I’d like to start this article saying that I’m not usually one who gets acne. I’ve always been that guy with somewhat clear skin (although not amazing), I’ve been complemented how well my skin looks. In short, I attribute my skin to a clean diet. A clean diet can mean a number of things, but in short, my diet includes a lot of veggies and minimal processed sugar and oily foods. (For example, candy, doughnuts, French fries, fried chicken, and so on)
I went to San Diego the past weekend and started pigging out on some food as a way to reward myself for all the hard work accomplished this year. Some of the indulgences include carne asada fries, deep fried fish tacos, boba milk tea, and so on. My body wasn’t used to the foods and processed them in an unpleasant way – I started breaking out.
Although the breakout wasn’t too bad, it was something. I noticed something was wrong because well, I never break out. Is it genetics? Maybe. But I do know for a fact that my diet has something to do with it. First case in point? I immediately notice my face feeling a little bit “oilier” after eating something like pizza or French fries. I’ll have to take a napkin and end up wiping off my face and will be able to see oil stains on my napkins. This definitely shows a correlation between my skin condition and my diet.
Now all that we’ve been waiting for…the FIX.
How do we fix the break outs caused by food? Simple. Start changing your diet. It’s not as difficult and as painful as it sounds. You just need to cut out most of the processed sugary and oily foods in your diet. Oily meaning foods that contain nasty stuff like Omega 6s, such as deep fried foods cooked with vegetable or canola oil. Instead, try filling whole foods such as bananas, blueberries, yogurt, cooking with olive oil, getting your fats from avocados, and you’ll start to see some changes within a few weeks or even a few days! (Its okay to eat sugary and oily stuff once in awhile, but note that your diet is a lifelong journey and your health is a reflection of how your diet is along with other lifestyle factors.
Now that I’ve given you some general advice…here are the specifics which have been proven both scientifically and actually tested by us.
Baby Carrots:
Carrots will make your skin appear “glowing” and “radiant”. I’ve even received complements the other day for the first time with someone calling my skin radiant. After looking in the mirror, I understand why. Carrots are filled with many vitamins and anti-oxidants that will get your skin to the way it needs to be. We believe that good looking skin comes from within, not only the external product applied to it. For specifics, we recommend the baby carrots from Trader Joe’s. Cheap and filling.
After browsing around on reddit looking for a low effort, minimalist type of skin care routine, I came across “oil cleansing”. To sum it up shortly, oil cleansing essentially is a process in which you take an oil (jojoba, coconut, etc) and start rubbing it all over your face. This removes the excess dirt, dead and dry skin, and all the grime that your skin picks up throughout the day. Cleansing with jojoba oil even acts as a moisturizer and suffices when the skin isn’t as susceptible to dryness (Cough, winter). We recommend the jojoba oil also from Trader Joe’s. It works much better than any virgin coconut oil.
This is a facial cleanser we recommend that properly cleanses the skin without drying it. For simple and efficient use, for your cleansing routine, first rub jojoba oil on your face, then wash off with water either when you’re washing your face or if you’re saving time and doing it all in the shower. Then apply the Cetaphil facial cleanser and rub and rinse off. For added softness and to minimize dryness, we recommend rinsing off with cold water in the shower. This will close off your pores that will be opened up if you do a hot shower and will “cool” off your skin. Cold showers generally have plenty of other benefits that you can read about as well.
Belif – The true cream – moisturizing bomb
All the necessary precautions can be taken and your skin can still look flawed – why? Just due to general dryness. Especially in the winter. Your skin will be prone to get flaky and this moisturizer is one sure fire way to stop that. This moisturizer moisturizes without being too “sticky” and you won’t even feel it on your face after you’ve spread it apart. Have dry hands? Apply this on them as well and you’ll see that the belif moisturizing bomb does wonders.
Ditch your diet full of nasty sugars and fats and your skin care routine with all the harsh chemicals that your face wash and current moisturizers and try my routine out for a week. Leave some feedback below and let us know what you all think!