Weddingbee boards

If you go through some of my old posts, you'll see that for a period of time I was really stressed about my skin & acne. Now, 5 days before the wedding, I am SO happy to say that it's mostly clear. I thought I'd share my regimen in case anyone else is in the shoes I was a few weeks ago.

1. Clarisonic - I was very skeptical at first, because it basically looks like a large electronic toothbrush and costs $150+. But, after breaking out from Mac foundation a few weeks ago, I was desperate and splurged. I use every morning/night, and after years of probably 100 different products, I can honestly say that this is the best thing, by far, I've found to open up my pores.

2. Trader Joes citrus face wash - after buying this super expensive micro dermabrasion kit (philosophy?) that worked really well and making the connection that my skin seems to react well to the citrus component of it, I thought I'd give the TJ's daily face wash a shot. I've been really happy with the product after a few weeks of using it, and the best part is it's only $5! It does an awesome job of actually cleaning my skin. I wash my face with a small amount of it first, rinse, and then apply it directly to the clarisonic and use that as step 2. I figure that it's probably not good to use the Clarisonic on a dirty face. 

3. Drinking tons of water

4. Cutting out milk - I've been drinking soy only for a couple weeks now

5. Reducing my cheese consumption

6. Reducing my sugar consumption

7. Tanning - for whatever reason, tanning seems to dry out the problem areas. I know a lot of people say that it does just the opposite, but it's definitely helpful for me.

With those things combined, my skin is looking the best it has ever looked... which isn't perfect, but good enough to cover it up with a good application of makeup on Saturday. :) :)

kaia house green tea clarifying moisturizer. i SWEAR by it. helps with inflamation almost immediately. that and they also carry this blueberry rhassoul mask, you have to mix it with water but it brightens your skin right away.

if it works for you, that's great but I just wanted to point out some things.

if you use the most gentle-est brush (sensitive) at the lowest setting speed of clarisonic (speed 1), it's still advisable not to use it twice a day and use the recommended once a day.  The reason being when you over cleanse and over exfoliate, you destroy the protective barrier of the skin (acid mantle) and strip your face of the oils, which sometimes stimulate excess sebum production and also escort environmental elements (dirt/pollution, and worst, free radicals) into the skin which is detrimental to the skin's health. 

Lastly, there is no safe way to tan as UV rays not only causes injury and inflammation (hello hyperpigmentation, free radicals...cancer) but also causes premature photoaging. UVA rays penetrate deep into your skin and damages your fibroblast that produce collagen and elastin that keeps your skin plump and youthful.  They don't grow back easily....wrinkles, sagging skin...

There are other products that help you prevent sebum overproduction, that are anti-inflammatory, and contain salicylic acid (a beta hydroxy acid that helps chemically exfoliate skin, stimulate cell turnover..), and also if you like that DRYING effect, there's products that contain sulfure and helps dry out the breakout and that's safe to use! 

Beauty is important, but not at the price of your health!