How I Cleared my Acne to Get Clear Skin

Guys, I have been loving my skin lately, wearing less makeup and showing off my beautiful nourished and healthy skin. My skin has been so good to me that I have decided to write a blog post on how to truly be acne free, and share my tips and experiences on how to have smooth and silky skin.

Let me start by saying, all my adult life I have never had smooth skin, I have had to deal with allergies, spots, pimples, and acne.

This caused me to rely on the use of makeup  to feel a 100, even if it's a thin layer of makeup, powder or a light touch up on my skin . There was even a time I felt I was going to be a makeup artist, because I was fully prepared!

Anyway my skin properly started to go haywire when I fully returned back home from the United Kingdom where I had gone for my higher institution learning.

You know over there, the weather was cool and I never really had a lot of skin irritations, plus the products there were 100% authentic. Then, I had not really developed a genuine skin care routine, as my skin was pretty tight and not  that irritable, you know as a young girl!

Following the move back to Nigeria, my skin was still good, and this was because I still had the products that I bought from UK and was still using them, except a few normal pimples here and there.

The real problem was  when my products finished! And I had to restock from Nigeria. I had to get all my supplies; my cream, foundation and bathing soap  here in Nigeria,. From using the products purchased here in Nigerian, my skin allergies started becoming immense and insane!

Most times it will be like I always have allergies on my face 24/7. I could not understand my skin anymore, with my pores getting inflamed. Thankfully, I am not the type to pick my pimples when they come, so they do not leave spots when they are gone, the pimples left pretty okay, but the rashes/allergies were there all the time.

my face with rashes then

After a year of being back home, my skin type had become sensitive and I had to access everything that went on my face.

These are the necessary steps I took towards enhancing my skin. They say it's the little things that count.

1) Purchase original makeup brands from trusted stores even though they are expensive  -  I had a proper look at the makeup I was using and immediately realized that some of the products were not original since they were bought from supermarkets and the famous Lagos Balogun market.

my face allergies to old makeup products 

To get original products, I went to the big stores, namely Casebella, the female beauty supply store of the pharmacy Boots. Needless to say I spent a whooping amount of money on these products! I noticed tremendous increase in the price  and quality of the same brands bought in the supermarkets.

Asides price difference, it was evident that the new products were original and authentic as my face did not react to a single of these new products. My skin started to get clearer and life got better using makeup every other day I needed to go out.

my face with less allergies to the new products

2) Change your face towel to tissue - This was a hard one to do! I had to stock up on tissue, I always used a towel to pat my face dry and I never thought for once whether they added more to my dilemma and guess what? They did! Towels most of the time are not 100% germ free, after hanging them on the rack, they pick up dust, sweat and impurities from your face and body. 

To use the same towel to pat your face dry in the morning and night might not be a good idea if you are trying to be pimple-free.

Asides that towels are rough and might leave scratches on the face, if they are rubbed tightly against the skin.

Tissue is light, disposable, cheap and easy to invest into. After use, you can throw it away and never go back to it. Asides that you can use tissue in the day to pat your face dry when it gets shiny and dispose of it immediately. The moment you use the same tissue twice it may pick up dirt from the surroundings and hence leave traces of dirt on your face.

3) Invest in a facial toner - I had been hearing the phrase; cleanse, tone and moisturize! But I had never given these extra thought. Turns out the saying may be right! Do yourself a favor and invest in a toner! 

There are plenty DIY Toners and a couple you could do for yourself ; 5 homemade facial toners. 

The one I could easily get my hands on was the Apple Cider Vinegar Toner. Add a mixture of apple cider vinegar and dilute it with water, apply it to a cotton pad and use it every day. I use it every morning after cleansing my face. I immediately noticed a reduction in my pore size. It also reduced my skins sensitivity to irritation, which usually occurs after bathing and allows the moisturizer to sit into my pores without inflaming them.

4) Invest in an acne free moisturizer - I will say this again, do not use the same lotion you use for your body on your face! It is wrong, except you have normal, less reactive skin.

Initially I would apply a small dab of my body lotion on my face ,and this usually brings more heat and sweat to my face as it would start dragging down my face and sometimes causing irritation.

The best moisturizer that seems to work for me now is the clean and clear advantage acne control moisturizer. 

It is light and smooth on the face while preventing and controlling acne. Using a moisturizer that is well designed for your face has a lot of benefits.

5) Exfoliate only once a week - At first I wanted my rashes to go so badly, that I would exfoliate almost every day, thinking it would help scrub my allergies off. But hey was I wrong! Instead my rashes became more stubborn and my sensitivity to reactions doubled. My skin became most sensitive with scrubbing every other day.

I reduced my exfoliation process to only once a week, Saturdays. The process of exfoliation is to remove dead skin cells and reveal new skin cells. At the end  process, the result is usually immediately clearer and brighter skin and not to reduce acne or pimples!

6) Use a light but effective facial cleanser - Avoid harsh facial cleansers and facial soaps. Avoid the ones with too many alterations and chemicals, you want something that would be mild on your sensitive skin and not full of a chemical or two that might be irritable to your skin.

You see in Africa, we have a lot of medicated bathing soaps which are meant to protect you from germs from the normal dust and dry weather. These soaps might not necessary be good for your face. They might be too strong for your face and cause you to react and breakout initially. Some people think that if a soap is not peppery then it is not effective, but this is not so.

For starters you can invest in a natural black soap. I used black soap for such a long time and recently switched to Dove bar soap. Dove is a bit more milder and nourishing for my skin! Another thing is to wash your face more than once, I usually wash it about three times in the morning and two times at night before I am convinced it completely clean.

Again make sure to cleanse after washing off your makeup, I never knew of this truth till I started using a cleanser after washing. It's alarming to know that some traces of makeup might still remain even after washing. Therefore, make sure to do a more thorough cleansing especially after a day of wearing makeup, no matter how light or heavy the makeup might seem.

7) Eating well is a form of self respect - It could also be your diet! When I moved back to my country, Nigeria, I was not exactly particular about the food I was eating since it was mostly made from the family kitchen.

You should be responsible for your own diet. What are you dietary needs? Are you eating for better skin? Are you drinking enough water to get that toxin free skin? Are you eating enough fruits and vegetables, and in variety?

Are you taking foods high in sugar, fats and oils that is causing you to break out often?

I went back to my routine of drinking a glass of water in the morning immediately after waking up. I also eat a plate full of  5 sliced fruits and vegetables of different variety in the morning before having my breakfast or any other meals for the day.

8) Drinking Green Tea - Oh my! Why did someone not tell me earlier about the many health benefits of drinking green tea most especially with drops of honey? It is absolutely refreshing and appealing to the taste buds.

I absolutely cannot get enough of green tea, and the best part is they are so many flavors and varieties out there! I love the ones with a hint of lemon, strawberry, raspberries and blackcurrant.

It's the perfect remedy to end the day with. It releases you of all the stress during the day and the perfect treat for your body before going to bed.

Asides that it has plentiful antioxidants that are great for your skin. My dad initiated me to this healthy living. I now know why my dad looks so young, obviously with skin so fresh from drinking about 4 cups of different teas a day with honey. There are so many benefits of green tea (see my earlier post).

There is no shortcut to acne-free younger looking skin than to consciously make an effort to eliminate toxins both from your body and most especially from your face.

Good luck!

Love, Damie

xxx

We are God' Beautiful Creation 

Beautiful of all Worlds

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