I was going to be referred and let's face it, private health care's temperamental. Researching more on light therapy I found out that blue light therapy works better than tough creams (the ones that made me feel like my face had been burnt off) because it kills off the bacteria that causes the acne. There's also red light therapy which helps to repair skin damage and some say help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles - initially, I thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo because how can light help acne when nothing else has?

Then I remembered my S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder) and depression and how I regained my own moods by using the Lumie lights. I headed back to the website and found the Lumie Clear and ta-da...

The Lumie Clear uses both red and blue led lights to target both acne and the inflammation that causes redness.

You can either use it flipped up like the image on the right and set it beside your computer while treating a larger area for longer - or - remove the green handled part (the top part) and hold it against the area you want to treat for 15 minutes. All-in-all, it's simple to use, easy to fit into your life and requires very little hassle. Now some may say 15 minutes is too long - but - you can use it while browsing the net, watching a little Youtube, sitting down for a coffee or tea or even while you eat your breakfast.

This is me when my acne had nearly cleared - it's still blatantly obvious at this point and to be honest I still relied on cosmetics to cover it at that point too. These days I find it's worse. I rarely take any photos of myself which is why you've only got this one above with a clearer acne image.

So far I've used the light for the past few days religiously, I've had no side effects such as redness, sore or sensitive skin and I've also not had any major new cysts since. Hopefully, the positive changes continue but I'll be using this for the next 45 days before I check back in as Lumie have a 45 day trial period.

Here's what the medical journals think about blue [and red] light therapy:

'Subjects evaluated self-administration of the blue light treatment according to the device’s labelling as being safe and effective. The study showed that daily self-treatment using the device for mild-to-moderate inflammatory acne reduced the number of acne lesions significantly. Moreover, the study demonstrated a significant improvement in the subjects’ skin conditions. Subjects included in the study were able to safely and effectively administer self-treatment with the device and felt confident doing so.' source 1 | source 2

You can pick up your own Lumie Clear from Boots or the Lumie website.