Beauty Tips For Body Care
I’m warning you this is a long read but it’s worth it.Some context for y’all:M21, Long time lurker of this sub, long time sufferer of acne, and over the years I have tried a variety of prescription medications and over the counter products as a part of a skincare routine, just about everything except for accutane (Quite frankly, I’d rather not take accutane, hence why I haven’t resorted to it)I know many of you can relate, you’ve tried everything and no avail. Frustration and low self esteem ensues. Story of my life.About 2 years ago, after years of money and time down the drain I had an epiphany. I decided it’s time for a more holistic approach to my acne. I’m talking nutrition. You’ve all heard it, you are what you eat. To understand what that means is to understand that everything you eat directly affects your well being, physically and mentally on a day by day, minute to minute basis. Our skin is no exceptionI’ve first made an effort to get all of my vitamins through supplementation but after seeing a lack of results I eventually moved on to cutting most processed foods and instead eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Looking back at where my skin was 2 years, I have most certainly made significant strides to clear skin. Before focusing on nutrition, I’d have anywhere from 5 to 10 active whiteheads most of the time, and in the most dire of times I’ve had ~15 whiteheads. In the past few months (honestly the most stressful months of my life) I have never had more than 3-4 active whiteheads. While it’s not perfect, clear skin it’s night and day compared to what it was. I’ve even heard it from my friends and family, saying how much better my skin has gotten and honestly it’s been the greatest confidence boost (I used to be very insecure about my skin, now I’ve really stopped caring what anyone thinks, giving me the courage to hook up and pursue relationships, something I always avoided growing up because I hated my skin so much and was sure all the girls were disgusted by it, although looking back I was too hard on myself :/)Now enough of that, here’s the anecdote to tell you all why I am so adamant about dietary beta carotene.When I really started to make an effort im focusing on my nutrition, about a year into my epiphany, I eventually started going grocery shopping for myself and I had the goal of eating 4-5 servings of vegetables a day in mind. After scanning nutrition labels and seeing a serving carrots having 120% of the DV for vitamin A, along with a good amount of Vitamin C, I figured baby carrots were a no brainer health food to include in my diet (for real. Minimal calories, some fiber, hella convenient, ~$3 for a weeks worth)Improving my diet, I immediately noticed drastic improvements in my skin. All acne I had started to enter that phase where the whitehead dries up and starts to peel away, if that makes sense, and my skin was glowing a bit more than usual. It got to the point where I stopped even having a skincare routine besides rinsing my face with water in the shower. I didn’t question it I just assumed the veggies were working their wonders, then it hit me. The Vitamin A. Knowing vitamin A’s role in retinoids and accutane I figured it had to be doing something. So I did a little research on the vitamin A present in carrots, Beta Carotene.For all of you who aren’t quite sure what Beta Carotene is, it’s a plant pigment found in significant amounts in orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, orange bell peppers and adequate amounts in greens such as spinach, kale, broccoli, etc. When we consume beta carotene, it gets converted into Vitamin A in the form of retinol.Vitamin A is one of the most important vitamins for skin care. (Retinoids and Accutane are derivatives of vitamin A) As an antioxidant, it directly affects skin cell turnover, protects skin from UV rays and aging, regulates sebum. best part is it does all of these things, al naturale. No side effects. Well actually, because of beta Carotene’s orange hue, it can change your skin tone, I attribute this fact to the glowing skin I’ve noticed. The only side effect, unless you’re allergic to foods with beta carotene, is Carotenaemia, which is a harmless condition that makes your skin have a more orange hue to extremely excessive consumption of beta carotenes. (lmao fuck a bronzer ladies)In the past few months, due to some unfortunate circumstances, my whole routine of eating healthy kinda fell apart. Thanks depression and stress. As a result my skin certainly got worse. New year came around and you know how it goes, new year, new leaf, time to get your shit together. I started to go the gym consistently for the first time in 3 years to help with stress (but mostly summer bod 2020 lmao) I have also made more of an effort to eat healthy again but since I’m still kinda depressed it’s hard to function like normal human being and fully commit to the diligence required to have a completely healthy diet.With that said I didn’t forget about what I have learned about beta carotene, so the past two weeks I’ve made an effort to especially eat carrots. I chose carrots because like I said they are the most convenient vegetable, cheap, and very nutritious.Now here we are finally in the present. If you made it this far congrats. I have eaten about 2 pounds of carrots since. I have 1 active pimple on my face along with some residual redness from previous breakouts, but that’s okay the redness will fade. I woke up with my skin dewy with a slight matte tinge. On Sunday, after a night of drinking, I had a pimple start to develop on my chin. By Monday it was a whitehead and today it is gone, minus some redness. In all my years I’ve never had any whitehead come and go that quickly. Whiteheads would typically linger for at least a week.Here’s my skin care routine:I rinse off my face with water in the shower.I eat carrots.That’s it. That’s all I do and my skin has been the best it’s been. But this isn’t magic. I 100% attribute my skin’s current state to Beta Carotene.I’m thinking of documenting my skin’s progress as I continue to consistently eat beta carotene. I’ve seen great progress in just weeks I can only imagine what months would bring.I would love to hear what you guys think, if anyone else has seen similar results. And because this is mostly anecdotal, I’d be especially interested if anyone else would consider giving this “routine” of rinsing with water and eating carrots a try. After all minimal routines are in ;)
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Guy_panda
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