Guest Blog: Dealing with skin concerns

I will get this out of the way very early on, I am one of those horrendously annoying people that have never had a spot in my life. I went un-blemished throughout my teenage years, my tipsy student years never resulted in a single spot and I have survived quite merrily into adult life with no spot-concerns.

You can then imaging my utter horror when I woke up this week with not one, not two, but a huge number of angry, bright red, painful spots protruding out all across my face, and even worse, they were multiplying!

I cried, I cleaned my makeup brushes (for the first time ever!) I even cleaned my glasses! I over compensated with moisture and then in desperation I decided to try and dehydrate the pesky things off by not moisturising at all (my poor face!) At this point I decided to go and see Kathy.

Kathy was greeted by a slightly hysterical, spot obsessed person and she took control! Firstly and foremost she didn’t trivialise my problem as I am sure some people would, she empathised with my stress and assured me that we could fix this!

I now have a very new and different skincare regime and I love it!

The first step of my new regime is skin health. I have started taking Vitamin A. You can get Vitamin A from food, but current thinking and research in Dermatology i.e. Dr Des Fernandes, Professor Malcolm Maden, Dr Rachel Watson, Professor Antony Young shows that Vitamin A is absolutely essential to our diets and it is believed that up to 90% of us just don’t get enough and supplementation makes a big difference to us having healthy skin. It helps improve moisture levels, aids collagen and elastin production, increases blood flow to the skin, plumps up the skin and makes the surface of the skin stronger, regulates the sebaceous glands and helps to maintain a healthy immune system.

The second step is products, there is a wide range of products that I could use but Kathy knows that I love the Pinks Boutique scents and the smell of a product is very important to me (I get that from my Mum!)

I am now using the calming Ocha and green tea cleanser, which smells divine. I use a muslin face cloth to apply this which really makes my skin feel clean and is a gentle exfoliator, I don’t think I will ever go back to cotton wool! I then spritz a Rose and Geranium Flower water onto my face to refresh and apply a night time facial balm which is so smooth and I can just feel my skin gratefully drinking in all of the moisture.

When I have a problem, I need a plan and Kathy provided me with this. My skin is so much calmer and the spots have reduced their aggressive streak, in fact, vitamins, moisture and love seems to be defeating them!

I now have the utmost respect for people who suffer from acne and on-going skin problems. I have found it extremely distressing to feel that everyone is looking at Mount Vesuvius on my chin, simply waiting for it to erupt! I am so lucky that spots and skin conditions have never affected me up until now and I appreciate that now.

I am also very lucky to have a Kathy to call on when a crisis comes calling and I know that she helps a lot of people with acne and other skin concerns across all ages!

Sarah
x