Knowing Your Skin: Caring for dry, fair complexions

It took me until my mid twenties to really get to grips with my skin type. As many people do, I saw myself as pretty invincible in my teens and earlier twenties. Getting the occasional sunburn, picking spots and scratching my eyeliner off with cheap face wipes just didn't seem a problem. I always got told that I looked young for my age, and the idea of looking older was more appealing to me than preserving what I had! Not that I was hell bent on torturing my skin, I just didn't believe that my bad habits were going to make any impact.

When spots attack: products to fight back!

There are many causes of facial spots and I can only talk in this post from my experiences of the little (or sometimes MASSIVE) blighters that have taunted me over the years. This is not a post aimed at those with more severe acne, but at those who encounter pimples regularly and want to know what they could try in order to avoid them hanging around and also reoccurring as often. One thing is universally true about skin break-outs: they usually occur exactly at the moment when you have an occasion where you want to look good- school photos, dates and weddings are favourites for those bastard blemishes to make an appearance. I am of the thinking that if there are things you can try to fight back, you should do it (within reason, of course). I am fortunate enough not to have major acne problems and I can only sympathise with those that have, but I do often experience flare ups which range from minor 2-3 day to fortnight-long battles. Rarely am I blemish-free for long before another rears its ugly head.

Firstly: prevention.


It makes sense that if you can create a happy environment for your skin, it will behave itself more than if you deprive it of what it needs. I won't be a hypocrite and say I am the healthiest eater- far from it, but it makes sense that if you're not feeding yourself with the necessary elements of a balanced diet, your body will rebel, inside and out. If you do one thing for your skin, eat fruit and vegetables as part of your daily diet. If you have to, take vitamin tablets, but ideally you should try to incorporate the foods you need into your eating plan. If you are not eating any fruit or veg, an eating plan or eating re-think may be your path to less volatile skin.