My Skin Journey: Dealing with acne

Hi y'all! 

Considering this is my first post in months I wanted to discuss something that I am sure a lot of people can relate to and struggle with, that is, the b*tch they call 'acne'. Suffering from it since I was 17 I have a first hand understanding of how negatively it can effect a person's confidence and self esteem and I just wanted to talk about my skin journey so far and where I am currently. From skin care and medication, to eating habits. If you want the low down please continue reading. Xx

Everyone has been asked the question, 'If there was one thing you could change about yourself what would it be?' And everyone always has an answer immediately. Well, my one thing would definitely be my skin. They say you always want what you can't have, but in this case I think everyone wants good skin!

The severity of my acne has varied over the years with a combination of inflammatory and non-inflammatory spots. I always have blackheads and whiteheads with, most recently, loads of papules (for a brief description on types of acne click here).

Remedy:
There are three things that improve my acne:
1) Skincare
2) Diet
3) Contraceptive pills

When I talk about skin care, I'm referring to everything from cleansers and moisturisers to face masks and medicated ointments. Below are my current favourite cleansers and moisturisers and I alternate between products depending on the condition of my skin:

1) Clinique "Take The Day Off" makeup remover.  2) Origins 'Zero Oil" foaming face wash,
3) Lush ''Tea Tree Water" toner, 4) Bobbi Brown "Hydrating Face Tonic"
5) Mac "Oil Control Lotion", 6) Body Shop "Seaweed Matiffying Day Cream"

Cleansing my skin is an integral part of my daily routine because I can barely sleep at night if my skin doesn't feel spotless (no pun intended). I always do the following steps:

1) Makeup remover
2) Deep cleansing foaming wash: i feel like it's not working unless there is excessive foam
3) Dry with a clean face tissue: I use a tissue instead of towel to avoid spreading any bacteria
4) Use a tea tree toner: I just love tea tree
5) Moisturising serum: I rarely use an actual moisturiser because I don't want it to interfere with my epiduo gel
6) Apply eye cream: the cleansers I use are very drying so my eye area can become extremely sensitive and needs extra moisture
7)Apply epiduo gel

When my skin got really bad my saving grace was a medicated gel that the doctor prescribed called "Epiduo' (http://www.epiduo.co.uk/). I use it once daily at night, after I have thoroughly cleansed my face and it has really reduced the severity of my skin.

As you can see the progress at the beginning was rapid and I saw an improvement very quickly but although my skin has improved the rate has slowed dramatically. 

This is where my diet and the contraceptive pills I take are helping. Topical treatments can only do so much, so I need to think about what is happening inside my body also! I'm not a fan of water, so I try to drink 3 cups of herbal tea a day, while staying away from fast foods. Generally speaking I don't like sweet things so my sugar in take isn't really an issue. I do like greens and salad so I try and have a large side of it with a majority of my meals. 

As for the contraceptive pills, a hormone imbalance largely contributes to my acne, so being on the contraceptive pill helps greatly to restore a balance and lessen the amount of spots I get, not just on my face, but down my neck, back and chest also.

As well as the active acne, I also have scarring from older spots that just seem so hard to budge, so I've started a series of chemical peels to help rejuvenate my skin at a faster rate! After the first peel I noticed that the overall texture was better, but I'm going to have to have more patience when it comes to those dark marks! I'll do a post specifically about peels real soon! 

If you have any recommendations or suggestions on how I can further improve my skin please leave your comments! And I'd be happy to go over anything I've mentioned in this post in more depth, so just let me know guys!! 

Speak soon xoxo