Natural Beauty Gamechangers

One piece of beauty advice I received recently may have changed the way I approach skincare forever.

My celebrity makeup artist friend, Maria Scali, told me that I need to hydrate and moisturize my skin to get rid of a recent bad breakout.

Whaaaaaaaat?

All those years that I spent drying out acne, apparently I was doing it wrong. Doctors, commercials and even magazines all tell you to use these drying products to zap those zits away, but apparently you could be making it worse.

Now my routine involves lots of moisture to balance out the zit “zappers” that can create dryness.

Here are some of my favorites at the moment:

The best toner you can use for a breakout may be in your own kitchen. Lemons have natural antiseptic properties, so they’re great at killing the bacteria on your skin. The only drawback is that they can be pretty harsh on your face.

Mix one part lemon juice and one part rosewater in a small bottle to balance it out. The rosewater calms irritation and redness that the lemon can cause. Lemons can also help rid of excess oil, but rosewater adds moisture back in. Maria warns, getting rid of those natural oils can actually make your skin more prone to clogged pores.

I asked Maria if acne treatments are okay to use then. She said she actually liked anything with salicylic acid in it because it is natural and encourages your skin cells to turnover more rapidly and prevents pores from clogging.

One of my favorite natural skin care lines, Juice Beauty, created this serum that actually hydrates your skin while treating blemishes with salicylic acid. I’ve been using this product for a couple of weeks now and my breakout has calmed quite a bit and I’ve never seen my skin this smooth. If you’ve had serum-phobia like I have, this one will change your mind.

Speaking of the serum trend, this one is worth every penny if you’ve been battling acne scarring like I have for quite some time (Maria also recommended, but I was already on it!). It was created with medicinal herbs found in Korea, including a stronger strength of ginseng than can be found on this side of the world. The ginseng increases circulation, so it promotes cell turnover and as a result, the scars fade much more quickly than they would on their own. It’s also a bonus that it adds moisture to your face. Another consideration in the treatment of acne scarring is microneedling.

Maria nearly disowned me as a friend when I told her that I was only moisturizing once a day because I was too afraid to clog my pores. She said I was actually clogging them more because my skin was dry. Who knew? She approved this moisturizer that I’ve been using because it is used by patients with eczema, so it should be non-irritating enough for someone like me.

Lastly, you can’t forget about your eyes when talking skincare. It’s the most delicate skin on your face so you can’t use a regular moisturizer. I’ve always used creams on my eyes, but now that I’m on the serum boat, I’m all about eye treatments like the one from Juice Beauty I mentioned recently and this one from Orico London. This eye elixir is so lightweight that it won’t cause any little bumps and it’s all natural so you won’t feel bad about it being near your eyes.