Finally, I have some time to post again! This post has been one I intended to upload months ago and since exam season has just ended for me, I think it’s appropriate again. I’ve been pretty open about my experience with acne over the last few years, and today I’m writing another exasperated post about my skin. The acne situation has not been great for the past few months, lately it’s most likely due to stress and a deteriorating diet that accompanies stress. But for much of the past few months, I haven’t been able to fully explain why my skin keeps breaking out.
It’s unfortunate, but sometimes
breakouts happen for no apparent reason, and the only thing you can do is try
not to make it worse. I’ve been doing my best in that regard lately and I think
it is helping (somewhat) with the state of my skin. As you can see below, my skin is starting to clear somewhat from my most recent breakout (finally!!)
The first, and arguably most important
thing I have been doing is not picking at or popping my spots. This is so difficult, but it honestly makes a
world of difference to my skin. The act of popping a spot causes so much
bacteria to spread around your skin – even if you use a tissue or spot
extractor. As gross as some spots can be, applying a specialised spot treatment
and bearing with it for a day or two is much better in the long run.
I recently found a lot of helpful advice
from a simple ‘acne tips’ search on Pinterest. Some of them were a little
trivial (we all know that drinking water is good for you, we get it) but others
recommended some excellent products and methods for ensuring calm skin. One of
the products that kept appearing was the e.l.f. blemish control primer, which
contains salicylic acid. I found this at my local Superdrug, but it should be
available in any shop that stocks e.l.f. Originally, I only put this on
underneath my makeup but recently I had no spot treatment and I used this as an
overnight treatment for a few spots that had appeared. It worked pretty well,
and all my spots seem to be drying out with the help of the salicylic acid.
It’s ingredients like these that help most in containing a breakout.
I’m guilty of picking up any new product
I see in the hopes that this will be the product that works miracles, when
usually they just break me out even more! Because of this I’ve had to become
really strict with myself and limit new products to every 6 weeks at least.
Many of the products I use have been my favourites for years, but I always seem
to find something new to try, and nine times out of ten it isn’t compatible
with my skin. As I mentioned already, the small detail of ingredients is really
important in understanding your skin. I try to avoid anything with strong
perfumes or too many complicated and unpronounceable names, because it seems
like the products that irritate me most are those kinds of products. I am currently trying one new product on my skin, which I have researched and read many many reviews about so hopefully this product will be successful and I'll have a review of it posted in the next few weeks.
At the moment I am trying to simplify my
skincare routine, and only keep products that don’t irritate my skin and make a
positive difference to my skin’s health and appearance. It’s definitely making
me less annoyed at my skincare, for some reason relying on too many products just
makes me more critical of my skin. It can be difficult to deal with a breakout,
big or small, so I do try to comfort myself in other ways, by using a nice
shiny highlight, or doing my hair differently, pretty much anything to distract
myself from the breakout. I know it’s not just me who fixates on their acne to
the point where it’s all that you can see in the mirror but it’s the little
things you do to lift your mood, or the repeated affirmations you make to your
reflection that make all the difference.
And remember, as annoying as it is to
hear that all you have to do is drink water for clear skin, it’s nice to be
reminded to hydrate, even just for the good of your general health!
Love and wishes of clear skin,
Jessica.
