Managing Breakouts During Hormonal Fluctuation

Hey everyone! This post will be speaking specifically to my ladies, but gentlemen, feel free to share it with your sisters, friends, mothers, or the special lady in your life. Ok, now ladies, I know I'm not the only one who breaks out around the time of my cycle. Some of us break out a lot, some of us may get a pimple or two, but most of the women that I know experience some form of skin changes around the time of their monthly cycle. I'm going to give a few really quick tips that will be helpful during this time that will work for every skin type. Keep in mind, it is not always possible to completely prevent breakouts due to hormonal changes; however, you can significantly decrease the severity of the breakout or pimples by following these tips.

1. Learn when your cycle is coming. For some of us, this may prove to be very difficult since every woman's body is different. However, when you know what to expect, you can start preparation ahead of time.

2. Drink lots of water before and during your cycle. It's always good to drink water, but it's important to increase intake during this time to flush out any toxins that may cause breakouts or a pimple to pop up.

3. Cut down on greasy and fried foods around the time of your cycle. We shouldn't be eating much of this anyway, but I digress lol.

4. Avoid sweets and sodas/sugary drinks! Sugar already breaks some of us out, but when your body is under the stress of a menstrual cycle, it can get a LOT worse.

5. Increase your fruit, grain, and vegetable intake. Berries, grapes, tomatoes, watercress, fennel, broccoli, kale, and more have all been shown to help improve skin in ways varying from flushing toxins to improving overall tone. For a more detailed list of these skin clearing foods, please visit this site: http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/features/health-fitness/2011/02/top-20-skin-clearing-foods

6. Don't fall asleep with makeup on. Falling asleep with makeup on is already bad, but it can make a breakout that is coming much worse, since sleeping with makeup on clogs up your pores.

7. Invest in a good spot acne treatment. There are times when even if you follow the steps above, a pimple or two will still surface. When this happens, it's important to be able to deal with it, and a spot treatment is the way to go. My two favorite spot treatments are Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment and Noxzema Original Deep Cleansing Cream on pimples and small areas where there is a breakout. Both are awesome! Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream can also be used as a facial mask (it's AMAZING!)...but I'll talk about that in another post.

Hope you enjoyed these tips and that they're useful to you in some way! If you have any budget beauty products that you would like for me to review (makeup, skin care, hair care, and related items), please send your request to me at lindsi.green@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you! ;)