How to take care of the skin you're in
I’m almost 22 and I’ve struggled with acne since I was eight. I've tried every medicine available in the West, from extensive topical medicines to years upon years of antibiotics, and none of them worked. Ultimately, I spent seven months on Accutane last year to end my acne once and for all.The best skincare is proactive skincare, so here are the most important proactive tips I’ve found for maintaining healthy skin, as well as some great resources for helping you do so.
SPF/ sunscreen all the time
As a child I would get annoyed with my mother’s excessive nagging to wear sunscreen. In high school I would roll up my sleeves in summer camp so I could, theoretically, avoid “farmer’s tan” lines. Now that I’m in college, and recently having gone through Accutane’s extreme sunlight sensitivity, I understand my mother’s religious use of sunscreen.Like I said earlier, best type of skincare is proactive skincare, AKA wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen is the number one anti-wrinkle, anti-dark spot, anti-sagging product you can use- and you should be using it every day, even if the sun isn’t shining. Ultraviolet rays still make it through the clouds so make sunscreen part of your morning skincare routine.Highly recommended sunscreens include: Elta MD, Glossier
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is the most versatile beauty tool for your skin care arsenal. I use it to remove eye and face makeup and for in-shower moisturizer but you can do so much more with it. Coconut oil has antifungal and antibacterial properties so it’s a great mouthwash and face moisturizer. Due to the presence of medium-chain fats, coconut oil retains the moisture content of the skin, as the fats eliminate moisture loss through the pores of the skin. It’s also used in tropical places as a natural sun protectant and as an anti-aging product. Here is more on coconut oil and its uses from Allure.
Skin Foods. My number one piece of advice for skincare foods: adopt a plant-based lifestyle. I’ve seen many personal testimonies given by people who gave up animal products and it solved their skin abnormalities. Even eczema has been known to go away when people give up certain foods! Other foods to eat for healthy skin include: berries, green tea, nuts, leafy greens, tomatoes and avocados.
Consuming superfoods like spirulina and chlorella can detox your system of heavy metals and other toxins that can cause skin conditions like acne and scarring. Fruits and leafy greens are best absorbed by your body if eaten on an empty stomach and together. To accomplish this, try Melissa Wood-Tepperberg’s famous Spirulina Smoothie for breakfast for a good skincare routine. I get my organic superfoods from Organic Burst.In addition to eating healthy plant-based foods, drinking water is critical to good skincare. Without water, any organ will not function optimally. Getting the recommended daily amount of water will also help your body rid itself of toxins. Check out my blog posts on staying hydrated and adopting a plant-based lifestyle for more!
Healthy Makeup
After all the work you go through to keep your skin healthy from the inside, it would be a shame to pollute it with bad makeup. Your skin absorbs 60- 70 percent of what you put on it. Many makeup products on the market contain harmful chemicals, many of which are actually banned from makeup in other countries. I’ve found a lot of great recipes from Katie, the writer behind Wellness Mama, and some from my aunt as well.To ensure you’re wearing healthy products, check out these three sources: WellnessMama, W3llPeople, MegAndMe. If you’d like to know more about my journey on Accutane, send me a message in the ‘Contact’ section of this site! Other references: Paula’s Choice, Dr. Mona Vand
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