No More Acne Products!!!

     Last week I touched on acne products and how you shouldn't keep buying them. I didnt go into further explanation because having suffered from acne for a chunk of my life, I wanted to help you fight it....EASILY. Its amazing how easy it actually is. I wish someone had told me sooner.

     So, here's a little background. I come from a parent who suffered horrible acne so I knew I would at some point probably bear that curse as well, so I started washing with clean and clear when I first started showing signs of puberty...and that made it so much worse somehow. I now know that I personally just cant use that brand, but at the time it sort of got the ball rolling. I didnt know anything about using a moisturizer, and so I would scrub my face and exfoliate and use pore strips and mint masks and on and on...at one point I was scrubbing my face daily with this:

Let me tell you, that wasn't fun, nor was it actually helping. If anything it was exacerbating the problem, because I would strip of the dead skin and all of the oil in my skin, but I wouldnt do anything after that. I still have scars all over from my "wear a t-shirt to the pool" acne days thanks in large part to popping them and to that cleaning method. I was told not to eat sugar and milk and fried foods and blah blah blah....let me jump ahead here to what actually works.

1) Eat Well. I cannot tell you how much better you will feel, how much clearer your skin will be just by getting enough water everyday, getting enough rest (on often cleaned pillowcases!!!! acne sufferers should wash their pillow cases at LEAST weekly...more often if you can!), and eating real, whole foods. You could spend an entire day pinning smoothie recipes on pinterest, and in fact, I hope you do take some time to do that since homemade smoothies are an incredible way to pack a lot of nutrients into one cup! There are oatmeals and paleo meals and on and on pinned there that are very healthy and easy. Its a great way to keep your whole body running great! On that note, talk to your dr about doing a detox...do detox baths (unless you are pregnant or nursing), to help your body start with a clean slate. Then eat more fruits and veggies than anything, avoid starches and sugars, take a daily probiotic, and you will look and feel better. Honestly, I could write an entire blog just on eating better..but I will spare you for now.

2) Magic Face Treatment. So I recently was just wasting time on pinterest (have you noticed how much I love that site yet?) and found this:

(you can find that girl on instagram or you can click that picture to go to the original pinterest link)

I decided to try it because of this picture I had found on there a while back:

So here's what I did, I ran a sink of hot water (mine is set at 140*) and put a beach towel over my head for approximately 20 mins (enough time to listen to 5 songs) so my pores would be very very open! Then I washed my face with some Dr.Bronners Castile soap and rinsed with really warm water. Then I steamed again for another song, dabbed my face with the towel and added the mask (I should mention that I added a splash of lemon juice instead of water to my mask for extra redness reduction). I got in the tub and soaked in an epsom salt&chamomile bath for 20 mins while I let the mask set. Then I rinsed it off, scrubbed down with a plain ol wash rag, and got out of the tub...and then I did step 3! 

3)The best damn moisturizer/food/body lotion/diaper cream/dandruff treatment/and 333 other uses magic potion evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....

I bought this brand because it is exactly what I needed without a fancy price tag..I get it on sale at rite aid when its $12.99. It is organic, extra virgin, unrefined, unbleached, etc. 

So anyway, I got out of the tub, dried off and rubbed down with my handy dandy coconut oil. After just one week (I did it every other day), my face was almost clear! I didnt take a before pic so I'm stealing this one from google to show you what it looked like before I treated it: 

It was all over my chin and neck, around my mouth and on my forehead just like that. Not horrible compared to my past, but definitely not clear!

   I really hope this post helps everyone who reads it. If you know someone who struggles with their skin, please share this with them (privately, chances are they are embarrassed enough!). I'd love to hear if anyone tries it and what they think after doing it in the comments section :)