Acne Journey: My Acne Triggers

Long time no see!

Today I want to talk about the different things that cause acne for me and my family members. So one Google search will tell you that scientifically there's nothing to say that the things you eat has an effect on acne.

Well, according to my face, my mother's face, and my brother's face, that's so not true it's funny!

M-Tip: A HUUUGE part of the journey to healthier skin is recognizing what causes your breakouts and staying away from them.

Now obviously, you can't avoid all triggers (premenstrual and hormonal breakouts) but learning what your controllable triggers are and keeping an eye on them will save you and your skin a lot of grief!

I have found that my diet (daily eating habits) has an enormous impact on my skin, different foods affect me differently and sometimes not at all.

Dietary Trigger: PEANUTS! Not nuts in general, just Peanuts specifically.

 Now I don't know why this is (as with most  of these things), but I'm guessing I may have a very mild allergy. I figured this out because my mom kept talking about how much she loves peanuts, but they used to make break her out a lot. I, of course, was like "Yeah whatever the internet said food doesn't affect acne!" That was until I ate a bunch of peanuts as a snack one day in high school and my skin was honestly bumpier than a mountain range! It was crazy and I definitely have stayed away from them. At first I thought it was all nuts but I've done some experimenting with Almonds and Walnuts I didn't get any more breakouts that than usual so Nutella and Banana Nut Muffins are always on the table!

I also eat peanut butter only when my cravings are thiiiiisss close to killing me. I'm thinking about trying almond butter...thoughts?

Cosmetic Trigger: FRAGRANCE

credit: gograph.com

Almost everything I use on my face is fragrance free because 1. I get migraines preetttyy easily, and 2. Fragranced cosmetics for me are like asking for a round of acne that will take months to clear up....NO THANK YOU! Scented lotions, and scrubs are an absolute no no.

Skincare Product Trigger: SPF

credit: amazon.com

In my attempts to keep my skin looking nice and prevent new scaring, I bought the Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer with SPF 35 and wore it every day under my makeup. WORST IDEA EVER! My face went crazzyyyyyy and I knew it wasn'y anything because it was the only new product I was using. I've had this experience with a lot of SPF facial products except for the Covergirl Queen All-Day Flawless Foundation. I've been using it since September and so far so good!

**I actually need some recommendations for a moisturizer with SPF that wont break me out, so help plz!?

Lifestyle Trigger: DEHYDRATION

I have to drink water more than anything else, plain and simple! I feel like water clears out my system and my skin always looks a little less gray and rough when I've been keeping up with my water intake.

Extra triggers from my family:
Washing your face too often, Butter, Processed cheese (Easy Mac), and STRESS

That's my schpeel for today, I have a NYX Haul coming up soon!

Sorry about last week, I had two midterms, which I think should be called quarterterms but anyway, and life kinda got crazy but I'm back!

Have a nice day/night and I will see you next time!

MM
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FIRST IMPRESSION: The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion

Happy Thursday guys!

Just a quickie post for you guys today! 

Yeaahhh definitely not to scale!

Last Sunday I ordered The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion from Amazon and I got it on Tuesday. So far I've only used it twice but here is my first impression:

Product description from The Body Shop: "A light, non-oily moisturizing lotion for blemished skin. For use after your Tea Tree cleansing regime."


Smell: ★★★ It's little strong, especially when I first opened it. But when I put it on the smell vanishes, so it's all good after that.

Texture: ★★★★ Super smooth! It has the consistency of a 10% Benzoil Peroxide ointment (gaaah I hate that word!) It's also very cooling and feels very thin and light. 

Application: ★★★★★ Super easy to apply! It goes on smoothly and does not dry to quickly which is a plus in my book! Although I wouldn't exactly call it "moisturizing" it's not drying at all so it works great for my oily skin.

Price: ★★★ I bought this for $11 and its a 1 ounce bottle. Just a little ridiculous if you ask me, but I did see a couple reviews on their website that said it lasted a while. I guess we'll see how well it works! (It's actually on sale from $13 to $8 on The Body Shop's website but shipping is about $6)

Packaging: ★★★★★ The tube itself is great! Just a regular old tube. The labeling has a matte feel to it so that's new, and the cap it is easy to snap back on and it's not flimsy at all. 

Amazon's Packaging: 10 LOLs I know this has nothing to do with the product itself but look it what this tiiiny thing was delivered in? Made me laugh!

Hahaha

I hope you guys liked this, and see ya next time! J

MM

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In Defense of the Facial Scrub: St. Ives Green Tea Scrub

Happy Tuesday!

So I made a little note in my last (and first!) post that my next one would be about the new Green Tea scrub I've been using..and here it is!

So this is the St. Ives Green Tea Scrub...obviously...and I LOVE it!! So a little background...I've always loved facial scrubs because they always made my skin feel clean and refreshed. Also after dealing with soo much acne when I was younger I think I just liked to take it out on my face and scrub until I felt like I'd gotten rid of the bumps (Hint: that didn't work, and I was using it wrong).

But even though personally I love scrubs, I would always read about it's negative effects, and how the beads were much too rough for the skin on your face blah..blah... But then my freshman year of college I was having another episode where I just wanted my acne GONE, especially the white heads and the crazy pores I wrote about in my last post. So I used the St. Ives Apricot Scrub (noticing a brand pattern here?) and their Facial Cleanser (bleh more on that in the future) every single day. BAD IDEA! I thought my skin was just too tough so I needed to be tough in return, and yeah as you can imagine I broke out like CRAZY! I mean like huge pimples that were deep under my skin. My felt so sensitive! Let me just say that when I went to see a doctor and she said she didn't like scrubs, I finally stopped rolling my eyes and started reading the directions on the back! Most facial scrubs advise that you only use them 2-3 times a week...not the sometimes 14 times I was doing!

So I laid off the scrubs for a while and I still had the same issue...out of control pores and rough skin. Around the beginning of the fall semester I started using the Apricot scrub sporadically, only to find that It wasn't really helping. I'd always read about the Green Tea scrub, so while I was out looking for new products to try a few weeks ago, I saw it on the shelf and squeezed a bit out onto my finger to test the quality. It was sooo smooth! The beads, sand, whatever, are incredibly fine so it has more of a polishing effect than a scrubbing one. It also smells ah-mazing!

You can't even see the grittyness!

Currently I'm only using it once a week on Sunday nights to refresh my face for the upcoming week of school stress, sweat, dirt and this week, a special monthly visitor and all her accompanying breakout inducing hormones...FUN...yeah not really!

M-Tip: Ladies try not to freak out when your face suddenly goes bananas, it's probably the annoying Aunt Flow and it should be gone within a week and a half. 

Verdict: So far so good! It's definitely a lot more gentle than the Apricot Scrub, and it really get into my pores and clears it all out! For now, I'm only planning to use the Apricot Scrub pretty randomly on days when I feel like I need an even deeper cleaning and apply a mask to cool my face down.

The Charcoal Scrub is still great! I'll do an update with pictures maybe next week after all the hormones chill out a bit ;)

I'm thinking either a dorm room decor tour for my next post? Or maybe another review? We'll see;)

Have a lovely week!

M.M

New Semester, New Cleanser!

Happy Friday!!

So if any of you are like me at all, a new face routine absolutely has to match the beginning of a new life event right?? Alright, alright that's not true! But somehow I always find myself doing some face research and shopping at the beginning of new semesters, and what to you know? Spring 2014 is here!! So my face has been pretty nice to me lately("nice" meaning no monstrous breakouts or a million of them at once) So I decided to get away from products targeted specifically at acne and head toward products that would just deep cleanse really well. So I'm hoping cleaner healthier skin=less frequent breakouts, and cleaner smaller pores.

M-Tip: Chasing a completely breakout/bump-free face is a journey that will probably end in heartbreak...at least that's what I've been learning. Everyone gets breakouts, you goal should be to decrease frequency and severity. 

So what have I been rubbing all over my face?? Well Biore's new Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser. I stumbled upon it on the Biore website while I was looking for a full face version of their pore strips. I have to say I wanted to buy it from the moment I saw the word "charcoal" because waaaahhhh?? You mean those pebbles we BBQ on?? (btw I'm the easiest marketing target..so weak)

 I was also looking for something with a pump so I use it easily in these freakishly tiny dorm showers. There weren't very many reviews (maybe like 2?) on it, so I took a chance....and boy did it pay off!! Seriously! This is a lot to claim after a week and a half of use but hear..read...me out. So the first time I used this product I used it with St. Ives Green Tea Scrub (next post!). Before I used it my face felt very gritty and you could see my full-than-full pores (it was gross) and no matter how much I squeezed, washed, they would never go away!

Pumps out black!

I kid you not, after using the scrub (gently) and the cleanser afterwards, my face felt smooth and clear and well, like skin! I was so excited!! I still am! It''s crazy what a good deep cleanser will do for you! Almost two weeks later and my pores are still clean and looking better than ever before....and now how to make them appear smaller!


M.M