Just Face It

So I'm going to be frank with you, internet. I've had adult acne since I hit the old 2-0, 4 years ago. Until recently I had failed, in an absolute sense, to deal with it. The uprooting of my hormonal stability was a real shock to me.
 
Since then, I've gone through several phases. Apathetic 'I don't care less' mode; frantic 'trying every product under the sun and burning my skin with harsh products' mode, angry 'I can't believe I'm now an adult and starting to get acne' mode, and the stage I am at now, where my anger has plateaud and I've tried to combat the little devils by improving my diet (and that's another store entirely) and decreasing the amount of 'products' I use on my skin. Since I've taken a hands-on approach to what goes into my body, what goes onto my skin is just as important, is it not?

In the past the Vichy Normaderm range was a bit of a lifesaver, it cleared things up nicely and I was feeling more confident in my skin (second pun of the post, nice one Amy). But Vichy products are expensive. In fact, all cosmetics are ridiculously expensive, and I'm trying to downsize my consumer side all the time. I don't even hugely mind dropping the cash for their products, but I hate the idea of relying on a combination of obscure chemicals to make me feel ok about my skin.

I've almost stopped buying cosmetics altogether (except for lip balm, but I'm going to start making my own very soon) and instead use things I can find in my kitchen to do the things we need to make us clean and feel nice. One method I have for using up left over kitchen bits and giving my skin a bit of a treat.

While in the past I would have dropped a small fortune on something that left my skin raw and red and irritated for the sake of 'treating' it to a facemask, now I just whip up a little something from my kitchen that actually serves a purpose other than sheer decadence, and makes me feel good too.

Tonight I made a face mask using:

A tiny chunk of really ripe avocado
A squeeze of lemon juice
Two tsps of coconut cream
A tsp of coconut oil

I mixed it all into a mulshy/paste, washed my face using a really hot cloth and popped it on. 15 minutes later I rinsed it off using hot water, then rinsed with cold water to close my pores. Later on I'm going to moisturise with coconut oil warmed in the palm of my hand, with some vitamin E oil mixed in.

I've learned to give my skin a break, that overloading it with products won't do you any favour in the short term or long run. Instead, I'm slowly improving my health and hoping that as time goes on my hormones will balance and I will begin to look like the adult I (think I) am.