HOW IN THE WORLD?

Reduce Stress & Sleep Smart

Okay...I will admit, as a student and natural night owl with so much in mind this is the one I'm weakest at.

SLEEP SMART: You might be getting dirt and oil on your face while you're sleeping without even realizing it. Try these tricks to minimize your risk:
-Change out your pillowcase at least once a week. Your pillowcase collects dust, saliva, and other grime, which make it onto your face every time you sleep. Put your pillowcases through the wash or change them out regularly for best results.
-Get a new pillow. Just like your pillowcase, your pillow can collect dust and dirt, though pillows can't usually be washed. If you've been using the same pillow for a long time, it might be time to get a new one.
-Pull your hair back. Braid back long hair or do a "troll doll" version by having all your hair swept upwards while lying in bed and keep bangs or fly-aways out of your face with a headband, clean hair clip, or bobby pin. This way your hair won't irritate your face while you sleep.
-Get your beauty rest! Sleep deprivation and stress can manifest as bad skin, so make sure you're getting 7 to 8 hours of quality rest every night and preferably be in bed before 11pm and be asleep by 11pm (11pm=beauty hour as sworn by some South Korean celebrities). To be clear, 11pm is when typically your skin is at its peak of rejuvenation so to reap this benefit is to be asleep during that time.

IMPORTANT!: Make a Healthy Change in your Diet

Here's one thing doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and skincare companies never tell you as they want to continually profit...if you want to prevent acne, do NOT consume dairy products. Yes, that means no animal products in cheese, milk, yogurt, and cream or else they will give you acne breakouts. It's unfortunate that most foods including dairy products today contain unhealthy chemicals to have a longer shelf-life.
You know what they say, "you are what you consume" so if you eat crap, not only will you feel like crap, you will most likely look like crap.

BUT DO NOT FRET, you can still consume milk and cheese products as long as they contain no dairy products.

ALTERNATIVES TO DAIRY:
-Soy Milk (Substitutes for Protein) but if you're allergic to soy then try fermented soy milk or better yet ask a nutritionist
-Almond Milk (Substitutes for amino acids)
*Ultimate Combination: Soy Milk + Almond Milk—fill your cup with half-and-half *
If you don't like the soy or almond taste, you can get them in vanilla, chocolate...or coconut (which I personally think is awful-tasting).
-Vegan Cheese (Contains no dairy but can fool anyone into thinking it's real cheese)

Also, it would be best to stay away from gluten ("gluten-free" is your hero) and to stay away from oils such as canola oil (See: https://draxe.com/canola-oil-gm/) and vegetable oil.

GOOD OILS:
-Olive oil for salads and dressings (NOT GOOD FOR FRYING because when olive oil burns, it gives off carcinogens which may lead to cancer.
-Coconut oil (Great for cooking. The coconut taste is hardly noticeable if you worry about that).

Maintaining Good Hygiene

Looking and staying well-groomed is a matter of habit. Trying to keep consistent with your facial cleansing routine may sometimes feel tedious but your face will thank you. Also, it isn't necessarily about how much you wash your face...it's about how well you maintain it—if you're doing it properly (same goes with hair).

TOOLS NEEDED:
-face cleansing net (you can buy them for cheap from Japanese $2 (CDN currency) stores such as Daiso, Yoko Yaya, or perhaps some other Asian store)
-gentle cleanser (because I have Asian skin, I use those made-in-Japan cleanser tube products (about $5-7 CDN currency), which can be found in Asian supermarkets...otherwise I recommend Cetaphil cleansers, which some doctors recommend). If used sparingly and only twice a day, these cleansers can last for several months to a year until they must be restocked.
-face moisturizer to help prevent new acne (I use Clean & Clear: Dual Action moisturizer)
-gentle exfoliator OR better yet Benzagel: Benzoyl Peroxide Gel USP 5% (or higher for complicated face acne). Benzagel can be purchased from pharmacies but you might need a doctor's prescription for that...works like a charm though and it's quick

DAILY METHOD (2x a day morning & night):
1) CLEANSE: Foamy soaps are great for trapping bacteria. Good foam cleansers are typically more expensive than regular cleansers so I recommend combining a regular gentle cleanser with a face cleansing net. Add a bit of cleanser to your face cleansing net and using your hands, rub the net combined with the cleanser against each other until you created foam...if there isn't enough foam then add a little more cleanser. After you created foam, squeeze out as much foam as you possibly can from it then gently apply it all over your face. Be sure not to get them in your eyes! (Because that would be unpleasant.) Rinse well, making sure all the soap is gone.

2) EXFOLIATE: 2 different ways...

With exfoliator: Make sure your face is wet, squeeze a bit of exfoliator and gently rub them onto your face, especially the infected areas. Be careful around the eye area because the skin is very soft around that area. Rinse well then use a clean towel to dry your face—RUB HARD enough to remove the dead skin but not too hard.

With Benzagel: After cleansing, use a clean towel to dry your face—RUB HARD enough to remove the dead skin but not too hard. Apply a TINY bit of Benzagel to infected area. It will temporarily burn like a beachball but that's a sign it's working against your acne. The less severe your acne, the less it will burn. Don't worry, the burning isn't too bad and certainly not enough to make me tear up.

3) MOISTURIZE: Apply face moisturizer evenly onto the face.

Aaaand, you're done with your cleansing routine. Be sure to do this twice a day when you wake up and before you go to bed otherwise your face may get real oily and your skin won't be smooth.

QUICKEST BUT MOST RISKY way to get rid of acne: Squeezing the sebum out of your pores (aka squeezing out your pimples). I highly recommend having a skin specialist or watch a tutorial on how to properly squeeze pimples before trying this at home yourself because if done wrong, you may get an awful infection and develop scars + further acne breakouts. *BE SURE YOUR HANDS ARE SUPER CLEAN BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS! AND CLEANSE + MOISTURIZE THAT AREA AFTERWARDS.*
If done properly, as a temporary side-effect you will a light blemish in place of your pimple. If you want to hide your blemish while you go out, you can wear a small amount of concealer on that spot.

QUICKER BUT LESS RISKY way to get rid of acne: Combine a small amount of sea salt and water in a cup and use a cotton pad to soak up a bit of the solution. Press/tape soaked cotton pad onto infected area of the face for about 5 minutes. Afterwards, remove and rinse face. Moisturize after to prevent drying + future acne. The treated pimples should be gone within about 2 days.

Post-Exercise & Dealing with Make Up

Many of us know by now that exercise is a good way to sweat off toxins from the skin but can backfire if we don't shower after each time we exercise as sweat sitting there overtime clogs the pores, which leads to more acne.

It's common sense to remove one's make up as soon as one gets home because no matter what kind, make up clogs pores. The best way to remove make up is to use make up wipes. Be sure that all your make up is well removed and don't forget to cleanse your face before you sleep.

A major downside to make up is not only are they typically costly yet they also eventually expire on average 6 months to a year, and the brushes have to be kept clean (although I hardly clean my brushes but I often don't wear full-face make up anyway). You can tell the make up is expired or is no good based on how nasty it looks and if it gives off a weird smell. If you have the same used make up for more than a few years now then definitely yeah, you best be throwing it away...I developed a bit of acne around my mouth area before from not throwing away lip balms and lipsticks that are 1+ year(s) old because I'm cheap like that, lol.

Dealing with Bacne

Back x Acne= Bacne. Although I don't have much knowledge on this subject, based on my experiences...rinse your body at least once DAILY—exfoliating your body each time you shower and applying lotion after drying up certainly improves the problem of bacne. Also, remember to wear clean clothes. It can be rather tiresome trying to reach the back...so for those who have an intimate or romantic partner, get them to exfoliate + wash + apply lotion on your back and in return, you can return the favour by doing the same to theirs. Hey, it's teamwork and it's more efficient than doing it yourself.

For more information on how to deal with bacne, I suggest http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Bacne

Optional but great investments

If you want to go a little extra and you want really nice skin, these would be good options:

-Consider visiting a spa and get a facial massage/treatment once per year. Some of these spas accept health insurance including student health insurance.
-Give your face the luxury by wear a face mask once a week (make sure there are natural ingredients).
-If you're a female and it doesn't go against your morals, go on birth control (the pill version is bad for the environment and wildlife though so I suggest getting the patch or other options instead). Birth control not only prevents pregnancy but it also helps a little bit with reducing acne and helps stabilize the moods. In most places, they are free for youths at youth clinics but otherwise...they're expensive. So if you're young enough to still attend youth clinic, I highly suggest stocking up on birth control products otherwise without health insurance, you're going to have to pay about $60 (CDN currency) for them...and that's expensive.
-Consuming "maca root", a natural herb, in its original form or powder helps balance hormones (for males and females), which may help reduce acne. Quite expensive they are but well worth it. They also decrease anxiety, fatigue, irritability, and depression.

The Quickest Way?: Make Up (NOT RECOMMENDED)

If there's one thing South Korean ladies are good at, it's at bullsh***ing that they were born with naturally flawless looking skin whilst having a crapload of make up products on their face (but I got to admit..they're real good at applying make up). There are plenty of Youtube tutorial videos on how to apply a natural make up look so that you can look naturally flawless...but that won't solve your acne problem because they will still be underneath the layers of make up and will continually develop. The best way is the natural way.

PS: It's okay in this day and age for guys to wear make up. There are male make up tutorials all over youtube.

If all else fails...go see a doctor

Although I'm very sure my methods work for practically anyone as I've been through a decade of all this research and self-experimentation, if all else fails, please see a doctor.