4 Things I Wish My Dermatologist Told Me about Skincare

I've posted before on this blog about my struggle with acne & break outs.  Now that I'm in my twenties (correction: late twenties!) my skin is changing.  Coupled with the dry weather up here, I'm now noticing it's possible to have both oily & dry skin. Before I would have never classified my skin as dry.  It was always super oily & full of breakouts.  When I was younger I went to the dermatologist who prescribed me a bunch of different combos of pills & topical things to fight it.  Now that I'm older I've been able to discover a few things about skin care on my own and none of these were things the dermatologist told me:

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There is a proper way to wash your face

Now this may seem like an obvious thing but honestly it's more than wetting your face, creating a lather, & rinsing.  You have no idea what residues can be on your face from your make up and such.  I wore a lot of make up in high school trying to cover up my acne/redness so since I didn't properly wash my face I'm sure it left my pores clogged.  Where did I learn to properly wash my face?  After college when I got a job as an office manager at a school that trained aestheticians.  Now I feel I wash my face in a way that really gets it clean & use other products to refresh the PH & moisturize.  Before, during my oily days, I would skip on the moisture since I had such an oil slick.  But now, at least for me, I've noticed if I keep my skin hydrated & have less oil.  This is really prevalent when I use coconut oil as my cleanser.  I usually remove my make up with a wipe before cleansing so that my cleanser can do it's job.  Then use my spot treatment (tea tree oil!), witch hazel as a toner, and then a moisturizer.

There's something called Tea Tree Oil & it's amazing

Instead of all these ridiculous topical ointments that cost a million dollars, there's something natural called Tea Tree Oil & it works amazing to combat breakouts.  Seriously dries them up quite quickly!  I'd say it usually takes 3 days for the Tea Tree oil to dry a blemish up completely but I see results after 1 day.  I bought this on a whim not believing what others said about it and am so glad I did.  There are also a TON of other skin loving essential oils like Frankincense, Lavender, & Cedarwood that are perfect for rejuvenating skin & clearing breakouts! Read more about using Essential Oils here.

Consistency is better than any drug

If someone had just told me that washing my face everyday, properly, would help I might have stuck with it.  Usually I'd give up because whatever course of action I was prescribed didn't work and be stuck with inflamed, red skin.  But now that I'm older & have a preferred skin regimen I see results no mater what I use.  Which is why I get bored with my cleansers/routine easily.  So keeping consistent with a gentle cleanser, some exfoliation, a toner, & moisturizer keeps my skin happy.

You get zits all your life

Jennifer Lawrence is the one that told me this, actually.  I remember wanting so badly to have clear skin just like other people that I knew.  Going to the dermatologist meant hope for a cure - dramatic, I know.  No one told me I'd be battling my skin all my life. And at one point it really was a battle.  I didn't care what I did to my face, my skin needed to be punished & pumped full of things that would dry out my zits.  Things that would exfoliate & leave my skin red.  Spot treatments that would inflame my face (oh yes, that has happened).  Anything & everything no matter how much it stung, was there to punish my face into submission.  That didn't work, in fact I was left with a very angry face not a face that I'd conquered.  So I decided just to deal with it in college - it was always going to be this way might as well just accept it.  After working at the school mentioned above, I learned I could be friends with my skin.  If I treated it well, it would treat me well.  I still get breakouts but I know my break out areas & try to treat them before I get a break out.  The gentler I am with my skin the more it appreciates it.  But it's true - you have breakouts your whole life.  You have to be consistent in your skin care to have even a little bit of control over them.

I always felt sort of out of place with acne.  But we all have to grow to love the things about us that we don't particularly like.  Now I love taking care of my skin because, like I said, if I treat it well - it treats me well.

Have you ever felt like you've battled your skin?  How do you nurture yourself now?

xoxo, Moe