Skincare Sunday | How to get acne free skin

Unfortunately, I think there is a large degree of stigma attached to acne and people often associate it with an extremely poor diet. Now, I'm not saying that it will necessarily help matters if you avoid your greens, but did you know that everybody's acne can be triggered/exacerbated by different foods? My advice would be to try an 'elimination' diet with the following food groups, and each week cut out a food to see whether your symptoms improve.

Reduce your Candida
We often hear a lot of talk about 'good bacteria' in the gut, and it's really important to maintain a good balance. An over-production of yeast in the gut, 'Candida' can often lead to a whole host of symptoms, one of which is acne flare-up. To achieve a balance in your gut, you should avoid foods that contain yeast, these are: Marmite, mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, stock cubes, cheese. Foods that are high in sugar 'feed' the bacteria, which admittedly is quite a disgusting thought; so ease up on the sugary foods too. There's no need to cut these out of your life forever, but certainly reduce them until your symptoms clear up.

Take a load off your Liver
Your liver may have become somewhat overloaded and your liver doesn't function as it should, your body can become very toxic. You can rectify this by staying hydrated and taking regular sauna’s or steams which help to flush these toxins out of the skin. Limit your intake of processed foods and, the ever-so- obvious, alcohol.

Balance your hormones
It's not really a secret that us women tend to get acne around 'that' time of the month. The reason for this is because of the increase in Testosterone, where the hormonal shift gives us those extra little 'gifts' - oh the joy! Limit caffeine and avoid caffeinated soft drinks. Don’t skip meals, start your day with a good breakfast containing protein and complex carbohydrate.

What foods irritate your skin?

L x

Skincare Sunday | What your spots say about you.

Solving a problem is generally a lot simpler when you understand it. I see a lot of advice about acne telling people just to 'eat clean'. Ok, whilst I cannot argue that it's pretty important to stay hydrated and make sensible food choices, life is there to be enjoyed: so I can't admit dedicating my life to salads. Besides, is your diet even to blame for those pesky pimples?

Originating from traditional Chinese medicine, face mapping has been around for a long time and provides a pretty solid insight into what your spots are telling you about your body.

I've broken it down into 8 simple points, explaining what the problem might be, remember this is only a rough guide.

1 & 2. Spots in this area are usually related to your bladder and the digestive system. Ever noticed you get a bumpy forehead after that weekend of excess, trips to the fast food restaurant, followed up with more chocolate than a small sweet shop? Personally, I get spots here when I've eaten too much bread. To combat spots here, drink more water and watch those fried foods.

Spots on the forehead can more simply be related to your hair, if you have a fringe, try keeping it off your face whenever possible.

3. This area is related to congestion in the liver so you'll probably notice spots here after a weekend of drinking. However, if you're not a big drinker, spots here may be related to a possible food intolerance.

4 & 5. This area is related more to your lungs, if you're a smoker or live in a large city you may experience spots here. Try to cleanse your face when you come in from outside, whenever possible to keep those spots at bay.

6, 7 & 8. Hormones, need I say any more?! You may find spots around this area when its 'that' time of the month - don't we just get all of the fun! If you're finding that these are particularly bad, you may be suffering with a hormone imbalance. Try boosting your intake of Omega 3, 6 and 9, these are foods such as fish, seeds, avocado, which luckily all happen to taste delicious!

Can you relate to any of these?

L x