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My natural skin care progress and results log.

Started by Guest_jessmc_* , Jun 15 2009 08:21 PM

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#1 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 15 June 2009 - 08:21 PM

Tonight I made my own apple cider vinegar toner. I will be using it at night after I wash my face and then I will put my benzoyl peroxide cream on after that. I am trying this to reduce the red marks on my face. There are other remedies, but this one is natural so I thought I would try it first. I even bought a cute little green glass bottle with a cork top today to keep my toner in. It's a small bottle so it will force me to make a fresh batch every week or so.

From what I have read so far if you are thinking about using apple cider vinegar, you should use unfiltered apple cider and mix it with and equal amount of water.

*Update: I am not using benzoyl peroxide cream anymore.

Edited by jessmc, 08 September 2009 - 10:51 PM.

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#2 Nightsdisguise

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Posted 17 June 2009 - 07:07 AM

Benzoyl peroxide is not natural. I would suggest the ACV toner followed by tea tree oil and/or organic coconut oil. Tear tree oil is antibacterial and antiifungal (dries you out a bit). Coconut oil is antifungal, antibacterial, and antiparasitic. You can cook with it, eat it, and use it as a morsturizer.

In my opinion, using topicals is not the answer to acne. It's what you are consuming on a daily basis.
Food is medicine.

Never give up,
Jeff

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#3 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 18 June 2009 - 04:02 PM

QUOTE (Nightsdisguise @ Jun 17 2009, 08:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Benzoyl peroxide is not natural. I would suggest the ACV toner followed by tea tree oil and/or organic coconut oil. Tear tree oil is antibacterial and antiifungal (dries you out a bit). Coconut oil is antifungal, antibacterial, and antiparasitic. You can cook with it, eat it, and use it as a morsturizer.

In my opinion, using topicals is not the answer to acne. It's what you are consuming on a daily basis.
Food is medicine.

Never give up,
Jeff

thanks jeff. i do know that benzoyl peroxide is not natural. haha. also when your acne is caused by hormones, food is not necessarily going to fight that. overall i eat very healthy.

you'll be glad to know that i have been using jojoba oil followed by the acv toner and so far so good.

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#4 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 18 June 2009 - 04:29 PM

Time for another log post.

My internet was down for a couple days, so...

I have been using the ACV toner at night and holy crap I was not expecting it to control my oily skin, but it is! I just thought it was for red marks but it is keeping my face from being oily. Amazing.

One side effect is that it does have kind of a strong smell so that is why I am just using it at night so far. It also is making my skin dry.

All I can say is holy god, jojoba oil is a miracle! I always cringed at the thought of putting oil on "oily skin" but in two days of using it a little in my morning lotion and at night on top of the acv toner it has literally unclogged 60% of my pores already. My skin is so soft and moisturized and NOT oily.

So I will keep updating with how this is working for my red spots, but I have a feeling that may take awhile to show a difference.

I also used the jojoba oil to remove my makeup in the middle of the day yesterday and it just lifts right off. After the oil moisturizes your skin and soaks in it just looks normal. Before my skin would just drip with oil all day long. Now I don't have to over-wash my face when I want to remove makeup during the day.

I am so friggin happy I tried jojoba oil.

Maybe after awhile of using acv and jojoba I will slowly try to phase out the benzoyl and see what happens. But I am still a little worried. If my pores aren't clogged though there is nothing to get inflected with the acne bacteria so maybe it won't be so bad.

Does anyone use any other types of natural toner besides acv? Maybe a naturally moisturizing toner that I can use in the morning in place of my Proactiv toner?

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#5 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 19 June 2009 - 10:02 AM

Friday morning:

My skin looks even better. I don't know how jojoba oil works so fast.

When I wash my face with the tea tree wash I only need to use about 1/10th of the amount of cleanser I used to use. It just glides right on and does its job so nicely. I no longer need to keep rubbing it in to wash off all of the thick grease that used to accumulate on my face all day long. Wow, not only is the entire composition of my skin changing, but I can wash even LESS than I ever have before.

Last night after I washed I skipped the benzoyl peroxide. I am not planning on skipping it on a regular basis yet, but I wanted to massage the oil into my skin. I gently rubbed it around in a circular motion all over my face for about 5 minutes to help my pores unclog. By the end of 5 minutes there were little beads of crap just falling out. After I was done massaging I just took a cotton ball with a little more jojoba oil on it and wiped my face clean.

And this morning my face looks so good.

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#6 milkncoffee

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Posted 19 June 2009 - 10:14 AM

this sounds great! my skin is so dry right now, its an awful combo at the momment of my usall oily skin + dry flaking because of my topical. i would love to see before and afters of your skin, the pores, red marks ect.
to control your hormonal acne do you just use BP? i think thats what my probleme is and im looking for something that could help!

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#7 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 19 June 2009 - 06:00 PM

QUOTE (milkncoffee @ Jun 19 2009, 11:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this sounds great! my skin is so dry right now, its an awful combo at the momment of my usall oily skin + dry flaking because of my topical. i would love to see before and afters of your skin, the pores, red marks ect.
to control your hormonal acne do you just use BP? i think thats what my probleme is and im looking for something that could help!

i don't have much acne, but a lot of spots and clogged pores. looking much better and my oily skin is pretty much history. i mean i used to soak my face with napkins several times a day and i haven't had to do that since. Okay i did it once, but that was after I washed two cars in 100 degree heat and i was sweating! So i was really just wiping off the sweat, I don't know anyone who wouldn't sweat under those conditions, haha.

i control my hormonal acne with birth control (ortho tri cyclen) and BP. I have tried not using the BP and it just wasn't enough for me but maybe if my pores stop getting clogged with oil I won't have to use it anymore since only clogged pores get infected.

i think that BP works really well, i have been using it for many years and prefer it to any other topical medications i have tried. it does dry your skin though which can make it oily which causes clogged pores... so i hope you try this with the jojoba oil. in my experience other types of moisturizers just don't work nearly as good.

thanks for reminding me to post pics... i took these today so they start on day 4

4thdayjojobaoilacv4.jpg 586.07K 36 downloads

4thdayjojobaoilacv6.jpg 1.01MB 35 downloads

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#8 milkncoffee

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Posted 20 June 2009 - 05:54 PM

oh same here, my skins normal to oily. my tzone gets crazy oily though! thoughs little blue sheets are always by my side haha.
thank you for all the information i just ordered some organic jojoba oil and im hoping that it will work as well for me as it has for you! im pretty afraid of it though, even though i know its not realy an "oil" but after being on benzaclin for a week my skin is so dry and flaky im ready to try anything. im also hoping to fade the red spots from my few white heads (my skin dosent heal well at all

) if it regulates my oil production aswell i think be in love with jojoba. haha.

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#9 margarett

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Posted 20 June 2009 - 06:50 PM

i think you should try microdermbrasion you really have good skin all you need to do is wear a sunblock to protect it from sundamage and all you need to work on is to even out your skin tone....i wish my skin looked like yours....

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#10 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 20 June 2009 - 09:24 PM

QUOTE (milkncoffee @ Jun 20 2009, 06:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh same here, my skins normal to oily. my tzone gets crazy oily though! thoughs little blue sheets are always by my side haha.
thank you for all the information i just ordered some organic jojoba oil and im hoping that it will work as well for me as it has for you! im pretty afraid of it though, even though i know its not realy an "oil" but after being on benzaclin for a week my skin is so dry and flaky im ready to try anything. im also hoping to fade the red spots from my few white heads (my skin dosent heal well at all

) if it regulates my oil production aswell i think be in love with jojoba. haha.

i think you will like it. i was totally freaked out to try it too. esp. since some people gave bad reviews but the overwhelming majority of the reviews were good so i gave it a go.

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#11 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 20 June 2009 - 09:30 PM

QUOTE (chata @ Jun 20 2009, 07:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i think you should try microdermbrasion you really have good skin all you need to do is wear a sunblock to protect it from sundamage and all you need to work on is to even out your skin tone....i wish my skin looked like yours....

microdermabrasion seems so harsh. i guess if the natural method doesn't work i will probably try anything. it took me a long time to get my skin clear so i understand what everyone who is breaking out is going through, trust me. i do use sunscreen on a daily basis and so far so good with the acv toner and the jojoba oil. i can't wait to take pics next week. the main reason my skin ended up like this is because i never used to moisturize during all of the time i was treating my acne. i was so afraid to use anything with oil in it. another reason i am trying to tell others about the jojoba oil is because i'm sure there are other people who thought like me and i want them to have nice skin too.

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#12 margarett

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Posted 22 June 2009 - 03:03 AM

QUOTE (jessmc @ Jun 20 2009, 10:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (chata @ Jun 20 2009, 07:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i think you should try microdermbrasion you really have good skin all you need to do is wear a sunblock to protect it from sundamage and all you need to work on is to even out your skin tone....i wish my skin looked like yours....

microdermabrasion seems so harsh. i guess if the natural method doesn't work i will probably try anything. it took me a long time to get my skin clear so i understand what everyone who is breaking out is going through, trust me. i do use sunscreen on a daily basis and so far so good with the acv toner and the jojoba oil. i can't wait to take pics next week. the main reason my skin ended up like this is because i never used to moisturize during all of the time i was treating my acne. i was so afraid to use anything with oil in it. another reason i am trying to tell others about the jojoba oil is because i'm sure there are other people who thought like me and i want them to have nice skin too.

ow really i dont moisturize at all because i feel like i break out with anything....maybe thats why my skin kinda looks like your except i have some major scarring ad deep wounds but im not worried about those pores and deep one because ive noticed them getting less visible over time..what did you use to make your red marks less visible ...how are you using the toner how you make it....sorry all those questions but im breaking out a lot and im able to keep it almost under control with caladryl but i have a lot of red marks and i want them to fade away!!

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#13 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 30 June 2009 - 01:59 PM

QUOTE

ow really i dont moisturize at all because i feel like i break out with anything....maybe thats why my skin kinda looks like your except i have some major scarring ad deep wounds but im not worried about those pores and deep one because ive noticed them getting less visible over time..what did you use to make your red marks less visible ...how are you using the toner how you make it....sorry all those questions but im breaking out a lot and im able to keep it almost under control with caladryl but i have a lot of red marks and i want them to fade away!!

That is the same reason I never moisturized before because I thought it would make me break out. You probably have very sensitive skin like mine, and it was probably all of the irritating ingredients in a lot of moisturizers/makeup/soap that were bad and not the oil itself. If you use the jojoba oil by itself you will be sure no other 'extra' ingredients are going on your face. I would try that first. I am going to try this lotion to replace the Proactiv lotion I have (which has ingredients I would rather not put on my face) and keep using the jojoba at night.

I have been using apple cider vinegar toner for the redness and even though I still have several red spots, the overall skin tone looks so much better. To make it, get some unfiltered apple cider vinegar (probably at a health food store) and mix 1 part acv and 1 part water. You can always use more water if it is too strong, but I don't recommend just using the acv straight. In place of water you can use green tea, but I always suggest using the least amount of ingredients possible especially if you are worried about break outs. That way you know what bothers your skin.

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#14 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 30 June 2009 - 02:14 PM

Okay guys,

I have no idea what day I am on! But my skin is looking so good. I will be taking some more pics sometime this week.

I also found this really cool site about ingredients: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php You can search the products your using and find out how safe the ingredients are.

The jojoba oil and acv toner are working very well. I haven't used my Proactiv products for several days and no breakouts. I am going to update my regimen so you can see what I am doing.

My mineral makeup samples are on their way so I'll be testing those out soon.

After my acv runs out I am going to experiment and make a new acv toner with some tea tree oil and maybe green tea. Something that won't be as strong smelling and a little more diluted so that I can use it in the morning and at night. Or even just freshen up if I have been sweating allot. It's very hot in the summer where I live. Between 100 and 115 on most days. I wonder if rose water would work too.

Plus it is REALLY hard to find products that are truly natural and good for your skin! Since I am not using Proactiv anymore, I need to find a lotion to use during the day. I am going to try this one. You can forget trying to find a really nice natural lotion combined with sunscreen. I have been searching all weekend. I may end up just buying a tube of 30 spf zinc oxide (non-nano) sunscreen and just adding a bit to my lotion if I'm going to be in the sun.

That website I linked for you combined with how hard it has been to find good quality natural products has really inspired me to learn how to make my own shampoo's, lotions, etc. Yay.

I haven't used any of my face masks in the last couple weeks either. I will try a home made one this week.

Peace.

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#15 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 30 June 2009 - 02:25 PM

Oh ya, i forgot to tell you that I bought a bottle of fresh cold pressed unfiltered flax oil today. I think it tastes good, and it's cheaper, and probably better for you than ingesting those dissolvable tablets. Suggested serving size is 1 or 2 tbsp a day which is pretty easy to do. I mixed 1 tbsp with my leftover pasta for lunch. You can put it in yogurt, oatmeal, soup, salad, pasta, over cooked veggies, etc. Or just drink it. This is what's listed on my bottle if you're interested:

Per Tbsp
Omega 3 6200 mg
Omega 6 1810 mg
Omega 9 2040 mg
Flaxseed particulate 2660 mg
Lignans 10-27 mg

It seems like it has a pretty good Omega 3/6 ratio and since I ingest less Omega 6 as a vegetarian this ought to be a sufficient balance.

Ciao.

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#16 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 13 July 2009 - 12:31 PM

I forgot to take pics last week. Doh.

I got my new day lotion and I just love it. It is infinitely better than that Proactiv oil free crap I was using. It's all natural and has tons of good stuff in it. The ingredients are Distillate of Organic Goji Berries & Green Tea, Natural Aloe Butter, Natural Shea Butter, Apricot Kernel Oil, Emulsifying Wax, Vitamin E, Lecithin, Optiphen, Steric Acid, Organic Lavender Pure Essential Oil, Organic Petitgrain Pure Essential Oil, Organic Palma Rosa Pure Essential Oil, and Organic Sandalwood Pure Essential Oil.

I have not been washing my face in the morning. Only at night. Yay. I feel like someone with normal skin. I feel more relaxed about my skin care routine, and confident that I just know it's getting the job done.

I got a sample of night lotion from the same lady I bought the lotion from and it is so amazing. I added my nightly jojoba oil to the lotion. The three little red bumps I had were completely gone in the morning. I am definitely going to order a full size of the night lotion. It has Distillate of Organic Red Clover, Organic Burdock Root, Emulsifying Wax, Steric Acid, Aloe Juice, Natural Passion Fruit Oil, Natural Babassu Oil, Natural Kokum Butter, Natural Wheat Germ Oil, Optiphen, Natural Apple Extract Powder, Organic Liquid Lecithin, Vitamin E, Organic Niaouli Pure Essential Oil, Organic Helicrysum Pure Essential Oil, Organic Orchid Pure Essential Oil, Organic Bitter Orange Pure Essential Oil, and Organic Sandalwood Pure Essential Oil.

I got my mineral makeup samples also. A few days before I got them, I stopped using my Neutrogena skin clearing powder all together and just went bare faced. I noticed a huge difference in how many clogged pores I had. The jojoba oil was unclogging my pores drastically but I am pretty sure that the makeup I was using kept re-clogging them. So basically even though the Neutrogena makeup claimed to be noncomedogenic, etc., it was completely not. And if you think about it, there is no regulation about what makeup companies can put on their labels so they can literally just lie out-right to get you to buy their product.

So far the mineral makeup is not re-clogging my pores. Hallelujah! I think I will see even faster improvement if I can stop the re-clogging of pores. I never wore foundation before because it was just too thick for me and covered up my natural skin. I personally like the natural look even though I have tons of flaws. The mineral foundation is pretty much exactly like liquid foundation in that it covers with a layer of white based skin color. It does feel very nice however without any streaks, etc. But just like any foundation I find that it accentuates the texture of my skin. I also tried a sample of mineral all-over concealer which I love. It's basically a tinted mineral powder without any white so it's translucent but it completely gets rid of any red splotches, etc. The mineral concealers allows my natural skin to show through. Yay.

Last but not least. I made a new acv toner. This time I used 1 part unfiltered apple cider vinegar and 1 part plain green tea. I also added 8 drops of jojoba oil and 8 drops of tea tree oil. The smell is still kind of strong. I will probably continue to experiment with the toner every time I make a new batch.

I have finals this week and I am also moving so I might not get a chance to take pics for a couple weeks.

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#17 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 17 July 2009 - 12:08 PM

uh oh. I broke out a little bit around my nose and mouth and forehead.

The two things I changed the most recently were washing only once a day and trying mineral makeup.

i hope to god it's not the makeup because that will pretty much mean that i can't wear makeup at all. scary.

so i decided to lightly wash my face in the morning like I used to do and see if that helps. if it doesn't then I'll know it's the makeup.

the makeup i am trying doesn't have any bismuth which is what some people are sensitive too, so not sure what else i would be sensitive too.

other than that the overall tone and texture of my skin is still awesome.

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#18 lannin

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Posted 17 July 2009 - 09:31 PM

hi, I was wondering how how jojoba oil you used? I dont know if Im using too much or too little, since its doesnt seem to be helping my oil production.

How much do you use in ratio to the moisturizer?

By the way great advice about using massaging it into the skin, holy crap! It lifted the dead skin from the differin right off. Seriously thanks

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#19 lannin

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Posted 17 July 2009 - 11:32 PM

Hey so earlier today I noticed this wierd blue-grey liquid on the cap inside rim so I threw it out, I JUST remade it about an hour ago in a different jar (which I boiled to be sure) and again when I went to use it there was some dark grey-blue liquid coming from the cap groves...

Has anyone else had this happen?? What is it?

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#20 Guest_jessmc_*

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Posted 09 September 2009 - 07:37 AM

QUOTE (lannin @ Jul 17 2009, 10:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi, I was wondering how how jojoba oil you used? I dont know if Im using too much or too little, since its doesnt seem to be helping my oil production.

How much do you use in ratio to the moisturizer?

By the way great advice about using massaging it into the skin, holy crap! It lifted the dead skin from the differin right off. Seriously thanks

When I was still using BP I had to use a lot more jojoba oil than I do now. Now that my skin isn't overly dry from the harsh chemicals I use 2 to 4 drops at night and sometimes I add 1 or 2 drops to my day lotion. I will probably be using jojoba oil until I am old and wrinkled.

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