I think I've finally gotten a hold on my acne. I'm not breaking out much any more. However, I have lots and lots of red and brown marks from 5 or so years of having acne, especially on my chin/cheeks/facial perimeter. In addition my face gets red super easy and just looks red and irritated all the time even though I only wash with water or exfoliate with ground flaxseed. Are there any super healing raw foods I should focus on to heal my skin? Any raw natural skin treatments I could apply externally? Supplements? I'm tired of feeling like I look unhealthy because of my facial skin. I feel really good. I want my face to look glowing and unblemished too!
I just posted a long answer on the related rosacea thread. I will cut and paste it here:
You might think I am crazy but the best way to heal your skin is to NEVER wash it. No water should touch it ever. And not only that, but in the evenings apply a thick layer of moisturizer, just dab it lightly on, no rubbing. And if you want to "wash" your skin, apply a thin layer of moisturizer and gently tissue/wipe it off your face.
The goal is to protect your skin and COOL it so it can calm down and stop freaking out and heal from within. All the redness and pimples are your skin reacting mostly to external forces - being washed, being touched, makeup, etc.
I started this a few months ago after decades of terrible skin. I cannot emphasis enough the difference it has made in my skin. And no, there was not a period of "getting worse before it gets better." Believe me, with no washing and tons of moisturizer I was bracing for all hell to break loose. I am still amazed to this day at its effects.
I know hundreds of others who have used this method with amazing success.
Permalink Reply by Emma on April 16, 2009 at 10:42am
does this work if you wear makeup? sounds daft but i won't be giving up the makeup anytime soon. I only really use mineral stuff anyway - would moisturiser thoroughly cleanse this off my skin? No water ever touching your face sounds odd but I fancy trying it - i too would think it would get worse... What moisturiser do you use?
Permalink Reply by Saz on April 16, 2009 at 11:21am
I would imagine if you wear make-up, then you have to wash it off. I think olive oil is good at removing make-up though, just slather it on and wipe it off with a cloth. Personally though, I could see my face getting clogged from that.
There is a homeopathic remedy called sulphur, along with MSM and flax oil internally should really help. Im not sure if you are oily or dry skinned but shea butter works great on dry skin and french clay mixed with avocado, lemon, and a bit of honey works can do wonders. Not sure about oily skin cuz I am a dry skinned Pitta type, but raw livin makes my skin sooo happy and clear.
Permalink Reply by Phill on September 7, 2009 at 11:56am
Sorry... MSM is a sulfur supplement. The theory goes that because our foods are irrigated instead of mainly rain watered (which contains sulfur), that our foods are lacking sulfur content. Sulfur in the amino acid Cystine (which is abundant in garlic) for example is perhaps responsible for its ability to create rigid flexability within protiens. At any rate, what i can tell from experience is that when i spray msm on my skin, it feels amazingly soft. Now that i know onions contain sulfur im going to be doing them alot more in my food! Ive always loved onions. Mmmmm. MSM you can buy 99.99% pure just about anywhere. Ebay, raw food shops, wherever. Or you can stick to naturally getting it from garlic & onion, however you wouldnt want to be too stimulating on your immune system i dont think.
I think whats powerful about raw fooders giving experiential advice to each other is that we know what works and we know what doesnt work & so we dont bother telling each other about whatever essential oil or herb we rub on. Although that could be a great idea too that would need exploring. The most important thing i feel is adressing whats not working in the system of homeostasis thats causing such an outbreak of detoxification through the skin rather than through breathing or excretion. Im not sure that i would personally take the non washing advice because i think hygeine is very important, but that its also important that we have a shower filter. When i know im not cleansing through my skin i would probably shower every second day and that would suit me fine.
THE MOST AWESOME THING ive found FOR SKIN recently is CLAY! On the market you can get some very nice high quality clays. One of the more popular ones which you can do internally aswell as externally as a clay mask is bentonite clay.
Another very important point in terms of 'breaking out since going raw & doing cleansing' is to make sure youre doing exercise like rebounding or even just jumping on the earth with barefeet, helps to cleanse the lymph system at the same time youre using oxygen to detoxify substances & eliminating also through breathing & the lungs. Apparently from reading the book 'how long do you choose to live' by peter ragnar, our lungs eliminate the bulk of the toxins from our body as our blackened blood reaches the lungs to oxygenate & purify. So excretion for example is responsible for eliminating only 20% of our toxins. So i would really suggest giving rebounding or jumping a go as you breathe lower in your diaphram, & that also helps to give me a clear head too. This is something i overlooked on the raw food journey and have only just realised the importance when all of my lymph nodes were full up with crap that needed purging, and breathing was the only thing that lihgtened the load on my kidneys as well as drinking water but then i was having too much water retention so i really had to get on the duiretic herbs and it wasnt a very pleasant situation at all. So simple jumping or rebounding is amazing for cleansing out old stuff.
havent read thru the replies,so heres my two cents Samantha..
I use to have cystic acne,big hard lumps all over the right side of my face,and under my jaw,it was a miserable time...this is before i went to raw foods..which in turn helped to balance my hormones and heal my body/skin...
sounds like you have,possible pigmented from the sun and residual acne scarring..
i would suggest wg juicing and green juices too...also putting the wg juice onto your skin every day,then washing off obviously,else ya gonna look like a little green woman he he ;)
look for all natural products ( i use product i dont think you can get in the US)its Aspect..i do highly recommend Priori though,yeh its pricey but damned good...
use rosehip oil,i find Kosmea the best brand,its amazing for healing the skin...exfoliate every three days.is your skin,dehydrated,or oily or dry?tell me more...
i would recommend a course of microdermabrasion treatments,this will help to stimulate the collagen and elastin in your skin too..
drink loads of water,eat lots of fruits and greens,and keep your fat intake low...exercise daily,sleep lots(change your pillow case often,if you use a pillow)wear hair off the face,when hair needs a wash...get in the sunshine,but protect face from sun,otherwise marks on the face will deepen in color.
The only way to lessen signs of pigmentation is to have i.p.l treatments(this is a form of lazer)this will assist..
if you want any further help,i will do my best to help you xo
i've been learning about how colon health effects the skin. i think for a while i was technically constipated and had breakouts on my chin area as an indication. There are other signs for this as well. You might look into it. I also love dry brushing.
Permalink Reply by Phill on September 7, 2009 at 12:00pm
Id agree with the importance place here on the colon.
Ive been eating bentonite clay while fasting and have really felt like ive eliminated alot of old stuff that could have just been being re-absorbed through my colon. Also the importance of something like green smoothies with such hydrating fibre.
What ive heard about dry brushing sounds great, if i had a brush id be doing it!
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