Diet and Acne Update

written by Parita 17 Comments

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few weeks now, but for one reason or another, it just wasn’t happening. However, an update of sorts is definitely in order as a few things have changed since my last post about My (Almost) Dairy-Free Experiment.

If you’re a regular MIS reader or you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that dairy is back in my life. Namely in the form of yogurt and cheese. I’m not consuming either in large quantities, but they’re part of my diet again.

Let’s start right where I left off…

Back in early January, I was seeing some positive results after not consuming dairy for a month or so. If I remember correctly, this trend continued for another two weeks before my skin decided to go berserk again. I honestly have no clue what went wrong.

And it didn’t get any better. In fact, it got worse. I went from a few big bumps to full breakout mode in a matter of weeks. Even still, I persisted on with my almost no dairy plan.

Right before we left for Italy, I saw a friend of mine post something on Facebook about a new line of products from the creators of Proactiv. I texted her to learn more. After a brief phone conversation, I signed up to try Unblemish*, a line of products designed to help acne-prone skin.

Now, I know I’ve been harping the benefits of more natural treatments, but I felt hopeless (once again) and was ready to try something new, something a bit stronger.

Anyway, I started using Unblemish and within a few weeks, my acne was subsiding. I still had a few bumps, but they were less painful. I used it for 60 days and ultimately decided to only continue with the blemish treatment (a benzoyl peroxide lotion). This stuff isn’t cheap, and I felt that the lotion was making the biggest impact for me.

Well, that was exactly a month ago. I just got around to ordering more of the Unblemish treatment.

But guess what? In the last month, I haven’t been using any fancy products (just a little tea tree at night) or following any particular diet, and my skin is the best it’s been in a long long time. I even ran errands the other day without makeup (this was a HUGE step for me).

I’m totally waiting for the other shoe to drop and my face to go crazy again, but we’ll see. I’m crossing my fingers that the “not doing much of anything” approach keeps working. Time will tell.

I should also mention that Vishnu thinks stress is a major contributor to my acne. I’m what you would call a chronically stressed person but not in an obvious way. I’ve always just thought it was part of my DNA, but Vishnu now has me convinced otherwise. And he may be on to something. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been constantly stressed/worried about one thing or another. But over the last month, particularly the last few weeks, I’ve been trying really hard to chill out. I’ll share more on what I’ve been doing in a separate post, but overall, I think my efforts are helping. Sure, I still get a little stressed, but I’m not holding on to it anymore. And of course I have absolutely zero proof of this, but in the past few weeks, my face has been clearer than ever before. So maybe Vishnu’s right. I’m going to pay more attention to my skin during high stress times to see if it’s a factor.

So where does that leave me? Well, as of right now, I’m sticking to a very simple routine that includes the Soothe face wash, my Desert Essence face wash, tea tree oil, Trader Joe’s moisturizer, and Cetaphil face cream as needed. I also plan to use the Unblemish lotion as a spot treatment (if things get bad again). In terms of diet, I’m sticking to a vegetarian diet that includes a little dairy here and there. And most importantly, I’m trying to be as stress free as possible!

Like I said, we’ll see what happens next month, but for now, I’ll take as much clear skin as I can get!

*The Unblemish face wash contains sulfur as a main ingredient. After using it for a couple of weeks, I found out I’m allergic to sulfur…the hard way (i.e. SUPER itchy, red skin). My friend was kind enough to send me the Sooth face wash to try. I’ve been using that for the past few weeks and love it.

Thanks for reading and happy hump day! 🙂

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