I have been in the position that many of you young people are in, I'm 30 years old, it took me YEARS to figure out what was causing my acne, and I have come to this simple conclusion:
The cause of acne stems from the lack of moisture in your skin and the harsh chemicals you put on your skin everyday.
The loss of moisture in your skin causes a breakdown in the integrity of your shield barrier, which is your skin.. When your shield is down and broken, it leaves your skin vulnerable to oils and dirt to seep into the pores, and when the dirt and oil are in your pores and your skin is damaged the garbage will be trapped in the pores.. then a dead skin cell gets stuck at the top and thus an infection grows.
The damage could sometimes be so deep that you will experience nodules, pimples without whiteheads..
When the skin is dry you will also experience large pores that have blackheads in them, dry skin makes your skin look old, spotted with skin toned bumps that could be seen in the wrong lighting.
All of this happens because your skin is extremely dry, you probably have experienced white specs, dry spots that feel like sandpaper, and redness in the cheeks and extremely oily nose and forehead... this is also from dryness!
If you want to get out of this, you must forget what everyone is telling you about acne treatment, because OBVIOUSLY IT ISNT WORKING OUT FOR YOU? What's the definition of insanity? When you do something over and over again and expect a different result, stop the cycle and ditch everything you are currently doing right now. (if you're on acne medication consult a doctor about this).
Listen to your skin, what is it saying to you right now? Is it saying, I'm itchy? I'm hurting? I don't feel good? Visually what is it saying to you?? You must start listening to your skin and start acting appropriately, NOW. before you do permanent damage to your skin.
When I was a teenager I had a few acne problems, I thought I knew everything but I was wrong. I would scrub my face with a hot towel, I would use apricot scrubs, but my acne and skin problems got worse and worse. I then was to a point of frustration, and I went online and did research on acne cures.. I found a program called Skin Dr. or something to that effect, and they provided me with BP, SA, and Jojoba Oil.. I began the regimen, and was worse off more than ever. My skin seemed oilier, my skin seemed redder and more angry, deep acne started popping up, and i was unhappy.
I would use a camera and take pictures of my face everyday, I saw firsthand that this regimen was doing more harm than good (using before and after shots) so I gave it up. But my nightmare was not over.
My dry patches on my forehead, itchyness, was slowly going away, but not fast enough. My skin was still feeling irritated, and I was back using soap on my face on a daily basis. I looked like a trainwreck...
So I basically had enough, I dropped everything, and began a journey without skin care products.. I stopped washing my face, for about a week, it was the hardest few weeks of my life. I felt dirty and miserable, this was the time where I would hide out in my room, on my computer, looking for "cures" and so on. I then stumbled upon all-natural acne cure websites and started studying the bad things we all use, the chemicals that cause skin irritation and so on. I then discovered L'bri pure and natural skincare. I liked reading about Stabilized Aloe Vera and how it helps heal skin burning, I also read about EMU oil, how it healed burn patients and other skin problems. I was hooked.
After treating my face with stabilized aloe vera, and emu oil, my face started feeling better.. every night before bed i put on these two ingredients and only washed my face with mild tepid water (no cleansers or anything, just my hands and water). I started to see a dramatic change in my skin. I no longer looked red, oily, white specs of dead skin on my face, I was at the home stretch, but still had acne here and there.
After two weeks of Stabilized aloe vera and emu oil, I stopped. I needed something less oily and less thick. So i researched and found SkinMD natural.. This my friends is what i use EVERYDAY, i slather it on at night, rub it in till it all seeps in and go to bed. In the morning I take a warm tepid shower, just rub my face with water and pat dry... that's it. I've been doing this for about 2 years now, and about every 8-9 months I get a big zit...BIG DEAL! It's certainly better than getting a new one every 3 days like I was experiencing before this regimen..
Listen, everyone gets acne, even as a 30 year old adult.. it's normal, there is no end all cure for acne... but, you can help prevent it by keeping your skin properly moisturized, and don't abuse it by putting chemicals on it for cripes sake!! Listen to me, if you want to stop these acne breakouts you're going to have to stop it with all of the cleansers, the toners, the alcohol wipes, and everything else you have been trained to do that is obviously not working for you.
Keep it simple, look at the people in Africa or some other place that has never heard of "acne regimens" or "skin care", they are perfect unblemished skin! Keep it simple.
There is an epidemic of acne, because we were all taught horrible skincare advice, like Benzoyl Peroxide, and Pharma drugs that have destroyed peoples lives and self confidence. Don't buy into the garbage that these will cure your acne.. it's all about natural, physically taking care and treating your skin right, and drinking clean water and good natural food is cool too.
Hope this helps.
