FACING YOUR SKIN HELL

In my previous post I talked about the hell that is dealing with acne. Well now I want to talk about some of my tops tips to face it.

Of course when your face plays tricks against you, it is hard to keep your confidence up as high as you had it when you were looking flawless. No matter how hard you even try to accept that it is who you are, all the images that surround you from the media and everyone's Facebook posts with flawless filters, make you feel like you don't fit the mould.

Of course an option is to go ahead and cover it up as much as possible so that you don't have to look at it, but that's really just going to prolong the issue. So here's my top five ways of dealing with those face monsters.

TIP 1 

Number one is definitely try not to stress out about it all. Naturally it's going to affect your self esteem but unfortunately it's going to have to just stay that way for a little while, because there is no over night cure for acne. Even when you do have some improvement going on and feel so much better, don't let yourself fall in to the trap of waking every morning thinking your face is suddenly porcelain. I've done that so many times.

TIP 2 

If you really do feel 100% insecure about your face and don't like to look at it - then don't. Avoid the constant mirrors that seem to be everywhere when you don't want them to be. Don't stand there and stare at everything you think is wrong with your face either; try to think of all the things you like. Is your hair on point that day? Do your eyes look enchanting? Well there you go then.

TIP 3

Make sure you have a really good skincare routine and stick to it. After a long hard day, don't be tempted to just quickly wipe your face and disappear to bed - you'll regret it in the morning. I always like to play around with my skincare routine and try new products so I can find the best one for me. It always changes with the seasons as well - over winter my face gets a bit drier so no harsh face scrubs.
Another tip on the skincare is always moisturise after. Some people don't always do this especially when you feel like you have really oily skin already. Well let me tell you, if you don't then your skin is just going to produce even more oil to combat the moisture you stole when you washed your face, which in turn is just clogging your pores more and causing more acne.

TIP 4 

If you do want to cover your face up a bit (and we all do) then I would recommend grabbing yourself something that's not going to aggravate the situation.
Option 1 is just getting a light cream to cover your face rather than a full on foundation. This could be a BB cream, a CC cream or other tinted moisturiser. You just have to try some out and find what's best for you.
Option 2 is going for something a bit more full coverage. Try to get yourself a foundation that has salicylic acid in it to help fight the bacteria on your skin and always go for one that is oil free. There's quite a few out there to choose from, you just need to have a look around and again find the best one for you.

TIP 5

My final and most important tip is to treat yourself and your body right. Of course you sometimes might get stressed out over life and cause a breakout, you might have a lot of unhealthy food - particularly at this time of year; sometimes you are completely exhausted at the end of the day and there's no way you're going to make it to the gym.
That's ok because life is all about balance but that of course means you have to balance those times of self indulgence with self discipline. I find it really hard to keep to a strict diet to control my acne or make sure that I'm constantly doing everything that I should be, but I can honestly say that I've definitely made a huge difference to the way I look and feel by eating that bit healthier and making it to a couple of gym classes each week or taking the dog for a run down the beach before work. 

At the end of the day I guess the most important piece of advice I could have for facing your skin hell, is to not let it define you because you are still you whether you have some marks on your face or not.