I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this here or on my regular blog, but I think this will help a lot of pregnant girls so it's going here...
I want to start by saying that I have crappy skin anyway. Always have and I suspect I always will. I have PCOS and that is part of the syndrome because my hormones are all kinds of jacked up. So you can just imagine how beautiful my face is now that I am pregnant. I laugh now that I actually had the thought that maybe, just maybe, my face would get BETTER when I got pregnant since it's usually terrible when I am not.
Yeah, it's without a doubt a billion times worse. I haven't written about it until now because I honestly do not care all that much. For the first time in my entire life my terrible acne is a sign of something so important, so wanted, and so loved. However...it is starting to become painful and hard to sleep. Also, I work in a professional environment and don't love looking like a 13 year old with disgusting skin either. Not to mention, as I get fatter, I want to look pretty and I don't think that's too much to ask. I don't want to be that gross pregnant chick - I want to glow dammit!
Being as I tend to lean towards more 'green' products and am pretty careful when it comes to ingredients in cosmetics I tried quite a few natural products over the past year and since I got pregnant. This is nothing new for me. I've been trying different "miracle" products and recommendations since I was 12 years old, including ever goop, cream, and pill from my dermatologist. The closest I've come to a "cure" has been acupuncture and herbs (which I am off now since I'm pregnant) and eating no dairy products whatsoever. But that's not an option now since a pregnant girl needs her ice cream. :)
I've tried Belli (a line of pregnancy safe products that are natural and have each ingredient tested for birth defects) Acne Wash, Burt's Bees, Alba, Weleda, Earth Science Essentials, you name it. My acne has been so painful and terrible the past couple weeks that I even started to use my old Aveeno Calming moisturiser again and DDF cleanser just to get some relief, but I just couldn't continue to use that garbage.
I needed something that would be good for my, sometimes oily, but always dry, sensitive, broken out, incredibly mad skin. This was recommended to me.
So yes, I am now cleansing (and moisturising) my face with olive oil and Castor oil. Weird I know, but read about it - it makes sense. I've only done it twice so far, but I can already tell how happy my skin is, how much better if feels, etc. I'm not buying stock in olive oil or Castor oil just yet since you never know what time will do, but I absolutely love that I am using TWO ingredients (well, really just one - oil) on my skin at all. TWO. Even with my many attempts at natural or safe products I think some of the natural things (like essential oils, etc) were just harsh on my skin and irritated it. It's that sensitive.
So I'm giving this a go. I know a lot of other women are having my same problems so maybe you will try this. If you use this already, let me know what you think! If you try it, let me know how it goes. I will keep you updated on my progress. I would post a before picture, but 1. my skin is already so much better since I started and 2. it's still incredibly scary to look at!
A String On Double Bass
5 years ago
Hmmm. O.K. well not having PCOS or oily skin I can't really relate. But I do have a husband who suffers from acne and has tried everything on the market to clear up his skin. His is terribly oily and tends to scar. But the one thing I've figured out and that has really started to work for him is moisturizer. I feel like people with oily skin forget about moisturizers and that is a partial cause of the body producing too much oil. Now I've always used a ton of moisturizer. I have combination skin (oil only on my forehead) and very dry cheeks. And I go between using an uber gentle (khiel's) non foaming cleanser to seriously just rinsing with water alone some days but then pile on the cream and never see blemishes. I think the balance is just better for the skin that way. And I think your castor oil thing kind of fits in with my theory. You are adding moisture which is probably stopping your face from over-producing oil that causes blemishes. So I'm interested to see if your new regimine continues to work for you. I hope it does. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThankfully my skin is never really that oily anymore. And I couldn't dare not use a moisturizer! I don't know how people do that, I think my skin would crack off in pieces lol.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting though! The olive oil is for moisture and the castor oil to clean so we'll see how it goes. So far, so good!
I really love your insight into pregnancy and baby items. I am definitely going to try this cleansing method, my face is a mess since becoming pregnant. I didnt have great skin to start...but now it's just gross. Is it working for you?
ReplyDeleteAlso I am very grateful for your cloth diaper post, I would love to use cloth diapers but didnt know where to start researching, thanks for breaking it down.