Skincare Journey after Birth Control
The picture above is prior to getting off birth control, wanted to show what my normal skin looked like before the hormonal acne started. I would get the occasional time of the month zit here and there, but nothing ever more than that. I do have a little bit of malasma from being on birth control as well, my mom had it too so I am not sure if it is hereditary or what. If you are interested in why I got off birth control before we are wanting to start a family, I'll link the blog post here that will fill you in.
I just have to say, we women, have to go through a lot of shit throughout the years and I am SO ready for my body to get back to normal. Ever since getting off of BC in October, I felt fine and perfect for the first 3 months and then after it finally wore off in my system, my body went whack and I am still recovering my skin, my gut, but everyone I talk to says it takes about a year for everything to level out and I am praying that happens soon! To be honest though, I'd rather go through this than stay on BC because I have barely had any anxiety since getting off. That is one reason I have stayed so positive throughout these hormonal changes.
Below I will share the skincare products and supplements I have been using. I do want to preface this by saying everyones skin is SO different and if you are really struggling, I would talk to a doctor and dermatologist prior to starting anything. I have talked to my GYNO and have constantly been working with my esthetician and have finally made the decisions on what has been working for me long-term. So let's go!
P.S. All of these photos are VERY raw and unedited and some of them I have old spray tan so no judgement. LOL I really didn't even plan on sharing all of these with y'all, but here we areeeeee. haha!
This was January - 3 months after getting off BC! Skin was a little irritated, but it didn't started consistently until a few weeks later!
This was end of March. I had a really really bad breakout end of February/early March that took a little while to heal. You can see the scars here.
Beginning of June!
Beginning of June - this is when they were just continuous and never-ending. Once one would go away, 2 more would pop up. This is when I knew I needed to change some things.
Middle of June!
End of June!
End of June - this is when I did the Osmosis Facial Fusion with Nikki and I was awed by the results. I really think it kick started my skin getting back to normal. This was before the facial, by the way!
This was one day after the facial!
One day after the facial - you can literally see how much the inflammation had went down after 16 hours! The redness of the scars lightened a little too.
This was 5 days after the facial and 4 days into taking the 10-day skin supplement!
Same thing as ^ just different angle!
This was 11 days after the facial and 10 days after taking the 10-day skin supplement (will share below)!
TODAY!!! 7/13!! Exactly 2 weeks since I've gotten the facial and started using the products!
So you can see my skin has been through some shit and it still has a long way to go to get back to normal, if there even is such thing as a normal anymore. I'm sure depending on the environment and my month, i will be taking a few steps back in this skincare journey until I can fully pinpoint every single thing that triggers these breakouts but in the last month, i have really learned what i should and should not be doing/eating/taking. See below for more details!
A few things I did diet wise:
quit eating eggs (the week of my facial - end of June - saw a huge difference within days - used to eat every am)
limited my diary (only almond & oat milk - big thing was butter and cheese which i use diary free now)
limited my sugar (honestly i don't think this even effects my skin LOL but we will just pretend)
trying to eat less gluten but this one is hard for me bc i love bread but im trying
10-day skin supplement from Nikki (my esthetician):
let me just say she has been trying to get me to do this Osmosis 10-day skin detox supplement and i made every excuse in the book because you have to take 16 pills a day for 10 days and i was just dreading it but then she started telling me about peoples results who had done it and that sold me and now i really wish i would've done it sooner. don't let the 16 pills a day thing scare you! 8 in the am and 8 in the pm on an empty stomach. you can purchase through Nikki - just DM her here.
Skincare products: (let me just tell you guys, that I am not "linking" these products to get a commission, i truly believe these products have helped me and tbh, they're not even linkable with LTK, so the links should take you directly to the website - i also have no codes for any of these products except for 1, i am just a happy customer)
AM skincare routine
PM skincare routine
DIME Blue Facial Oil Blemish Aid - code COFFEY20 for 20% off (i was skept at first and then i saw before & afters and i was amazed so i purchased it with my own money and got to work. been using it for weeks and i truly believe it has helped fade some of those acne scars!)
Also, I did want to mention, every time I post on IG about my breakouts - i always get the few "you shouldn't be wearing makeup blah blah blah" but honestly external products have NEVER messed my skin up and I use acne safe makeup :) it's more what's going on internally that has me messed up... my gut specifically!
Thank you to everyone who has been so kind to let me be vulnerable and share this journey with you. It's definitely not an easy one to share because with my job, being in the camera is something that happens daily so it's inevitable to hide from you guys. I know so many of you girls suffer from the same thing, so ya'll make it so much easier to chat about! We're all in the together - love you girls XO