So I love trying out new products. However, over the past few years my skin has become rather "sensitive" to certain skin care products and other things alike and hence, the end result is me having red skin which is accompanied by flared up pustules (it is really itchy as well). Pustules are a form of acne that contain pus in them (they can be both small and big).
However, the things mentioned in this blog post, were NOT things that DIRECTLY CAUSED my acne. Although they did play a role in flaring it up.
The reason I am writing this today is more for anyone who might have or is experiencing what my skin tends to experience. About a year ago, I suffered from a horrible bout of acne (I still do suffer from breakouts, especially allergic reactions). This in no way means that I am not pimple/acne free, I still do get acne when my period comes about (due to changes in hormone levels). It started during the end of 2013 and lasted all the way till starting of 2015 until my skin started to get slightly better.
I am about to list the things that I believe kind of played a vital role in my breakouts. Mind you ladies and gentleman who are reading this post, my pimples are not a pretty sight and I did suffer a lot from it because I had people telling me to use all different kinds of things on my face to "CURE" it. I even had people tell me how horrible my skin looked. It is hard for me to write this because this post contains pictures but I feel it is important to put this out.
NeverthelessI feel determined to share the little bit that I know and have experienced. Do not mind me not posting pictures of my whole face though.
This post is going to be lengthy as it contains in depth information of what my skin has been through.
The 5 things that aggravated my acne
1) Green Tea
I know you must be thinking "what is wrong with you woman??? Green tea is great for skin!!!". Well for my case I just can't say the same. During the middle of 2013, I took up drinking green tea and swapped it for my Indian tea in the morning. Now like anyone else the benefits of green ta were just too hard to ignore. So there I was sipping on my green tea and waiting for miracles like weight loss and great skin to come around. But by the end of 2013, I had started to breakout really bad. 2014 was no different, I continued to drink my green tea but saw no improvements in my skin. On days that I had an extra cup, my skin flared up and I had more pustules the next day. It was a disaster. I had also been doing mud masks so I thought my skin was "purging" but boy, was I wrong.
For some reason, during the end of 2014, I stopped drinking green tea for a few months and now when I think back, my skin had started to become less oilier. My skin that was ridden was pustules was "curing" but, I dismissed that as an outcome of change in skin care products.
A few months ago in 2015, when I decided to resume consuming green tea, I was once again faced with pustules and flare ups. It took me two more trails to truly believe that green tea just wasn't for me although, when I use to drink it, I use to feel good internally. I am in no way trying to hint that green tea is bad in fact, I miss green tea a lot. All I want to put forth here is that if your skin has gotten oilier (increase in sebum production) and you have acne (pustules like me or other forms of acne) green tea COULD be the cause. Of course I m not doctor so do got to a doctor/dermatologist if your skin is not getting better.
Solution: try leaving green tea for a month and see if any improvement comes about :)
2) Products with LAVENDER OIL
In all honesty I am still confused about Lavender oil but I cannot deny that the products I have used with lavender oil as an ingredient have caused me to breakout and have really itchy skin the next day. I recently used a face mask that contained lavender oil and after rinsing it off I felt my face starting to itch but I dismissed it as being normal. The next day was a disaster for me, I woke up to a whole bunch of pimples on the right side of my face!!! In 2014, a year prior to the face mask, I had used a skin cleanser with Lavender oil that promised to calm the skin and reduce oil but, in my case continued use of that product wrecked havoc on my skin and it took a change of cleanser and a few weeks for my skin to get better.
Solution: Try to avoid products with lavender oil and try not to use the oil itself if you think you are allergic.
3) SUGAR!!! (NO, THANK YOU)
This really boils down to sugar in my diet. You may or may not know but sugar in simple words is the food that bacteria feeds on. Hence, my plight was caused by my high sugar intake that just made my skin worse.
4) Vitamin B Tablets
As a vegetarian, I always heard and read about the importance of vitamin B in one's diet ( healthy heart function, healthy nervous system, skin, hair, nails and etc.). So, I thought the wise thing would be to take a pill that was high in B5,B6 and Biotin. But little did I know that these pills were going to seriously break me out and leaves marks on my skin. Just like green tea, I was not satisfied that a health supplement was causing my ordeal so, I gave it a second shot only to see my skin flare up. So I stopped using it and my skin was back to normal within a week. Upon reading more, I came across write ups by Dermatologists and Doctors that stated the connection between acne and vitamin B6. Solution: Stop taking the pills! :)
5) Not having a proper skincare routine
I know that this might not be applicable to everyone who has acne but for me, it sure was.For me, I started breaking out into bigger acne (nodules), because, I did not clean my makeup off properly. In my attempt to cover the existing acne, I made my skin worse because I did not clean of the makeup I used well. I was quick to try makeup on but I really did not know/learn to cleanse it off well. Now I make it a point to use makeup wipes and cleanse the makeup off.
WHY WRITE THIS?
At the end of the day, all I want to say is that with acne or not,everyone is beautiful. What you think of yourself matters more than what others think of you. I felt that sharing my story would shed light on some of the things that we consume or use thinking that it does not affect our skin when it actually does. I have to admit that I am afraid to try new products because of how sensitive my skin has become to quite a number of products, this is mainly due to the discomfort my skin feels. Yes I suffered from esteem problems but now, even with breakouts I know I am and will be the same person, because with acne or not the person I am does not change. I will be the same woman who enjoys drinking green tea occasionally and being silly!
Remember that you are awesome, amazing, beautiful, talented and all the other wonderful things that you can be. No one can bring you down except you, yourself.
From one person to another, we are not perfect but we can strive to be the best versions of ourselves. With that, I leave you with pictures of what my acne looked like and my recent allergic reaction.
The lighting varies in each picture which does affect how my acne looks ( some of them look less worse then they were ).
*A picture of the kind of breakouts
I had
My skin which was healing
At this point you can see that my pores are enlarged and I have redness accompanied with acne.
The scars from my acne
The allergic reaction from a product with lavender oil
(It can't be seen due to lighting but my face was red as well)
I do not have more pictures as due to a glitch the pictures in my old iPod got deleted and some were deleted by me because I use to feel upset looking at them.Thank you for taking time off to read this post and I do hope this helps. Have a great weekend :)
Love,
Positive Vegetarian (Lav) :)
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