I am 23 years old. My skin has never been perfect. However I have never strived for total perfection. Control is something which I try to achieve in many aspects of my life and despite it being my own face I struggle to maintain control of it.
I was 19 when skincare became my concern/passion/obession.
I had always had a few breakouts growing up. To be honest I don’t remember too well but it didn’t bother me any more than the average teenager. It wasn’t until I was due to turn 20, after coming off the pill that I started to get cystic breakouts surrounding my chin. My skin was angry and irritated. I struggled to deal with it, changing my skincare routine more than I should have and fuelling that rage. I was searching for anything that would help. After 1 year of struggling I actually got a job within skincare and I learned a lot. I am still learning. My skin certainly got worse before it got better due to eagerly trying everything that was recommended to me. Natural, active, organic, high-tech… I tried it all and that was of course the worst thing that I could have done at the time. However, I don’t regret it as I can look back now and say that I know what will work and what will not work on my skin (most of the time).
Prior to this I visited the doctor who gave me antibiotics which I tried for 8 months with no success. She also have me topical creams to dry out the problematic areas. Ouch! Dry skin around the mouth is not very comfortable. Again, I learned this the hard way and I don’t have to make that mistake again. What did work for me from the doctors recommendation was giving in and going back on the pill. Specifically one called Yasmin which was suggested for hormonal skin issues. I would recommend it highly. I stayed on this for about 6-8 months before changing to a pill which was more for longterm use. It was the hormones that kept my skin at bay alongside starting a skincare routine mentioned in a previous post.
Now I am 23. I have come off the pill again because I felt confident that my skincare routine would never let me get back to the same place I was before. Now I have an IUS. This is also hormonal but in a different way. I have had this for three months and of course my skin is not happy with the change. However I was prepared for this and am willing to see it through, hoping that my body will adjust to it with time.
Currently I am experimenting with diet. I am not a huge meat eater. I will cook mainly meat free meals but am now making a conscious effort to eat considerably less meat and dairy products while introducing a lot more vegetables. I have recently introduced fish in to my diet after never being particularly interested in it before. Alongside these changes I am trying to eat less processed food and waste less in terms of packaging. This involves a lot more meals made completely from scratch. Luckily I enjoy cooking when I do have the time so I am trying to prepare my meals in advance and better use my freezer.
This is a work in progress and I will be interested to see how my diet influences my skins behaviour, if at all. As I said before I do not need perfection but I would like to have more control and hopefully this will bring me one step closer to that.
SARAH FORSHAW MAKEUP ARTIST 