We’ve all been through the frustrating whirlwind of skin issues. We try different products, dermatologist recommendations, and going through the whole cycle over again when we can’t quite land on the right products. Dealing with skin issues can be a long and exhausting journey, and the longer we deal with it the more out of reach perfect skin seems to be. We try the latest trends, the cult-following skin treatment brands, and even the DIY face masks but nothing seems to work. What gives?
Well the good news is, you’re not alone. Whether it’s oily skin, dry skin, acne prone skin, aging skin, or whatever issue you may be dealing with, many people work through problematic skin until they find the right combination of products, information, and internal healing. There are many solutions out there that are great first steps and building blocks in your journey to healthy, radiant skin – and yes, you WILL achieve healthy skin! While skin issues can stem from a lot of different things, and in turn can have a lot of different solutions, we are going to cover the basics of where to get started, tried and true methods to add into your skin care routines, and small things you can start doing to improve your internal health.
Work From The Inside Out
No matter what your skin problem is, always start from the inside out. As you probably know already, you will want to kick out alcohol, processed foods, greasy foods, and refined sugars. That means beige-colored foods, candy bars, sodas, all that highly addictive stuff. However, the long-term goal is for you to be successful in this journey, and not everyone has the will power to quit it cold turkey. Start by adding in some good stuff to your diet such as leafy greens, root vegetables, and seasonal fruits (1). Maybe trade a soda or two in for a few glasses of water. As you start to get into the routine of eating better, keep working your way to cleaner foods, and kicking out the processed foods gradually.
While we get bombarded with different skin care routines and regimens, we sometimes lose sight of how important our internal health is. Majority of our skin issues come from the way we eat being reflected back to us in the form of oily skin and acne breakouts. The truth is, we can adopt whatever kind of skin care routine we want to, but if we don’t choose to clean up our diets, we will never achieve the radiant skin we are looking for. Our favorite rule of thumb when it comes to eating healthy is to eat all the colors of the rainbow for every meal – fun rule, right? Celery, cabbage, chard, beets, carrots, corn, any leafy greens, and any seasonal fruits are a great way to start adding some color into your diet.
It is also extremely important to drink plenty of water, aiming for at least 10-12 glasses of water per day. Try drinking a glass of water once with every meal and once in between meals. Slowly start replacing that soda can for a bottle of water. Not only will you start to feel better, but your skin will start to radiate that as well. It’s incredible that the right foods have the power to help us feel better, think more clearly, and help us accomplish that beautiful glowing skin.
Acne Prone Skin
This is a big one for sure and one of the most common skin issues. From our teen years and even into our adult lives, breakouts are extremely common for a variety of different reasons. The most common explanation we get for acne prone skin is clogged pores from not washing our face or our pillowcase often enough. That is a great place to start making some slight lifestyle changes. Adding in the right face wash products for acne prone skin and mastering the right face washing technique can drastically improve the overall look of your skin. It also helps to wash our pillowcases at least once a week to keep them fresh and clean. After all, our faces do lie directly on them for 6-8 hours at a time.
But what if we do wash our faces regularly and we do regularly clean or swap out our pillowcase every week? Those are great things to add into your routine, but sometimes it’s not always that simple. Remember, we want to start internally, then work our way out. One incredible way to do this is through face mapping (2). While this may sound like a new trend in the beauty world, it was actually practiced in ancient Chinese medicines times. Face mapping is when we look where you are breaking out on your face to understand why. Ancient Chinese medicine believes that when you break out on certain parts of your face, it’s your body’s way of telling you there is an internal organ that needs a little TLC. From there, you can target that area for healing to help clear up your acne – pretty amazing right?
This YouTube video takes you through a brief explanation of how face mapping works and how to understand how your acne connects to the internal organs of your body. This is a great way to get your started on a path of healing to help you achieve long-term goals of healthy skin.
Aging Skin
As we get older, our skin can start to lose its elasticity. This can cause a few different things including larger pores, fine lines, and wrinkles. While we may not be able to turn back the clock, we can take steps to help restore the skins elasticity and prolong the skin aging process. First things first is to drink plenty of water! It may sound like a small step but drinking plenty of water can help your skin hold on to moisture and prevent fine lines and wrinkles. It keeps your skin looking young, healthy, and of course, firm.
In case you haven’t heard this enough, you will also want to wear plenty of sunscreen, even if the sun isn’t out or you’re not in direct sunlight. Whether you’re afraid of that dreaded sunburn or not, the sun’s UV rays can still affect you even through cloudy weather. UV rays have an incredibly negative impact on the skin and can actually speed up the aging process – yikes (3). Therefore, always put on sunscreen in the morning before you start your day. We suggest covering your entire face as well as the back of your hands – another area of your skin highly susceptible to sunspots and aging.
When looking for the right skin care products to help ward off wrinkles, it’s worth mentioning the ever-rising trend of Korean beauty, or K-beauty. In South Korea, they take their skin care regimen very seriously. While to us it may look like they are obsessed with their beauty, it is actually a very normal and regular part of their personal hygiene. They each adopt a skin care regimen according to their skin type and it is not uncommon to see a medicine cabinet full of skin care products in their bathrooms. But the results speak for themselves. Many Korean celebrities maintain youthful glows even through their 40’s and 50’s – it’s no wonder the United States has adopted these methods as well! What makes their anti-aging skin care products to effective is their highly potent, all-natural, plant-based ingredients. They truly have found the fountain of youth.
Skin Texture
You may be asking yourself, why is my skin not smooth? This can be anything from small bumps to acne, dry skin, scars, or just overall roughness. There are many different reasons as to why you may be experiencing textured skin, but thankfully a lot of solutions as well! Aside from the right topical solutions such as exfoliating, wearing sunscreen, and finding the right moisturizer, there are also a large amount of lifestyle changes you can make to reduce skin texture.
The number one thing you can do to improve the overall look of your skin is to start working out (4). It seems like an obvious one, and I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. But working out can have many positive impacts on your skin, the number one being sweating! When you sweat, it helps rid of any build up in your pores and lets it all out. It works its way through dry skin, bumps, acne, and whatever other condition you may have to loosen things up and clear things out. From there, it’s up to you to have the right facial cleanser ready to scrape away all that unwanted dead skin build up, oil’s, and bacteria’s to aid your skin in its healing process.
You can also stay on top of your diet and water intake, look into different types of facials depending on your skin texture, and even look into some at home solutions to save you a little bit of money in the long run. At the end of the day, your skin texture is trying to tell you something. Instead of becoming frustrated or confused, listen to it instead! Look at your diet and lifestyle and try to pinpoint where you can be making changes in order to improve the overall texture of your skin.
Men and women both share common skin issues and require similar products. However, how you choose to treat problematic skin can vary. For suggestions on how men can target their problematic skin and treat it effectively, click here. To read more about products every man should have in his skin care routine, click here.
I try to wash my pillowcases often. Good tips!
Thank you! I am glad you found them helpful! 😊