Because of how bad my skin got (so quickly) in high school and how many people took notice, my skin became a big source (thankfully its usually the only source) of negative self esteem. Even though my skin could be much worse when I get into a 'breakout cycle' it tends to negatively affect the way I view myself which is something (negativity) I try to avoid in general. Because of all this and (obviously) wanting pretty, clear skin I began researching the issues and implementing small changes. I was ready for change!
First, I was breaking out along my chin. Research told me it was most likely hormonal and related to my birth control. Partly out of laziness, partly out of cost but mostly because I was raised this way, I avoid going to the doctor whenever I can so I really wanted to see if there was anything else I could do before switching my BC method. Further research told me that some people react to the hormones in cows milk by breaking out so I decided to test that theory out.(*its a very interesting topic so look it up if random research is your idea of a good time like it is mine*) After paying attention to my eating habits for a week or so I realized I consumed a fair amount of cows milk, so I decided to cut it out for a few weeks and was happy with the results. Now Ammon and I only drink almond milk and it's pretty comparable as long as you don't drink a glass of it by itself which I never did with cows milk anyway.
Although eliminating the cows milk helped it didn't entirely eliminate the problem so I started evaluating my skin care routine. For years I have used St.Ives Apricot Scrub and I've loved it. However, I've been told by estheticians and others that the scrub can actually cause micro cuts on the skin's surface further exacerbating acne by spreading around bacteria. In the past this scrub did wonders but it seemed to be irritating my skin lately so I switched to a more gentle daily scrub. Again (yay!), this really helped and I was pleased with the results.
But once again my skin began to act up and I started to get really bad breakouts but kind of just all over this time. Then I realized that I'd forgotten to pick up some more of my 'secret weapon' after I'd run out. Honestly, I didn't really think it was doing that much for my skin so I just didn't get any more because it's pretty expensive. But I decided to try it out again since I'd heard such wonderful things about it and hoped that it would really work this time. Lo and behold, it worked. I give you... Cod Liver Oil and I'm dead serious. This is the brand I use and it's really given me awesome results :)
I first heard about this stuff from makeup artist kandeej.com. She touted it as her secret weapon so I decided to give it a shot but it wasn't until now (a couple years later) that I noticed it's full amazing-ness (great word right?). Now, be aware that a bottle of this stuff from Whole Foods is about $25 but if you have problem skin I'd definitely give it a try (just take a swig - somewhere between a tsp and TB - once a day) in conjunction with an appropriate skin care routine. It really has helped balance out my skin and lowered the number of break outs I've been getting and I've only been using it again for 2 weeks!
I think my skin is in a transitional phase (kind of growing out of my teenager hormones, issues, etc and into my 'adulthood' issues) which is why completely random things seem to irritate it when they haven't before. But this stuff, along with reevaluating my skin care routine and other triggers, has really seemed to help everything kind of calm down and balance itself out.
Let me know if you try it, if you have tried it or if you have any secret skin weapons of your own!
