Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sixe Items or Less Part Thank God This Is Almost Over! and Lemon Aid

Day 23 of Six Items or less.

Nothing to really report. It's still super easy to not have to think about what I'm going to wear every morning. However, I do keep thinking about the other clothes I own and can't wait to wear. There's one week left, so I am confident I will successfully complete this challenge. I'm just getting antsy and super excited that there are only 7 days left, which means they will in all likelihood be the longest 7 days of my life.

Also new in the neighborhood: the weird things I will do to rid myself of acne (short of chopping off my face, though don't think it hadn't crossed my mind)!

In this installment, our subject tries: lemon! Yes, lemon! That acidic fruit that makes your mouth pucker! It turns out it doesn't feel that much better than it tastes when dabbed on your zitty/open sore-cause-you-just-won't-stop-picking-it-fer-cryin-out-loud! riddled skin.

I've been trying this one out for, maybe three days now? Half of me thinks I'm seeing improvement, and half of me is convinced the other half is deluding itself so that this citrus circus it's putting both halves through isn't for naught.

My plan is to try each new natural remedy I can find for at least a week before moving onto the next. Hopefully that will be enough time to see if it's actually rendering any results.

For those wondering, I'm 24, and have never had acne like this before. I went on the pill while in college because I had fairly frequent blemishes, but I can't recall it ever being like this. Since going off the pill (for various reasons), my face has flared up something awful. I refuse to go back on the pill - one of the reasons I went off was to try and be more natural, and a chemically pill tricking my body and hormones into thinking I'm pregnant every month does not qualify as 'natural.' I also quit slathering on the topical prescriptions I've been using for years, because they too are full of chemicals I don't want to absorb into my body. While there isn't always a lot of proof these chemical cocktails have a harmful side effect in the small doses they're administered, it's just not something I personally feel comfortable doing anymore.

Enter the lemon. I'm hoping that the acne is due to my body's hormones balancing out and remembering what it is exactly they're supposed to be doing. It's been three months since I quit the pill, and I've had a face full of painful red bumps for about a month with no sign of them relenting of their own accord. I have contacted a naturalist in my area, but they have yet to respond to me. So until a professional that is not just going throw a "miracle" pill at me will help me out of my predicament, I'll take matters into my own, lemon-squeezing hands.

Let the experiments begin!

3 comments:

  1. Your 6-Item Challenge reminds me a lot of high school: wake up. put on uniform. go about business. come home. put on pajamas. sleep. repeat.
    It's SO freaking easy not to have to worry about what you're wearing in the morning, but then again, it didn't exactly prepare me for how to dress myself on a daily basis when I went to college.

    Also, based on all the changes in medication you described, it DOES seem like the increased acne is provoked by your body readjusting to itself. My skin does that something terrible - I had the worst skin I've ever had in my life when I was in India because (I think) the climate and food was so different. By the time my face finally started to adjust to the country, it was May and I left, which started up a whole new cycle of adjustment from which my face did not recover until at least September/October. I always get breakouts around seasonal changes as well (less significant than what happened when I went to India, but still).

    Pictures of the lemon attempt...? :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I posted that comment, then went to the next page in my tab lineup of "Blogs I Haven't Read All Day", and found...:
    http://thehairpin.com/2011/04/what-are-we-gonna-do-about-acne?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thehairpin%2FBdYj+%28The+Hairpin%29

    I love the Hairpin.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You and Allie and your private schools! Having never had a uniform before, this is displeasing to me. The boredom with my clothing and the desire to wear all my other clothes outweigh the ease for me.

    It sure does. However, I'd love for it to, like, get adjusted already!! I've never noticed my skin being effected (acne-ily speaking) by the seasons before, but then again I never really was paying attention previously. There is seriously no improvement, and it is the worst I've had ever! I touch my face or make a facial expression and I am met with discomfort and pain. It's full blown acne. I had zits and pimples and breakouts before, but this is the holy hell of acne!

    And I'd post pictures except for two reasons:

    1. There is very little to see. I squeeze lemon juice into a bowl and then apply it to my face with a cotton ball. So all you'd see is slightly shinier skin and perhaps a grimace on my face.
    2. There is no way I am flaunting my horrid acne publicly. I'm far too vain, self-conscious and embarrassed by it.

    And yes, we as a species surely are blessed! Oh Hairpin, if only you offered me (natural) solutions too!

    ReplyDelete

 
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