Sunday Stuff #30 battle of the Spot treatments

My skin has gone a bit crazy over the last few weeks. Too many sugary drinks and cakes followed by too many skincare products aimed at banishing “imperfections” and “impurities”. I went for the nuclear option when I noticed a few red lumps on my cheeks and went all out with exfoliating creams, masks and double cleansing. Needless to say that only resulted in further breakouts (of the much smaller kind all around the sides of my nose and beginnings of my cheeks). I was feeling incredibly self conscious.

Since then I’ve taken a step back, opted back into a remarkably low key skincare routine and the pesky little bumps have disappeared and I was only left with a few of the under the skin red lumps. So instead of tackle my whole face I’ve been looking to on the spot treatments to clear my skin. I found myself with two brand new ones this week – Origins Spot Remover and Malin and Goetz Sulfur Paste. Both treatments have had rave reviews and hoard of fans (the latter including Millie Mackintosh who posted an incredibly brave “spot cream selfie” on her instgram just earlier this week).

Both treatments are incredibly strong and contain alcohol pretty high up on the ingredients list, so this is definitely to tackle specific spots and wont help you if you have full blown acne everywhere. However, both work really well and I’m struggling to pick a favourite. The Origins Spot Remover comes in such a dinky bottle which you can squeeze to deposit the perfect amount of gel to apply straight on to your problem areas. It stings initially but I like that it feels like it’s working. It then dries the spot up so that after a few hours it is half the size and dramatically less red. The Malin and Goetz works similarly however you have to use a q-tip (something I quite enjoy though, it all feels incredibly professional) and it deposits a bright white sulphur paste on to your skin, which can look alarming and like you’ve just put some toothpaste on your spots. However, for an at night treatment the Sulphur Paste works wonders at diminishing blemishes and leaves the ex-spotty areas incredibly smooth, and actually the marks are visibly lightened.

If you were going to buy one I’d opt for the slightly more expensive (by £1.50) Malin and Goetz Sulfur Paste, purely because I feel like it makes a difference in the aftermath of the spot as well as reducing the size of it – it genuinely helps to fade the dark marks that the spots leave. However for day to day use, under makeup etc the most inconspicuous is Origins. However, both work fantastically and are some of the best spot treatments I’ve ever come across.

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