Acne Magazine

Another natural astringent is a good old favorite, witch hazel, which is dirt cheap. Unfortunately, I’ve never liked the way witch hazel has worked on my skin personally, but I certainly can’t speak for everyone. Hey, if you want to try it, you don’t have much to lose since it’s cheap!

First of all, before we get into this discussion of one of my favorite topics, natural skin and natural acne skin care, let’s discuss what exactly an “astringent” is.

I read an interesting article the other day about the importance that many skincare specialists think orally taken vitamin C can benefit the cell turnover and cellular strength of the skin.

OK, admittedly I haven’t been doing my home microdermabrasion as often as I should be lately, and it’s really showing in my face, because for some reason my acne scars seem more pronounced when I am not doing it faithfully every weekend, or even sometimes (when I’m really good), twice a week.

I am currently testing a product, as I believe I’ve mentioned over the last few posts, and the one component of the product that I still can’t decide on is the Tea Tree Oil Toner.  I really do not like the smell, but I think that it cleans my pores very well.  Tea tree oil is a very potent natural astringent that is used as a natural antiseptic, and had just recently gained some notoriety for being beneficial in the natural treatment of acne, as a natural cleanser and toner that gets deep down in those pores and helps clear the pores and open them up for some serious cleansing. 

The color of tea tree oil, at least in the toner I am using is a very deep amber color, almost an orange like iodine would look, but not quite as deep.  The smell, to me, is not pleasant, but it definitely smells pungent, like a cleaner should.  I do see a definite good bit of dirt and grime on my cotton pad after I’ve swiped over my face a few times with just a little squirt of the toner, especially after I’ve swabbed my nose, which seems to be a magnet for dirt and grime.

All in all, I think tea tree oil can definitely be of benefit to acne sufferers, but honestly I think it may be a little too rough to use on the skin alone, but rather should be used as a complementing product, in combination with others that are a little more mild to offset the antiseptic feel of the tea tree oil.

Wow, how nice would it be to have a dermatologist or a cosmetic dermatologist literally at your beckon call if you were either rich or famous, or both?  The stars always seem to have flawless skin, and we all know that there is no way they are all flawless by nature, and that they’ve almost all had a little help from Dr. Skin Specialist 90210, or even more dramatic help from the cosmetic surgeons. 

Actresses and actors with acne almost never have a blemish that you see them in public with, and oh boy if they do, watch out, because it will make tabloid news the very next day, complete with photo blowups showing the infamous “zit” up close, humiliating them even further.  Think Katie Holmes and Cameron Diaz, who have both had embarrassing blemishes in public, and gotten lambasted by gossip columnists for not being the “perfect” stars they should be.

Well, famous people have dermatologists to prevent their skin from breaking out, and God forbid if they do, they have some techniques that aren’t readily available to us average joes that they can have done and literally kiss a zit goodbye in just one day that would normally be hanging around on our faces for at least a week, and leaving scars to boot.

Dermatologists and cosmetic dermatologists can actually inject a zit with cortisone to get it to go down right away, since it is an anti-inflammatory, and since the zit is not physically forced out, as so many of us know is bad, but cannot resist when faced with a huge red zit on our nose, cheek, or forehead, there is a much less threatening chance of having a scar, or crater in that area.  Yes, a crater, one of those things that we all dread happening that are very difficult to get rid of unless you have agressive dermabrasion to sand it down. 

I’ve noticed over the course of the last few weeks, my skin has erupted a few times with just one pimple that seems to be purely stress related, since we are currently in the process of moving and the finalization of the loan and all that other stuff that goes into being a home buyer was just so much fun (I kid of course), that I seemed to not have a moment’s peace, and my mind was trying to do ten thousand things at once. 

What always happens when I go through extremely busy, stressful periods in my life, is that inevitably my skin will show it in rebelling and giving me a single pimple that seems hard to get rid of and is stubbord as you know what to treat.  Here’s what I try to do when I get stressed out, just to internally calm my mind and all the millions of voices in my head telling me I need to be doing this, that and the other thing. 

I take time out for me.  For example, I will head over the to gym, or do some relaxing yoga, and I will FORCE myself to not think of anything but what’s going on in that moment.  My breath, peaceful thoughts about being on a vacation somewhere tropical in the sand with the sun beating down on me and tropical lushness all around. 

These types of thoughts may seem corny or cliched, but when you really take the time to unwind and destress it really takes you out of your rat race life and into the moment, which is a great internal calming mechanism to get your skin to calm down and help quell flareups.  I swear by it!

I’m excited to be close to announcing two new products that I’ve had the pleasure to be able to try out over the past few days.  I don’t want to jump too fast and give the reviews right away, until I’ve had time to fully test and see  how they are interacting with my skin.  The two products serve different functions, one being an external acne treatment system, and the other being a facial product that is soon being launched by a popular skin care company.

Like I said, I really feel that in order to give constructive feedback on any skin care product or acne treatment system or individual product for the face or anywhere else on the body, one needs to use it for at least two weeks to find out how it truly interacts with their skin.  Sometimes, when you first start using a new facial cleanser, cream, toner, or other type of topical treatment, there is what I like to call an “adjustment period” where your skin may actually rebel against it at first.

Of course, this doesn’t happen all the time, but I have experienced this at first with some of the acne skin care products that had soon after proven themselves as excellent products, and became some of my favorite stand bys.  So, soon you will be seeing a few new reviews.  It may take a little longer, because I’m in the middle of moving right now (yeah, I hate moving too), but you’ll see them soon I promise!

I was just reading a really interesting and eye opening article the other day about how many patients (I have to admit, reading this, I realize I am guilty of doing this exact thing many times during doctor’s office visits), either fudge or lie about their lifestyle habits, the medications they are on, or their past health history in an attempt to “save face”. 

In other words, they are worried about what the doctor will think of them if they say they drink more than a few times a week, or if they smoke and don’t want to admit it, but really they are just hurting themselves, because doctors are supposed to be objective about these things, and the WANT to know about your life so they can treat you the best they possibly can.  And how can they do that if they do not have the full truth about your life? 

So, anyways, what brought this to this blog is that they mentioned the smoking thing.  Smoking is a very important habit that you need to disclose to your doctor if you are on the birth control pill for acne or if you’re on it primarily to prevent pregnancy (this is usually what it’s prescribed for, but apparently some docs may prescribe it if they feel it will help a patient’s acne and it’s called for), because it can have potentially fatal or life threatening consequences if not disclosed.  The potential for blood clots raises significantly in women that smoke and who are also on the birth control pill. 

This is clearly stated on the warnings and package inserts of the pills, and also most doctors should ask and dilligently check on whether their patients are smokers or not before they prescribe a birth control pill to them.  The real danger comes in when a blood clot travels to a vital artery or vein, this is when it can become potentially life threatening and cause serious health issues. 

So, make sure you disclose whether you are a smoker to your doctor before you go on the pill.  At least then they can inform you of why it might not be such a good idea to go on the pill, and you can make your own informed decision from there.