'Stop that Spot' and 'Scare that Sebum'

Fight Those Spots & Show Your Skin Whose Boss!

On the cheap ;p

Oh No!! You've woken up and your face is super shiney and WHATS THIS?! Not one but 2 new white heads and a giant spot on my chin?! WTF!

Yep it's a dangerous time for us all, making it from the bed to the mirror, the fear of what you'll find? Of course there are those who don't have to worry about it, lucky SOB's, lol, but not all of us can relax no matter what expensive products we through at it! But there are a couple of things you can do in your daily life that can really help

This is more for people suffering with sebum build up and white head break outs! And the odd pimple. But if you have a serious acne problem I really feel for you. I too suffered from it in school and through into college. And even though my skins alot better now I still have the odd break out in the 'bad time' (of the month) lol, times of stress and random events, haha. My skin really does break out easily but I put alot of it to scarry hormones and sensitive but oily skin. Lol im not a lucky one.

Hopefully one or more of these can help reduce your sebum (oily) build up or reduce your break outs.

OK so first to fight it you must understand it:

''The sebaceous glands are microscopic glands in the skin that secrete an oily/waxy matter, called sebum, to lubricate and waterproof the skin and hair of mammals. In humans, they are found in greatest abundance on the face and scalp, though they are distributed throughout all skin sites except the palms and soles^. In the eyelids, meibomian sebaceous glands secrete a special type of sebum into tears. There are several related medical conditions, including acne, sebaceous cysts, hyperplasia, sebaceous adenoma and sebaceous gland carcinoma''

So basically if you hae oily skin it's sebum an excess of sebum. If something is for 'reducing sebum' it's to help reduce the natural oils your skin makes. This is something I have to put up with to and in the past before I knew what I was doing it would cause breaks outs, cakey make-up and super extra shiney face :o. Oh the frustration XD.

In the future I will do a post on how to deal with your skin and apply make-up for people with oily skin but for now this is just to generally help reduce oil build up and breakouts.

  
Moisturize!
 If you have an excess build up of sebum you may think your better off not to moisturize, please don't think that. By not moisturizing you skin will compensate by creating MORE oils to combat the face washes you use, the make-up you put on and so on! So don't be afraid to moisturize, the trick is finding the right one.
You can now get so many things tailored to oily skin, but if you try one and it doesn't work just try another! When I was looking for a new moisturizer I went through 3 this year before finding one that worked for me. But i've only ever had 1 brand that was really right for me but couldn't use it anymore and i've been jumping around since. I will say start wih brands you know to see if they do oil free products. I used to use Garnier (face wash & moisturizer) but now can't use it at all! And I tried their 'oil free' one and HATED it! Now im using Olay 'oil control' and I love it!

 

Tie up your hair at night!

This is something I do now. Your hair of course has it's own natural oils and all sorts that it picks up, so when you sleep it's rubbing around your face! Plus all the products we use on your hair will probably make your skin break out (I know it does mine!) Dry shampoo being a big one, and I use that alot with my pastel hair. So tie it up in a cute lil bun, fringe and all and it's so much better. Plus your hair doesn't get as tangled.

Change your pillow case

I dunno about you but I roll around in bed soooo much! And normally always end up sleeping on my face XD. It's actually not very good to sleep on your face (different matter to do with wrinkles) but I like what I like =p. And with all that rolling around, even with your hair tied up you'll still get oils, dead skin cells, hair product and dust and all sorts landing on your pillow! So if you find your waking up with alot of build up on your face try changing the pillow case more often, even if you don't need to change the whole bed

Use clean brushes, sponges or hands to apply your make-up
Unfortunatly applying make-up is a huge billboard for bacteria. It's so possible that after all that work of keeping your skin clean & clear that you've lost it all the second you use that scummy old brush to put on your make-up. Remove make-up from your brushes after every use, even with just a wet wipe and then give it a deep clean once a week. Wash and keep hands clean if thats what you use and replace sponges regulaly. Also if you do use brushes &/or sponges keep them in sealed boxes/jars or whatever. You could get dust flying and dropping onto them ESPECIALLY if you have animals! I have dogs so im extra careful and don't leave my tools open to the elements so to speak =p

Washing your face

I know probably all of you wash your face in the morning and at night but if you don't you really should even if you haven't put make-up on! During both the night and the day you will get alot of dust flying around landing on your face, all sorts of things you touch with your hands and then without thinking touch your face and of course the natural oils that will build up.

Also im sure alot of you already know this but after washing your face (and I do this with body and hair to) rince in cold water! As the hot water opens up the pores so does the cold water close them up again. So theres no point of opening up your pores to wash them out to leave them open for more dirt and make-up to jump back in =D

Face Wash

An unexpected one but even your face wash can be the cause of your break outs! Everyones skin has a PH balance and it's very possilbe your face wash (even make-up and moisturizer mind you) isn't agreeing with you. I know I was using the same fash wash happily for about 2 years when all of a sudden I was getting white head break outs all the time! I put it down to change of location and make-up that I was using, but after changing location again and using new make-up I finally realized it was my face wash! So I changed it and YAY no more break outs. It did take me a while to find a new one I liked and went through about 5 before I found one that agrees with me. Also be careful what you use, always have a look whats in it and im always sure to get oil free things! I can/will go through a list of my sebum controlling skin care products ^-^

It's actually better for your skin to change up all your skin care and make-up brands every 6-12 months! Sometimes your skin can build up and intolerance which is what happened to me.

 

Take off make-up

An extension of washing your face is you really should remove your make-up. Even I was guilty of leaving on my make-up in my younger days! In fact *shame moment* In college I would wear make-up to college, go out that night and of course not have the time to wash my face when I got in after the *cough cough drinkydrinky* and then just slap more on in the morning! I know I know but I don't do that now no matter how much i've had to drink! Hahaha

Leaving on your make-up will of course increase spots and blackheads but will also deepen wrinkles (or spead them up if your too young for them) and damage your skin. 

Your diet

Ok so im not going to go on at people about what to eat and drink cos I hate it when people do it to me! But your diet will affect your skin. I am not a saint when it comes to food, im a chub XD but I am one for making all my own food from scratch so I don't eat mush processed food unless like it's been a super long day and I can't move anymore and i'll pick up a big mac XD but it's not often. But processed food, fatty foods and so on will make your skin break out if you eat it alot. If your serious cut out these foods, but simply reducing the amount you eat will improve your skin! Got lots of spots? Put down that microwave pasta meal with a super sugar filled 'sauce' (ewww) and cook some fresh, it's honestly tastier anyway. Other things are of course sugar, caffeine and oily things like that.

 

Drink more water

Yes you really should. I drink so much bottled water, buy smart and you can buy it so cheap. I get a pack of like 12 bottles for less than £3 from Aldi! Lol. Drinking water helps with so much including oily build up, break outs, detoxifying, reducing redness, reducing puffiness in the face and body & reducing tired looking skin, and so much more. Will also help clean out your body top to bottom. I am guilty of drinking that liquid filth that is diet coke! So no im not perfect but I don't drink coffe at all and drink water in the morning and nights! A great start to your day and will totally wake your mind and body up is a glass of cold water.

Of course there are more ways, but these are just a couple that I live buy and i've seen such a difference without spending money on 'super creams' or skin treatments! I hope one or more of these can work for you to =D

Still breaking out and don't know why? If you have a seriously bad acne problem you should go see your doctor. Hormones can be a big cause of bad acne but there could be something else behind it and I want everyone to be safe and happy!

As a follow up to this post at some point I will do posts on:

• Sebum Contorl - Products to use
• Make-up routine
• How to wash make-up brushes & how to keep them
• Make your own face masks

And of course next up is the next part on pastel hair! So many hair posts I thought I should stick something else in first. Plus I made up the post and lost it all! which just annoyed the hell out of me so have had to do it over XD

☆ Thank You So Much For Reading ☆

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