OH! Magazine - Australian Version March 2018 | Page 22

( Health )
FIVE MOST COMMON
CLEAR SKIN MISTAKES
Rebecca Mason reveals the secrets to sensational skin.
uffering from severely bad
skin can be a life-changing
situation – and not in a positive way.
S
Trying to fix it can involve tiresome
doctor appointments and countless
attempts at creams, potions and lotions.
To help minimise the stress of solving
your acne issue, here are five of the most
common mistakes people make, when
trying to piece together the clear skin
puzzle.
1. Heading straight to the medicine
cabinet
The first thing you might start to do when
one spot turns into what-might-seem-
like-100 is go to the local GP or
dermatologist, because that’s the first
logical step to take (and seeking expert
help is definitely a good idea). But one of
the problems of receiving a prescription
to fix a symptom, is that the cause isn’t
being identified or treated, which means
the very thing causing your condition
isn’t being addressed. This leaves you
susceptible to relapse, or worse, the
inability to effectively treat the situation
in the long run.
A holistic GP however, can help you to
uncover the cause of your acne, whilst
taking into account the lifestyle factors
that could potentially be contributing to
your poor skin health.
2. Consulting the local beautician
Don’t confuse your local beauty therapist,
who specialises in treatments such as
waxing, manicures, hair removal, laser
treatments, massage and facial work,
with professionally qualified dermal
therapists (i.e., skin experts).
In the instance of acne in particular, you
need to see a skin therapist who is well
trained and educated specifically in skin.
Having a generic facial and a few
extractions may lead you to feel like your
skin is cleaner, blemish free and smooth
(for once!); however, the risk here is that
you may have the false sense of security
that your beauty treatment is working
towards ridding you of your acne, where
in fact, unless you’re being treated by a
qualified dermal therapist, you’re most
likely not doing anything to treat the
cause of your acne. It’s the equivalent of
painting over a cracked wall – the paint
may hide the flaw, but unless you work to
rebuild the wall itself, it will remain
broken underneath.
3. Assuming well-known branded products
must be effective
Don’t fall prey to the marketing hype.
Many branded products are just
companies with huge marketing and
advertising budgets, and high quality
distribution networks through large
retailers.
Branded products can seem like they are
developed with high quality ingredients
that are developed to treat all skin
conditions
effectively,
but
selling
products to the masses means that they
are not being specifically designed to
treat the problems that may be happening
with your skin. Unfortunately what this
means is that in this case, you’re often
just buying a brand name, not a skincare
product that effectively treats your
individual skin condition. Most of the
OTC (over-the-counter) brands contain
chemical compounds known as ‘fillers’,
meaning that 90 per cent of the
ingredients are inactive and only 10 per
cent are active. Just picture the little
bottle you might have bought, but only
with 10 per cent of the product left in it
– that’s essentially what you’re buying.
The rest is just ‘stuff’ to ensure the
bottle is full. Instead, look for a skincare
product line that uses walking billboards
as their marketing (i.e., people who have
used the product and can’t stop talking
about it as a result). Keep an eye out also
for people you know who have healthy,
glowing skin, and find out what their
routine involves. This is often a better
place to start than the beauty counters
in your local department store.
4. Thinking your diet has no impact on
your skin
Diet doesn’t cause acne, but it definitely
impacts it. Sugar and dairy in particular,
are the two main culprits of congesting,
and proliferating the bacteria that
stimulates acne known as ‘p.acne
bacteria’. Trying to wean off these two
food groups is usually a challenge, but it
is a great place to start if you’re looking
for a short-term improvement in your
skin.
Kicking the sugar and dairy habit may be
one of the hardest things to do, but
starting an elimination diet may help
calm your acne down, as diet can both
impact and inflame acne (remember
though, it doesn’t cause it). There are
three core things to eliminate (not
necessarily all at once though):
1. Dairy: Swap standard yoghurt, milk
and cheese for coconut yoghurt (or
coconut milk with chia seeds, which has
a similar consistency to yoghurt).
2. Sugar: Sorry, yep this means no
chocolate – not even dark chocolate. You
can try Pana Chocolate’s Raw Chocolate