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My struggle with Acne and how I overcame it

A little while ago, I wrote a post about how I was really struggling with my skin. Out of nowhere, I suddenly developed a horrible case of adult acne and absolutely nothing I tried seemed to help.

I tried everything from changing my skincare routine, to acne antibiotics and creams. I even tried blue light therapy to try and blast the acne away but nothing seemed to touch it.

Having acne feels terrible and my heart really goes out to people who are suffering with it right now, I had such low confidence and felt ashamed to even leave the house and I was convinced that everybody was looking at me and thinking how disgusting I was – and this was when I’d concealed the acne with my makeup. Taking my makeup off in front of my boyfriend was even more soul destroying. I felt horrific and I seriously didn’t know what else to do to get rid of the horrible acne and angry redness on my skin. Previously, I felt too worried to post images up of my acne, but this time I feel like I need to add one into the post so you can see exactly what I’m talking about.

My skin was sore, irritated and dried out in places

My skin was sore, irritated and dried out in places

As I struggled on with my acne and my self-esteem, I got even more stressed and upset and eventually ended up feeling poorly and run down. I had to take some time out to recover, and within that time I began to take care of myself better. Taking the advice of my Mum, I ensured I gained plenty of rest, drank plenty of water (three litres daily) and adapted my diet so that I was consuming more of the things that were good for me – such as lean proteins, fruit, vegetables and grains. I learned to de-stress to a certain extent and adapt my attitude from being uptight and anxious to learning to go with the flow (on certain things).

I also changed my skincare routine to Clinique’s 3 Step (number 2 in case you were wondering) so that I had a proper cleansing, toning and moisturising routine. I used natural facemasks twice weekly made purely of natural honey that really seemed to soothe and calm my distressed skin.

The Clinique 3 Step system really helped my skin to regain balance

The Clinique 3 Step system really helped my skin to regain balance

Something amazing started to happen…the acne actually started to clear! No longer was my skin breaking out in angry red spots or lumps and bumps, and once again I could run my hand along my jawline and feel nothing but the smooth skin that was once there. I carried on with the same routine and drinking more water and found soon that I would only have one or two small spots at a time. My biggest issue now was the redness that was left from the acne and I was seriously worried that I was going to have a lot of scarring. At this point, I started to use a small amount of Sudocrem before bed and slowly, with time, the redness began to fade.

Today, my skin is well on track to being back to how it used to be and I’m so relieved to say that I currently don’t have the worry of acne to deal with. However, this doesn’t stop me worrying that it’ll come back at the first sign of stress.

My skin today is much smoother and less prone to breakouts

My skin today is much smoother and less prone to breakouts

I wanted to put this post together in the hope that it might help others who are currently struggling with their skin. I’ve compiled a list below of the things that I’ve found have helped me personally.

Learn to de-stress

Stress is a major trigger of my acne and I’ve learned that it really benefits my skin if I take time out for me. This might be taking an extra long bath and treating my skin to a facemask, or just sitting and reading my favourite book. Do whatever makes you feel relaxed and learn how to switch off from work for a while.

 

Implement a good skincare routine

Skincare routines are a great way to ensure that your skin is cleansed properly to stop the build-up of product and pore-clogging excess sebum. Even if you have oily skin like me, it’s important to not to skip moisturiser from your routine. Clinique do a great gel moisturiser for oily skin types. If you find that you have to remove your moisturiser in order for your foundation to stay on, take a read of my post here that reviews a great product for mattifying your skin and beating the shine all day even after moisturising.

 

Assess your diet

I find that my skin can really suffer if I consume too much dairy produce, and if I eat junk food, I might as well just kiss goodbye to clear skin. Eating a varied, healthy diet works wonders. I’m no dietary expert, but I can tell you that after altering my food choices to fresh, healthy produce, my skin and general health has reaped the benefits.

 

Allow your skin to breathe

It’s so tempting to pile on the makeup to conceal your troublesome skin if you need to leave the house, but one of best ways to let your skin to recover is to let it breathe. It was hard work, but I learned to go makeup free on the odd occasion and take a long walk outdoors in order to get some fresh air. Not only do you feel a little better afterwards, but your skin will thank you for the little rest.

 

Keep your makeup brushes clean

Dirty brushes are a big culprit for spreading bacteria and harbouring germs. Ensure to keep your brushes clean in between deep cleans by spritzing a tissue with a brush cleaner spray, such as the Bare Minerals Quick Change brush cleaner, and gently rubbing your brushes into the solution to remove old makeup. I also really like the brush cleaner from KIKO for in-between washes. I deep clean my brushes every week with a gentle baby shampoo or Boots No7 Brush Cleaner which I dilute with water. I’ll write a detailed post on the brush cleaning process I use as I feel this is a really important factor to ensuring your skin stays in great condition.

 

I hope that you’ve found this post helpful and I hope it helps you along in your skincare journey. Have you found any little miracles that help with clearing acne?

© This post is copyright of Rachael Divers 2014.

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