I have a new blog called The Golden Sampaguita, which will be about, but won't be limited to, a budding love for perfume, and of course, beauty-related things...just pretty much whatever goes. If you want to check it out, it's over at thegoldensampaguita.blogspot.com. I got a slightly shorter domain name for it that should be fully functional 3 days from now, and which I've disabled in the meantime- goldensampaguita.com. If you give the new blog a follow...I sure would appreciate it.
Like my current skincare routine, the new site will feature products that are natural and organic, as well as mineral makeup, but unlike this blog, won't be limited to those kinds of products only. I also wanted to conclude what I now consider a 2-year experiment using only natural and organic facial skincare products.
The following part below is all about that experiment. Warning: it's kinda long!
Basically I became very acne-prone during pregnancy more than 2 years ago, and began using only natural and organic skincare items for my face. I continued this for nearly 2 years after giving birth, during which I breastfed my child the entire time. My skin is acne-prone, has always been dry, and sensitive.
The reason I turned to natural and organic skin care is my daughter. Call me silly, paranoid, stupid for seemingly just following a trend, but I wanted to be cautious and safe, and saw no sacrifice in swapping my department store-bought skincare items for ones made of natural ingredients, so long as I didn't pass on any harmful or unnecessary chemicals to my kid. Please note that I do not assume that all natural products are okay for pregnant/nursing women to use. It's easy to check the ingredients list and do some research on any that I doubt.
It was also part of the great change I wanted to incorporate in my lifestyle after I got pregnant. I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to be a better person for my kid. I wanted to eat healthier, be kinder to the environment, live healthier.
So here's what I found. The reason why I stopped using my natural and organic products is not because they made my acne worse- it's because I find that they deliver inconsistent results. What would happen was my face would become clearer and better within the first few months that I adapted the routine, then it would break out again. So I'd replace one or two items in my routine and the same thing would happen again- better for a few months, then breakouts. My skin just didn't seem to become continuously clear, or feel balanced for long periods of time.
I'd like to add, though, that my acne was never at any point hopelessly, horribly bad. It's probably moderate. It was just frustrating that it wouldn't go away, and that my skin wouldn't come close to how it was pre-pregnancy, which was: clear and easily cured of zits.
I think what inflamed my acne at times might have been some of the natural products going bad, although I always kept them in the fridge and took note of the shelf life. A lot of the items were ordered internationally and the 1-2 week transit into my country's very hot climate might have affected the performance and longevity of the products. There's also a chance that contact with my hands, however clean I tried to keep them, and the environment, had contaminated the products.
My simple tip for using natural skin care products is to get them from a local, reputable source, to ensure that you receive them fresh. Then, store them in the fridge. And then, basically, it's research, and trial and error. And if it doesn't work for you or if the product looks like it's gone off, even if it's only a month old, chuck it.
I do think that natural skin care is wonderful for sensitive skin. All the natural products geared towards sensitive skin were milder and gentler than any other thing I'd tried including Cetaphil. They did not make me itch or produce rashes, as is usually the case when I try anything new. I find that they're great for dry skin too, since some oils and creams solved the dryness I always had.
It had occurred to me to consult a dermatologist, but I stubbornly wanted to stick to the routine I wanted. I stopped nursing my child at the end of September 2010, and right after the holidays, I bought some drugstore and department store items, to use with a newly bought facial cleanser and still full tub of eye cream from Leyende, with the goal of having a pretty much basic skin care routine. My skin hasn't done a 360 but it is improving.
For now I'm trying a very simple routine and will see how it goes.
Feel free to ask questions if you have any. :)
