New Skincare Routine| How I Cleared Up my Skin

I've been meaning to write this post for quite a while now, but I wanted to make sure that the changes I had made were really working for me. This time last year my face... well it wasn't something I was confident about. It's taken a lot of adjustments as well as some trial and error to figure out what works for me, but I think at almost 21 years of age I've got my routine down. Here are some steps I have taken, and changes I have made to improve my complexion, I hope these tips work for you as well.

• Love Yourself

• Not that I really wanted to quote Justin Bieber or anything, but seriously! Get comfortable in your skin, take a break during the week to treat yourself to a face mask, drink water, just treat yourself right! 

• Cut Out Dairy

• This was difficult for me at first but evidence suggests that the hormones in dairy milk can spike androgens in your body, which cause overproduction of oil and acne. I was skeptical at first but when I slip up and have a few servings of dairy it shows itself throughout the next week. Shopping in the vegan and organic section of my supermarket, Trader Joes and Thrive Market have made it easier for me to stick to this lifestyle change. Try a glass of vanilla almond milk, trust me, you can give up dairy. 

• Stick to Natural Based Products

• Products with tons of chemicals tend to over dry my skin, leaving it dull and lackluster. I've got my routine down now to a science and at least 80% of the products I use are natural. 

• Exercise

• I haven't been keeping up with this one lately, but exercise helps to reduce stress and it also makes you sweat, ridding your body of toxins. Stress tends to be what causes the few breakouts that I do see (thanks college), but when I was working out 3 times I week I saw a major difference in both my mood and my skin. 

• Go Makeup-Free

• This is hard for some people, but I'm going back to my first point "love yourself". You need to let your skin breathe. I never thought I could go barefaced, and I hadn't from the age of 14-19. I'm now realizing why my skin was terrible for all those years. I now go makeup-free at least 6 days out of the week! It took me some time, but I had to learn to feel confident and beautiful with how I look naturally. I can't give instructions on that, all I can say is it took a little bit of bravery. Now it feels normal! I don't leave campus feeling like my skin cannot breathe, and my pores are smaller than ever. 

I also want to share my skincare routine with you all, it varies depending on the needs of my skin or the time I have but I'll give you the basic outline. 

Morning: 

1. I actually use a soap from my dermatologist in the morning, the two main ingredients are aloe and benzoyl peroxide. It tends to be drying though so I don't use this every morning. On other mornings I use something a bit more gentle like Angels on Bare Skin.
2. Next, I use an astringent, I'm currently loving Alba Botanica ACNEdote Deep Cleaning Astringent 
3. I then follow up with a toner, this is probably overkill but I'm a firm believer in tea tree oil. I really like Lush's Tea Tree Toner Water
4. I then follow up with my favorite moisturizer. I'm currently using one from Trader Joe's which contains antioxidants. Antioxidants help to protect against environmental stressors, and my skin loves this moisturizer. 
5. Last but not least a coat of mascara, and then I'm out the door. 

Night: 

My night routine is a bit more detailed and it's where my products tend to vary a bit more. I've learned over the years to kind of read what my skin wants. 

1. I follow steps 1-3 of my morning routine at night... 
2. Afterward I break my routine down one of two ways, if I feel like my skin has a lot of pigmentation issues (such as acne scarring), I use Lush's Full of Grace Serum then follow up with my Trader Joe's Moisturizer. OR If I think that my skin is mostly healthy looking I use coconut oil as my final step. 
3. If I see any pesky breakouts I follow up my moisturizer/coconut oil with a spot treatment. I really love using clay masks as spot treatments, I think they work best at drying out spots. My current favorite is this one from ERA Organics.

Sometimes If I feel like my skin is especially dull I will use a scrub after cleansing. Here are a few of my favorites: 

• Hawaiian Pineapple Enzyme Scrub
• Ocean Salt 
• Cup O' Coffee (This is a two in one mask and scrub, I especially love this for Monday mornings, It definitely wakes me up.) 

I also really love to keep a pack of wipes in my bag just to clean my face after going to the gym, being on campus all day, or to take my makeup off right after an event and before my nightly cleanse. 

Right now I love these ones. 

• Derma-E Very Clear Acne Wipes

If your skin is feeling especially dull I also recommend adding the following products to your skincare arsenal. 

• Acure Organics- Argan Stem Cell and Chlorella Growth Factor Cell Stimulating Face Mask 
• Alba Botanica Good and Clean Pore Purifying Mini Peel 

In the future I hope to add a FOREO brush to the mix, but I'm really satisfied with what I have achieved over the past few months. Honestly, my skin is glowing by comparison. I hope I've given you some tips or ideas to help improve your complexion. I'm not a skincare specialist, but having acne for so many years, hearing tips from dermatologists, doing my own research and even working at Lush this past Christmas gave me a ton of insight into what I needed to do to improve my skincare routine. If you have any questions or have some favorite products you would like to mention, leave me a comment! 

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