Re: Things that have helped my skin...

Hi,

I know how it feels to become socially excluded through the condition of your skin. I just spent most of my summer holidays hiding away indoors and avoiding going out with friends because I felt so ashamed of my skin. Now I'm back at University and being forced into human interaction on a daily basis, helping me overcome the negative emotions I associated with my skin. And this has had great impact on my acne...other than the hormonal 'time of the month' pimples, my skin's looking pretty good right now and I find the less I worry the better it gets.

I've also tried to keep my skin care regime really simple, wash with tea-tree oil soap twice daily then moisturise with tea-tree oil lotion with a few drops of lavender oil in. The oil soaks in and doesn't look atall greasy, just leaves my skin really smooth. I treat individual spots with tea-tree oil. I also recently bought a product called EpidermX, and whilst I usually try and avoid money-making commercial products like these, I did lots of research beforehand and found barely any negative reviews of it. It has a mild dermabrasive effect and has really smoothed out small bumps I had round my mouth and is clearing away red marks fast!

Supplement-wise I take daily a 50mg zinc (to heal scarring), vit B complex (to keep moods up!), MSM and a hair/skin/nails complex. I also take maca to balance hormones but it's a bit pricy so I've just switched to evening primrose oil which has the same effect.

I avoid foundation because this seemed to aggravate my skin but cover individual spots with mineral makeup which doesn't make the problem worse. I also like to dress up my eyes with mascara and shimmery eye-shadows to draw people's eyes away from my skin, and if you maintain eye-contact when talking their eyes will stay on yours and away from your skin.

And I've trained myself not to pick my skin!! This is crucial to helping skin heal well. I used to do it out of habit but after a few nasty experiences where I overdid it and had craters on my chin, I've learnt my lesson and keep hands well away.

And obviously cutting out Sugar is highly beneficial to the skin but my sweet tooth doesn't allow me to eliminate it completely and I often overdo it on the chocolate! I do try and have a few juices a week of cucumber/beetroot/carrot to help purify skin and only drink herbal teas with a very rare coffee after a meal out. I also eat plenty of wholegrains and pulses; fibre is essential for good digestion and good skin.

Hope some of this helps you! Please don't let this horrible thing take over your life. I was having a really down day when I saw a magazine article of a girl who'd received horrific burns in a fire. It had pretty much melted her face. I compared my suffering to hers and realised I was incredibly lucky with the relatively good skin I had.

So chin-up and face the world with a smile on your face. A radiant personality makes you a beautiful person and people will look past the surface if you only let them and see that you are a wonderful person regardless. Confidence is the key!!

Amber x Tweet