Skin Care Tips!

Hi lovelies, I am back with another post!

Recently I received an email from a reader asking me how to take care of skin that is more prone to acne breakout and pimples, and I was all like, "Ahhhaa! You came to the right person!"

Despite my skin being much better now compared to the period from Primary 5 all the way to Secondary 2, I am still being plagued by a variety of skin problems, and they are not limited to:

• Frequent Outbreaks of Pimples (RAWR!)
• Black/White heads
• Enlarged pores
• Dark eye circles

But on the whole they are really much much better than what I experienced before I started getting better, little by little. I can totally understand how you feel like when your face is covered in hundreds of little raised red bumps, swollen, painful, and obviously unsightly. It took away a large portion of my confidence in primary school because my skin was that bad, and also because I was so unfashionable at that time I had one of the worst haircuts, worse glasses that all snowballed together to make me the ultimate NERD. It didn't help that I was academically competitive and did pretty well; all of the above just came together to reinforce my image of being this unappealing Nerd. It felt terrible, but at that time I felt that there was nothing I could do about it- I was so helpless.

The worst thing about impressions is that they are really hard to change, because I fell under the image of a stereotypical nerd (and outcast in class), I tried for a period of time to be better and friendlier. It ultimately didn't work out because I think that I was sort of a temperamental person back then, a little too weird for my classmates: afterall, most people didn't work that hard in primary school. So my confidence took a further dip, I gave up trying to make friends, and I just went along with the nerdish image and even did the nerdiest things: I went to the library whenever possible, but it was more to hide from the people that I could not get along with more than anything, and I found a recluse, a safe haven in books and their lovely tales, because books didn't judge me for my looks or my strange personality. I studied as much as I could, because it sort of took my worries away whenever I bury myself in work: it distracted me enough for me not to think about myself being a misfit. I remember each time I got hurt in class or had a quarrel with people, I would go home feeling incredibly upset, and the only thought that could cheer me was that I would work really hard and bag that top position and subject prizes every year.

Okay, so enough of my emotional rant about my rather sad past (it isn't as sad as it sounds because I had a dream, a goal, so that held me together and pushed me through). Let's go back to the topic on how to improve your skin condition, especially if you have acne! :D

1. Drink a lot of water (8 glasses a day)

Picture source: healthyfresh.org

I know, every beauty blogger or guru out there will keep telling you to drink that much water, and yes, it works. I tried it, but only recently. I am not a person who likes to keep gulping down water like goldfish, but I watched Bubz' video on skincare and I decided to take her advice, and so far, it worked pretty well!

According to experts, you have to drink a lot of water to flush out all the toxins in your body, because if you don't, they will accumulate in your body and surface as pimples as a way of releasing all the toxic materials. So if you drink a lot of water and go to the washroom a lot, you will be having a healthy digestive system and circulatory system, not to mention good clear skin! :D


2. Sleep 8-10 hours a day

Source: www.sciencedaily.com

I know! That is really hard to achieve right, especially for you people who are in secondary school or in JC like me, that is almost like impossible. I have noticed that my skin is always so much better in holidays because I sleep like a pig in holidays. I would sleep at 9pm and wake up at 11am the next morning (and lose a lot of weight because I would be skipping meal without feeling hungry).

If you don't have the time to sleep for that number of hours, then try to sleep at 11pm latest. That is when our bodily organs need to recuperate, especially our liver and kidney. They are the ones that need to recuperate and heal after a long day of removing all the toxins you have eaten from instant noodles, fast food and so much more. If you let them heal properly, then they can remove waste from your body efficiently and you would suffer less from breakouts!

For myself, when I don't sleep enough for a period of three days, immediately my skin will start having tiny little bumps erupting all over it, not to mention that my dark eye circles will morph into smoky eye liner that extend all the way out of my eyes. :/ So do try to sleep early!

3. Avoid processed food and unhealthy food

www.ecofriend.com

Oh yum yum, om nom nom! Look at that spread of fast food and fried and all the food that cause breakout! That is what you have to avoid: processed food (like luncheon meat, sausages, nuggets), fast food (because they are made of processed food), things that are too sweet or too choked full of hormones, like milk even. Many many years ago, milk is really healthy and good for your skin. Not now. Milk in America is most likely to be full of bovine growth hormones, and all this additional chemicals in your milk will affect your skin (and health) in some ways.

For me, I consume less meat during holidays because my Mom is trying to become a vegetarian, slowly, so we eat vegetarian about 5 days in a week, till we both cave from the temptation of wanting to eat meat and go out for food. Meat was a prized possession very long ago too, but now it could have an increasing amount of chemicals like antibiotics and whatnots that farmers inject chickens with, and more. Eating all those is enough to make your digestive system unhealthy, so try to avoid them:)

Instead, go for fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat organic and raw vegetable salad if possible. I have been in love with raw cabbage salad this holidays, and the best thing is that it doesn't use cream dressings that will clock up your caloric count: it contains some honey, vinegar, salt and one chili padi, and it taste fabulous. I will make another post on it if you guys are interested!

4. Wash your face and hands often

fayettewoman.com

I wash my face with T-Zone exfoliating cleanser every morning and night, but I am starting to think that using a exfoliating cleanser, no matter how gentle, twice a day is still a bit too much, so I am saving up to get myself either Acnes Medicated Creamy Face Wash or Eucerin DemoPurifyer. Those two are some of my favourite cleansers so far!

T-Zone Exfoliating Daily Wash

Throughout the day when you are at home, whenever your face feels oily, you can go and rinse your face with just water, without using any cleansers to avoid over cleansing your face. I like to rinse my face and pat it dry with a towel because it feels refreshing and oil-free after that, so I do that almost once every few hours. It is not scientifically proven, but I do feel that for me at least, rinsing my face makes my skin hydrated and refreshed!

I also wash my hands very very often, because I have the bad habit of touching my face with my hands every now and then, either to scratch or poke. I keep my nails short since this year to avoid bacteria accumulation under them, and wash my hands frequently (especially after typing!).

5. Dealing with Black and White heads
After so much tries and so much angst, I have came up with a solution to keep black and white heads at bay! To do so, you need:

Exfoliating Daily Wash

Biore Nose Pore Strips

I have a written a post on this before, it is here, do check it out! Anyways, in the nutshell, I use the face wash at least once a day to prevent the accumulation of dirt inside my pores, so that I look black-head free most of the time! You can read more about T-Zone Exfoliating Daily Wash here. Then I use the pore strip once every two months or so (depending on condition) to remove the more stubborn ones that have accumulated anyways. In that way, you won't be damaging your skin so often with the pore strip and you still have clear skin!

6. Dealing with pimples

I have been using Acnes Medicated Sealing Jell ever since they gave it to me a year ago for review, and darn, this product is pretty fantastic and in my opinion, too underrated. If you apply it onto a spot after face washing, the spot will tingle and itch a little- it is totally bearable and I believe it to be the sensation of the jell working its magic.

After a few days, the spot will get noticeably smaller and shrivel up, and give it a few more days before it heals altogether. I read some reviews on it and I still can't believe that some people don't find it good, like I say, different skin react different to products, and I really like this sealing jell myself. :D

7. Dark Eye Cirlces
Oh ho! I have no solutions or remedies to recommend to remove dark circle apart from encouraging everyone to sleep early, like before 11pm. If you really have uncompleted work to do, then do it the next day, in the morning, but don't stay up late or your dark circles will become permanent, like mine. Uuuuuww~~uwww. :'(

And nope, Garnier Brightening eye roll on doesn't really work either, in case you are counting on that.

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That's all for today! How do you guys like my post? Do you find it helpful, interesting or even boring? Do leave a comment down below and tell me what you think!Oh and do tell me if you are interested to know the recipe for the cabbage salad, it is darn delicious I swear!

The haze has been getting from bad to worse recently, so please do take the necessary precautions when you have to go out, and remember to wash your face upon returning! :D

Also, I would really appreciate it if you can subscribe to my blog via GFC on the right and like my Facebook Page at Live and Dictate!

Thanks for reading this and catch you all later!