Okay, so today is the first official day of Crunchy Betty’s Honey Challenge, but because I was excited I cheated started yesterday. So far the only thing I can say it this: when I wash my face, I can’t stop licking my lips. I hope this honey thing works out, because if the whole licking the cleanser off my face thing becomes a habit and I go back to my regular cleanser… gross.
I took a photo of myself right after my shower this morning so I could document where I am starting from. Warning: It is not pretty. If you have a child on your lap, you may want to shield his or her eyes.
It is a cruel fact of life that you can have acne and wrinkles at the same time.
Problem areas – uneven skin tone (redness), larger than I’d like pores along bridge of nose, hormonal break-outs. Oh and poor lighting in my bathroom. I might need to get another type of honey to fix that one.
Last week, I mentioned that I had tried the Oil Cleanse Method and that I had disastrous results.
Kelly asked:
What didn’t work for you with the OCM? I’ve been considering it, so would appreciate hearing what went wrong, thanks!
Sadly, I think I am just one of the few people that the OCM doesn’t work for. I had read one glowing (that’s punny) review after another so I jumped in with both feet.
I have a tenancy to do that.
I started with a blend of about 30% castor oil to 70% extra virgin olive oil. The first time I tried it, it felt amazing. It was like a spa treatment. The next day, I noticed that my skin felt noticeably smoother. I kept it up. A couple of days later, I started to break out, but since I knew that things tend to get worse before they get better, I kept the oil flowing.
After about a month, I knew that I had a problem, but instead of giving up, I tried using different oils and steaming my face to really open the pres before I put it on. Things continued to get worse (hindsight = duh). Before long every inch of my face was covered in bumpy just-under-the-surface whiteheads. Some of them were inflamed and angry. My skin had never been worse.
I got an antibiotic/benzyl peroxide cream from my doctor, which did little to help. I bought proactive – worst skin care product ever – and it dried and burned my skin, but did not heal it. (Note to self: do not take skin care advice from Justin Beiber.)
I finally settled on a gentle cleanser and patience. In the end, the only things that really made a difference were better nutrition and lots of time. It took nearly a year to get back to normal.
Would I recommend the OCM? Maybe… It seems to work so well for so many people. But I would say, be careful. Try it once and see how it goes. Wait a few days and try again. If you start to notice a lot of new break outs, back off and observe. And be aware, there are some people it just won’t work for.
I’ll be taking some of my own advice when it comes to the honey challenge. I will be doing it daily, but I’m going to try to tread carefully and be good to myself. I’ll keep you posted.
*Please do not worry about my self esteem. I have seen Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty.
Read more about my sweet skincare:
Honey Challenge: Update #1
Honey Challenge: Update #2
Honey Spice Facial Scrub
Ohhh, I got mentioned on someone else’s blog! LOL
I’ve probably hesitated-more likely procrastinated-with the OCM because I don’t really have a skin care procedure and my skin is decent. I do have blackheads on my chin and some on my nose and that’s why I’ve thought about trying it. Right now I use a goat milk based soap every couple of days and that seems to do the job. Sometimes I just use a wet wash cloth.
BTW-I don’t think your skin looks that bad-pretty good even.
Thanks! Problem areas notwithstanding, my skin is probably in the best health ever. But I’m sure that is due to all the green smoothies I drink now. Nutrition makes a big difference to skin.
I’m still excited to try this challenge and see if I can’t see some more improvement.
I love how simple your skin care is. Do you wear make-up?
You keep goats – do you make your own soap?
I stopped wearing makeup over 10 years ago except for special occassions. One morning when I was applying my mascara-and thus making the mandatory face-I noticed my skin looking wrinkly. The makeup was magnifying that and since makeup is supposed to make a person look better I stopped wearing it.
I have not started using my goat milk for soap yet. It’s on the list of things to learn to do, but I bought this from a local gal.
I concur with the cruel fact of life about acne and wrinkles. It just doesn’t seem right and I experience both. I’ll be interested to see how the honey trial goes!
Yep, not having to deal with zits was supposed to be one of the perks of getting older. We were lied to.
I really love the OCM, but everybody’s skin is different and what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next. I only used the EVOO on my face for the first 4 days, until I could get other oils. From what I’ve read, many of the people who had problems with OCM were using olive oil as their main or only oil. Correlation?
The great thing is that you found the honey wash! And it’s awesome! (and I found your blog… and it’s awesome too!)
It may have been the olive oil, but the other kinds didn’t help any. I was so sad it didn’t work for me, until I found my honey. 🙂
Thanks for coming over (and for the compliment)!