Fun fact: I have insanely sensitive skin. If I'm not careful, my face easily breaks out into cystic acne. It gets inflamed and puffy. I get awful hormonal breakouts all over my chin and around my mouth.
I thought that surviving puberty would earn me the lifelong reward of clear skin, but alas...here we are at age 23 with worse flare-ups than when I was 16.
This post is special to me because it's taken me a lot of time, patience, and trial and error to figure out what my skin loves. I've also learned what my skin DOESN'T like.
You probably realize this, but I still need to give the full disclaimer: everyone's body is different! Everyone's skin is different! So not all of my tips will work for you, but I do believe that there are some universal truths that most people can benefit from.
There are multiple categories because there is so much more to skin care than just what you actually put on your face. Happy reading!
Products
I wash my face morning and night EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I stick to three steps: cleanse, tone, moisturize. I have tried cleansers and face washes all over the spectrum of prices, consistencies, and brands. The one that I've been using consistently for roughly 5 months is this Oxy Acne Cleanser; I pair it with my facial brush. The combination leaves my skin feeling so fresh, and digs deep to remove trapped dirt from my pores.
As for toner, this was the first bottle I've tried from this brand. I prefer using plain witch hazel, but every store around me was sold out for a minute. Perhaps this hack is catching on?
Witch hazel is amazing at reducing inflammation, eliminates bacteria, and tightens pores. I believe it's typically recommended for oily skin, but I have dry skin and it still works wonders. I actually ran out about two months ago and did not re-purchase for two weeks...a sprinkling of pimples popped up on my chin again. I truly think it cleans out my skin so well without being too harsh.
My moisturizer mission is not quite over yet. I've only been using this one for about a month; so far, so good! The consistency allows it to sink into the face. I aim to pick one with simple ingredients and no sent. My skin is too sensitive for anything intense.
Here is an important point to make: whether you have oily or dry skin, moisturizing makes all the difference. I have dry skin, and if I let it get out of control, I get flaky and itchy and irritated. To compensate, my body tries to produce extra oils, which results in breakouts.
By clearing up my skin, I've eliminated the need for foundation. If I bother to do my makeup, I only need concealer for my tired eyes and any minor blemishes. If I'm experiencing a nasty breakout, I suck it up and let it breathe as opposed to putting makeup on it; avoiding irritating the skin will help speed up the healing process.
I will have products down below as well!
Food
Your gut controls your entire body in its own ways. What you ingest will reflect in your digestion, liver, brain function, moods, immune system...more bodily processes than we realize. But this post is about skin, so here is where my food choices come into play:
-I eat a lot of anti-inflammatory foods. I feel like that term gets thrown around a lot, but what does it mean? Essentially, inflammation starts when your body finds something foreign. This can be incredibly damaging to simple tasks that your body typically does; for me, it causes major digestive problems as well as cystic breakouts. Foods that are inflammation culprits are hard to quit, so brace yourself: dairy, refined sugar, refined carbohydrates. Keep in mind that I eat natural sugars from fruits, and complex carbohydrates from vegetables (hello, sweet potato).
Don't cry over taking a break from donuts and cookies, because here comes the good news: Eating healthy fats is an essential staple in my meals to help my skin. A few repeat items on my grocery list include salmon (or other fish on sale), avocados, almonds, coconut oil, and eggs. These fats help fight that inflammation, regulate my hormones, and keep my satisfied (which helps kick the sugar cravings).
The link below highlights some important categories of the good fats, a.k.a. "relatively unprocessed fats from whole foods."
Health
While nutrition is one of the main factors of our skin's quality, there are other avenues of our overall health that can't be ignored.
Drink your damn water! I know you're rolling your eyes because we've all heard this too many times. But it's because adequate water consumption is essential for not just skin quality, but overall health quality. Now that my body is adjusted to how much water I drink, I can feel the difference when I don't have enough.
Get enough sleep and GOOD sleep. I'm still not great at this, but my skin looks more radiant when I'm well-rested.
Manage stress. I'm not so great at this either...but for me, it's crucial. I will have a particularly stressful work day and wake up the following morning with stress breakouts.
Overall, if you are struggling with temperamental skin, consult your doctor or dermatologist to learn about what skin type you are. From there, most people will benefit from consistency in products used (once you find something that works for you!).
Clean your face every day and consume whole foods; you'll be on the right track.
Witch hazel (benefits and links)
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a19950011/witch-hazel-beauty-benefits/
Gut health (I encourage you to do more in-depth research on this topic! I've read a few books that I'd love to recommend)
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/diet-dairy-sugar-gluten-acne-connection/
Inflammation
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation
Fats
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-healthy-fats