9 replies to this topic

[NuclearSoda]

Hello everyone, I'm 20 years old and from the UK.

 

I've struggled with mild to moderate acne for about 5 or 6 years now, and it's a daily struggle for me to feel confident when out in public or in social situations. It frustrates me to look around at pretty much everyone I know, friends who have no skincare routine to speak of and eat a lot of junk food, and see that they always have clear, wholesome looking skin. 

 

I on the other hand, am fairly pale, and have lifeless skin with blemishes and imperfections. There are two things I want, and I can't begin to describe to you how much happier and confident I would be if I achieved them.

 

1) To have clear skin - I'm not asking for Hollywood perfection, just a clear and even complexion like everyone around me seems to have.

 

2) To have a darker skin tone, and not be as pale - I live in the UK, so I'm not exposed to sun all that often, so I guess that hurts my chances.

 

To give you a bit of info about my lifestyle, I drink around 3 - 4 litres of tap water everyday, I also drink a daily cup of green tea. I have a serving of garden peas with every meal, and eat a lot of meat (pork chops, lamb, etc). I use benzol peroxide on my spots, *edit made by Mod*. I'm not a massive fan of fruit, but drink a fruit smoothie every now and then. 

 

Can anyone give me some advice on this issue? Anything would be of great help to me, from dietary tips, to homemade skincare products, etc. 

 

I can't stress enough how depressing it is to look around and know that I would happily swap skin with 9.9% of everyone I encounter.

[melmel87]

Hello everyone, I'm 20 years old and from the UK.

 

I've struggled with mild to moderate acne for about 5 or 6 years now, and it's a daily struggle for me to feel confident when out in public or in social situations. It frustrates me to look around at pretty much everyone I know, friends who have no skincare routine to speak of and eat a lot of junk food, and see that they always have clear, wholesome looking skin. 

 

I on the other hand, am fairly pale, and have lifeless skin with blemishes and imperfections. There are two things I want, and I can't begin to describe to you how much happier and confident I would be if I achieved them.

 

1) To have clear skin - I'm not asking for Hollywood perfection, just a clear and even complexion like everyone around me seems to have.

 

2) To have a darker skin tone, and not be as pale - I live in the UK, so I'm not exposed to sun all that often, so I guess that hurts my chances.

 

To give you a bit of info about my lifestyle, I drink around 3 - 4 litres of tap water everyday, I also drink a daily cup of green tea. I have a serving of garden peas with every meal, and eat a lot of meat (pork chops, lamb, etc). I use benzol peroxide on my spots, *edit made by Mod*. I'm not a massive fan of fruit, but drink a fruit smoothie every now and then. 

 

Can anyone give me some advice on this issue? Anything would be of great help to me, from dietary tips, to homemade skincare products, etc. 

 

I can't stress enough how depressing it is to look around and know that I would happily swap skin with 9.9% of everyone I encounter.

 

Is your acne concentrated in certain areas or just all over? If peas are the only veggie you're eating you definitely need more vegetables in your diet. I avoid most dairy products and most grains. Many fruits are loaded with sugar so I would not overdo it with those. Eating yogurt can help since it has good bacteria to counter the bad bacteria in your gut. You should also try taking a multivitamin if you don't already. As for not having pale skin, tanning ages your skin so while your tan friends may look good now, in 10+ years they're going to be developing more wrinkles than those who did not tan.

[NuclearSoda]

Is your acne concentrated in certain areas or just all over? If peas are the only veggie you're eating you definitely need more vegetables in your diet. I avoid most dairy products and most grains. Many fruits are loaded with sugar so I would not overdo it with those. Eating yogurt can help since it has good bacteria to counter the bad bacteria in your gut. You should also try taking a multivitamin if you don't already. As for not having pale skin, tanning ages your skin so while your tan friends may look good now, in 10+ years they're going to be developing more wrinkles than those who did not tan.

 

It's mainly concentrated on my cheeks, but sometimes around my chin too. I have some mixed vegetables that I'm going to have tonight along with some lamb, so I'm already trying to have more of a variety. I also have some fruit smoothie which I can maybe have a daily glass of? 

 

I wouldn't really mind being pale as long as my skin was clear, so as soon as I start to see improvement in that department I'll be much happier It has slowly got better over the years, so perhaps I'm simply growing out of it now that I'm out of my teens?

[alternativista]

Try get in the sun for a bit every day it's out.  Mostly for the vitamin D.  Eat more beta carotene. This often gives people a more golden glow. 

 

Moisturize or oil cleanse with a quality high linoleic acid containing oil like grapeseed or safflower.  These are prone to going rancid so buy from somewhere with a high turnover and store in the fridge.  Linoleic acid is a major component of sebum that does what it's supposed to rather than being sticky, greasy and clog pores.  And sebum actually does many things that support proper skin function.  Mammals with skin problems including acne have been found to be deficient in linoleic acid in their sebum. 

 

Eat more veggies. Especially greens. And you could add a lycopene source to help protect skin from the sun.  Lycopene is also anti-androgen.  Avoid or limit added sugar, refined carbs, grains, dairy, etc.  Use a methodical elimination process to try to determine any food intolerances you may have. 

[NuclearSoda]

Try get in the sun for a bit every day it's out.  Mostly for the vitamin D.  Eat more beta carotene. This often gives people a more golden glow. 

 

Moisturize or oil cleanse with a quality high linoleic acid containing oil like grapeseed or safflower.  These are prone to going rancid so buy from somewhere with a high turnover and store in the fridge.  Linoleic acid is a major component of sebum that does what it's supposed to rather than being sticky, greasy and clog pores.  And sebum actually does many things that support proper skin function.  Mammals with skin problems including acne have been found to be deficient in linoleic acid in their sebum. 

 

Eat more veggies. Especially greens. And you could add a lycopene source to help protect skin from the sun.  Lycopene is also anti-androgen.  Avoid or limit added sugar, refined carbs, grains, dairy, etc.  Use a methodical elimination process to try to determine any food intolerances you may have. 

 

Once the warmer weather comes around I will definitely take advantage of the sun. I have a bag of mixed vegetables which contains peas, carrots, sweetcorn and green beans, will this help? Thank you for your help by the way.

 

On a sidenote, I recently learned that flavourings such as ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg can have really good anti-inflammatory effects, so I have stopped using ketchups on food and instead opted to sprinkle these over the meal - is this a good idea?

[Spotthedifference]

Take two vitamin D supplements a day to reduce oil and one 40 or 50mg zinc supplement at night to increase skin healing time. Get some probiotics and more fruit and vegetables into your diet. Make sure you're in a regular, satisfying sleep pattern. Have techniques ready to combat any stress in your life. Wash your face twice a day with a mild cleanser (natural if possible). Limit the amount of chemicals on your skin, but keep up the BP, it does help a lot for most people. Make sure your skin is never getting too dry, this will make it pump out more oil. Exfoliate twice a week. Up your green tea intake to three cups a day - once a day take the tea bag out of the cup once it's brewed, cool it under the cold tap then wipe it on your face and leave to dry for a bit before rinsing it off (this will give you a brighter, healthier complexion). Try to go easy on the sugar and get a bit of exercise every day, even if it's just a walk. Get tested for hormonal conditions. Go to your doctors if nothing else is working.

[NuclearSoda]

Take two vitamin D supplements a day to reduce oil and one 40 or 50mg zinc supplement at night to increase skin healing time. Get some probiotics and more fruit and vegetables into your diet. Make sure you're in a regular, satisfying sleep pattern. Have techniques ready to combat any stress in your life. Wash your face twice a day with a mild cleanser (natural if possible). Limit the amount of chemicals on your skin, but keep up the BP, it does help a lot for most people. Make sure your skin is never getting too dry, this will make it pump out more oil. Exfoliate twice a week. Up your green tea intake to three cups a day - once a day take the tea bag out of the cup once it's brewed, cool it under the cold tap then wipe it on your face and leave to dry for a bit before rinsing it off (this will give you a brighter, healthier complexion). Try to go easy on the sugar and get a bit of exercise every day, even if it's just a walk. Get tested for hormonal conditions. Go to your doctors if nothing else is working.

 

On the supplements -  I take a daily A-Z multivitamin that contains 100% recommended daily allowance of both Vitamin D and Zinc, will this cover it? Or should I seek out individual supplements for those and stop taking the A-Z multivitamin (which covers a lot of vitamins, or so it says on the back) 

 

For Green Tea - I was worried about the caffeine in the tea, as I've heard it can cause acne?

 

Thank you so much for your help, I really do appreciate it

[Spotthedifference]

On the supplements -  I take a daily A-Z multivitamin that contains 100% recommended daily allowance of both Vitamin D and Zinc, will this cover it? Or should I seek out individual supplements for those and stop taking the A-Z multivitamin (which covers a lot of vitamins, or so it says on the back) 

 

For Green Tea - I was worried about the caffeine in the tea, as I've heard it can cause acne?

 

Thank you so much for your help, I really do appreciate it

I take a multivitamin too and still take the extra 2 vitamin D supplements, but I do live in an area with low sunlight, so take in too account how much sun you get as well. Be careful with the zinc, I'd say the amount in your multivitamin is enough in that case - too much can cause hair loss and poisoning.

 

My acne has only ever gotten better for drinking the three cups, never worse. It depends on if caffeine is a trigger for you. Can you drink normal tea and coffee Ok? But putting it directly on your skin hasn't seemed to weild any bad results for people who have tried it given that they rinse it off after a while.

[NuclearSoda]

I also live with in a low sunlight area too, so I'll definitely look into the extra Vitamin D. I'll also increase my green tea intake, I'm pretty sure you can get decaf green tea, so maybe that's the way to go for me  

[alternativista]

Try get in the sun for a bit every day it's out.  Mostly for the vitamin D.  Eat more beta carotene. This often gives people a more golden glow. 

 

Moisturize or oil cleanse with a quality high linoleic acid containing oil like grapeseed or safflower.  These are prone to going rancid so buy from somewhere with a high turnover and store in the fridge.  Linoleic acid is a major component of sebum that does what it's supposed to rather than being sticky, greasy and clog pores.  And sebum actually does many things that support proper skin function.  Mammals with skin problems including acne have been found to be deficient in linoleic acid in their sebum. 

 

Eat more veggies. Especially greens. And you could add a lycopene source to help protect skin from the sun.  Lycopene is also anti-androgen.  Avoid or limit added sugar, refined carbs, grains, dairy, etc.  Use a methodical elimination process to try to determine any food intolerances you may have. 

 

Once the warmer weather comes around I will definitely take advantage of the sun. I have a bag of mixed vegetables which contains peas, carrots, sweetcorn and green beans, will this help? Thank you for your help by the way.

 

On a sidenote, I recently learned that flavourings such as ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg can have really good anti-inflammatory effects, so I have stopped using ketchups on food and instead opted to sprinkle these over the meal - is this a good idea?

those veggies wont help as much as greens, cabbage and broccoli.  also, are sweet potatoes commonly available there?  they are a hot climate thing.  if not, how about winter squashes.  for the beta carotene. 

 

and yes, teas, herbs and spices are a good thing.  use them. and onions and garlic.