If you’ve ever dealt with acne, you know how greatly breakouts can affect your social life, self esteem, and emotions. For some of us, it can be so severe that avoiding public settings and situations become common and you find yourself losing control of your confidence. However, there is good news! You can not only look beautiful, but more importantly——–feel beautiful in your skin. Below, you will find all the ways I helped save my own skin and started living a happier, healither life.
1.) Take off your makeup. EVERY NIGHT.
Being in college, it’s easy to make excuses for avoiding this routine. You may find yourself sleeping over at friends on the weekends or spending late night hours in the library during the weekdays—but making sure you take initiative in this step of the game is key. From possible ingestion of makeup, irritation of eyes, and clogging of pores—removing your makeup is probably the simpliest way to achieve clear skin. Personally, using makeup wipes and/or serum is the most efficient means of doing so for me.
2.) Use gentler products.
Although having sensitive skin can be a personal nightmare, I have found it to be a good indicator on what companies use harsh chemicals and ingredients. After numerous reactions, I’ve come to learn that multiple products, especially Neutrogena, stray far away from natural means of skin care. During my journey to healthy skin, I have fallen in love with the Simple Skincare products (targeted at those with sensitive skin). Not only are they gentle on your face, but they really work too!
3.) Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate.
Although an excessive use of exfoliation is known to be damaging to the skin, it’s crucial to do 2-3 times per week. Since certain products have recalled their exfoliating products in the past due to dangerous ingredients in the beads themselves, natural is the way to go! There are plently of websites that hold plenty of homemade fash masks for all skin types! I have tried lots of natural remedies and can say honey and brown/white sugar ones are close to my heart. Your face is sure to be baby smooth and wallet won’t take a big hit—-what’s not to love?! (Check out the website below)
https://www.liveabout.com/make-your-own-homemade-face-masks-and-scrubs-346978
4.) Quit attempting to use makeup to cover it up.
If you’re like me, you feel the need to deal with breakouts using touches of makeup. Even though this method is supposed to help mask the problem—-it only makes it worse. The truth of the matter is, a little foundation and concealer is only going to draw more attention to it AND make the acne more irritated. We are human and every human gets pimples at some point in their lives: if you’re afraid of being judged then reevaluate the people you spend time with. Good friends will understand and make you feel beautiful in your own skin no matter what. Make sure you know when to let your face breathe and go easy on the putty——the more you let your face go naked, the clearer your skin will be and the more comfortable you will be in it.
5.) Moisturize.
Many people fall into the trap of thinking that acne is a result of oily skin, however a majority of the time—-it’s because of being too dry. So make sure to moisturize at least 2 times a day!
6.) Witch Hazel/Rose Water.
I was introduced to this a couple of years ago and didn’t understand how amazing it was until my roommate made sure I became a religious user too. Pour a dime-sized amount on a cotton ball or pad and apply all over the face and/or the affected areas.
7.) Stay hydrated.
This has become an obvious one throughout beauty history but we tend to underestimate the power of H20. Not only will it help with your glowing skin, but it will help you feel better overall.
8.) Sleep!
A decent amount of sleep is quite unheard of in college, but extremely necessary to healthy looking skin. Make sure to not only prioritize school, but a good amount of zzzzzz’s too!
9.) Wash your makeup brushes, phone, pillow cases, etc.
After constantly waking up wondering why my face was breaking out so often (even when I wasn’t on my period), I realized how big of a role bacteria on surfaces play in the existence of acne.