Sleepover!!! with Luci Petlack
Dealing with Adult Acne + Hyperpigmentation
Beauty and fashion are super personal, and of course I realize not everyone shares the same taste as me (or has similar hair/body/skin types). That’s why every now and then, I’ll feature someone else’s favorites and recommendations. Read other past guests posts here.
I’ve been creating content a really long time (since 2009) and along the way I’ve met a lot of people online and formed some real, lasting friendships. My former life as an “influencer” is something that still stays with me. I can’t help but whip my phone out whenever I’m confronted with a bakery case, even when I can’t eat a thing (I have celiac).
In this deleted scene from my directorial debut, my blogging buddies
and Luci Petlack allowed me to poke fun at what so many of our lunches together were like.
We have all grown in a lot of ways — Luci moved away from Los Angeles and became a mom (I was lucky enough to attend her baby shower!) and I’ve watched her shift her own content around to becoming a go-to resource for sustainable living. I’m so honored to have her on today to talk more about her skincare regime, and how she healed her adult acne.
P.S. All affiliate links in this post are Luci’s! Visit her blog Luci’s Morsels and follow her on IG here.
Name: Luci Petlack
Generation: (Gen X???) So. I’m numerically a Generation Y, but I have one foot in Generation X (probably since my parents were older)!
Sleepover Essentials: My only memory of sleepovers was girls putting pepperoni in my hair because I ALWAYS fell asleep first. I’m still usually the first to fall asleep. This sounds traumatic, but I swear I’m fine! ;) I remember liking to watch movies and do hair/makeup (obviously before I needed my beauty rest)!
Are things already awkward?! Ok. Well, let me make this a less so. I’m a skincare and clean beauty addict advocate. For years I fought cystic acne as an adult. It wasn’t until I got pregnant, and unintentionally removed the culprit from my diet that it went away. The cause of my adult acne? Fake sugars. Yep, the sucralose (Splenda) in my coffee and the Aspartame in my chewing gum.
Once the acne started disappearing, it was recovery time, dealing with dark hyperpigmentation spots and scarring on my cheeks. Throw in the hyperpigmentation from pregnancy and things weirdly got worse before they got better.
Slowly, I started getting a handle on my skin, AND I finally found some wildly effective and clean (like – super clean) beauty brands. Now I have my morning and evening skincare and won’t shut up stop sharing about my beloved products.
Do I have a 15 step skincare routine? Clearly not, since I’d fall asleep halfway through. Morning and night both consist of cleansing, toning, serum, and a moisturizer. Adding a SPF in the morning – yes, every morning – year-round.
What are these wildly effective and super clean brands? Beautycounter and Crunchi. The US only bans 12 ingredients in cosmetics. Canada bans over 500. And the E.U. bans 1700. Beautycounter and Crunchi ban all those and a few more.
Beyond that, they do a lot of third-party testing and source high quality ingredients.
So what’s all this about? Well there are a lot of ingredients known to cause health concerns (e.g. toxicological, endocrine disruption, reproductive issues, etc.) And there are even more that are suspected to cause problems. Another level in here is that there are a number of ingredients that are common allergens.
Ok. Let’s talk products though because I want you to be wowed and love your skin too.
Quick Note. Beautycounter is on hiatus until early 2025. Follow me on Instagram or my blog to stay posted for when they’re back.
But Crunchi. So, I started using Crunchi last summer and with one product, I noticed improvement in my skin in a week. The others were drastically noticeable within six weeks.
First up is the exfoliating mask. It’s made with pumice for a fine, physical exfoliation. You can use it just for the great exfoliation or you can leave it on for 5 minutes (yes, just 5 minutes) to let the natural glycolic, lactic, and fruit acids do a chemical exfoliation. Your skin will feel soft and look glowy IMMEDIATELY. I look forward to using it every time.
Second is the Vitamin C Serum. If you need brightening (meaning dark spots, hyperpigmentation, or uneven skin tone), you need Vitamin C. There are a number of different types of Vitamin C. I’ve been actively using Beautycounter’s Vitamin C for a while and loved what it did, but the Crunchi one is even more effective, I think. I plan to switch back and forth between these two vitamin C’s when they’re both available.
The improvement you can see of my hyperpigmentation was the combination of these two items.
The third must-have item for me is the organic facial oil. It’s wonderfully soothing and has a light scent. I love using it no matter, but I noticed it got rid of the pinkness I had on the end of my nose (unrealized rosacea) and helped even out my skin tone. It’s a FABULOUS product for any part of your routine.
If you’re interested in makeup, you can read my complete Crunchi makeup review – they have some real winners there too (just not the mascara but you can read all about that there).
Use code ADVOCATE10 for 10% off your first purchase. And DM/email me if you have ANY questions!
When Beautycounter comes back, the charcoal mask and cleansing oil literally cannot be beat.