Luckily enough, I never really had horrible skin. I got spots as a teenager which of course is normal but I never had really bad acne or anything which probably caused me to be not very cautious of my skin and I literally did the bare minimum to take care of it. Then at the end of last year, I decided to come off my pill for about 2 months just to give my body a break and my skin freaked out. I broke out worse than I ever have before and it led me to be really self-conscious of my face and how I looked and I literally would not go anywhere without make up which for me was hard because I enjoy make up free days! So I changed a few of my habits and now I feel like my skin is better than it has ever been and after receiving a few compliments on how clear my skin is looking I decided I'd share the changes I made as well as the routines I follow to keep my skin clear! I put ALMOST perfect in the title because nobody is 100% perfect, I still get spots from time to time!
Get rid of your make up wipes...
I literally used to be the worst when it came to removing make up. I used any wipes I could find in the house. Wipes for me now are my last resort! I swear by micellar water! Once I have taken my make up off I normally always wash and moisturise my face straight away after!
Wash yo face gal...
I feel like this is a fairly obvious one but it's so important. I use Eve Taylor products, I started using them at Christmas time as I got them as gift and they have literally made such a huge difference to my skin so I highly recommend!
I use the scrub 1-2 times daily and the moisturiser after each time I use the scrub. I use the mask then 1-2 times a week. It's kind of different to a lot of other facemasks, it goes on like a moisturiser and doesn't harden or anything you just wash it off after 15 mins.
Face maskin...
I LOVE face masks, normally I do 1 or 2 per week, I love clay masks because I have quite an oily T- Zone so it helps to dry that out a bit! But obviously, if you have dry skin it is probably best to avoid clay masks! I usually pick up the masks in Penneys for about €1 or €1.50 and they work a charm but one of the most amazing face masks I've ever used is the formula 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Mask
Similar to some of the other products I use I got this when my skin was at it's worst because I was desperate for a quick fix! Obviously, it didn't happen overnight but I used this mask for about 6 weeks twice a week and in combination with everything else I was doing it really helped! It's available in most pharmacies and isn't too expensive either! Mine ran out but I'll definitely be going back for more!
Let your skin breathe...
By this I mean go make up free from time to time! I know when your skin is bad it can be hard to build up the courage to go out without make up on but you really do yourself a favour by doing so! I normally go completely make up free about 1-3 times a week depending on what I have to do and the weeks I do it more I always feel so much better!
You are what you eat...
I never really ate an unhealthy diet, however, I always noticed on weeks where my diet wasn't on track my skin broke out. When my skin was bad I definitely was not eating as good as I normally would. Anything greasy, sugary or even alcohol would cause absolute chaos to my skin which I mean I think is fairly obvious but at the time I had just gone back to college after the summer and was working crazy hours so it was definitely much harder to keep healthy. One diet change I've noticed that's made a huge difference for me is going vegan. I was vegetarian for about a year and recently decided to go vegan as it has been months since I've consumed dairy or eggs any way other than as ingredients in other products. I noticed a small improvement after just cutting out meat but I definitely think cutting out dairy has been key for my own skin. I never really drank milk even as a child I hated it and I don't like it in coffee, however, I did ADORE cheese and ate it on a daily basis. As soon as I started to cut down and eventually eliminate it from my diet my skin cleared up so quickly! So I mean I'm not giving a lecture here and saying that absolutely everyone should go vegan but I do think if your skin is bad and you consume quite a lot of dairy it might be something to look into. There are so many people who have cut out dairy who've experienced the exact same thing! Most things I eat are fresh. I very rarely have processed foods or refined sugars! I eat a lot of fruit, veg, porridge and avocado, all of which are great for skin!
Hydration...
Again, I feel like this one is fairly obvious but it really is so important. I drink about 2-4 litres of water per day as well as green tea and other herbal teas!
Picture proof...
I decided that I would take some pictures before I put my make up on for a night and then after just so you can see my skin without make up and also with it on and I took the pictures on my camera so there was literally no hiding anything lol!
Let your skin breathe...
By this I mean go make up free from time to time! I know when your skin is bad it can be hard to build up the courage to go out without make up on but you really do yourself a favour by doing so! I normally go completely make up free about 1-3 times a week depending on what I have to do and the weeks I do it more I always feel so much better!
You are what you eat...
I never really ate an unhealthy diet, however, I always noticed on weeks where my diet wasn't on track my skin broke out. When my skin was bad I definitely was not eating as good as I normally would. Anything greasy, sugary or even alcohol would cause absolute chaos to my skin which I mean I think is fairly obvious but at the time I had just gone back to college after the summer and was working crazy hours so it was definitely much harder to keep healthy. One diet change I've noticed that's made a huge difference for me is going vegan. I was vegetarian for about a year and recently decided to go vegan as it has been months since I've consumed dairy or eggs any way other than as ingredients in other products. I noticed a small improvement after just cutting out meat but I definitely think cutting out dairy has been key for my own skin. I never really drank milk even as a child I hated it and I don't like it in coffee, however, I did ADORE cheese and ate it on a daily basis. As soon as I started to cut down and eventually eliminate it from my diet my skin cleared up so quickly! So I mean I'm not giving a lecture here and saying that absolutely everyone should go vegan but I do think if your skin is bad and you consume quite a lot of dairy it might be something to look into. There are so many people who have cut out dairy who've experienced the exact same thing! Most things I eat are fresh. I very rarely have processed foods or refined sugars! I eat a lot of fruit, veg, porridge and avocado, all of which are great for skin!
Hydration...
Again, I feel like this one is fairly obvious but it really is so important. I drink about 2-4 litres of water per day as well as green tea and other herbal teas!
Picture proof...
I decided that I would take some pictures before I put my make up on for a night and then after just so you can see my skin without make up and also with it on and I took the pictures on my camera so there was literally no hiding anything lol!
Before make up (I look so weird with my hair done)
Both of these are obviously with make up but it had gotten a bit darker by the time my make up was done so I added flash for one. The only editing I did on these pictures was the brightness because it was a bad time of day for lighting lol!
I very rarely took any pictures of my skin when it was bad, but I did find one where you can kinda see it...
Absolutely laughing at myself for even sharing that photo but it was literally the only one I have where you can see how bad it had gotten and I had make up on here covering the worst parts on my cheeks! To be honest I really don't even think this picture shows how bad it was at all but you can still definitely see the improvement!
SUN...
This is my final point, the sun is so good for clearing up skin so if you're going away try to soak up as much of it as possible and even here in Ireland get out as much as possible, skin loves vitamin D! But of course wear factor, I've learned my lesson on this one the hard way!!!
All of the products I listed here are cruelty free! YAY
Grainne
x
