sukiscoop APRIL 27, 2012 by
There are a few ways “getting out,” my theme for the week, can sadly promote oily skin and/or acne. Hot weather, humidity and sweat are the holy trinity of pore cloggers, and sunscreen can push your pores right over the edge!
Throw in normal PMS, stress, which raises cortisol levels, triggering oil production and inflammation (inflammation is one of the top 3 causes of acne), then add the heat of summer, where sweat lingers and yeast grows (I know, gross! but it’s a fact of life folks…), and bacteria flourishes in damp conditions.
Here’s some tips:
- Sounds like, duh! But, keep up good grooming habits!
- Don’t drink or smoke if you want to get rid of your acne…it’s as simple as that.
- Chronic stress? Chronic acne. Take advantage of the plethora of de-stressing tips available from the hundreds of women’s magazines out there to the thousands of blogs to the millions of websites and books on the subject, to the well, you get the idea…let’s just say, I wanted to keep this post a readable length.
- Deep acne can be jump start treated with antibiotics. I don’t recommend long term treatment with these or any other harsh chemicals due to ineffectiveness long term and the skin can heal if you treat it with the right stuff after getting it clear and living well.
- Do less. Over-treating can cause more problems.
- Don’t let sweat sit on the skin.
- Wear wicking fibers for workouts.
- Choose the correct skin care products.
- Even if you don’t have oily skin, I readily recommend taking a daily probiotic supplement as they beef up the immune system, which for those with acne, is a crisis situation. Probiotics aid nutrient absorption because for your body to digest and absorb the correct amount of nutrients from the foods you eat, they need to be “bio-available,” i.e.; easily absorbable. Probiotics help break food particles down, aiding their digestion and absorption. Yogurt just doesn’t contain the quantity and quality of viable bacteria to increase populations at an acceptable rate.
Other recommended dietary supplements to skincare regimens for oily skin types:
- B1 – Asparagus, Brown Rice, Beans, Whole Grains and Eggs: these greatly help in reducing whiteheads. Also, if you are seeing chronic or numerous whiteheads, you may have a B1 deficiency or absorption problem.
- Vitamin A - Eggs, spinach, kale and sweet potatoes: high in this vitamin which is essential for helping skin repair itself and eliminate those ugly raised spots and blackheads.
- Zinc – Sesame Seeds, Tahini, Dark Chocolate and Peanuts: a deficiency of zinc can promote acne. Zinc also helps eliminate inflammation, dries out oil glands and reduces blemishes by at least 35% over time.
- Beta carotene-rich foods – like Carrots, Winter Squash or Dark Green Veggies make you feel and look beautiful (and healthy), functioning like a self-tanner does (especially carrot oil), giving your skin a beautiful golden glow. Believe it or not, they’ll keep any pale skin naturally “bronzed” – and generally, as anyone with acne knows, a little tan helps with any skin issue, so if you’re staying out of the sun, get some sunshine in a bottle!
Skincare:
- Choose products that work to balance oil production, treat bacteria production and pump up the immune response.
- Don’t be afraid of oils! The skin is made up of oils and if you avoid oil, your skin will respond by overproducing them in response to you drying the skin out.
- Exfoliate! (but use a peel if you are red and irritated)
- Do use a concentrated, medicated toner.
- Do use a moisturizer (not an oil-free one) geared toward balancing the oils of the skin.
- Look for the following botanicals and cosmecueticals: retinol, vitamin a, white willow bark (NATURAL salicylic acid), vitamin C, goldenseal, echinacea and jojoba oil.
- Get to know your own skin and don’t depend on others to tell you what you need. You know how you feel, how you look and what your skin needs better than any outsider. That does for everyone!
Such great information from suki! Check out the suki line here.
~Melissa Jaynes
The other product I tried, the Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream, was kind of awesome. I wanted to try it because Cally says stuff with caffeine in it is super tops for under-eye issues. Whenever I’m tired, my eyes puff up like cray! And I’m just about always tired. So, I’m always on the lookout for the perfect under-eye cream. Because I don’t like when people know my business! Let those chumps think I went to bed early.
