Skin Acceptance: A Natural Approach to Hormonal Acne

My acne began in middle school. It was clustered around my T-zone, with emphasis on the forehead area and I would desperately try and cover it with scarves, hats, and even bangs, which only exacerbated the issue. At that point in time, I didn’t really understand that everyone had different skin – I assumed that it was my fault that I was breaking out, and I just wasn’t using enough products or being “clean” enough. Over the next couple of years, I developed a skincare routine that I cringe to think about now. I’d wash my face with a harsh cleanser following by exfoliating with a literal dish scrubber, my mom used to buy them in bulk and we would use them on the face and body. As if that wasn’t enough, I’d top it off with a cotton ball soaked in astringent, the stuff smelled almost like pure alcohol. Press hard into skin and swipe all over face. My goal was to rub the acne off! Then I’d use an oil-free lotion and at night, I’d dab a spot treatment on all my active blemishes. My acne continued through high school, and my routine stayed the same except for the few new acne treatments I would experiment with (clay masks, acne zapping gels, etc.). I slowly started to understand that genes did also play a role in acne, but I never fully internalized this until much later. The acne self-guilt is a very real, very powerful thing.

In college, my skin began to change thanks to stress and hormones. Instead of the surface acne I used to get in in small whitehead clusters, I would get big, angry, red, under-the-skin acne. Nothing worked, and the dish scrubber hurt like hell. I transitioned to a new routine to manage the issue, which was my first foray towards a more natural skincare routine. While I dropped the dish scrubber, I still was using “cooling” face washes and intense spot treatments. Still, I preferred dry, flaky skin over breakouts. My skin felt better, but my acne persisted. The more research I did, the more I realized this was hormonal. I tried sleeping more and began to exercise a little bit, but my college diet of pizza, cookies at midnight, and beer, in tandem with occasional all-nighters probably countered whatever good habits I was starting to acquire. 

I eventually visited a dermatologist, who prescribed a cream that dried out my skin to the point where it was painful, and then my skin started breaking out from being so dry. It was awful. I visited a different dermatologist who prescribed an antibiotic pill to take once daily. Surprisingly, my skin cleared up! However, I worried about the long-term effects after reading an article on super-bugs. Additionally, my period had become pretty irregular thanks to years of hormonal imbalance, and I began looking into how to correct this. I eventually ditched the antibiotics and a few weeks later, the cystic acne appeared again. At this point, most people with similar acne stories go on birth control. I had almost reached that point, until I read a book called the WomanCode. The book argued that birth control masks the symptoms of a hormonal balance – so irregular periods and acne are signals that your body is giving you, signals that things are off balance. The book emphasized natural ways to correct the root cause of hormonal imbalance – sleeping enough and consistently, exercising often, and eating natural foods (especially laying off artificial sugars), and using natural skincare products without chemicals that might further disrupt hormone production.

I was nervous that prolonged hormonal imbalance might affect my ability to have children later on in life, and I had tried almost everything else to solve my acne problem and nothing was working. The logic of the book made sense to me, and so I followed the guidelines loosely for the next couple of months. Slowly but surely, things got better. The cystic acne lessened, appearing only right before I was about to get my period (which started to become more regular). That cramps at time of the month became less painful too. I also felt better – I was happier, had more energy, and could think more clearly. I switched to a 100% natural skincare routine for a little while. Here are the details:

1. Double cleanse with coconut oil as a makeup remover and Raw Honey as face wash. Skin was clean and soft afterwards.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water and a few drops of lavender oil to cut the scent, as a toner.
3. Aloe vera gel mixed with Rosehip oil as a moisturizer during the day and Argan oil at night. This controlled my skin’s oil production and helped fade some of the acne scarring.

At this point, my skin had never looked better. I’m a big foodie, especially when it comes to bread, fried food, and literally anything with sugar, so it’s not easy to stay on such a strict regimen. I definitely fall off the wagon frequently, but the difference is now I know how to treat the underlying cause of the symptoms that my body is showing me. I feel so much more control of my skin now that I know what it needs. My beauty routine now is still pretty natural, but I haven’t sworn off of formulated beauty products or anything like that. I appreciate the effectiveness of many beauty innovations that have hit the market in recent years. Sometimes, finding a certain product gives me dramatic results that I can’t always achieve with my strictly natural routine. That being said, I do try to avoid products with too many crazy sounding ingredients listed as for me personally, my skin reacts really well with simple formulations (especially ones with herbal, botanical, and certain floral extracts). Here’s my current routine that I’m loving:

1. Double cleanse with Cremorlab Cleansing Gel Oil and Shangpree S-energy foaming cleanser (both very gentle). Lots of great non-stimulating herbal and floral extracts in both of these.
2. Tone with Be The Skin Power Toner. If I’m having a bout of breakouts, I’ll switch to Apple Cider Vinegar and water as a toner (gently kills the bacteria while balancing skin’s pH level).
3. Use Shangpree S-energy serum, this is an example of a product that I see drastic results with – I can’t achieve this level of radiance with natural products alone!
4. Moisturize with Aromatica Calendula Juicy Cream. This is actually a very natural product that uses organic ingredients. I use it because it literally works with any skin type, and works well with any “mood” your skin is in. You can read more about it here: 

In the winter, I’ll sometimes switch to my Aloe Vera Gel and Argan Oil combination to moisturize because it really helps banish any dryness and protects the skin against cold, dry air. Acne is an ongoing battle but now, I feel much better quipped to handle the breakouts that come my way.