How I Cleared My Acne...

So guys,
I'm sorry that I haven't been on in foreeever, but I have just been super busy and I moved to Alberta for the summer and just madness.

Anyways, you will be happy (because I am esctatic) that I have CLEARED UP MY ACNE! (mostly..)

sorry for the crappy webcam quality

 So my regime has changed slightly, but most of the steps have stayed the same.
I still take off my makeup with coconut oil and I wash my face with Andalou Organics cleanser.

Now, I used to use olive oil to moisturize because my skin was so dry but after some research I realized it was what was causing my acne. It is very high in lineloic acid, which in short is responsible for causing over-active sebum glands and thus causes clogged pores and breakouts. It made a lot of sense so I switched tooooooo:

GRAPESEED OIL! I talked about this a whiiiile back, but I started using it again and it has SAVED my face. I truly believe that this stuff is what has helped my skin the most out of everything.

In addition to moisturizing with grapeseed oil, I brought back my witch hazel toner. I have the rosewater one as well as the original which I just keep in spray bottles and dampen my face with toner before applying the oil.

I also purchased BellaBoo EZ Blitz serum and it is an all-natural spot treatment. But I use it all over my face after my moisturizer has sunk in. You only need a small amount to cover your face and I think it actually works! My pimples that I do get never last long and I think this serum has helped quite a bit in the prevention of new breakouts.

 I also added a fish oil supplement in addition to my multi-vitamins. I don't know if they have helped because I don't think I have been taking them for long enough yet but it is something I have changed so I figured I should add it.

But basically those are the only things that I have changed! I believe I owe atleast 75% of it to the grapeseed oil and I won't use anything else on my face now.

My Hair Care Products ☼

Shampoo and Conditioner:

Kiss My Face Big Body Shampoo and Conditioner

These shampoo's and conditioners are great. And I know that I said I didn't want to use commercial shampoos anymore...but they are basically as natural as it's going to get and they don't mess with the natural state of my hair. The only have like 2 ingredients that can be considered chemicals which is outweighed by the fact that they contain no sulfates, parabens, silicones, AND THEY ARE pH BALANCED! Which I need because my scalp reactes so quickly when the moisture isn't balanced...ie: super greaseball hair. And the reason that I know they are natural, is because your hair doesn't feel all that great right out of the shower. Which is NORMAL, but typical commercial shampoos are so full of silicones that your hair is silky and soft, but not healthy. Now, don't get me wrong; your hair will be super soft and silky when its air dried.
Also, I don't really use the conditioner except on the VERY ends of my hair, and as a deep conditioner treatment which you can read about here.

Hair Rinse

ACV Mixture

This is the mixture that I made myself in this post. It consists of ACV, Chamomile tea, Rosemary, Grapefruit and lemongrass essential oil.  

Leave-In Conditioner

Aloe Vera Juice

I love this. This is one of the things that keeps my hair balanced from scalp to tip. If you guys have followed my blog for a while you would know that my scalp is ridiculously oily and my ends are prone to dryness and splitting. Apply this to my damp hair out of the shower has allowed me to avoid that, and now my hair looks and feels the same from top to bottom.

Hot Oil Treatment

I use a mixture of olive, sweet almond, coconut, and castor oil, with the peppermint, lavender and tea tree essential oils.

My New and (once again) Improved Hair Routine ♥

So, I have once again changed my hair routine.
My hair care products have just not been working out for my hair type lately. I have been getting too oily and greasy too fast and my hair has looked awful for some time now. Sooooo, I have changed it and found what (fingers crossed, knock on wood) seems to be actually working. So here it is:

MONDAY: Shampoo Day! 

TUESDAY:Wash with water and ACV

WEDNESDAY: Wash with water and ACV

THURSDAY: Wash with water and ACV

FRIDAY: Deep condition with conditioner and shampoo

SATURDAY: Wash with water and ACV

SUNDAY: Hot oil treatment (overnight if possible)


So, that's my routine, but HOW I do each thing has a process which I shall explain:

Shampoo Day: it is literally just that. I shampoo the oil out of my hair, apply some conditioner JUST to the very ends of my hair and rinse out, and spritz some aloe vera juice on my tresses once I am out of the shower and my hair is damp. The aloe vera juice works as a great lightweight conditioner for those who have fine, thin, oily hair like mine.

Water and ACV wash: This I am still working on finding out what works perfect for me. But there are two ways of doing it; the first being that you get into the shower and massage your scalp thoroughly (don't scrub, you'll break hairs) with water. Then apply the ACV rinse and leave it for a bit, and rinse it out completely. The second way to do it, is to saturate your hair with the ACV rinse before the shower and leave it on for 10 or so minutes before getting into the shower and massaging and rinsing it away.

Deep Condition: Because my hair is so fine, I don't typically use conditioner on it unless I notice that my ends are getting too dry and whatnot. But I do use it as a deep condition, which basically means that I soak my hair with the ACV rinse again, and apply conditioner all over my head and massage it into my ends especially. I then wrap it up, leave it on for 10-30 minutes, and shampoo out, following with my aloe vera juice.

Hot Oil Treatment: My hot oil treatment consists of applying my warmed oil mixture to every inch of my scalp and then onto the strand and ends. I heat it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and apply to my hair. Then I wrap it up in a plastic bag (you can be less ghetto and get a shower cap if you want), and then apply some heat using a blowdryer for about 15 minutes. Then I just wrap a towel around it and leave it on for as long as possible. I try and keep it in overnight by just sleeping in the plastic bag or putting a towel down on my pillow. (I do this right before I am going to bed though, because over oiling your hair can stress your tresses).

If you want to see the products that I use on my hair, go to this post.

xoxox