Skincare continued…

Alrighty, so back to the subject of natural skin care and my quest to keep my skin healthy and try to keep it clean and clear at the same time…discovering that one doesn’t necessarily lead to the other.

As I discussed in my previous post pre-holidays, I had stopped using commercial skin care and a prescription toner in October and my skin was having a full on tantrum about the situation. I began to break out horribly around my chin, jaw and mouth area pre-menstrually and was scrambling to figure out a solution. Through much reading, chatting with others, learning a little more about my family skin history and chilling out this is what I have determined…

First off I found out that my birth Dad (yes, I am adopted – blog for a different date) and my birth brother both had terribly bad acne, my brother ended up on Accutane with his. When I started to study about hormonal acne I realized they were quite a few different scenarios and mine fit to a ‘T’ that of mild androgenic breakouts. The same form it would appear that they both suffered from.

All woman produce androgens; some just more than others.

This happens in woman around the time of ovulation until around the time of menstruation; the body’s level of androgen hormones peak and when this happens there is a rise in the stimulation of the sebaceous (oil making) glands by testosterone. Next, the pores plug up and trap the oil inside. Bacteria grow in the trapped oil, causing the production of irritating chemicals. Finally the body’s immune system comes into play. There is both good and bad news about this immune response. While it fights the bacteria, it also causes the redness, swelling, pus-like fluid and later scarring which makes acne and breakouts so hard to deal with and a serious pain in the ass!

Many women notice that their acne is worse in the week before their period. The exact reason for this common pattern is not known, but obviously it is related to hormonal changes during the cycle, perhaps a rise in testosterone at mid-cycle.

I also discovered that low levels of progesterone can make this even worse, as well as poor gut flora and digestion, a lack of essential fatty acids and the B vitamins and zinc.

Zinc deficiency in the skin promotes the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and promotes the production of sebum and then free fatty acids. Females with moderate to severe acne have zinc deficiency, compounded with elevated androgen activity (hyperandrogenism). In english…if you are deficient in zinc your levels of androgens will be higher, creating oilier skin, more clogged pores and more breakouts!

So looking through the list I immediately crossed a few things off:

• My gut flora and digestion are awesome, plus I take a daily probiotic.
• I use flax oil daily plus eat loads of healthy fat.
• I take a daily B complex and B12 sublingually when I feel a I need it.

Some things I took into consideration:

• I have added 3,000grams of Evening Primrose Oil by Sisu in to add extra nourishment for my skin and to help balance out potentially low progesterone (go for my  physical Jan 11th to determine hormone levels)
• I will take B12 daily for next 3 months to see what I notice.
• I will also add in a zinc supplement 30mg daily for Month 1, 50mg daily for Month 2 and determine Month 3 based on those first two months.

I have also been working with Classical Homeopath Aimee Marples, from my studio Simplicity and she has me using a remedy called sulphur to help heal my breakouts. It is a low potency and will take some time as we have now discovered this goes way back down the family line!

As for my skin care here you go:

• I wake and rinse my face with tepid water, pat dry and apply Burt’s Bees Toner for Blemish Prone Skin
• I then spot treat anything with Burts Bees Tea Tree Oil and apply Aubrey Organics Grape Seed and Kelp moisturizer for combination skin.
• I use ALL organic oil-free makeup
• At night I wash with organic evening primorse oil soap, spritz with toner I made with distilled water, witch hazel, rose water and calendula, spot treat if I need to and apply moisturizer.
• I use almond oil around my eyes and to remove any makeup if I was wearing it.

That pretty much sums up my skin care routine!

I am also back to extremely clean eating. Over the holidays I drank wine everyday from about Dec 15th- 31st!!! ugh…and I am feeling it, so I am over it. All is good and back on track, so we will see where this skin journey goes.

It is somewhat better than it was, but only time and consistency will tell and of course when that time of the month rolls around again…will keep you posted!