I have always been plagued with pretty terrible acne. I was never diagnosed but am pretty sure that I have cystic acne. When I was a teenager agonizing over the painful, ugly bumps my mom used to comfort me with the fact that I would grow out of it in my 20s. By my mid 20s I realized that wasn't going to happen but I had my acne mostly under control with hormonal birth control and I probably tried every 3 step system known to man. In my late 20s I went off birth control to try to get pregnant. My acne was the worst it had ever been. I began to suspect that some of the cleansers might be contributing to my problem. My skin was constantly oil because it was too damn dry from the cleansers. I decided to try the oil cleansing method (OCM). My face got worse and I couldn't take the pain so I stopped that after 2 weeks. I just resigned myself to having terrible skin.
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| This was 4 years ago during my first year of grad school |
Right around this time I stopped drinking soda regularly. I saw some improvement and then started cutting more sugar out of my diet. Then I got pregnant. My skin started clearing up and I switched from proactiv to a one step neutrogena face wash. I had stayed at a friend's for a week to dog sit her dog, forgot my face wash and borrowed hers. I noticed improvement so I switched. My skin stayed clear all through my pregnancy and through the period I nursed my son. Once my cycle returned the acne came along for the ride. So, I got myself back on hormonal birth control even though I was starting to worry about long term effects. It's been 2.5 years now and I just kept using neutrogena with the bc. My skin was better than before but still pretty oily. I recently stopped taking birth control again but I changed my skin care regimen again a couple of weeks before I stopped the bc. And the whole reason for this post! I got this giant container of coconut oil from Costco (a place I'm not ashamed to shop at) because I heard it had a lot of uses. I started putting it on my skin because I figured my skin was still getting dried out and I started noticing that on the days I didn't do it my face was more oily. Then I remembered this
pin I had seen and I went back to check it out. Use a baking soda and coconut oil scrub every few days. Remembering my experience with OCM I was a little nervous to go all the way without face wash so I did the scrub every few days and washed in between. I noticed I was still getting pretty shiny on the days that I was washing so I quit. I have been only using the scrub every few days for the 3 weeks or so and just rinsing well with water on the other days and off of bc for two months now. My skin has never been better! I am so pleased.
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| Yesterday right after I did my scrub. |
My scarring is smoothing out some, I don't have dark spots, I've only gotten two "bumps" right around my period and they healed quickly, and my forehead is no longer an oil slick. I feel like it's a miracle. It's so easy too, I just leave my hands a little damp after brushing my teeth, shake a little baking soda in my palm, put a dollop of coconut oil on there, mix it up, and scrub! I leave it on until I've been in the shower for a little bit and let some steam do it's magic. Then I just rinse it off (you have to use your fingers to get the baking soda completely off and out of crevices on your face!). It's weirdly refreshing too! If you've ever used that face wash that leaves you all tingly and is supposed to be invigorating: my face feels like that but better after I rinse.
I'm so pleased with the results that I'm really strongly considering going no poo. My hair is out of control oily and I have found some really helpful blogs that give great suggestions. I know this has a lot of details that might seem meaningless but I included so much info because I'm not really sure why my skin is so great right now. Maybe it's that the bc isn't totally out of my system, maybe it's because I drink a lot more water and lot less empty calorie drinks, maybe it's because I'm making sure I eat more produce in combination with my new skin care regimen. I suppose time will tell but for now this is working and ecstatic!
