Health | How I Cleared up Hormonal Acne + My [Almost] Natural Skin Care Regimen
If you haven’t noticed, this month’s blog posts theme is all about creating your own “Glow-Up” year and improving your diet, skin, and ultimately yourself. If you want to read about what caused this all of a sudden hormonal acne flare-ups, the back story is at the end and a little personal and TMI but I would recommend you, ladies, to read it since it was caused by an IUD. (Guys, just skip over that piece since it won’t happen to you J )
I’ll be going through my morning and evening routine plus going into detail on each product, why it’s good for your skin, and the links to each product. I’ve also included a before and after picture which is REALLY hard for me to share. Nonetheless, I want you to show you that this worked for me. I have combination skin so the products I use will not cause oily skin. Warning, this will be a long post but I want to be extremely detailed because I want this to work for you too.
Morning:
Apply Curology
Witch Hazel is a plant that is native to North America. It’s known for its natural astringent properties – aka a pretty dang good toner. It’s capable of naturally healing scars, blisters, bug bites, inflammation, cold sores, and soo much more. I purchased Thayers Witch Hazel + Lavender. How this works is through its cleansing excess oils and bacteria from the skin, a natural antioxidant, and helps stop cell proliferation. I’ve used ACV before and it was a little too harsh for my slightly sensitive skin. Like ACV, this is a completely natural toner. Other skin concerns witch hazel aides in bruises, poison ivy, irritated scalps, eczema, varicose veins, sun damage, razor burn, sore throats, ear infections, dental hygiene, and so much more. It’s definitely become a staple in my bathroom cabinet.
Pure Argan Oil is not only for great for hair – it’s amazing for skin too! It’s a gentle moisturizer and softens skin too, plus it’s good for all skin types. I used to use coconut oil face cream but after doing research I realized that it may clog pores. Argan oil is light enough that it doesn’t clog pores. Just a fun fact, if you deprive skins of oils because you’re concerned that it may cause breakouts, clogged pores, or overproducing sebum it can actually cause the opposite reaction. This is something I learned the hard way. Argan oil helps balance and neutralize your skin oils which translates into reducing acne flare-ups and healing damaged skin. Oh, and for those of you worried about aging – it improves skin elasticity and prevents premature aging. If used regularly it can reduce wrinkles, fade age spots, and increase the skin cell regeneration. Some added benefits, it’s great for an eye serum, helps in toning as well, and for other skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis as well.
Destiny Boutique Charcoal Facial Detox is all natural and my favorite facial bar soap ever! Activated charcoal itself removes impurities and helps remove dead skin cells. Activated charcoal soaps are great for treating acne, clearing scars left behind, reducing pore sizes, tightening and firming skin, and also prevents premature aging. This soap however not only has charcoal as its main ingredient but includes so many other skin-benefiting ingredients like palm oil, tea tree oils, olive oils, peppermint oil, argan oil, silk fibers, and more. J
Curology (medicated) All of these products are amazing but with the way my skin was left after my whole debacle, I needed some cream. That’s when I found Curology – it’s practically an online dermatologist who creates a custom bottle of cream for you and your concerns. I was really skeptical about this since it was all online and I’ve never known anyone who actually used it. Plus how are they really going to know what I need based on a quiz and some photos? I went to Instagram and looked at #curology and looked through people who used it (even slid in their DMs just to make sure before I bit the bullet). I listed all of my concerns, told them my skin sensitivities, and how all of my other facial products are natural and organic so I wanted this to be not too concentrated. My concerns were mainly whiteheads and the leftover hormonal acne + its scars. They then created a combination of 3 ingredients: 4% Azelaic Acid, 1% Clindamycin, .25% Zinc Pyrithione. I’ve had a skin texture problem since undergrad and thought that’s just how my skin is but within a month it started clearing. Also, if you click this link – your first month of Curology is free, just pay S&H. J (this is not sponsored btw)
I can’t tell you which product, in particular, I can attribute the progress too but I honestly believe it’s a mixture of all these and the regimen itself. I hope this is helpful and that you guys get results as well! J.
Back Story: Okay, so this may be a little personal and a little TMI but I get the worst monthlies ever – to the point that I would have to miss work the first day of my cycle because of the amount of pain I was in. Obviously, I working in the business field can’t miss a day a month just for that reason sooo I scheduled an appointment with an OBGYN for the first time – ever. (this was probably the end to beginning of 2017) She told me that I wasn’t experiencing endometriosis so that was good but she recommended that I get on birth control to help ease these cramps. One: I had never been on BC before. Two: Since I have migraines with aura that left me with one option, get an IUD inserted (Skyla). Skyla isn’t an estrogen type of IUD, it’s actually progestin – if I would have taken an estrogen form it could have caused a stroke so no thank you. I agreed and for the first few months the pain was tolerable but the side effects were terrible. It finally eased down around month 3-4 and it went great. Until about 6 months later when got acne for the first time. I’ve had pimples before but nothing like this. It was caused by the additional hormones. Fast forward to about October of 2017, when I experienced terrible stabbing pains and my IUD had to be removed before it pretty much punctured me. Within a few months, the acne started clearing up on its own but I was left with scars and unevenness. Now here we are! Disclaimer: I’m not a skincare professional, just sharing what worked for me. 🙂 The purpose of this post is to share my experiences with these products and what works for me personally. My intentions are not to dole out advice. Consult your physician or do your research too. Thank you! <3
These are all really great tips!
They have definitely helped me! So thought I’d share. 🙂
This is so crazy because I recently found a routine to combat my pharmacy-school related acne (I have NEVER had acne issues) and the routine looks exactly like yours, but I use grape seed oil after washing. I bought a charcoal bar soap from my local farmers market that did wonders for my skin. I also use a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide spot treatment and it clears the issue spots right up. I recently re-discovered witch hazel and won’t go without it again.
That’s crazy!! Yeah.. adult acne sucks especially when it comes out of nowhere. 🙁 I’m so glad to hear that, I’ve tried so many things and this has been the only routine to actually make a difference. Witch hazel is my favorite of all of these I think. 🙂 What benzoyl cream do you use?
I seriously can’t believe the wonders of witch hazel, it is amazing. I use a 2.5% benzoyl “On-The-Spot” by Neutrogena because I have EXCESSIVELY dry skin and the 10% was doing more harm than good. I highly recommend it!