SO, WHAT HAS HELPED?

After over 15 years of living with both acne and dermatillomania, I'm starting to feel comfortable in my own skin. My skin will never be 'perfect' but what I've come to realise is, no ones is. The beauty industry is rife with filters and editing. We don't see enough real skin, which is why I want to share mine. This is real skin.

The photo on the left is from last year... my skin had been a whole lot worse in the past, but I don't have many 'before' photos as I'd refuse to take them without make up on! Here are a few things that have helped me:

Skincare routine

With the help of Lion/ne (a super skincare consultancy who I'm now training with) I finally feel like I have a routine that works for my skin type. For years I was using harsh products for oily skin, assuming my skin must be oily if I had acne, however my skin is actually quite dry and I was only making it worse. Staple ingredients in my routine are: retinol, azelaic acid, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, salicylic acid, vitamin c & always SPF 50. I'll delve into these in my later blogs.

Diet

Avoiding food that I know I'm sensitive to. My stomach doesn't deal very well with dairy or gluten and I know from experimenting with cutting these out of my diet, they have a huge impact on my skin too. It's worth doing some personal research with cutting out different foods that you could be sensitive to, but sadly there's no one size fits all as it's going to be different for everyone. If you're struggling with your skin though and you know certain foods make you bloated, give you stomach aches etc., then try cutting them out for a while. If they're causing you problems in your gut, it will be affecting your skin too.

Hormones

I had the contraceptive implant for nearly 9 years and only about 9 months ago realised it could have been affecting my skin, so it came straight out. It's difficult to pinpoint success on removing it as it has been a little up and down since. It can also take up to a year for your hormones to get back to normal, so I wonder if it's still levelling out. Progesterone contraceptives can cause acne though, so it's worth a try if that's what you're using.

Supplements

Only a few months ago I started taking probiotics and it seems to be helping. Over the years I've done a few courses of antibiotics for my acne and for me it did more harm than good. For others it can really help, but it never seemed to clear my skin up properly and also caused bloating and stomach aches. Probiotics can help to heal the gut so I would recommend giving them a try if you've been prescribed antibiotics in the past.

Mindfulness

Never have I believed more that everything in the mind and body is connected. The skin is the biggest organ in the body and if your mind isn't in a good place, it will be affecting your skin. I've taken up meditation alongside my yoga practice which really helps me. It sounds silly but taking my dog out for walks or runs also really clears my head too and I'm sure having Roodie has helped my skin, as I now make the effort to spend time in nature most days. I love CBD oil too, it's so calming and I use it whenever I'm feeling stressed or anxious.

I wish I could say it's an easy ride, hopefully for you it will be. One thing I do know is there will be a silver lining… I'm just not sure what it is yet!