One would think, judging by the state of my medicine cabinet, bathroom shelves, and Sephora bills, that I love skincare. I have spent what amounts to weeks of my life browsing articles about skincare and researching the newest, most obscure, and most “groundbreaking” skincare products, and I don’t even want to get into the number of skincare routine videos that I’ve watched on YouTube. I have bought and sampled over one hundred skincare products from Sephora, and an ungodly amount from drugstores and Korean Skincare websites. If you want to know about a face mask or serum, I’m your girl. But the truth is, I absolutely hate skincare. I’m sick of it, I’m tired of it, and if I could just find one regimen that worked, I would never Google another cleanser as long as I lived.
Enter Curology.
If you are someone with an Instagram, Facebook, or eyeballs, you have probably seen an ad for Curology. They have absolutely clobbered the world of social media advertising, and their use of influencers praising their product is unparalleled. So they’ve been on my radar for a while, but I never thought I would actually give them a try. You see, calling my skin “sensitive” is an understatement. If I eat something with even traces of dairy, my skin breaks out. If I touch a door handle and forget to wash my hand before idly scratching my face, my skin breaks out. If I use towels with a fragranced detergent, my skin breaks out. If someone sneezes wrong in Kentucky, my skin breaks out.
Basically, experimenting with new skincare products has been forbidden to me for a long time. After years of trying everything under the sun (as a kid, my dermatologist prescribed me every topical medication I’ve ever heard of, I took oral antibiotics and birth control, and even did a full course of Accutane), I had finally settled on a routine that at least didn’t actively destroy my skin. With a mix of 5 skincare products from a range of Sephora, over the counter, and prescription sources, my acne had at least mostly calmed down. It was still unbelievably sensitive and about as moisturized as Death Valley, but it was working. Sort of.
Until they reformulated two of my go-to products. Suddenly my ol’ reliables had turned on me, and I’ll be honest, I had a bit of a meltdown. My skin was the worst it had been in years, and I was desperately searching the internet for recommendations, reviews, and new dermatologists once again. I was also dreading the actual process of trying any new products that I discovered, because 99% of the time, the morning after I apply anything new to my skin, I wake up with horrendous acne or even contact dermatitis (which has happened more than a few times). I felt like I was starting from scratch again, but that got me thinking. What if I did start from scratch again? Really and truly start over and abandon my 4 other painstakingly assembled and egregiously overprices products. Considering a clean slate made me also consider the subscription product that the entirety of Instagram has not shut up about: Curology.
So I did it. I filled out the 15 minute-ish skincare quiz about the state and history of my skin and signed up for my free trial. That little quiz is the cornerstone of how Curology works, since the Curology bottle itself is a custom mixed treatment for your personal skincare needs. They have a team of actual dermatologists who look at your quiz results, give you a call for a quick personal chat, and mix you a customized formula of your very own. You can also opt-in for their cleanser and moisturizer, giving you a full skincare set delivered right to your door every month or two.
I confess, I spent the entire week between placing the order and its actual arrival debating whether or not to even try it. Since my skin has historically rejected every product I put on it, I felt like maybe I should just stick with my tried and true (incredibly pricey and drying) products. Sure my skin was uncomfortable and I hated having to purchase those bottles, but it was better than a breakout of cystic acne right before Thanksgiving right? But when it arrived I knew I had to give it a shot. The Curology hype in the online community is VERY real, and the chance for a magical skin cure-all sounded to good to pass up.
So here I go. I’m going to try it out and document how it goes. Because if it works for my skin, there is a very good chance that it will work for you. I will face my naked-face-photography fears starting right now, with these initial photos. My skin in these photos is actually not breaking out as badly as usual, but is extremely dry and is breaking out anywhere that I even briefly touched with my hand that day.
I will say that even though I have just gotten started and have only been following the regime for 3 days, my skin has not broken out once. Not a single pimple or blackhead, no negative reaction at all to an entirely new skincare routine. That alone is a miracle. It is definitely still a bit dry, but that could be due to my old routine or perhaps needing the richer moisturizer (I went with the regular gel).
I will keep you all updated as I progress in my Curology Journey, and please reach out to me here or on Instagram if you have any questions about what it’s like. I would love to hear about your personal skincare journey, or what you think about Curology if you’ve given it a shot!
Beets & Books 
Well written!
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