Keeping within the theme of crappy skin, I will fast forward to the present - July 2018. I am no longer a teenager but scarily middle aged (45- EEK)
So, generally I try to keep my eating as clean as possible, my skin, mood and whole body reacts negatively to junk in my diet. Although my indulgences may seem small to some, I just want to highlight what it did to my skin.
So let's start with that danish. My daughter works at a local bakery with incredible food! I'm generally gluten free as my skin reacts badly to gluten. (Large painful volcanic masses appear randomly) So there's not much that I can partake in, which is OK and will usually will keep me away from their delicious treats. Well, a couple of Monday's ago she came home with three leftover danishes. My thought process said - DON'T DO IT! I promptly gave one to my son and his workmate and then I just had to have the last one. I had been super healthy up to this point and thought, ahhh go on - treat yourself. The speed with which that danish was consumed was ugly, it was so incredibly amazing that I spent the next hour wondering if my son was in fact going to eat his. Sadly he did! (Broke my heart).
No immediate effects to the skin. So the week continued and on the Tuesday after work I noticed there was a king sized bar of chocolate opened on the bench - I had to have some! It was delicious and I ate most of the bar, much to my husbands dismay (It was his chocolate, and he didn't even realise he was going to share it). Wednesday I got off to a healthy start, but I knew that I had bookclub that night. Wednesday was finished off with a whole lot of cheese, red wine and a piece of the most unbelievable chocolate cheesecake. (Still dreaming about it)
Friday and Saturday I made pancakes for breakfast and on Sunday I just went for it. Watching Netflix with the fire on, under a blanket - well what else is more heavenly on a gloomy rainy Sunday am I right? I topped my week off in a big way with potato chips (Yes the whole bag) and dozens of lollies followed by a big feed of Fish and Chips with the whole family. (Funnily enough I felt sick).
The next day I can safely say I felt unwell and hungover. Headachy, in need of healthy food and gallons of water. It was time to take hold of myself and be gently directed back to eating nutritious food. (Food is your petrol after all).
So a week later my skin is having a screaming tantrum. I have three large new spots plus redness spreading from my nose right down to my mouth and chin. What does a beauty therapist do to take care of this (Especially when she knew this was coming?) she does a salicylic peel while she cleans the bathroom, and then after the shower coats her face in a hydrating mask. (Please spots - leave my face!)
The aim of today's blog is not only to reiterate that we are what we eat, but also to be real. Even if we are super healthy, there are moments of gluttony and greed when it comes to food. It's just really good to get to know your body to be self aware of what works for you and what doesn't.
What I failed to mention - which is not beauty therapy related at all - is that my energy levels were super low last week because of the sugar and junk injection. By Friday I was exhausted. Had I changed anything? Nope - only my food.
So why do I know for sure that these delicious delights have created skin issues for me? I have a list of congesting and heating foods from one of my suppliers. Each food on the list doesn't necessarily contribute to breakouts for me, but having tried and tested each food I know which ones do. So I will list what I know has made my skin unhappy and what it does to my skin.
- Sugar - sugar can be inflammatory to your system and your skin. This caused the redness on my nose, upper lip and chin, and takes a few days to dissipate. (So here we have the danish,chocolate, red wine, maple syrup, pancakes, chocolate cheesecake and lollies - gosh what a list)
- Milk Solids - For me when I consume too many food items which contain milk solids I get tiny hard bumps along my cheekbones. (So here once again there are a few contenders, chocolate, chocolate cheesecake and cheese, plus to top it all off the custard on my danish)
- Gluten - For me this sends my skin in a spin! Creates and grows large painful pimples. (Here we have the danish and fish batter)
- Greasy foods - These are just unhealthy for the skin and can encourage new skin blockages. (Fish and chips plus a whole bag of potato chips - what a winning combo to make my skin a bit off colour).
Anyway, that is how last weeks danish sent me and my skin into a spin. Resulting in a few more minutes of make up application for the next week or two. However the peel and mask treatment whilst partaking in my housework duties have certainly helped.
Signing off now - Tracey Keefe (Your Skin Sympathiser)