Skin care for acne

[Greek Bonfire]

My skin problems are all hormone related, no matter what remedy I tried. I had so much oil in my system in my early twenties that I could not wear foundation at all as I had to blot my face every two hours or I swear the blush would slide right off! Even now I have to watch the moisturizer or I will break out. On the plus side, they say that over abundance of oil keeps your skin looking younger, although battling potential acne scars is just that - an ongoing battle.

 

[Crazy Cat Lady]

I have normal to dry skin. This may sound weird, but i don't actually wash my face with soap or any kind of cleanser, just water. If I have lots of eye makeup on I will use some cleanser to get it off my eyes. I find the less soap I use the better my skin is.

Also, I use a oil free makeup & skin moisturizer. I like L'Oreal products. I use Future E everyday.

I know if you have oily skin you need to treat your skin different, my sister has that problem. She has to wash her face constantly with special cleansers.

The only time I had acne problems was in my early twenties, some kind of weird hormone imbalance. (later was diagnosed as hypothyroid so that might have been the problem) Broke out everywhere. Had to go on Antibiotics. For years I used a topical acne medical that had Erythromycin in it. When I moved to the coast from the prairies. I stopped using topical as I noticed that I rarely broke out anymore. Its very humid here. My skin seems to like it. Maybe those people with dry skin that live in dry areas should try one of those face humidifiers.

Finally Tri-Cyclen is the best BC for skin.

 

[Shanazel]

This may sound weird, but i don't actually wash my face with soap or any kind of cleanser, just water.

Not so weird-sounding to me. I use cleanser and plain water on alternate days.

 

[Amulya]

I always use water only. Only rarely I use a cleaner or toner. I find that water is the most gentle. I don't like the feel of cleaning products. After washing with water (twice a day) I apply A'kin hand cream on my face. Sounds strange? It's so good on my face! Not too oily but prevents skin from drying out.

 

[Shanazel]

I use La Roche-Posay Toleriane foaming cleanser and moisturizer. Very gentle and non-drying. Anything the least bit harsh kicks rosacea into high gear and I do NOT want that!

 

[Munniko]

I feel like my skin care routine is much to involved so I'm trying to switch over to less chemically enhanced products. I wash my face every night because off the make-up I'm constantly wearing and my face is purging from living in a climate with heavy pollution for awhile. Mainly I just try and exfoliate my skin once a week and every morning pre-makeup routine I use witch hazel as a toner and it takes off surprising amounts of dirt and helps the lotion absorb better.

 

[Meera]

I'm so sorry, Meera. There was one method of treating acne that I read about years ago in a book called "Blue Eyeshadow Should Be Illegal" (seriously, that was the name of the book!). The author recommended washing your face by making a paste from baking soda and water, using hydrogen peroxide as a toner, and Milk of Magnesia as a mask. The author claims that these three products are gentle and healing to the skin (nursing homes use MoM to treat bed sores). You might give it a try since nothing else has worked for you. I wish you all the best. *hugs*

Thanks so much Farasha! I will try this.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Try it for a few weeks, and let me know how it works for you!

 

[Darshiva]

I wash my face with a vitamin e, sulphite-free soap. I don't wear makeup at all unless I am performing or doing a photo shoot.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Same here, I only wear makeup for performances or special occasions.

 

[Shanazel]

Me, too, and I growl while I put on makeup for performances. I guess I'm showing my hippie roots, but I really hate the stuff.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

I'm a makeup whore! But that doesn't mean I pile it on, I just like trying different looks everyday. I only pile it on when I perform, especially when the lights are very extreme.

 

[Darshiva]

I'm highly allergic to aloe vera, so I might pass on it. I do like a good clay mask though. Interestingly, I've found that diet doesn't affect my complexion so much as stress & hormones.

 

[Ariadne]

I know someone allergic to aloe too, it's not an allergy to be winked at. Comfrey has many of the same properties as aloe, I wonder if a salve or extract from it would work as well?

 

[Darshiva]

I didn't know that Ariadne, I'll look into it. For my aloe needs I usually go for high potency vitamin e cream which has healing powers like whoa.

My big gripe with aloe is that is it the wonder additive and is in EVERYTHING so cosmetic & bathroom supply shopping is quite scary and adds more time to an already lengthy shopping trip (sulphite allergy). Actually, come to think of it, the only time I don't look at the labels so see if something is trying to kill me is when I'm clothes shopping!

 

[Ariadne]

I know how you feel. I have an allergy to blue#1 and it's in EVERYTHING. Food, cosmetics, soaps, tissues, AND fabric. They even put it in "clear" liquids to make them appear clearer. Shopping is incredibly frustrating sometimes.

 

[khanjar]

Acne and skin, well one has to remember skin is an organ of excretion, the body actually gets rid of stuff, toxins mostly through the skin and usually stuff the liver can't sort out so what comes through the skin can upset the skin chemistry through it being well toxic to the internals of the body. So for skin issues instead of piling on the synthetic and natural chemicals try look at what you are ingesting as well.

A herb called milk thistle I use to give the liver a helping hand, usually when I have been on the beer but at other times I use it as milk thistle has been proved to actually regenerate cells.

But stuff you put on your skin, be aware of what chemicals are added for there are some pretty nasty ones that are in fact endocrine disruptors and have been linked to breast cancer, but anything that can disrupt the endocrine system can cause hormones to go haywire which then adds extra loading to the liver.

Yeah, it' a pain and it can be expensive but what I slop on my body be it hair stuff or skin stuff I try my best to keep away from ;

Parabens,
SLS/SLES,
Phthalates.

And anything where it says artificial

In my youth I have taken risks with some very dangerous chemicals, stuff that can serious damage and work with agricultural diesel engines in confined spaces ( WHO reports diesel fumes cause cancer), but that was in my youth, now no chemicals at all where I can avoid them, even my water bottle I carry with filtered water in it is BPA free as me does not need any more estrogen.