Exfoliation: Maximizing the DKR

*Disclaimer: The methods mentioned here are NOT recommended for people who have started a new skin regimen within the last month. Please wait a full 4 weeks before attempting anything.*


A question that always comes up on the DKR forum is that Dan's regimen worked in the beginning but it's not anymore, what gives?

The answer may be right under your nose. Unless proper exfoliation is being consistently maintained, most likely your pores will become re-blocked with excess skin material. Which in turn creates more acne on some level.

What is exfoliation, you may be asking.

Exfoliation: The removal of dead skin cells on the outermost layer of your skin.

BP's main role in fighting acne is not one of exfoliation, but of being antibacterial. Granted, yes it makes the skin dry and peel to a certain extent, but it pretty much stops there. If BP loosened all of the dead skin and removed it, your face wouldn't be peeling after a good washing. It would just go down the drain with the water.

Less than regular exfoliation is also the cause for what I call "Concrete Skin", especially with BP. This is when your skin looks rough, thick, dry, and does not want to move. Many have felt (including me) that their face would look SO much better if they could just peel/scrape/scrub a layer or two of skin off. (Nothing that drastic will be needed, luckily.)

You do have beautiful skin underneath, I promise.

Fortunately there are many many ways to exfoliate:

Manually: This is where you physically rub the skin with something abrasive. (This does not mean the metal mesh dish scrubber. PUT IT DOWN!) It can be something as simple as adding sugar to honey and rubbing on a wet face for 20 second. This is not the only way, just an idea of the practice. Some favorites will be listed below.

Chemically: It kind of speaks for itself. This is where you add some cream or gel and it chemically loosens and makes your skin cells turn over faster. Newbies are NOT recommended to try anything chemical for a MINIMUM of 4 months after starting the DKR. This is for good reason. You will destroy your skin if you add too many unknown chemicals to your face at any given time. Gentle gradual steps are key in ANY skincare routine! There are simple drug store chemical exfoliators found in lotions such as as Neutrogena Healthy Defense with AHA. These are gentle with little danger or harm. AHA's and BHA's are some of the lightest chemical exfoliators while retinoids are highly concentrated and are not to be played with. Research and use with care.

Futuristically: The name is just for fun. What I really mean is when you go to a Dermatologist and remove dead skin by a laser treatment. This is the final and most extreme step for exfoliation and generally isn't meant to be done by people using active acne products. This is more for a re-texturizing of the skin AFTER acne. After being the key word. Be suspicious of any Dermatologist that agrees to do laser exfoliation on someone with a red face from beginning an acne treatment. If your face is red, put it to bed. In other words, let it rest.


With all the exfoliation options, it can be difficult to decide which to pick. Fortunately for newbies, the answer is simple. Start with the most gentle. Here are some versions I have personally done:


Oil + Cotton: This is really simple. Take an oil that your skin agrees with. Anything like Jojoba, Olive, Apricot Kernel, Sunflower, ect. Pour about 1 teaspoon (the small ones) into your hand and then spread around your face gently for about 1-2 minutes. Really work it in there, especially the rough spots. Then take either a soft tissue or cotton pad like these: Cotton Pads
And just gently swipe them over your face until the excess oil is gone. Wash and follow your regimen as normal. Great for adding back some moisture that exfoliation can take away. Good for dry or winter skin. Can be done 3+ times a week as long as you are gentle! For heavy peelers try doing this in the morning or at night before your routine. Back off as soon as your skin is tender or more red than pink.

Honey +Sugar/Baking Soda: You don't add both sugar and baking soda to the honey, just one or the other. Personally, I prefer the baking soda but you don't need much. Wash your face normally and while it is still dripping wet apply a mixture of about 2 teaspoons honey and 1/3 teaspoon baking soda to your face and GENTLY scrub for about 30 seconds or as long as it takes to cover your face. Go slowly and gently. DO NOT PUSH OR SCRAPE! You do not need to punish your skin! Rinse with barely warm water. No residue will be left on your skin, trust me. Rub some honey on your hands first as a test and then rinse them in the water. Nothing will be left after 10 seconds. Dry face and follow regimen as normal. This is good for oily skin types as it is oil free. Do this method a MAX of 2 times a week. Once a week is best for beginners.

The above methods are quick and VERY cheap. My skin would be so much worse off without them.

Chemical exfoliation is something you shouldn't even think about the first 4 or 5 months on ANY new regimen. Your skin is not ready for it. Please don't destroy your face. Acne.org and its people have a lot of information and are willing to share it. I won't talk about chemical exfoliation here because I know too many newbies would disregard what I say and buy something anyways. If you're not a newbie however, you might find some answers in the Non-Inflamed Acne section. A certain LionQueen is very knowledgeable. (She's going to kill me for referring more people to her.)

Hopefully this has given you somewhere to start and helps ease some doubts.

Burping?

Ever since essentially eliminating carbs and going the veggi and meat route, I've been burping a lot more than usual. Especially after drinking water. And these aren't dainty "my stomach is full" burps. These are hot air balloon filling/stomach shrinking burps.

Does anyone else have this conversation stopper?

Red holes left after removing whiteheads and gunk

I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but, every time I remove a whitehead or the like, a red pit appears where the material has been. I've tried a lot of different methods including doing extractions after a steamy shower to soften the skin but, it didn't seem to help.

Does anyone have any tips for avoiding the pits?

Thank you Lion Queen!

I just wanted to extend my heartfelt appreciation for your willingness to experiment with your skin and in the process discovered Green Cream.

It's only been about 2 weeks but my skin already looking luminous. I'm beginning to feel a few small "pebbles" under the skin but the overall tone is leaving me gob smacked. Every morning my skin is better and better. I'm going to fuss with the new camera and upload some pics soon.

Thank you again!

New to the Nutrition and Holistic Forum

Hey everyone. I've been a lurker here for some time because honestly, a lot of what is talked about here is WAY over my head. I really admire all of you that take the time to dissect not only the foods you eat but how they affect your body. My hat is permanently off to you.

Aside from the introduction, the reason for my post is I want opinions more educated than my own, (not hard admittedly.)

Like a lot of people I listened with quiet interest about the Diet + Acne connection. Mostly this came up with a person who ate an abnormal amount of nuts, pizza, popcorn, junkfood, ect. To me this was kind of a no brainer. Aside from little to no nutrients going in, most junkfood is so greasy that if you have any on your hands and then wipe your mouth or use the same napkin over and over, the grease is going to transfer to you skin. You're kind of screwed either way.

Then after seeing these forums I began to see people talking about "normal" food causing their acne. Milk, carb eaters, and hardcore vegetarians are often some of the main posters of acne troubles. This intrigued me because these were all "good foods". I became curious to see if anything I was eating was making my acne worse. Well I cut out dairy and that didn't do anything aside from make my skin more dry. I cut out sugar, no huge improvement but I felt better. I ate more protein but nothing to make me go "A HA!"

Then not more than 2 days go it dawned on me. I have a severe sensitivity to wheat, grains, and especially refined flour (most sandwich, pasta, and pizza ingredients). I'm not sure about potatoes but something tells me to stay away. I don't know what all of these have in common aside from carbs and maybe starch.

The reason it didn't dawn on me is because I normally have a carb-light to carb-free diet. However a few days ago I was sick and had to stay inside so I ordered pizza (vegetarian thinking it was better) and a small Italian sandwich. Everything seemed to be fine but then about 24/48 hours later I get this HUGE ultra red zit right in the middle of my cheek. There was no open pore and I could tell that there was nothing "in" the zit, like a plug or excess fluid. It grew for several more days until: I nixed all carbs and ate what might be considered an unholy amount of fresh vegetables, ultra lean protein, and other assorted "rabbit food".

What do you know, my zit is pretty much gone. (Clay mask helped the size but, it was instantly less red after the diet change and lots of water.) I sat dumbfounded for about an hour thinking of the DECADES of overloading on carbs and what it did to my skin, not to mention my body. I'm still apologizing to my skin every time I think about it.

This made me curious, how many other people are sensitive to the refined flour/starch/ carbohydrate stuff?
____________________________

Part two of this already long post is about my diet. As I stated above I'm on a no-low carb diet and I was wondering if there is such a thing as eating too much protein? I always keep large amounts of thin sliced turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef, ect in the fridge because that is my snack a lot of the times. Generally my breakfast is 2 or 3 thin slices of turkey with either a glass of water or tea. (I hate having a lot in my stomach in the morning). I also have these meat slices as snacks 3-4 times a day, and incorporate them into meals (like on salads and whatnot).

I feel as if I'm eating all the time and wondering if I'm over doing it. I am loosing a decent amount of weight at a steady pace however. Feels weird, eating more but loosing weight.

Thanks for reading my ramble!