10 replies to this topic

[Manimau]

Hi everyone,
This is the first time I am writing anything, anywhere on the net. Let me begin my story. I have had acne since I was 14 years old and I am 26 now. One to two year having acne which turned moderate from mild I went to a derm. Obviously nothing worked for me, no medication, no cleansers, no moisturisers, nothing. I had back acne too for couple of months. Do you know what happened to the back acne? It cleared completely. How? Cause I did not have tme to care for it as it did not show outside. And what happened to face acne? Its still there and now I also have hormonal acne. Painful. Any ways I have been reading so much on internet, watching youtube for all possible things I can do for my acne. And yes it worsened cause of me begging to each product and using it to clear my acne. It does not work that way at all. It is so frustating when you do not have great skin. I stopped applying my acne topical creams for the first time in say 7-8 years, or more. Every single day as long as I remember i applied medicine before sleeping. And its been 3 months since i stopped it and my face is a wreck. As i stopped those I kept applying natural things like tea tree, jojoba oil etc etc etc... but you know things never work for me.
Finally I decided that there are so many acne suppressed by medicines and I wll jut let them come out and wait and watch.. No touching, no caring.. Being girl I still dont like make-up and very seldom use it. I made a soap at home. Bought glycerine base with olive oil (melt and pour), mixed cucumber, green tea and mint and mixed it and let it set. I use that to gently wash face twice a day and moisturize with cold pressed organic extra virgin coconut oil. its been a week. My face does hurt but a lot less. My skin does not look horrible and looks like skin. And I have just stopped bothering now about my acne. I am not going to try anything new nothing nothing new on my skin now except this. I use homemade soap dont know its effectiveness but I dont care I just know its if not good or better atleast equally worse as everything out there. Lets see ho this challenge goes. I am not going to change my diet as its quiet nice. I barely have any sugar as I drink green tea with honey, I drink milk or have dairy whenever I have too..Like ice creams I dont want to lose out on life for clearing my skin. I think Trying less hard and being happy is going to help. And thats the hardest thing to do...Lets see how my challlenge goes. Today I will consider as the first day of my challenge 10-24-11...
will keep updating..I have no idea if this ill work for anyone else. But I hope it works for me. But I think that not irritating the skin will help many people...

[Manimau]

Day 2: yesterday was the first day yesterday night my acne on right cheek already felt hard and dry saw whiteheads to my cystic acne..i did not touch even though it was a bit itchy and flaky. washed twice with my homemade soap and applied a liberal amount of virgin coconut oil..let it soak and slept without bothering myself with anything. I change my pillowcase every 5 days. and trn it everyday to different direction so i dont sleep on the same side. I must say in years of caring about my skin its the first time i see something as simple as this working for me..my cysts are less red and my flaky skin is changing. i can see gunk coming out....sry i know its dirty but thats the fact... my chin has cleared up a lot. it also is clearing up the flesh coloured bumps on my face...just making them either come to a white head or disappear...excited about what happens today...

[Manimau]

Day 3: Touched my face yesterday... I know! But could not control. But it does not look half as bad or red as yesterday.. what used to happen earlier when i touched my face was that I used to get many more new cysts or pimples where I touched or squeezed it. But all I did was wash it apply virgin coconut oil and its just looking fresh.. redness had definitely gone down...but the skin where I dont have acne it looks atleast two shades lighter and so smooth and nourished and glowing...I hope this goes well....

[Manimau]

http://www.coconut-c...m/skin_care.htm

This is a link on benefits of coconut oil and how it helps to repair damaged skin...It also exfoliates skin very gently on its own... I have quit exfoliating my skin with anything all i do is apply coconut oil... and my skin is not flaky or clogged at all..its pretty smooth now as if i exfoliate daily...I think we wash our face and dry it (i do twice daily )...my soap has green tea powder which gently might be exfoliating...i wash my face for 10-15 seconds max....I remember when i had mild acne i started exfoliating and then i got medium acne...also it does not give skin time to repair itself...and makes skin looking flaky at all times....I also wash hair every other day...my hair is the best feature i have...I have very soft silky straight hair...and the hair fall I have is 3-4 strands of hair a day maxx...which is according to me amazing...and you know what...since i was in 1st standard in school I have been using cocnut oil every other day 1 hr before washing my hair...I wish I would have used it for my face earlier before I tortured my skin so much for 15 years...what it is doing now when i stopped all products and medicines is nothing but taking revenge...What goes around comes around! And I have decided to let it take revenge...But the revenge isnt as bad as what I was doing to it!
Please guys let me know if anyone of you is trying this and has any benefit...

[Manimau]

Day 4: I guess it will take me just 5-6 more days to upload before and after pictures.. everything is going pretty well....

[dreamer003]

I like your approach Although I'm on accutane and that's not exactly natural, i do find the less i touch my face and wash it and apply all kinds of creams, the better it looks. I've previously done the only water regimen for two weeks, and my acne didn't clear up, but my face looked much more calm and less red.
I've never used coconut oil, doesn't it make your face greasy looking?

[Manimau]

Hey,
Great to know you are o accutane..I wish you all the best...

To answer your question. No coconut oil does not make my face oily at all. And the best part is that it does not feel like you have a film on your face. let me write down all that I have used till date:
Since I have had acne:
nivea, ponds, clinique, no moisturizer at all, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, aloe vera gel, olay total 7 effects, himalaya, vaseline aloe, garnier and some more i guess...
nothing suited me and my face was very oily and dry in diferent patches..Also no toner used to suit me..
I gave by face a break of no moisturizer at all and then started with cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil..
My face is just dewy, not at all shiny greasy...earlier when ever i splashed my face with water i felt a film and water becoming cloudy with moisturizers and washing away but with coconut oil...you dont even know that theres anything on...and I swear the glow is OMG! and whats more is I dont believe i need to apply oisturizer to my entire body everyda...so whenever i feel my legs are dry..i put coconut oil...I have also found that I dont need a lip balm anymore...i just touch my lips with my finger tips when aplly oil to my face...thats it...so it kind of does this:
1) work as face moisturizer night as well as day (I oly apply sunscreen to the beach) a little sun everyday is necessary for healthy skin.
2) body moisturizer
3) best lip balm
4) best hair conditioner
5) for cooking
6) this is disgusting but ( if you take one spoon of it with warm water I will help constipation and to clean your system)
7) it hydrates from within (as you told me you are on accutane...i dont know if this is ok with that medicine but if your skins getting really dry you can try this)
8) helps nails and cuticles...
9) make up remover

I have recently got married and will go on BC may be next month...but i dont want temporary solution to mask my inner problems...I wanted to get rid of most of it naturally and then continue it before , during and after my BCP taking period (though I am taking it for the main reason why they are made)... Since I was 23 years I stopped taking alopathic medicines for any ailments...you know when you sometimes have a headache and you take asprin...I did that too..but now I drink hot ginger tea...put my legs in hot water and BAM its gone...I used to have cramps...I have hot water and carum seeds...I also used to get virals often..then i started taking one cod liver oil capsule daily...in three years I have had cold and fever once!! And trust me am a foodie...I love food...I dont avoid anything ...just try to eat balanced...

And sorry I forgot to meantion...you should not apply a lot...just pat some on your fingers and then skin just absorbs it..

[Manimau]

Day 5: No new pimples till date...only the old ones coming to the surface...skin is flaking and gunk coming out day by day...its painful but not as bad as it was some days back...face is definitely improving...what is most amazing is that i had so many small bumps which you could not see unless under certain lighting or coming very close to me...those have tremendously disappeared..finally see so much improvement in my face after 10-15 years of struggle!! crossing my fingers...I feel that the soap i made is making a lot of difference too..its so soothing after i apply it...

[Manimau]

Day 6 : One two zits on face are painful...can wash my face regularly...touching does not pain anymore. all zits have gone down..and the redness too...skin is less flaky and more vibrant....Made one more of the same soap I made at home yesterday..It works on the body too..Do not have to apply moisturizer daily...

Edited by Manimau, 29 October 2011 - 12:40 PM.

[Manimau]

Day 7 and 8: All my zits have gone down so much but my face is sooo cruel... any type of zit i get i get a bonus scar from it which takes ages to go away...why?? why i ask???

[Manimau]

Can anyone tell me how to upload pictures here. Want to put some improvement pics before and after...