Miraculous Skin Care Regimen for Acne

[zeebs]

Hi ladies,

Just thought I would share my new-and-improved recipe for curing acne. This is the best thing I've come across yet (and I've tried a lot of stuff).

Makeup: anything gentle; the key is to not touch your face during the day, lest you grind any bacteria into the pores.
Makeup remover: Jojoba oil (optional: add lavendar or tea tree essential oils)
Soap: high-end vegetable soap (like Dr. Bronner's or Zum Bar); do NOT scrub, just get the makeup off.
Toner: Humphrey's witch hazel and aloe toner (any alcohol-free, witch hazel-based toner is fine)
Moisture: Virgin Coconut Oil (Organic Fiji makes scented ones and they are available online; they also make a lotion which is not as effective as the pure oil but much easier to work with for daytime)

Masks and scrubs should be used sparingly. I recommend the Aubrey Organics sensitive skin mask which doubles as a gentle scrub.

And of course, eliminate sugar from the diet! I also recommend drinking lots of water, eating healthy, and taking an L-Proline/L-Lysine/Vitamin C/Bioflavenoid supplement (for connective tissue health). Source Naturals makes a good Proline/Lysine/Vit C, and then you can buy the bioflavenoid supplement separately.

[rbur]

It’s amazing how different we all are, half the stuff you use would make me break out.
I’m happy you found something that works for you.

[zeebs]

Interesting. Are you talking about the oils? Of all the oils one could put on one's skin, these are two of the least comedogenic. Of course that doesn't mean they are non-comedogenic so of course I could see how this might make other types of acne worse.

Squalene is also a miraculous cure for acne; you may be able to find a brand called Mayumi at a health food store (or order it online). It is, however, a shark product and thus is not very sustainable, ecologically-speaking, which is why I switched to coconut (which has similar antimicrobial properties) and jojoba (which is similar in structure, but not as similar as squalene, to the human body's own oils, and thus IMO this type of oil probably helps to flush out the pores rather than gumming them up like mineral oil)

I will say, when I first switched to coconut oil, my acne got worse, but after three weeks it's like a miracle drug.

PS, since I first posted this I added pure tea tree oil to my regimen (after the toner and before the coconut oil) and that seems to clear my pores even further, so yay!

[JenW]

From what I understand Squalene can also be derived from olives.

[zeebs]

Oh my gosh Jen, that is super exciting! Where do I buy vegan squalene?

[JenW]

I purchase a good deal of my skicare from Garden of Wisdom. I know they have it.

http://www.gardenofwisdom.com

Check under Carrier/exotic oils. It looks like about $10 for 2 oz. Shipping will add to that.

[zeebs]

Thank you Jen! I just learned something, too: it's spelled Squanlene if it's vegetable, Squalane if it's shark. I'm looking forward to trying it!

[Rhys]

The cart over at GoW is closed til the week-end, I think, because Markey's away. Of course you can always look around and check in at the GoW forum - if you're ready for another addiction

Seriously, though, I do love her stuff, and the prices and quality are hard to beat (so how come I always end up spending so much there???)

But it's definitely a fantastic resource!

[JenW]

Thank you Jen! I just learned something, too: it's spelled Squanlene if it's vegetable, Squalane if it's shark. I'm looking forward to trying it!

I thought that too before I posted to you. SquaLANE at GoW is also Olive derrived. The SquaLENE can be either olive oil derrived or from shark oil. I even checked wikipedia out and it confirmed there were at least two sources for squaLENE. (Are we all confused, yet?) It is the squaLENE that closely resembles human sebum. It is the one you want. You just have to carefully check out the source.

[babysaffron]

Coconut is very abundant here in Phils and its was a trend also before that everyone is virgin coconut oil. We used them in everything. I only used VCO before i wash/cleanse my face night. At first, it was a miracle thing to me... After a few months, like 3 months, my skin started to break out. Fortunately for others that it was a miracle thing...but for me, it doesn't suit me well....