My acne journey, like many others, has been a long one and I’ve been documenting it on Instagram since 2016. I may have been documenting it for only 4 years, however, it’s been a decade on and off with this struggle. It put me through many up and downs but luckily it has allowed me to be present here today and share with you my tips on how to achieve glowing, clear skin!
Skincare consists of a lot of information so I’m going to be direct and provide you with bullet points so it’s much easier to digest. Now, I’m not going to tell you the obvious + repetitive, “wash your face, drink more water.” You already know that. I'm going to list the underlying causes we tend to not think about or even know, in order to help you narrow down the best solution for your skin. Let’s get into it:
Don’t overuse acne products. Whether you have acne or not, don’t let this be you: Gets one pimple and buys an entire acne routine. But don’t feel bad if this is you, it isn’t your fault. For years, many companies have marketed to us that their incredible acne products will clear. your. skin. YES, there may be acne fighting ingredients but every product whether a product specifically for acne or whether you are using the product everyday can be too drying to your skin. Acne products are notorious for having benzoyl peroxide, tea tree oil, and salicylic acid as their ingredients, if this is the case you should lessen the use of these products to only 3x a week, despite the contrary.
Take your vitamins, boo! Most acne isn’t just surface related, it may be a reflection of what could be an internal unbalance. Sometimes, acne is hormonal + stress related—things like adaptogens help your body adapt to hormones and stress better. Sometimes, acne can be gut related—probiotics can balance your gut microbiome and skin microbiome. Sometimes, acne can be diet related—try to reduce the amount of inflammatory foods you consume, despite some dermatologists potential arguments against my claim (remember: this is based on my experience and what has worked for me and my clients.) I'm not an expert in nutrition so I would suggest to do your research, as well.
Are you eating your greens? Make sure you are constantly eating foods that aid in the detoxification process of the body and are considered healthy foods. Your skin is your body’s largest organ of elimination and if you eat crap, well, to put it bluntly your skin will be crap too, sorry!
Ah, stress! Life can be stressful at times and although we can't control what gets thrown at us, we can develop healthy habits when those stressors happen. Stress can cause congestion and painful underneath-the-skin breakouts along the jawline or cause our body to overproduce oil. In conjunction, it causes wrinkles and premature aging. What helps you adapting to stress is mediation (download Synctuition for a guided experience and relaxing music), chakra balancing music (free on YouTube), and working out (don't come for me). Just 20 minutes a day can change your whole mood and the health of your skin.
Sleep hygiene—just as important as your skin hygiene. If you are breaking out constantly you need to change your pillowcase every night otherwise you're reintroducing your skin to old acne bacteria everyday. Silk pillow cases are the most gentle cases your skin can sleep on—goddesses sleep on silk and you are a freakin' goddess my love. Get your beauty sleep and although you'll do it in style for now on, you need to actually sleep so your skin can function properly. Remember that meditation app I just talked about? Listen to it before bed and I promise you that you won't count sheep anymore.
Do you stick your fingers in your jars? *Gasp* You are putting bacteria from your fingers and nails into your products, my biggest pet peeve! Stop. It. Period.
Did you wash your makeup brushes? No you didn't. I can guarantee that you do not wash your brushes as often as you need to which is after each use. Stop reading and go wash them right now. Please. Not judging, actually just reminded myself too. Brb!
Treat your skin as it is, an organ. Your skin is a living breathing organ that needs just as much water as the rest of your body, if not more. So many acne methods promote drying out your pimples and sucking everything out of your pores but what works best is being gentle, hydrating your skin, moisturizing, and focusing on the overall health so it functions properly. Remember this equation (the only math equation I am good at and will ever remember):
Hydrated Skin = Healthy Skin & Healthy Skin = Breakout Free Skin
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