Skincare: Complexion.

Throughout the time I have had my blog I have hardly posted about make-up and skin care. I have occasionally posted about a product I love or my skincare routine but admittedly these posts are extremely old and to be honest, I don’t even have the same opinions any more.

So, onto today’s post where I will be venturing into the subject of skin care. I have been reading a lot of blogs and watching YouTube videos on skin care recently, and, to be honest I have learnt a lot. Skin care is all about research, research, research along with testing products and working out what your skin type is. Recognising your skin type is extremely important, without this you will more than likely be using the complete wrong products. You need to study your skin, you may be able to work out your skin type by your knowledge and research but at some point I would definitely go for a skin consultation.

I unfortunately have never had the best of skin. Struggling with Acne from a young age I have been through mountains of different products to try and battle the buggers! Because the worse of my Acne was when I was in my teens, I unfortunately couldn’t afford the more expensive products and stuck with the typical high-street spot fighters. Now, I am going to be completely honest with you, realistically none of this works. You name it, I have probably tried it.

The only time where my Acne improved was when I was put on Roacutane. The doctors don’t suggest this stuff lightly, you have to have many visits to the doctor and if they think you are a severe case then they will refer you. If you Google Roacutane, it does come up with some pretty horrific stuff, like any drug there are side effects, that is where you have to choose if they are worth it or not. The best thing to do is not ‘Google it’ and to ask your doctor about it instead. The side effects to this drug are not great, some things I dealt with whilst taking Roacutane were dryness and sensitivity to the skin, sensitivity to sunlight and well... a slight effect on the emotions. This drug is also not just for a week, you have a set trial and appointments to update you with your progress. Apart from the side effects this was the best choice I could have made. My back and face cleared up, I could finally wear strappy tops and not be so self conscious that everyone was starring at the Acne covered skin. The down side to this, is that it’s often you can suffer with the Acne surfacing again in your early 20’s. Now for me, aged 23 it has seemed to become an issue again. However, this time it is a lot more manageable and no way as near as fierce as it was in my teens. Things I struggle with are finding the right contraception (something that doesn’t flare up my skin) and my diet. My diet can really affect my skin. For example: if I am eating really well and healthy my skin still isn’t great but I can deal with it, if I have a chocolate and pizza infused week... HELLO spots appear a lot more vigorously. Luckily this is something I can control and if I am being unhealthy I only have myself to blame!

Now that I have given you a slight background to my skin I will move onto the present!

I have come to realise that products I thought would make my skin worse actually could benefit me. For years, I wanted to stay clear of so many products, mainly just out of fear my skin would completely flare up. I stuck to a face mask, scrub and spot gel (in the simplest of forms). Any products that were oily or of a balm consistency I would steer clear of. How wrong was I!

I have recently learnt that a balm cleanser is great for blemish prone skin and that face scrub with little beads in can actually spread the blemish.  To be honest this little piece of information changed my life a little. I have been using face scrubs for blemish prone skin with little beads in for years! Moving on from this, I have stopped using my usual face scrub and have looked into purchasing the Emma Hardie cleansing balm, now, due to the price I have to wait till pay day to purchase but will definitely do some form of review or something to show you guys.

Another product that has come back into my life is the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum, this has literally saved me I have now been using this every morning and evening for about 2-2 and a half weeks. My skin has drastically improved and I can pretty much put it down to this bad boy! The serum has helped the area that had flared up at the same time as improving my skin tone. Redness has improved and the blemishes have reduced. Again, I would like to stress that after 2 weeks I have not woken up with the world’s most beautiful complexion but it really has helped. I say this, because for a long time I have purchased products and been promised amazing results, these results pretty much don’t happen. On the adverts when you see girls/ celebrities with not even a pore in sight... this is not realistic and, I hate to say it but using that product doesn’t give you the skin you see on TV or in magazines (plus they are photo shopped to an inch of their life). I, along with many have fallen for this and thought ‘ooh if I buy that clean and clear face wash all my spots will just disappear’ this unfortunately is just a load of bollocks.  

I have also been using the Origins United State Balancing Tonic, I use this to de-clog my pores and get rid of any debris left on the skin. This is a great way to prep the skin for the other products you are going to use. I have tried a few toners before and found that they have really invigorated the redness in my skin; the thing I love about this product is that it doesn’t leave me looking like a red tomato after applying! (You will want to use this product with a cotton pad after using your chosen cleanser and before any serums or moisturisers.)

I have to also say that a great thing for your skin is the SUN. This will zap those spots right away! Whenever I come back from holiday I really wish I could hold onto how amazing my skin looks. But, being back in England after about a week or two I’m pretty much back to where I started.

If you are my age, a big thing to look into is life style. This includes diet, health, work, alcohol intake, routine, sleep and pretty much everything else.

So, if you are thinking that you want to improve your lifestyle I would definitely look at the environments you’re in. For example, I work in an air conditioned office 8 hours a day, Monday – Friday. This is such a chore on my skin, so recently, as soon as I get in from work I remove every ounce of make-up, cleanse, tone and moisturise. When I can I like to completely clean my skin as soon as possible.

Also, say for example on a Sunday I try not to wear any make-up or if I have a busy Sunday I try to wear minimal make-up. Give your skin time to breathe.

If possible, reduce your alcohol intake. I pretty much drank my life away at university so I feel like now; drinking less isn’t really a problem.

Now, I have really cut down the drinking. I usually drink 1-2 Saturdays out of the month, maximum. If you drink a lot you will notice a difference in your skin by cutting down, I also want to try a 4-5 day detox I think this will also have a great effect on my skin. 

So, what are your skin secrets? Do you have any saviour products?

Hope you enjoyed this post guys!

xoxo

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