Problem skin be gone // How I have been fighting breakouts and acne-prone skin

Hello lovelies, it is finally time for one of the most requested posts I have ever gotten! I have mentioned my skin problems a couple of times and since I have gotten an overwhelming amount of request from you lovelies to write more about it and especially to share what I have done to make it better, so I thought it was about time that I wrote a full post on it.

As a teenager I struggled with problem skin, but I went on the pill (a special brand to deal with acne) and while I was on it I seriously had the perfect skin (hence the picture above, haha this is my goal, this is what I want to get back to and I am slowly, but surely getting there). However, last year I decided to stop on the pill since I just wasn’t comfortable filling my body with all those hormones anymore. When I stopped my skin slowly got worse and worse and eventually it just went absolutely crazy, I had so many breakouts on both my face (especially my jawline and hairline), chest and back/shoulders. It was so bad, way worse than it had ever been and my face was just covered in pimples, painful cysts and my skin was all bumpy – yees it was all very lovely, stupid hormones.. Sadly I do not have a picture of my skin when it was really bad because I seriously never take pictures of myself (I am super awkward and camera shy, these two pictures of me are pretty much the only selfies I have taken in the last year) and I never planned to make a post about this until a lot of you started asking for it last month and by then my skin were already starting to be breakout free after many months of changed habits, new routines and different ways to treat it. My skin is not in any way perfect now, but it’s a million times better and I feel like I am finally getting it back under control and so I would like to share some of the things I have done to make it better, hopefully some of you will find it helpful.

This post is just based on my personal experience and what I have found to be working for me, I am not an expert or anything of the sort and what has worked for me, may not work for you and your skin. However, I really hope that this can help some of you that are in a similar situation as I was in, it is horrible to deal with problem skin and acne, it just kills ones confidence :(

This post is way longer than I planned, so I didn’t write as much about everything as I would have liked to, but feel free to leave a comment and ask if there is something you are wondering about or would like me to explain in more detail :)

Lemon water
I have incorporated lemon water as a part of my daily routine, it is said to help prevent blemishes and clear skin among many, many other benefits. I am not sure whether it has had an effect on my skin, but I am definitely feeling some of the other benefits (feeling a lot less bloated), so I am going to continue drinking it – see my full post on lemon water, it’s benefits, how to and much more right here!

Water in general
The oldest trick in the book is to make sure to drink enough water. There’s a lot of discussions about how much water one should drink a day and it varies according to your weight and activity level, but the estimate is about 3 liters of water/fluids a day for men and 2.2 liters for women – more if you exercise.

I must admit that I sometimes struggle with it, but I love making infused water to mix it up and keep it interesting.

Eat clean and healthy
Duh, I knoow, but I just had to mention it. What you eat will have a huge impact on your skin, so make sure to eat as healthy and unprocessed as possible. I do not eat healthy all the time (haha see a good example of that right here), but when I do eat unhealthy I know I will pay for it with potential breakouts in the following days. Not to say that a little bit of chocolate or something like that will have a huge effect, I am just one of those people who always goes all in when I eat unhealthy and completely embrace my inner fatkid ;)

Avoid dairy
Okay this one is probably the one of my tips that I am personally having the hardest time to follow, I have already given up milk and subbed it with almond, oat or rice milk ages ago, but I really, really miss my skyr/greek yoghurt and cheese (I have had feta 2 times this week, so I kinda suck at this). I must say that the results from cutting out (not 100% but most) dairy is enough to keep me going though. I saw a huge improvement in the blemishes on my face when I cut out dairy from my diet, especially the painful zits and cysts on my jawline have almost completely cleared up.

I know so many people who had amazing results from cutting dairy from their diet, but I also know the same amount of people for whom it hasn’t made a difference at all, so I would recommend you to give it a try and experiment with it for a couple of months to see if it works for you.

You can find some articles on why dairy can be bad for problem skin right here + here and a funny and, for me, very relatable post about acne and going dairy free right here.

Almond oil
I know it may seem crazy to recommend using oil to treat problem skin, but I promise you that it works wonders. I use it instead of my regular night cream a couple of times a week by simply massaging a little bit of pure almond oil into my skin after cleansing my face at night. It leaves my face super soft and moisturized + it not only helps treat acne and breakouts, but it also helps making acne marks heal and reduce scars. I have used almond oil on my face since I was a teenager and it is such a cheap and natural way to help your problem skin, I cannot recommend it enough.

“Now, if you have oily skin, you might at first feel wary about putting any kind of oil on your skin. With acne, some people are more prone to produce a sticky oil called sebum that can clog the pores with dead skin cells and other debris. However, the fatty acids in almond oil actually help dissolve the sebum that your skin produces, creating cleaner skin and pores, and helping to get rid of acne.

One of the other reasons why almond oil is beneficial is because of its ability to plump and firm the skin. Almond oil works as a natural face exfoliator to help to remove dead skin cells and stimulate the growth of healthier skin. When used topically, the formulated almond oil for skin products or treatments is absorbed by the fatty cells of the skin. The moisture in the oil is then utilized by the tissues to repair damaged cells and give skin a more youthful appearance.” – Source

Make sure to buy almond oil that is pure, cold pressed and organic. You can buy it here.

Tea tree oil
I personally use this one at the moment (haha I may have stolen it from my sister) and I am super happy with the results, but I am looking to buy a pure and organic one, it seems a bit hard to find though. I use a drop or two (only do this if you use a diluted tea tree oil or it will be too strong/harsh) directly on the problem areas of my skin and it is very effective both in making zits go away and even in keeping new ones that are on the way from ever breaking out. It is quite harsh on the skin though, so I only use it twice a week.

You can buy it here and here.

Maca
Maca is one of my favorite superfoods and it is among other things known for its ability to help balance hormones and clear up problem skin. I know several people who have had a very positive experience with using maca to treat their acne-prone skin and I have seen an improvement in my skin since I started adding it to my smoothies – you can read the whole post I did on maca right here!

I use this brand – affiliate link.

La Roche-Posay
Changing my skincare regimen is the most recent of the changes I have made to deal with my breakouts, I have used La Roche-Posay for about 3 weeks now and I absolutely love the products and what they do for my skin. As I have written about before, I was actually in the process of slowly changing my all my skincare products to natural and organic options, but when my skin went all crazy I decided to go with the products that I was recommended by everyone I know with acne-prone problem skin. My skin had already gotten better before I bought these products, but I can definitely see and feel them making a difference.. haha but then again I never used to clean my face properly, so maybe it’s just that I finally have a proper skincare routine ;)

I use 4 different products from La Roche-Posay; the Effaclar Duo cream, the Effaclar Purifying foaming gel, the Effaclar Clarifying lotion and the EffaclarH Soothing Moisturizer – you can read all about the products right here.

I am very happy with these products and I know many others with acne and problem skin are as well (especially the Effaclar Duo cream, apparently it’s the must have item), but what works for one person might not work for another and skincare is quite an individual thing, so I would recommend you to read about the products + reading reviews before buying anything to make sure that they’re right for you. Oh and some places offers small samples for free, so you can try the products before you buy them – definitely check if you can do that before paying a lot of money for something that might not work for your skin.

You can buy it right here.

Pudderdåserne T-zone Peeling
This little miracle is my favorite weapon in my fight against breakouts and problem skin, but I feel a bit douchey mentioning it since I don’t think it is available outside of Denmark. I am quite certain that the most important ingredient is the salicylic acid though and that is also a main ingredient in the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo cream, which is thankfully is available worldwide. The T-zone Peeling is an exfoliating lotion with salicylic acid that exfoliates and unclogs pores and it truly works! Another big plus is that it also makes those red marks and scars after breakouts go away faster. I use it both on my face and on my chest and whenever I forget to use it I can see my skin getting worse again. I have quite sensitive skin, but I can use this on a daily basis without any problems.

You can buy it right here!

Do not overdo it!
One very, very important thing is that you have to go easy on your skin and don’t overdo it with all the products and treatments, let your skin rest and be careful not to use too harsh products that completely dries out your skin and makes it irritated. I have written a lot of different products that I use, but I do not in any way use all of them everyday. If you use a billion different products on your skin everyday and several times a day, then you are just going to make everything worse. I cleanse my face in the morning and at night and I try to mix it up, so that I never use some of the harsher products at the same time, for example, if I use the T-zone peeling then I am not going to use the Effaclar Duo cream, because both of them are exfoliating and contains salicylic acid. And I rarely use both the Purifying foaming gel and the Effaclar Clarifying lotion at the same time either. All the products I use are however suitable for sensitive skin (which I have) and so even though they might sound like they are very harsh on the skin, then I do not have any problems using them – just don’t overdo it!

Little towels/washcloths
Another tip is to use washcloths as little towels for your face, so that you can use a clean one every single time. I bought a big pack with 20 washcloths that are perfect for the purpose and they only cost me about 2 euros. Super cheap little trick, but very efficient. There is no point in spending a lot of time on washing and cleaning your face if you are just going to wipe it with a towel that isn’t completely clean and bacteria free.

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