I feel like my skin looks good one week, and worse the next week. I'm getting my period soon though so that could be the reason now. I also don't know if I still get purges from Differin.

I think I take too low doses of zinc for it to help my skin.

I have eaten gluten free for almost a month now again. It doesn't help my skin that much though.

I mean, my skin is pretty clear... I'd say to 85-90% maybe. But it's obviously still annoying that it isn't a 100% clear.

My left cheek is almost completely clear atm. My right cheek only has a few, small breakouts and then I have like 1 big and one small pimple on my chin. I got off my period a few days ago, but I also haven't been eating lots of legumes in the past week. So, I don't really know if the clearance is due to hormonal changes or diet changes... Or both? I love legumes though and wanna eat plant based so it would be a bummer if legumes were to causebreakouts for me.

Today I feel like I can count the amount of pimples on my face on only two hands, ONCE. However, I haven't worn a lot of makeup lately since I've been at home studying for exams. I also haven't washed my face every morning. If I wash my face in the morning, I only use lukewarm water, but lately I've just moisturized without adding water first. So, my skincare routine has been quite minimal. I was actually ready to quit using Differin though because I started to see no difference anymore (both in my CCs and acne), but then my face started itching a bit, and in like 2 days it got a lot better! So the itching might have been a sign that it was doing its job.

I still haven't been eating as much legumes as I used to, and more chicken instead. But I have been eating some gluten, even sugar (christmas treats) and less vegetables, but it seems like that has no effect on my skin! How great!

I have started taking a supplement that works against candida as well as parasites and bad bacteria in the gut. I've only been taking it for a week, and I have many weeks to go. It's gonna be interesting to see how it works. After I started taking it, I started getting some small bumps on my forehead, and according to face mapping, pimples on the forehead comes from the intestines and when the microorganisms they they can release toxins. I felt like crap the first few days so it makes sense. But of course, that doesn't have to be the reason, lol.

Anyways, I have some small bumps still, but they aren't red. I'm getting my period soon so that might be it. Still, I'm definitely more clear than unclear, hehe.

It has been 3 weeks since I started taking the supplement I mentioned in my last post. This week, my skin has looked clearer than it has ever looked in all my years of having acne!!!!!! Even the CCs are vanishing. And still, I've been kinda heartbroken and not been feeling well mentally these past weeks but my skin is still really clear.

4th week after starting the supplement. I have some small bumps but it's really NOT a lot! My mom told me that it looks as if my skin is completely clear.

On 12/29/2019 at 7:15 AM, ClearSkinPLS95 said:

I have started taking a supplement that works against candida as well as parasites and bad bacteria in the gut. I've only been taking it for a week, and I have many weeks to go. It's gonna be interesting to see how it works. After I started taking it, I started getting some small bumps on my forehead, and according to face mapping, pimples on the forehead comes from the intestines and when the microorganisms they they can release toxins. I felt like crap the first few days so it makes sense. But of course, that doesn't have to be the reason, lol.

Anyways, I have some small bumps still, but they aren't red. I'm getting my period soon so that might be it. Still, I'm definitely more clear than unclear, hehe.

Hey how are you?? What is that supplement?

14 hours ago, Uruguay said:

Hey how are you?? What is that supplement?

I finished taking it a couple of weeks ago but now I'm breaking out a little bit again. I'm on my period though and I have been eating some junk and been anxious after finishing the cleanse lol...

It was called ParaPro by Organic Olivia. But like, I was not feeling good mentally while taking it so that could also be why I still have some acne. It helped A LOT with my gut issues.

I've started getting a little bit of more bumps again on my cheeks... I don't know if it's because I've started eating 2 bananas a day again to gain weight. I've also been eating some gluten. I'm gonna try to cut it down to 1 banana a day to begin with.

Edit: I definitely think I'm gonna try my best to cut down on gluten as well, as I have noticed that my skin feels kind of itchy after eating it? It doesn't every time though so it might just be in my head. I don't know.

Thought it might be time to update since my skin is pretty good now.

What I have been doing since last time I updated here:

I have NOT been consistent in avoiding gluten. I don't eat a lot of gluten at all, but I definitely don't avoid it completely. I also have been eating some dairy, but still, I don't eat a lot of dairy. My diet is still mainly whole foods plant based. However, I'm no longer eating bananas on the regular. Some days I have 0 bananas, and some days I have 1. It's easier to avoid them when I don't go to school, because I think a banana is a great, portable snack. But since we have online school now I can just eat something I have at home for a snack instead.
However, I have stopped using Differin and started using a serum with niacinamide instead.
I have been taking MSM since somewhere in March. I think I started taking it around 1-2 weeks after my last post update here.

I honestly think the MSM is helping my skin a lot. Sure, I still have acne. But it's not bad at all. I still have the clogged pores that I've had since last year though. I have ordered an azelaic acid serum which I hope might help get rid of that and also my hyperpigmentation.
Also, since I now have online school I worry less about my IBS (hey, that rhymed, lol) so I feel less worried about what I eat. I have been eating more vegetables, fruits and healthy fats and I also gained weight which is a good thing since I'm underweight and need to gain weight. So it was intentional. I try to make sure that I reach the RDI's of as many vitamins as possible every day. Lately, I've been adding nutritional yeast to my food quite often as well.
I also sometimes take an omega 3 supplement (algae based), but I usually forget to so I don't think it does a remarkable difference.
Another thing is that I've been working out more consistently as I have more time now that I don't have to take the train to school etc. I've also been drinking more tea. Green teas and herbal teas. I've also been trying to eat more carrots to get beta-carotene --> vitamin A.

I also drink lukewarm lemon water pretty much every morning!! But I'm only doing it because I stay at home every day now like most people. It's not something I'd feel like I'd have time to do on a day where I have to be somewhere early.

I also have incorporated salicylic acid into my skincare again, changed my moisturizer to a natural, oil free one. I also apply a rose water to my face in the morning.

So yeah, I can't pinpoint the exact thing that has helped my skin. It could be a combination of all of these.

I stopped using MSM at the end of May because I ran out of it and didn't buy any new. My skin has been pretty good despite that though. Even though I ate some sugar, dairy and gluten it still looked fine! It only got a bit worse right before my period but as soon as my period started it became good again. Since yesterday, I have started taking 500 mg of vitamin B5. I've heard so many great things about it and I haven't tried it so I really wanted to try it to get rid of the last bit of acne.

I mean, I have been eating very restricted for many years, ever since high school! And by tracking my diet on cronometer, I find that it's a bit difficult to get B5 from my diet. So, it's possible that I might have a slight B5 deficiency since it's a water soluble vitamin as well. B5 is apparently important for hormonal function.

Otherwise, my "regimen" has been kind of the same as in my previous post. I still drink lemon water in the morning, sometimes I drink green tea. I also bought a tea with burdock root which I drink sometimes.

I also forgot to mention that I made my own ACV toner which I started using around 5 days ago, around the same time I started taking B5. And, since starting taking B5 and using the ACV toner... I've barely got any new acne at all. I've onlynoticed 3 TINY bumps. 2 of them are barely even red.I also got one on my back and one near the scalp on my neck which are both a little bit bigger than the ones on my face. But, this week I've been eating some dairy ice cream so that might explain it. I also use the ACV toner on my upper back.

It's been a while since I last posted... I've stopped using the ACV toner.

My skin has gotten a bit more bumpy and it actually itches a bit. I started using MSM again a couple of weeks ago but not much improvement. I've also started taking zinc regularly... I did some googling and figured that it could be a damaged moisture barrier so now I'm not using any actives in my skincare routine and focusing on moisturizing a lot with Squalane oil.

Skin care routine atm:

Morning:
Spray with rose water, TO niacinamide + zinc, moisturizer, squalane oil

Night: Cleansing with FA-safe cream cleanser, applying raw honey on face and letting it sit for at least 30 mins, wash away with cold-ish water, spray rosewater, niacinamide, moisturizer, squalane oil.

Don't know if I should make any diet changes because I already eat pretty good. I've started taking a B-complex more regularly and I stopped taking zinc for a while.

Skin is a bit itchy, but I've only been using malassezia-safe products so it's more likely to be a damaged moisture barrier/acne caused by dry skin. I have no breakouts in the T-zone, apart from ONE pimple on the chin. So that kinda indicates that it might be my cheeks that are dry because that's the only place breaking out, and the T-zone is usually oilier naturally in most people.

This made me think... What if my acne has been caused by dry skin all along... I don't think that has been the definite cause during those 5 years of having acne, but at least ever since I started this log thread...

Time for an update...
Since last week, I've gotten a lot of pimples/whiteheads on my cheeks... And even some one my forehead where I usually don't break out. It could be my new cleanser, it could be the niacinamide serum since those two are the main things I've changed.

I am so tired with my skin atm. I feel like most other people find their solution. They may only have to cut out dairy and that's it. For 5 years I have been trying a bunch of stuff and nothing works to 100 %. The diet in my original post is what has worked best, but it's the one that I despise the most. And I'm not one of those people that eat a SAD diet. My go-to diet is a whole food plant based diet with some addition of fish and SOMETIMES eggs.

So what I've decided to do right now is that I'm just not gonna do anything to my face. After a workout, I'll rinse it with cold water and apply squalane oil afterwards, but on days I'm not working out to the point of sweating at least, I'll just do nothing.

I'm also trying to get better at taking a B-complex because I have never taken it consistently. The one I have also contains inositol which apparently is good for acne, I've heard?

However, I'm intending to go to a holistic doctor sometime soon and hopefully she'll tell me something I can benefit from.

Two days ago my cheeks started to itch. I got really annoyed so I decided to abandon my "do nothing" technique and washed my face with some anti-dandruff shampoo. Then I mixed3 drops of squalane oil and 1 drop of tea tree oil and applied it to the problem areas, then moisturizer on top. My face felt very soothed so this is my new routine for now.

I'm also gonna try to be more mindful with what I eat. I eat healthy, and I choose healthy grains like quinoa, buckwheat, millet and oats... But I think I need to reduce my portion sizes a bit so that's what I'm doing. For my oatmeal I do approximately half oats and half oat bran since oat bran has a lower glycemic load.

Update:

About a month ago I went to a naturopath who told me I had parasites. I took anti-parasitic herbs once again (but a different supplement from the one I took earlier this year) for 14 days. Now I'm taking a break for 14 days and then I'll take it for 14 days again.

I've also started mixing my cleanser with 1 drop of tea tree oil.

I must say, my skin looks a lot better. Those tiny, tiny bumps I've had on my face for a really long time are reduced. My skin feels so much softer when I'm washing it instead of that sandpaper-like texture. I also don't have much acne over all, but some bumps here and there still... I'm excited to see what it will look like after I'm completely finished with the parasite cleanse.

Update:

I completed the last part of the parasite cleanse about a month ago. Didn't follow it to a T though.
My skin is still not clear, but since my last update I only have had around 1-2 spots on my face at the same which is a HUUUUUGE victory! I guess mixing my cleanser with 1 drop of tea tree oil has been very helpful though, because I still have had some acne on my upper back (and I don't use tea tree oil there). At this very moment my back is pretty clear though. I know my shower cream contains different oils though so it might be the reason, but my skin is really dry so I need that.

My skin has been clearer than it has been in like 5-6 years, even though I have been eating dairy (not every day) and gluten (in the form of whole wheat sourdough bread mostly)! So I think one reason why my skin is clearer might be that I'm not as stressed about food. I think being stressed about cutting out certain food groups could also contribute to acne.

I also have made sure to be more mindful about my nutrient intake. I've been adding nutritional yeast to my meals pretty often. I also took an algae-based omega 3 supplement regularly, but now I sometimes make sure to eat chia and ground flax seeds to get my omega 3's instead of a capsule. And I've been drinking a cup of green tea (or any healthy herbal tea) almost every day.

My skin actually has been pretty clear lately, even on my back. And I do the same things as in my last post, except that I've switched from using oat milk in my oatmeal etc. and instead I now use either soy or almond milk as they are lower in carbs and doesn't contain canola oil like oat milk does. I always thought I was allergic to them (soy/almond) but they seem to work pretty fine.

However, this week I ate kefir a couple of days in a row, and I thought that would be okay since I have been tolerating cheese.. But now I have some pimples again, even on my back. I'm not 100 % sure it's the kefir though, because this week I've had feelings of anger, sadness, stress and I've also been nervous. Regardless, I don't think I'm gonna try kefir again, at least not in a long time.
I also haven't been taking my vitamin D regularly this week, but I don't think that would have such a huge impact because I've been taking vitamin D every day for a long time now so I'm sure I have adequate levels.

Edit: I don't know if it's relevant regarding my skin, but when I drank 100% matcha tea (from tea bags, not the whole leaf) every day, I pretty much had zero acne. The past 2 weeks I have been drinking matcha tea bags (of like 30-40 % green tea or even as little as only 2% matcha) blended with other herbs like turmeric, fennel, cinnamon etc.
So, I don't know if a stronger concentration of green tea makes my skin better also? For now, I'm just gonna stay away from the dairy and see how my skin looks, and if I don't see an improvement I'm gonna try drinking 100% matcha tea every day again.

I'm also getting my period very soon which could have been a contributor to the acne this week.

I haven't updated in a long while because my skin has been really good. I've only ever had 2-3 small spots on my face at the same time at most. I've been so grateful for that and haven't had much to complain about. People haveeven complimented that my skin looks smooth etc.

However, I notice that there's an increase in spots during my period... But now my period JUST ended and I see an increase which makes me scared, and that's why I decided to update here with what I also have changed for future reference.

My period last month never came, probably due to overtraining+undereating... So my hormones might be a bit imbalanced. I've tried drinking raspberry leaf tea though to balance them out but since it's really hot I haven't been consistent and not drinking it every day...

Since I lost my period for a month, and also felt extremely fatigue and had to stop exercising, I've been trying to increase my calorie intake. So I've been trying to increase my portions i.e. eating more complex carbs.. But also healthy fats and slightly more protein. I've been starting to add a bit more oils to my meals, but not every day and only a tiny amount, so I don't think that has affected anything, but who knows? I've also been baking some healthy cookies using fresh dates as a sweetener. I have no clue if that has affected anything either.

And also, since it's summer I don't drink green tea either that much often. Don't know if that affects anything either?

During the winter time I also used a cleansing lotion, which can't remove makeup or SPF, so I only used it when not wearing makeup which was a lot since school was on Zoom... Otherwise I've been using my foaming cleanser. However, I ran out of it lately and has switched back to using my foaming cleanser 100%. I think I need to try and find another cleansing lotion since it might be more gentle for my skin.. But it's difficult to find ones that doesn't contain oils.

Edit: some grammar, although there are probably more mistakes in the post.

Thank you for this!

It's been long since I have updated. My skin stayed pretty clear through 2021, and it has been pretty clear this year as well. Still, I get some spots before/during my period or ovulation, but it's nowhere near what I used to deal with when I started this thread.

I have started having microneedling treatments every 4 weeks as well to treat the scars... But I'm scared that the new acne might make it ineffective. Anyways, I feel like my skin tolerates microneedling pretty well.

My skincare now:
AM:
Rose water
Niacinamide serum
Oil free moisturizer with spf 30 + 2 drops of squalane oil
Eye cream

PM:
Cleansing lotion (sometimes mixed with 1 drop of tea tree oil)
Rose water
Peptide serum (I take a break 2 weeks after every microneedling treatment to be safe)
Face cream for sensitive skin
Squalane oil
Eye cream

And my diet is similar to what it was a year ago... I try to balance the macros to keep a steady blood sugar. I still avoid dairy as much as I can but can have it every now and then. I don't restrict gluten at all, but I don't eat it every day.

I'm currently doing another parasite cleanse also.
Supplements I take are: Vitamin D3, B12, Mg (sometimes), Zinc (sometimes), omega 3 (algae), B5 (rarely), digestive enzymes (when needed), probiotics. I have also bough curcumin capsules but haven't started taking them yet. I did take wheatgrass shots and added wheatgrass to my smoothies last year, so I bought a new bag of that as well but haven't started taking it regularly yet.

I have started a new job though so atm I'm anxious kind of constantly which could contribute to some acne, unfortunately.

Edit: forgot to add that I probably drink more herbal teas than I did last year. Many contain dandelion and fennel seeds. I still try to drink green tea as often as I can too.