Skin care has been a struggle for my entire life. My skin has the ability to change my entire mood from good to bad to ugly, but I have come to learn that there are many small tips and tricks I can do to make my skin look and feel healthier. My journey is not going to be the same as yours but I thought I would share my experience.
First and foremost, acne prone skin is written into my genetics and I know I cannot change that. To alleviate flare ups I focus on diet because that is what works for me.
Every morning I start my day with lemon water, for many digestive reasons, but also because I find that it calms puffiness and bloating in my skin.
I know my body reacts poorly to dairy and pretty much every time I eat it I get breakouts all over my chin and back. So, I stay clear of dairy as best that I can.
Sugar has been known to do terrible things for the skin as it creates inflammation and damages collagen. That being said, I try to monitor added sugars and carbs (that turn into sugars). I generally try not to eat too many carbs and when I do, I try to make them myself with products I trust.
For years doctors insisted that the only way I would rid my face of acne was by taking oral drugs and using topical medication. While that got me through my teenage years, I would have never taken those medications had I known then what I do now about the negative effects medication can have on your gut biome. Now I only use pure rose water spray and natural/clean moisturizers. But that was not an easy choice to make. I was incredibly hesitant to swap out the spot treatments and acne creams for clean beauty products. I was terrified that it wouldn’t work.
To my surprise, it has truly worked better than any acne medication I’ve used in the past. The most important tip I have about making this switch and about skin care routines in general is BE CONSISTENT. The more consistent I am, the easier it is to measure results from one product to the next. This might mean using one product for a few months at a time, but I try to stick with it as best I can and monitor progress.
As if it could not get more complicated, we add makeup to the mix. What I try to remember is that no matter what I put on my skin, it gets absorbed by my body and therefore affects everyone differently. Something that is very important to me when it comes to makeup is using mostly natural products and trusted brands, and the less contamination and clogging I can do to my skin every day, the better. I realize that there is no way for me to know everything so I do my bets to buy products that work for me and grow my personal knowledge of products. Recently, I found out about Follain - the very first retailer to sell clean beauty exclusively. I am hoping to slowly migrate over to the completely clean products they have recommended for my skin type, treating myself to one product at a time. Again, consistency is key. Makeup products can really contribute to breakouts and skin irritations, so I am sure to clean my brushes and try one product at a time to compare results.