My journey with adult acne started in college. By the first semester of my sophomore year, my skin was completely broken out. I had no experience with acne before college and I’m sad to say that adult acne has been an ongoing battle. I feel to some extent it always will be. Today I’m sharing How I Cleared Adult Acne After 10 Plus Years to give hope to anyone who has felt as hopeless as me in the past.
From college to my early thirties, I’ve struggled with adult acne. It’s been a huge source of insecurity and even depression at times.
It’s ranged from minor breakout to full-blown cystic acne that was painful. During and after college I spent many years on antibiotics prescribed by well-meaning dermatologists but to no avail.
I only ended up with terrible stomach issues but that’s a whole other story in itself.
By my mid-twenties I was recommended to go on very strong medication for my adult acne but it had a ton of possible side effects. After a lot of prayer and research, I decided against it and my adult acne continued on.
I searched every corner of the internet to find answers and spent gobs of money on products that I desperately hoped would work.
I tried many different diet and gut cleanses which all reduced my acne for sure but never fully cleared my skin.
Back then I thought it was going to be a magic pill or face wash that would clear my skin. Yet here I am, ten plus years in and I think the number one thing I’ve learned is that clear skin comes down to hard work.
It means creating healthy habits and a skincare routine that gives your skin and your body what it needs to thrive.
I know you may not want to hear that.
I certainly didn’t. But I wish someone would have told me that back then instead of letting me think for years that I just needed to find “the thing that worked”.
It really came down to a number of things most of which was being consistent with a healthy routine.
I guess this is true for almost every area of life.
When the rubber meets the road, success really comes down to small consistent habits. This is true when it comes to skincare as well.
In this post, you won’t find “the one thing that cleared my skin”. I wish it were that easy and for so long I thought that it was. Rather you’ll find practical steps and routines that you can implement just like I did to help clear your skin.
How I Cleared Adult Acne After 10 Plus Years
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Upped My Water Intake
Drinking water wasn’t something I was good about until my first pregnancy. I drank a ton of water and realized that it made a huge difference in many areas of my health. My skin is one of them.
Drinking a lot of water should be the first thing you do to have clearer skin. Start and end each day drinking a large glass of water and shoot for 100oz per day minimum.
You will notice less snacking, better sleep, and clearer skin. These are just a few of many benefits to drinking water.
And you really don’t have any excuses because water is super accessible and free for many of us.
Get a water bottle that you love, and start drinking your water!
Start A Consistent Supplement Regime
This is something that I wasn’t consistent with for a long time. And the thing about supplements is that if you are going to see results from them, you have to be consistent over a long period of time.
Find a brand you like and trust, and get on a consistent supplement regime. Don’t feel overwhelmed. There are just a few basic supplements you should take specifically for clear skin.
Recommended supplements for clearer skin are….
- Zinc – You can read more about why zinc is good for acne here
- A high quality probiotic – This helps replenish the good bacteria in your stomach. Many skin issues stem from gut health. I love this one.
- Liquid Collagen – Collagen is a major component of your skin and as we age our bodies produce less collagen. I like liquid collagen because it’s easier for your body to absorb. This brand is my favorite.
I get all my supplements from this company because they are high quality and you can get a discount if you auto ship.
Cleaned Up My Diet
There is no denying that what you eat affects your skin. So for many years, I tried super restrictive diets like the whole 30 and keto. And while they always helped clear my skin, they just aren’t sustainable.
At least for my lifestyle. I mean, pizza parties are my favorite night of the week!
Rather than try to live on an incredibly restrictive diet, I just started cleaning up my diet the majority of the time. I like to stick to the 80/20 rule, meaning, I eat clean 80% of the time and have “fun foods” 20%.
During the 80%, I eat foods rich in ingredients and those that target healthy skin. I eat at least one salad per day and pack it full of veggies. Seeds, nuts, and healthy oils. This has been a game-changer for my skin and my health overall.
I try to limit sugary foods and ditched alcohol completely since both can cause acne.
It may look different for you but the point is to start trying to clean up what you are fueling your body with and focus on nutrient-dense foods that will aid in clear skin.
Ditch Toxic Ingredients
One of the problems I kept running into with acne facewash is that they would work but would drastically dry my skin out.
Not to mention that many toxic ingredients have a terrible long term side effect. I want my skincare products to be something that I can stick with long term and not worry about health problems later on in life.
Find A Clean Product That Works
After spending a lot of money on products that either didn’t work or worked but drastically dried out my skin, I went over a year with washing my face with nothing but water.
At first, it did start to clear my acne, but then I noticed my skin starting to feel dull. Like it just needed more nutrients.
I went back to researching tons of different skincare options and one thing that kept surfacing was the idea of cleansing your skin with oil.
It can seem counterintuitive but many articles I read explained that it’s not a matter of having less oil on your skin rather balancing the oil on your skin if that makes sense.
So after doing a good amount of research and watching countless reviews, I stumbled on a product called Primally Pure.
I found multiple influencers who used and had great success with it so I decided to give it a go.
Before I started using it, my skin had cleared a bit but I would still get cystic acne breakouts that were painful and would stick around for weeks. After the first week of using primally pure, my skin started feeling noticeably healthier and brighter. After the first 30 days, my skin was almost completely clear. I even noticed the scars starting to fade.
Find a clean product that you love and stick with it. It is so worth the investment.
I highly recommend Primally Pure. You can get it here.
Establish A Consistent Skincare Routine
This a missing link for my skin.
I was under the impression that I could “kind of” take care of my skin and it would be clear. But once I established a consistent evening and morning routine that worked, everything started to change and my skin started to clear.
In Conclusion:
Like anything in life, having clear skin comes down to hard work and consistency.
Start by giving your body the much-needed hydration it needs, take your supplements every single day, choose what you eat wisely, say goodbye to toxic ingredients, find a product that works, and establish a consistent routine to care for your skin.
And that my friend, is How I Cleared Adult Acne After 10 Plus Years.
Xoxo
Colleen
