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Acne

Silver lining: Finding the positives of acne

October 29, 2019

I’ve been challenging myself to not see the process of having acne as a bad thing. Why not take the positives from it and make the best out of a crappy time? Here are the positives I’ve found in experiencing acne – and I challenge you to find some, too!

My acne story: Highs, lows & new-found self-love

October 7, 2019

Just a little heads up that this post is from my old blog and was written around 3 years ago. A lot has changed since then, and I’ve since successfully cleared my acne (and seriously improved my writing skills).

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SPF ALL DAY, EVERY DAY ☀️ I'm LOVING this sun

Ok ok, we’ve probably all made comments like thi

Ever damaged your skin barrier? Oops, same 🤦🏻 Here’s what I learnt, plus how I fixed it.

Remember back in the day when you slathered on Clean N Clear, Freederm & Clearasil like there was no tomorrow? Within days, your skin started peeling off, cried out for moisture (just like those plants that I never water 😂) and felt 100x angrier than it was in the first place. That’s a damaged skin barrier for ya.

I recently reverted back to my teen attitude and overdid it on tretinoin. My skin was dry, flaky, red and I got THE WORST breakout I’ve had post-accutane. Hi damaged skin barrier! 👋🏼 I did a ton of research and found some golden products in the process:

💧Cerave Hydrating Cleanser: Not pictured, but it’s been my go-to face wash for months.

💧Hada Labo Super Hydrator Lotion: How have I only just discovered this? It’s way more hydrating than The Ordinary or Revolution’s HA serums.

💧Q&A Squalene Oil: Squalene occurs naturally in the skin and is slightly occlusive, so it can help to trap moisture. All I can say is, it’s rly worked 👏🏻.

💧Cerave Moisturising Lotion (AM) or Cerave PM (PM, obv): LOVE these! Gentle, fragrance free, moisturising and calming.

I’ll do full reviews of these soon, but I’m so happy with what they’ve done for my skin so far - would recommend!

A bit about the skin barrier 🌼

The skin barrier is part of the top layer of the skin (or stratum corneum if you want to sound sciencey to your friends 🤓). Think of it as a brick wall—it helps keep water and moisture in, whilst keeping external irritants like bacteria and pollution out.

Causes of damage 👉🏼 Harsh cleansers, over-exfoliating, sunburn, allergic reactions or using too many active ingredients (think acids, vit C, retinol etc).

Symptoms 👉🏼 Sensitive, dry & tight skin, peeling, redness and an increase in oil and congestion. If you’re acne-prone, you might experience breakouts as your skin overcompensates with sebum.

Treatment 👉🏼 Remove actives from routine and use only gentle, hydrating products. Once your skin calms, slowly add your actives back in, but don’t overdo them again.

Let me know if you’ve ever damaged your skin barrier.. & if you have any tips 💜

A lil story for Monday morning 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻

Of course clearing up your skin or reaching another health/physical goal can boost your self-esteem... and they can be great things to strive for (killin' it 👊🏻). But if you find yourself speaking negatively to yourself or constantly feeling crappy about how you look, putting all your energy into the external without dealing with all the negative thoughts going on inside won't really work.

Your problems and insecurities won't instantly disappear once you have clear skin or reach a certain number on the scales... but your problems and insecurities will feel a lot lighter and more manageable if you learn to speak nicely to yourself and work on feeling confident and content with yourself no matter what's going on externally 💜

Let me know your experiences with this - how did you feel once you finally cleared up your skin? 🙂 And have a lovely week everyone!

#skinpositivity #bodypositivity #acnecommunity #acne #freethepimple #acnepositivity #acneuk #acneblogger #effyourbeautystandards #lowselfesteem #lovetheskinyourein #bodyacceptance #bopo #confidencecorner #normalisenormalskin #accutanecommunity #embraceyourflaws #hormonalacne #acnebabe #acnetips #getyerfaceout #adultacne #pimplepositivity #projectbodylove #womenirl #selflovewarrior #notabeforenotanafter

A note on acne and relationships, as it's Valentin

Your self-worth isn't a measurable thing, no matte

Scared of being seen without make-up? 👇🏻 Do

ACCUTANE SKINCARE SURVIVAL GUIDE ✨ Back in 2019