The Ballygobbard Project

The Ballygobbard Project

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The Ballygobbard Project
The Ballygobbard Project
Sarah tried tretinoin so you don't have to (and has the disgusting pictures to prove it)

Sarah tried tretinoin so you don't have to (and has the disgusting pictures to prove it)

It's retinol on speed, and it will literally rip your face off

Feb 24, 2025
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The Ballygobbard Project
The Ballygobbard Project
Sarah tried tretinoin so you don't have to (and has the disgusting pictures to prove it)
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Girls, I’m on a skin journey.

A couple of years ago I read an article that claimed patchy pigmentation ages you more than wrinkles. It felt like an attack. I have been dealing with hyperpigmentation since my hormones went haywire during my first pregnancy twelve years ago. After two subsequent babies I had stubborn brown patches on my forehead and cheeks and a moustache of freckles on my upper lip that got darker every summer. Everything would fade slightly in the nine months of the year we have constant cloud cover and SAD, but it was always there waiting to reappear at the first hint of sun.

Taken July 18th 2020

I wanted to tackle my pigmentation but first I had to ask myself why I was so bothered by the idea it was ageing me. Keeping women looking as young as possible is multi-billion dollar industry and a global obsession. We fear fine lines, go gaga for “botox in a bottle” and, if you’re Kim Kardashian, would literally eat shit if it kept the years off. And for what? Because youth is associated with attractiveness. To look your age, or worse, to look older, is to have let yourself go. I hate it.

I am a victim of the patriarchy though, so for Christmas 2022 Santa brought me a voucher for a clinic that specialises in skin. I had done some rudimentary research

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