Cheap & Easy: How I Fix My Pimple Problems – Eskinol + Dalacin C

At my age, I still get pimples. Diba, high school forever 

Sometimes, my skin behaves so I’ll be pimple-free, but sometimes, either due to monthly cycles, eating oily food, and abandonment of my normal skincare routine because I was too tired to do it, I get cystic pimples. Also, other people’s stubbly facial hair also irritate my skin and as soon as one of those hairs prick my skin like a needle, I know right away that it will become a pimple asap.

So, what do I do to get my skin back on track?

Some of you have been requesting for my tips on preventing pimples, especially in my blog posts about facials and diamond peels.

After years of trying various things, I just went back to the classic, tried and tested combo of Eskinol and Dalacin C.

I first tried the Eskinol + Dalacin C combo in high school. It worked and I still used it up until college. However, after years of using it, I was afraid that my facial skin got too thin (manipis). The facial technicians all kept commenting how thin my skin was. At the time I was also using facial scrubs, clay masks, etc… so I stopped all of those.

After a few years of working night shift in a cold, air-conditioned office, eventually my skin flared up. It got dry easily, and sometimes even got red bumps, especially in the area under my eyes, beside my nose. I suspect it was some form of rosacea. At the time, I thought it was just pimples, and there was a time that I was at Let’s Face It almost every week! I didn’t know what was wrong with my skin, I was almost never pimple-free. This went on for years. I would try more and more creams and emollients for my face.

When I finally left that job, within two weeks, my skin cleared up and got back to normal! I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t used any different products. Was it because I was getting better sleep? However, my biggest suspicion is that the constant air-conditioning was causing my dry skin / rosacea. Then, when I stayed at a place with 24/7 airconditioning for several weeks, I noticed my skin starting to go the rosacea / pimply path again, and that just confirmed it for me. So, if you are constantly getting redness and whiteheads/pimples, check that it is not the cold, dry air from the air conditioner that is causing it. So now, I only use the ac when sleeping and I try to spend the rest of the day in regular Manila weather. This also saves a lot on the electricity bill 🙂

So that solved that, but I was still getting the occasional pimples. While I was researching on more ways to prevent pimples, I came across someone recommending clindamycin. Clindamycin? Sounds familiar. Dalacin C is clindamycin! I remembered my old, classic Eskinol + Dalacin C combo. Did it still work?

So I started using the Eskinol + Dalacin C combo again, and it really does work. Within a few days, I’ll start to see my skin clearing up. The pimples are drying up and dying. New pimples don’t even get a chance to grow bigger 🙂 This is now my main pimple-prevention maintenance routine.

How I Use the Eskinol + Dalacin C Combo

I don’t know about right now, but a few years ago when I started to use Eskinol + Dalacin C again, I couldn’t buy Dalacin C without a prescription (reseta). Fortunately, I had doctor relatives who gave me a prescription, so I bought 2 banigs of it. I can’t remember the price.

Other people have said that if you buy Dalacin C with Eskinol at some drugstores, they let you buy it even without a prescription because it’s obvious what you’re going to do with it. Please let us know in the comments what your experiences are buying Dalacin C! 🙂

So, all I do is just open the capsule and drop all the white powder inside it into the Eskinol and shake. That’s it!

Using other toners/astringents:

Note: I have also tried adding Dalacin C to my other favorite toner/ astringent, the Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2. So far, it’s been great, too! I feel like it doesn’t really change the formulation, but just adds bacteria-killing properties. I feel like this will work with any astringent/toner, so you’re not actually limited to using Eskinol. So unless I am reviewing a certain toner/astringent, I tend to add Dalacin C to all my toners/astringents for maximum pimple-fighting. FYI, the Dalacin C adds a bitter taste, in case you accidentally taste it… 

How to use:

To use it, just moisten some cotton with the Eskinol + Dalacin C mixture and start wiping your face and neck with it. Always use upward motions! Never use downward strokes to help prevent a sagging face in the future. Try to get as much dirt out from your face as you can, as gently as you can. If your face is really dirty, you can change cottons. Keep wiping until you don’t see any more dirt or gunk being removed by the Eskinol cotton.

I also feel like this action of the wiping the cotton on my face sort of “polishes” my skin, like a mini, mild diamond peel, but with cotton. I just feel like my skin is smoother. If I stop doing this for a while, I notice that my skin doesn’t feel so smooth again.

How much you use this is up to you, as for me, here’s how I do it:

If I am not wearing make-up that day, and I didn’t go out and get dirty (did not commute or ride a jeep or get jeepney dust blown on my face), I do the Eskinol step after my shower at night. I wash my face with facial wash during my shower. After I am all clean and finished with my shower, I do the Eskinol step. You’d be surprised, sometimes the Eskinol still gets some dirt that the facial wash missed! I leave the Eskinol + Dalacin C on my skin for about 10 minutes, and then I rinse it off, and then apply moisturizer and any other creams and stuff that I might want to do. If I feel like I really didn’t get that dirty that day, I just skip the Eskinol. To be honest, it can a bit harsh, and I try not to do it if I don’t need to. And that’s basically my nighttime skincare routine.

If I am not wearing makeup and I went out and got all the pollution of Metro Manila on my face, I will immediately do the Eskinol cotton thing as soon as I get home. Do not be surprised if the cotton gets black from all the pollution that got on your face! 🙁 I also wash my face with facial wash, you can do this before or after Eskinol, that’s up to you. I just do my regular night time routine later but I skip the Eskinol later if I already did it earlier. I try not to do it twice in one day.

If I am wearing makeup, I will remove the makeup first with a makeup remover or micellar water. And then I will take a shower and still wash my face with a facial wash, and then still do the Eskinol step after, and so on. Often, the Eskinol will still get makeup that the makeup remover and the facial wash missed!

So, basically, I only do the Eskinol step when I need to. If I feel like I don’t need to, I don’t. If I only stayed at home the whole day and stayed in front of my computer, obviously, I don’t need to. However, if I stayed at home and cleaned (dusty) and cooked (oils and food steam getting on my face), then I would obviously need to.

The point is to keep the skin clean and to kill any bacteria that might cause pimples, while taking care not to be too harsh on your skin.

Other tips to help prevent pimples

Here are some other things I do that I feel help prevent pimples:

• Make sure you are clean when you go to sleep. This means I take a shower at night to remove all the dirt and sweat I have accumulated during the day. I can’t stand to sleep when I am dirty. Dirty hair is also a big culprit for causing pimples, so I wash my hair every day. Kasi, naglinis ka nga ng face,, pero ang hair naman nasagap lahat ng alikabok sa EDSA, ganoon din, not only will your face get dirty again, but your pillows and bed will get dirty, too.
• Make sure your bed, pillows, blankets, etc… are all clean. So you yourself are clean, your bed must be, too. Sayang ang pagod mo maligo if you are going to sleep on a dirty bed. This doesn’t mean that you need to change your bed sheets every day. Change them if you feel that they are already dirty and dusty. Always keep your bed clean. Don’t lie down on the bed if you are still wearing dirty street clothes. Don’t put dirty things on your bed, like that bag that you put on the floor in school or under the seat of the restaurant, or that plastic bag you put on the floor of the jeep.
• Make sure the things that touch your face are also clean. This means clean towels, clean makeup brushes, clean makeup sponges. Wash your makeup brushes! Those makeup sponges in your compact need to be washed, too. Imagine all that face sweat accumulated in the sponge, combined with dead skin cells, dust, etc… It’s a bacteria breeding ground. I just wash my sponges with a small amount of my facial wash and let them dry. Also, hair ties, scrunchies, headbands – if they get dirty, wash them. And don’t forget your phone! I just wipe mine with a disinfecting wipe, but do what works for your phone.
• Check your fans and filters to see if they are clean. A dirty electric fan will be circulating dirty air. This is very bad if it’s blowing into your face/hair. If your electric fan already has dust formations on the blades and grills, it’s time to clean it. It’s an easy thing to do that shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. You need to disassemble the grill and blade parts of the electric fan and wash it. If you don’t know how to do it, just look for tutorials online. Also check your aircon filters to see if they need cleaning, as well.
• Get enough sleep. Eat less oily food. Eat less sugar. These are less easier to do, but at least, try 🙂

EDIT / ADDITIONAL INFO: Also check if products you use are causing pimples.

I noticed that I was getting a lot of pimples on my forehead, and I realized it was because the hair conditioner I used still left some residue on my face even after I rinsed it off, and it was most likely clogging my pores. So I changed my routine to washing my face after rinsing off hair conditioner.

I also noticed that I was getting pimples on my chin and around my mouth. One derma I talked to told me that fluoride from toothpaste can cause pimples in some people. I tried to look for fluoride-free toothpaste, but it’s difficult to find easily accessible ones, so I just ended up also washing my face after brushing my teeth.

What I do if things get out of control

Even though I know all these tips, sometimes I still get breakouts. Sometimes, it’s because I got lazy, sometimes, life’s too hectic, I’m too tired, or because for one reason or other, I just miss doing my normal skincare routines and end up pimply.

If things get really bad, I usually end up going to Let’s Face It to get a face cleaning. It’s not the best service, but it’s the most sulit because of the 2 free check-ups. The first visit usually gets most of the whiteheads and pimples, except for the ones that are still forming. The second and third visits mop up any remaining whiteheads and pimples. Try to look for an attendant who is light-handed (magaan ang kamay) and stick with her. I’ve noticed that the more expensive facial cleaning services are less painful, but they also do not get everything (afraid to go deep) unlike Let’s Face It na kakayurin talaga yung face mo para makuha lahat. It’s painful but sometimes you just really want to get all the whiteheads and pimples out, and my skin recovers from their heavy handling naman, no permanent damage. But this is for extreme cases, kung puwedeng iwasan, iwasan. If naagapan ko and it’s not yet that bad that I feel kaya ng isang pasada lang, I go to the less painful facial cleaning services.

Hope what I shared helps you 🙂 Please feel free to comment below!