My experience with bad skin

I've just finished watching the Dying For Clear Skin programme that was BBC Three. When I saw the documentary being advertised, I knew it was something that I had to watch. However, I didn't know how much it would affect me. So much so that I felt the need to write a blog post about "bad skin." I don't know where this post is going or how it's going to span out. It's probably just going to be a random thought blog but it's something that I need to type somewhere.

It's no secret that I've suffered with bad skin for a really long time now. I can't remember the exact day or even year when I started getting spots but I do remember how they affected me. For years I struggled leaving the house. I didn't want to go to school when I had a spot flare up as I didn't want people to see me. Throughout primary school, I had always been very confident and even in my first year of secondary school, I'd go up and talk to random people and be very outgoing and "out-there." But when I started to suffer with acne, that all changed. I started to quite frankly, hate myself and the way that I looked. It got so bad that sometimes, I'd hate getting out of bed and even facing my family. Not people I didn't know. Not my friends at school. But my own family. It affected me in many different ways and even to this day, I know it has had an impact on me that I believe will stay with me forever. While I don't get spots as often as I used to... in fact, I don't get them that often at all, I do still have really bad scarring that I was told by a Harley Street dermatologist will never go. Still to this day, I find it hard to give eye contact to not only new people that I'm meeting but people that I've known pretty much all of my life. It is something that I don't enjoy doing and it's because I believe that if I'm not looking at them, they're not looking at my bad skin. So not only have I been left with a physical scar, I've been left with a mental scar as well. When I was younger and my acne was really bad, me and mum used to go to the doctors all the time and I'd always pretty much beg them to do something but they never actually did. They'd always dismiss me because for some reason, they don't seem to think it's a real problem. Maybe that's not the same for every doctor but it was for my doctors. And it's a shame because there are so many psychological effects that acne has as well as the physical ones.

 I don't think it's something that is taken as seriously as it should be and I know a lot of people were bullied because of their skin and this is something that isn't acceptable. I really hope that this programme has opened up not only the general public's eyes but doctors eyes as well. I hope that people realise that it's not just a "phase" that will disappear once you're out of your teenage years. For a lot of people, it's something that stays with them for the rest of their life. Whilst acne isn't technically a disease, it should be treated like one.

This was my skin in April, this was my skin in June, this was my skin in July and this was my skin last week. I did try to find a picture of my skin when it was really, really bad a few years ago but I pretty much stayed away from cameras and therefore I actually couldn't find one. But as you can see, it's getting better and although I do still get the random flare up, it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Suffering with bad skin is awful and if you're like me, it will probably have some affect on the rest of your life but you shouldn't feel down about it. It does get better. I can promise you that.

xxx

Helping Blemished Skin: Part Two - Getting Into Routine

Here is part one of my Helping Blemished Skin series. In case you've just stumbled across my blog, here is my introduction post so you can find out more about this series.

A skincare routine is essential for healthy looking skin and without one, it's very rare that your skin will be clear. There are three (sometimes two depending on your preferences) essential steps to a skin care routine with a few extra add ons depending on your skins needs. I'd just like to say now that I'm not a dermatologist and I've never been trained in skin care. What I know is from my own experiences and what I say may not necessarily work for your skin as every skin type is different. When I'm explaining some of these steps, it may seem like I'm talking to you like a child but I thought I might as well go right back to the basics! The products featured in the pictures are my favourite products and I'll be going into more detail about each one of them in the my skin care routine post.

Step 1 - Cleansing

Cleansing the skin is so important for everything, not just people with blemished skin. In the morning it refreshes your skin and removes all the dirt that has crept into your pores overnight and at night, it removes your days make up to prevent your pores from clogging up and causing breakouts. The face washes above are my favourite and when it comes down to telling you about my skin care routine, I'll go into more detail about these items. But as you can see, 2 out of the 5 items are foaming cleansers and these are said to be the best for blemished skin. I don't understand why and I believe that any form of face wash can work. The Cor soap is actually a soap and soaps aren't exactly highly recommended for the skin but this soap is a miracle worker and like a normal soap, it doesn't dry the skin out.

Step 2 - Toning

It's arguable whether or not toning is an important step in your skin care routine. I personally do tone and that's mainly because I like the feel of it. It leaves a tingling sensation on your skin and you removes any excess make up or dirt that your cleanser may have missed. Be careful when choosing a toner though as some contain a lot of alcohol that strips the skin and makes your skin a dry mess.

Step 3 - Moisturising

Possibly the most important step in every skin care routine. Moisturising provides an excellent base for make up and balances the skin out. What I've come to notice with blemished skin is that using a moisturiser aimed at blemished skin isn't necessarily that good as they tend to strip the skin of its natural moisture and once again, leave it a dry mess. If you do have blemished skin, I'd say go for a moisturiser aimed at combination skin as this will prevent your skin from shining whilst retaining its moisture. It'll also not block up the pores and therefore won't allow breakouts. Unless of course you have very oily skin then go for a mattifying moisturiser. My favourite moisturisers also includes a No7 night cream; I believe it's important to have a separate night moisturiser as your skin is completely different whilst sleeping.

Step 4 - Exfoliating

I generally exfoliate two times a week and I do this to remove the dead skin cells from my skin. It's important for people with blemished skin to exfoliate in order to unblock the pores and prevent further breakouts. Another reason I exfoliate is because I do have skin scarring which my blemishes have left.. exfoliating regularly will eventually get rid of these. They do tend to go after a few years but there's no harm in speeding up the process is there?!

Step 5 - Face Masks

I absolutely love using face masks! I use them around 2-3 times a week and depending on how my skin feels depends on the type of face mask I'll use. I either use a peel off face mask, a clay mask or a nourishing mask. A peel off ones is one that applies clear, dries and then you peel it off (the clue is in the name). After this, all the impurities have been drawn out of your skin and you're left with refined pores and clear skin. A clay mask is similar except from it's basically clay that you apply to your face, leave to set and then wash off. It helps to close the pores up and it leaves your skin feeling super soft. And finally, I'll use a nourishing mask whenever I have an active breakout and this is because my breakouts are painful most of the time and these help to nurture the breakout.

Step 6 - Speciality Products

By speciality products I mean spot treatments. These are important in your skin care routine but finding one that works for you is definitely a challenge. Spot treatments are wonderful as they're concentrated and really help to clear up active breakouts. You apply them straight to the spot once or twice a day and the spot is generally reduced within 5 hours and gone within 3 days.

What does your skin care routine consist of?

xxx

Helping Blemished Skin - Part One

I've been writing, planning, deleting, editing etc this series for what seems like a lifetime and finally, I decided it was good enough to publish. It's on a subject that I feel strongly about and something that I believe I'm pretty informed in because it's something that I've suffered with my entire teenage life. And that's blemishes and spots. If you're reading this just out of pure interest or something to do then I hope you enjoy it and even if you take one thing away from it, I'll be happy. Also, if you have anything to add make sure you comment/tweet/Facebook me and I'll add it at the end and credit you. But if you're reading this hoping to clear your skin then I pray that this helps you because from my experience, there is nothing worse than having bad skin. It seems really far fetched and exaggerated but your confidence takes such a huge knock and you feel worthless and helpless. So I'm hoping that this helps you in some way or another and if it does, let me know!

This post is just the introduction and I'll be posting the rest over a series of a few weeks. I have planned/written some in advance but if you'd like me to cover any other areas, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Part 1 -  Introduction

Part 2 - Getting Into Routine

Part 3 - Finding What Works For You

Part 4 - Covering Up
Part 5 - My Skincare Routine & Favourites

The only problem I have with this series is that for quite a bit of it, I'll be having to use stock photos as some of the products are ones that I've either heard good things about, used and loved or used and hated so I won't necessarily have the product to take a picture of I'm afraid. I really don't like taking stock photos but I will try my hardest to avoid them!
Do you think you'll benefit from this series? Are you looking forward to it? Any suggestions?
xxx