Holistic Skin Care

Writing a post about taking a more holistic approach to skin care is really daunting! Most of these points deserve a whole book's worth of explanation, but I'll try to consolidate a few tips, and explore them further in later posts. The important thing is to expand the way you think about acne and inflammation, and realize that your skin may be trying to tell you that something else in your body is out of whack.

Acne, and I mean inflamed or cystic acne, is often a result of your body trying to let out toxins. (Not always, but often). Sometimes this is because of poor digestion, or an overworked liver or kidneys. If you're feeling good and staying healthy, your skin should be looking good, too. But it also could mean you're stressed out. Your skin can be remarkably sensitive to stress, whether it's from something obvious like a demanding job, or an underlying stressor like low self-esteem.

I don't pretend to know everything about getting rid of acne*, but I want to list a few things that can help. And sidenote, I'm still all for well-formulated skin care products to help tackle acne while you're working on the getting healthy part, but please be gentle! And, of course, remember that everyone's skin is different, so everyone's acne and acne solution will be different.

The List:

Changing It Up

My biggest insecurity right now is the skin on my face.  I can’t leave the house without a cake face on.  It doesn’t matter if I look fake, orange, or powdery, I prefer that look over people being able to see my acne and scars.  I have decently "clear" skin right now in regards to acne, I mostly just have white heads.  My cystic mountains have almost disappeared but have left behind hyperpigmentation all over my cheeks and jawline.  I have redness and dark spots and just overall really unhealthy looking skin. If I look at the chart from Friday, my problem areas are my liver, stomach, and large intestine. Which means I HAVE to clean up my system.

I have been talking about bettering my lifestyle for awhile now but just can’t bring myself to do it.  My number one excuse is “I don’t have time”.  I think it’s time I find the time.

Beauty From The Inside Out

Image from rawforbeauty.com

This chart is really cool, and a good reminder that what goes on in the rest of your body affects your skin. Everything in your body is interconnected. What you put into it, and how you take care of yourself, will show up on your face.

While it's fun talking about different skin care and makeup (really, really fun), and important to find safe products that won't break out or irritate your skin, there's only so much you can take care of on the surface. The real work has to be done from the inside out. The best thing you can do for your skin is to lead a healthy lifestyle. You know the deal: eat well (meaning whole, nutritious foods), drink lots of water, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, get some fresh air and sunshine, and minimize stress. Sounds easy, right? Just remember--baby steps.

But, we do want to start addressing the diet and lifestyle component to having healthy skin on Those Pore Girls, because what you put on your body is not nearly as important as what you put in it. And to those of you struggling with cystic acne: these are the kinds of things you have to work on, not your skin care routine. Even if you have acne as a result of hormonal imbalances, those can also be sorted out through eating right and taking care of yourself. Often, people get acne because of allergies and reactions to food (especially dairy and gluten). Everything is interconnected! Food for thought.

By the way, if you want to get started on reading about all of this stuff, we highly recommend checking out The Love Vitamin. Tracy's blog is amazing, thorough, and inspiring. You can read all about her journey to healing her skin through making changes to her diet and lifestyle, and get some seriously awesome tips for yourself, too. (You guys, she doesn't even have to wash her face anymore!) Otherwise, stay tuned.

Lush Skincare

The other day I got a question about the Lush skincare products I use.  Currently in my routine I use Fresh farmacy cleanser, Grease Lightning spot treatment, and Tea Tree Water and Breath of Fresh Air toners. 

Fresh Farmacy is a bar they sell by weight, like their soaps.  It's pink and has a light lavender scent.  Its goal is to calm problematic skin with ingredients that include calamine powder, chamomile, lavender, and tea tree oil.  With my skin type, that sounds like a gold mine!  After you wash your face with this bar, it leaves that tight squeaky feeling which some people don't like, but I'm a fan because it feels clean! This is a harsh cleanser, so use with caution.  I find that Fresh Farmacy helps me with breakouts and eczema symptoms. It works slowly and you don't see changes over night, but then one day you wake up and you feel your soft face and see a glow. I think price wise it's really great because it lasts forever as long as you cut it up in pieces and only use a small piece at a time, and keep it dry when storing it (like any other solid Lush product).  I recommend to definitely ask a Lush employee for a sample before committing to buying a full bar since this product is such a hit or miss for people. 

Breaking Down Skincare Routines

It gets really confusing trying to figure out how many products you’re actually supposed to use on your face. Is toner really that important? Do I really need an eye cream? And what’s the deal with all these serums?

In general, a skincare routine--albeit a very involved skincare routine--looks something like this:

• Cleanser
• Toner
• Serum
• Moisturizer
• Spot Treatment

You can also add in:

• Sunblock (important!)
• Makeup remover
• Eye Cream
• Exfoliators
• Night Cream
• Masks
• More serums

Ok, but are all of these steps necessary? Nope, not really. The bare minimum is cleanser and moisturizer. The other products are just extra boosts for your skin.


What you should do is this:

Honey for Blemishes

I talked about washing your face with honey in the last post, but I didn't get into my favorite aspect of honey on your face. It is fantastic on blemishes!

We all know that picking at your zits is bad, and yet we all find ourselves doing it anyway. The next time you find yourself going at your face (and let’s be honest, feeling pretty guilty), put a little honey on it! I find that if I dab some honey on right after, it speeds up the healing time of my blemishes, prevents scabbing and scarring, and helps my skin to heal better. The best part is that because it heals much more flat and less scabby, I can easily cover up with makeup. I’m sure you've experienced how annoying it is trying to cover a dry, scabby spot.

This trick works as a spot treatment on any kind of pimple, and is seriously effective, even on the ones you haven’t stupidly tried to pop. It’s best to use at night, since the honey will leave your skin sticky. You can cover the spot with a band-aid or leave it bare—I usually don’t bother to cover it and that works just fine. I've also let it dry a bit and then put some foundation or concealer over it, and that works,too.

This is one of my favorite spot treatments, so try it out and let me know what you think! 

Honey on Your Face

We Pore Girls are big fans of Crunchy Betty, and one of the best things I’ve gotten out of her blog is washing my face with honey. Really? You might ask. Honey?

YES. Honey is an amazing and gentle face wash for any skin type. It is healing, slightly drying to get rid of excess oil, but also moisturizing since it's a humectant (meaning it draws moisture from the air into your skin). It is also naturally antibacterial and great for combating blemishes. And it rinses away completely with a little lukewarm water. Basically, it’s kind of magical. I like to use it in the morning to wash my face, since it doesn’t wash away makeup. But if your face is bare, you can use it whenever you like—remember it’s generally best not to wash your face more than twice a day.

If you decide to give honey on your face a go, try to find raw and organic honey, preferably from a local source. You can use more conventional honey of course, but processing tends to get rid of some of its beneficial and antibacterial properties. And if you use an unstrained kind with little fragments in it, it will also add some exfoliating action to your skin. The honey in the photo is in a glass jar but I just pour some out into a squeeze tube for easier access.

I have oily combination skin and honey leaves my face feeling clean but not tight, soft, and glowy. It’s ideal for any skin type, and is especially great for sensitive and acne-prone skin since it is so gentle.  Just rub a quarter-size drop into your face (dry or slightly damp) and rinse away. It can also be left on for 5-10 minutes as a mask. And chances are you already have some in your pantry, so do yourself a favor and put some honey on your face!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Skin 101: How Your Skin Works

 So, before I get into what you can do for your skin, I want to give you a quick run-down of how your skin actually works.  Knowing how it works, and what skin type you have, is essential in figuring out what your skin needs.

When your pores work correctly, they allow just enough sebum (your skin’s natural oil) through to spread across your face and lubricate your skin, acting as a barrier to seal in moisture and keep it healthy. This happens for those lucky people with normal skin and small, even pores.

There are two main reasons that this can go wrong: over-production of sebum, and rapid shedding of dead skin cells. When your skin cells shed too rapidly, they can get clogged in your pores instead of getting pushed out as they should. Some people with very oily skin actually produce sebum that is extra sticky. (Hormones have a big role in causing oily skin.) When these two problems combine, the dead skin cells mix with oil and dirt to create a sebum plug, which is what causes clogged pores, also known as comedones.

When a comedone has an opening exposed to air, it oxidizes and turns black—that’s a blackhead! When the comedone stays under the skin with no opening, it’s a whitehead. And when a comedone becomes infected and inflamed, it becomes a pimple. Cystic acne happens a bit differently and is more difficult to treat. The oil-producing glands actually rupture deep under the skin and cause major inflammation and infection. Each of these types of acne and blemishes require different treatments, which I’ll cover in future posts.

There’s nothing you can do to change the skin you’re born with, it’s mostly up to genetics whether you are normal, dry, oily, combination, acne-prone, or sensitive. And you can be pretty much any combination of those!  But there are some things you can do to help your skin stay healthy and clear, especially once you’ve targeted your specific skin concerns. Believe me, it took some serious trial-and-error to figure out what my skin needs, and I’m still learning!

So, now you know the basics. I’ll be doing some more in-depth posts on each skin type, some of my favorite products, and how to give any skin a healthy glow.