After having acne from the age of 15 to 25 I’ve had my fair share of buying useless products and experimenting with my skin only to end up with tears of frustration and an empty wallet. I want to spare you from the same situation, so here’s my tip #5 for remedies that actually work to control acne!

Tip #5

Observation and journaling may just save your skin! You might think it’s a waste of time at first, but if I would’ve done this in the first place I could’ve controlled my acne a long time ago. Trust me it’s worth it!

Creating your personal journal

Page 1: The first step is to take a straight on photo of yourself with no make up and hair pushed away from the face. No one will see this journal and don’t judge yourself! We’re just getting started. Next circle your trouble spots on the photo and color code them according to type of acne, level of intensity, and when it appears or if it keeps reoccurring. You’ll want to update this every two weeks or every month. Keep the old photos to note any progress or changes! Not a fan of taking a photo? A drawing will also work.

Page 2: The next page is devoted to products you’ve tried that don’t work.

1. Note the product’s brand name and type
(ex: Neutrogena: Oil-Free Acne Wash, pink grapefruit facial cleanser)

2. It’s main 5-7 ingredients
(ex: Salicylic Acid – 2 % (Acne Treatment),Water, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Linoleamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate, Polysorbate 20, etc…)
(Please note! Here it’s important to notice the leading ingredients are the strongest in every product. For now you won’t understand all the ingredients and their purpose, but if the products that make you break out have similar ingredients try to stay away from them! It took me several products to realize my skin reacts horribly with Salicylic acid, but now I can avoid all products containing the ingredient.)

3. Why it didn’t work.
(ex: burned the skin, over drying, many whiteheads appeared, etc…)

Page 3: This page is devoted to products that work or “somewhat” work. Just like page 2 it can be set up the same way. Product’s name and type, it’s main 5-7 ingredients, and why it worked. This will help you find similar products to your liking.

Page 4: Write down the products you think will work for the type of acne you have or any products you want to try next. Research the main ingredients, think about where to apply them, and see if you can get a small sample version. (When testing products usually you will see a negative result in a couple of hours or after a week.) Once you’ve tried them you can transfer the results to page 2 or 3.

Page 5: This will be a diet write up of what you eat for an entire month. Take special note if you notice your acne getting worse during a certain day or week. Maybe you are sensitive to certain foods or even allergic. Mild to severe food allergies can give you blistering hives which are easily mistaken as acne.

Write down the food, it’s main ingredients, and the day it was eaten. If your acne gets worse the next day or even within a few hours especially around the chin, hairline, scalp, and temples circle the foods within this time frame. After a month or two go back and review the pages to see if the foods have anything in common.

Page 6: The last page will be a daily acne observation. Keep it simple and short. Note what kind of acne you have and where, when you flare up, how bad it is and what you did you do to treat it and did it work, reactions to face and food products that day, and any information that may be useful to you. Even daily habits can be causing more acne. Do you use your hands to brush back your hair a lot, do you scratch and pick subconsciously, how about that pillow case which hasn’t been changed in a while? Small things can affect the skin more than you think.

By observing your acne you can better understand your own body’s needs and what affects the appearance of your skin. You can avoid products with negative chemicals that don’t work for you and learn to treat the acne before it takes over. After a few months of journaling, look over your combined information and think of ways to improve your acne. Do you need to switch acne medication, is there something wrong in your diet, how about your daily habits?

I wish you the best of luck and I understand all too well about this frustrating stage or stages in life. We just want to simply enjoy our lives without this hindrance weighing down our every thought and action. Beneath this we are all beautiful. Some of us just have to fight a little harder than the rest of humanity.

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