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no makeup today^
no makeup 2 years ago^
The journey to healing skin is not a short one. For me, it took over a year. Yes, you read that right, A YEAR.
I know that when you have severe acne, every day can feel like an eternity. So along my journey to healed skin, I developed some methods for dealing with my skin’s unpredictable temper tantrums and impact over my emotional well-being.
I really wanted to post about how to DEAL with acne before I explained how I healed my acne, because I thinks it’s really important that you don’t to continue to be miserable during the year that your skin is healing.
And don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you that “only you notice it” or “it’s so much worse in your own eyes” because I know from experience that saying those things will make you feel 0% better. What I’m going to do is share with you some tips and tricks that helped me manage my breakouts and my emotional reactions through the healing process.
Steps to dealing with your acne:
- Take a break.
- Strategize your foundation game.
- Acknowledge the lighting and change it if needed.
- Buy this weird skin mask.
- Eat more.
Let’s dig into these a bit:
- Take a break
I wouldn’t describe my personality type as “Type A”, but maybe a modification of “Type A” that I like to call “Type !!!!” I like to go hard, always.
If you’re also a “Type !!!!” or maybe a “Type !!!!!” or even a “Type !”, your persona probably isn’t doing your acne any favors. And what I am about to tell you is probably one of your least favorite things to hear. Take a break.
Just over a year ago, my skin was especially bad. Work was particularly stressful, and I picked up one of the nasty flu bugs that went around last year. I fought it as long as I could, continuing to work out and dragging myself miserably through workdays, until my blessed C forced me to call in sick. I spent a whole week at home. I worked minimally from my coach when I felt up to it, focused on filling my body with healthy and healing foods, took off my Fitbit, and gave myself permission to veg. As predicted, at the end of the week I felt LOADS better. What I didn’t predict, however, was the impact it had on my face. My skin looked better than it had in years. And once more, I got my period for the first time in months! It was like mother nature was giving me a pat on the back in the form of that blessed female flow and glowing clear skin.
- Strategize your foundation game.
Covering up your acne with a quality foundation can make you feel so much better. This is okay and it doesn’t make you shallow. If you deal with chronic acne, a little boost of confidence is the least that you can do for yourself. If you have a hot date, an outing with your girlfriends, or a big meeting at work, cover that shit up and walk in with your head held extra high. If you have chronic acne, I guarantee that using foundation here and there isn’t the cause of it.
Of course, life is about give and take, so also make note of times where you feel comfortable/secure enough to go without makeup. For me personally, I don’t wear foundation to work. Of course, I work with engineers, so I could probably wear a bikini to work and no one would notice a thing. So you find your times and do you.
- Acknowledge the lighting and change it if needed.
This sounds crazy, I know, but it’s possible that the lighting in your bathroom is making you feel 100% worse about your skin. Our last apartment was a really… cost effective and… vintage… apartment. As such, the lighting was dated and harsh. And at work, I had the “pleasure” of working in a LEED Platinum building. Which translates to freakishly white LED bathroom lighting.
Then one day, I visited my great aunt in AZ and I convinced myself that the dry air healed my skin because I was feeling sooo much more confident when I looked in the mirror. I was ecstatic and gushed to C about my revelation.
When I got home, however, I realized that my skin didn’t change, the lighting did. At first, I was disappointed, but then I decided to use the revelation to my advantage. I started to do my makeup in the natural light of my bedroom and at work, I used the bathroom on the floor below mine (a peasantry LEED Gold floor with much kinder bathroom lighting). It sounds stupid, I know. But it’s something that caused me no further inconvenience and made me feel SO much better about my skin. Acne sucks. You don’t need to let it make you feel worse than it already does.
- Buy this weird skin mask
Masks are HOT right now. You can find them on the shelves of almost any chi-chi goods store or organic grocer. These products range from $5-$25 dollars (STEEP) and I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I haven’t indulged in the occasional over-the-top skin mask. I’m also not going to lie to you and tell you that it changed my life and turned my skin around after its one use. I will tell you, that this is exactly what I felt like afterward:
If you want a mask that’s really going to help your skin without putting you out on the streets, do yourself a favor and buy this stuff:
Honestly, I don’t even remember how I found out about this mask because it was before the days of Instagram and I know they don’t carry it in stores anymore. But thank GOD I did because it soothed my skin when nothing else could.
Look, I KNOW it’s not made with manuka honey and I KNOW I can’t pronounce 90% of the ingredients on its ingredient list. It’s probably chalk full of products that will give my babies extra limbs but WHATEVER I just don’t care because it’s a whopping $1.80 to purchase online, it lasts me months, and during my worst breakouts, I can use this to soothe and clear my skin. Trust me, blogiverse friends. It’s worth every one of the 8 quarters it costs. Do yourself a favor. Buy the mask. Cover your skin in it’s mystery ingredients. Watch magic happen.
- Eat more.
This is more about healing and less about dealing. If you struggle with chronic acne, its not because you’re touching your face, or because you’re not washing your pillow case enough, or because you wear too much makeup. When people offer these things to you as a solution, I give you full permission roll your eyes and walk away.
Your chronic acne IS NOT YOUR FAULT. More likely than not, there’s something a little coocoo going on with your hormones.
The first time I went to the doctor for my acne, I was told to wash my face with Dove soap and use a moisturizer.
…….. k great real thankful for all 12 years of your medical education super helpful.
The second time I went to a doctor for my acne, I was diagnosed with PCOS and prescribed birth control which made me feel TERRIBLE and didn’t really help my skin.
Finally, I splurged and went to a naturopath who performed a 500$ urine test that showed that I had a candida overgrowth. She put me on an extremely restrictive diet and, surprise-surprise, my acne got worse.
In an all-hands-in-the-air attempt, I made an appointment with an extremely well-reviewed doctor, an appointment for which I waited over three months. The doctor was very kind and listened to my woes.
And then what happened? Well I left with a prescription for an anti-depressant which is really funny when you think about it but really, REALLY not funny when you think hard about it.
If you’ve read some of my other posts, you know that I have struggled in the past with episodes of disordered eating, and in particular, prolonged restriction. Restriction really fucks with your hormones and hormones really fuck with your skin. I notice after a vacation, where I am eating more and relaxed about it, my face is always at its clearest. That’s why I did a reverse diet to get my body back to a healthy hormonal state.
The first thing doctors or health professionals will tell you when you are experiencing hormonal acne is to cut out “inflammatory” foods such as dairy, gluten, and sugar. And if you truly have allergies surrounding these foods, then yes, cutting them out will probably stop you from breaking out in rashes. But odds are you don’t.
Of course, I believe in eating whole foods as much as possible but having some cheese on your salad or enjoying a Mediterranean wrap for lunch isn’t going to cause your skin to break out. Cutting out entire foods groups, eating a caloric deficient for an extended period of time, and stressing out about what you’re putting in your body, however, will.
So please fuel your body, give it what it needs, and it may surprise you.
