I've recently been giving my blog a nice little make-over. In the process, I realized that I hardly had any posts on skin care. Speaking of make-overs, my skin care routine has done a complete turn-about in the past several years.
When I was a teenager I had horrible cystic acne. I spent about 3 years seeing a dermatologist. Not only was it ugly, but it was painful. Sometimes it even hurt to talk or smile. My dermatologist once told me my hormones were going wild and landing on my face. I went through every treatment and medication known at that time, save for one (more on that in a sec.). These lotions, potions and treatments left me looking like "Lizard Lady". My face would literally peel. It was awful. Finally, my dermatologist wanted to put me on a medication called Acutane. Ever heard of it? Nasty stuff. Even then my teenage self wasn't comfortable with a medication that required weekly blood draws and that could cause severe birth defects - to treat acne. I ended up finally going on birth control pills and that cleared my skin up within a month. You know, the whole hormone thing. Well, I'm not so sure about that whole route at this point in life, but it was what it was. I was even required (by my dermatologist) to use specific washes, lotions and make-up during that time.
I told you all that to say this - I wish that I had known then what I know now. I truly believe that I could have had great results without all of the medication or side effects. I still have some hormonal issues today that I'm working on, but honestly, my skin has never looked better. So, I feel it's fitting to share some of the things that have helped me in regards to skin care. Ironically, the thing I get the most compliments on is my complexion. Can you say, "Grace of God"?
One thing I have noticed as I've switched to more natural skin care items is that not only do they improve my skin, they improve my pocket book. It's amazing how much more inexpensive this type of skin care regime is compared to even the drug store brand skin care lines. And, if you're currently using high end products, you can save some serious dough.
So, tomorrow I'm going to kick off this series by starting in the place where it all began for me...toners.
Hope to see you then!
UPDATE: As I write posts in this series, I am going to link them here as well as in the "Natural Skin & Body Care" tab at the top of the top of the blog to make it easy to find them.
Witch Hazel Toner
Rose Water Toner
The Oil Cleansing Method
Natural Bar Soap
Moisturizers
Eye Cream
Baking Soda Exfoliator
Sugar Scrub Exfoliator
Pimple Buster
Hot Oil Treatment
Two More Toners
Egg Yolk Mask
Lavender & Chamomile Salve
I'm linking this up at The Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Real Food 101, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Teach Me Tuesdays, Frugal Days - Sustainable Ways, Wildcrafting Wednesdays, Simple Lives Thursday and Living Well Blog Hop.