How to win the breakout battle.

A while back now, I was at war with my complexion. It felt awful, it looked awful and I was constantly breaking out. It felt like every time I got rid of one, another would take it's place. Don't get me wrong, I've never suffered from cystic acne - mine were smaller, yes, but plentiful, and extremely distressing since I couldn't figure out what was causing them. Now I've never had perfect skin, but I've never had completely screwed skin either - mine was always in that in-between area. 

Eventually I managed to whittle out the cause - it was something I'd been eating - and my skin was back on the mend.

Nowadays, I prefer to stick to pretty much the same products when it comes to fighting spots because I know they work well with my skin and only occasionally add in something different. I like to live by that age-old rule...Don't fix what's not broken. 

Trust me when I say I understand how troubling it is to have blemishes and how much it toys with your self-confidence. It's not fun. But try as many products as you can and give them a fair test run, see which ones work for you.

It's important you know how to fight them...and win.

I like to wash my face with a gentle, scent free cleanser. Even though these types of cleansers are usually designed for those with sensitive skin, I reckon everyone can benefit from using one. At least you definitely know you're not putting any ingredients or chemicals on your face that are going to irritate or exacerbate it - in turn, causing breakouts. This Simple Moisturising Facial Wash is an excellent choice. It's 100% soap free so it's not drying in the slightest, it contains vitamins, skin loving ingredients and has no artificial colours, perfumes or harsh chemicals. 

I also like to have actual spot-fighting solutions on hand should I happen to get any major friends that set up camp on my face. A good one to always have in your stash is Pure Tea Tree Oil. Tea Tree Oil is a good natural alternative for getting rid of pimples. It has disinfecting and soothing properties - great for fighting acne. It works by unblocking sebaceous glands and drying out the blemish. You can pick this up anywhere for bargain prices - I think I picked mine up from Home Bargains or somewhere similar.

Another option is Origins' Super Spot Remover. This is definitely not in everyone's budget and I was a little bit shocked when I took it to the counter myself - this tiny, 3fl. oz bottle cost £15.00, yes, £15.00. But like I've said in previous posts - you get what you pay for and this stuff is good stuff. It contains salicylic acid to help combat the breakout and speed up the healing process while anti-spot technology helps visibly correct any post-blemish darkening. It also contains skin-calming caffeine and red algae to relieve redness.

If my skin's having a really bad time, I like to switch up my night-time moisturiser for LaRoche-Posay's  Effaclar Duo+. This is a great treatment cream that is specifically designed to unclog pores, has been clinically proven to correct the appearance of blemishes and helps refine skin texture...and it works. It's a little pricey, but it's usually on some sort of offer on feelunique, and it smells like cucumbers. What's not to love?

Lastly is a face mask of some sort. I recently picked up this one - Superdrug's detoxifying face mask. I like it, you can feel it working, and it only costs £2.59. Though this is NOT one for sensitive skin. Please, I can't stress that enough. My skin is barely sensitive and it left my face quite red for a good 15 minutes afterwards. However, that aside, it does dig out all the crap in your pores and leaves your skin feeling invigorated. 

As disheartening as it is to have a somewhat crappy-looking complexion for a week or so, spots and blemishes are not the be all and end all of beauty. 

I once knew a girl in high school who thought it was her job to point out spots on everyone's face - to this day, I'm still not sure what she got out of it...

But it'd do us all good to remember that not everybody is like that, and not everybody we come across is scrutinising our faces as closely as we are ourselves. 

What might appear as a massive, Mount Vesuvius type spot to us maybe a mere pimple of a thing to others.

Lauren

xo