Loving the Skin you're In-Recipe for Good "Skin"

Have you ever wanted something so desperately that you whine and complain but follow through with this, trying to make things work for yourself? Well, ive known this story all too well now.Ive wanted clear skin all throughout my senior year at University. I know, frivolous, For a reason that God alone knows,my skin decided it was time to turn its back on me and so I encountered a really bad flare up. From eczema to acne, some papules found its way to destroy my life. Well, not entirely. There were definitely days where all I wanted to do was curl up in bed or wear a face mask,but didnt because some people in my life saw it fit that I needed to have a life including the dreaded school. As I recall my skin adventure,I am reminded of my life where my sole desire was and still remains to do ministry for Him,especially youth-related ministry.
I fought with myself, God and close ones internally wondering why my big moment was not happening for me. Until I stumbled upon the song by Misty Edwards. The epiphanies came in, and I realised a great portion of the meaning when Jesus speaks in the New Testament about losing your life to gain it. I wanted that. I wanted gain, I wanted to see gain of some sort in my life and not feel like everything I was doing in preparations for youth ministry was a complete waste of resources. I desperately wanted to know that where I stood in my life circumstances as it related to ministry was not my future position. Somehow or the other, the compass would change and point towards me so I knew that I would quickly follow His path and will for my life. So I would know that im alive and had a purpose. Thing is, we dont find purposes in what we do or our titles. We only have purpose through God Himself who decided that we should be alive every morning that we do wake up. I of all people knew this meaning.
Transitioning back to my skin, first things first, I really do take care of my skin so for all those people who may be struggling with some skin-related condition and you think it may never go away, I strongly advise that you: step one, get your skin checked out by a ***professional*** dermatologist and even visit your own doctor. Step two, start taking care of both your health and skin for yourself unless you want the stares, rude remarks,jokes, etc. The ball is in your court.
The flare ups remained for longer periods of time and seemed to not go away unless I attempted to make it go away. Im one of those people who struggle to open a can until it gets opened, or I give up on the can ,rather if it gives up on me. However, I am happy to report that with regards to my skin issue, a few things have in fact helped for me:

• Increased sleep
• Vitamin C and Cod liver Oil
• Chamomile tea
• Green tea
• Peppermint tea
• Witchhazel
• Changing my sheets and pillow cases more often
• Keeping hands away from the face,even if it means not leaning on them
• Aveeno
  

Note: These things worked for me, and may not necessarily work for you because everyone has different skin. My skin is actually combination and thus has oily areas and dry areas. You may vary from dry,oily, combination-dry,combination-oily or normal. Also, I am not being paid by the respected companies for mentioning the products in this blog.

For now, I will focus on the teas and do believe I am qualified to discuss them because I have had them for months on end. Firstly, ive been through boxes of Dilmah's non-caffeinated peppermint tea and while it did help to some sorts, it also made my skin more red.Maybe that meant it was too strong for me. While it helped to some sorts to reduce my actual pimples, it irritated my skin. I moved on to chamomile tea and have also used two different brands. Both work well but I am currently utilising this tea. Other known as Dilmah's Camomile tea. This has proved to have dramatic effects on my skin where acne even oncoming ones have disappeared. It seems to work best after drinking this tea when you actually reuse the teabag,untie or make an incision on the tea bag,then scrape out the leaves to apply onto your face. It works as a great exfoliant that way and helps heal the pimple faster. Then theres green tea of which ive used for about two years straight. Afterwards, I couldnt stand the bland taste of it. However, if youre using this tea for weight loss purposes, results would not be significant over a short period of time. In fact, your would probably need to consume 3-8 cups or so a day for it to be the most optimum.Simply because this tea works as an insulin inhibitor meaning that it would regulate your blood sugar and also works to decrease fats. (Yeah, I did some medical-research and studied some of this in school ).Trust me, I did not have problems with acne back then but those days are now gone until an outrageous flare up rears its ugly head again. I still choose to not let it occupy my mind though. Meditate with me:
"If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him"-John 12:26


In grace,
Kesara