The Root of the Problem

My skin has been going nuts for several months now. Way back in good ole' 2012, I was throwing money at the problem. Sephora and I became good friends. And after a couple of tries, I seemed to have found a decent cleansing routine to get the problem under control. Just in the nick of time, too, seeing as I've allowed myself to continue purchasing my "normal skincare routine" items. But now here we are in the shop-free year of 2013, and my skin is out of control again. Peter Thomas Roth is no longer serving me well, and I am unable to purchase a slew of new products to trial and error the issue. So what does a girl do? Two "ah-ha" moments came from this.

Many months ago, I became a gluten-free vegan. I lost the last 5-10 pounds I had been battling with and never felt better. But this was the beginning of the skin issue. Honestly, I thought being vegan, I'd have the prettiest skin around. Dairy is known for aggravating skin. So, thinking back, when I took gluten, meat, and dairy out of my diet, what did I ADD to my diet that may have caused my skin to flare up? I added tons of extra fruits and veggies. That's not going to cause break-outs. If anything, it would help, what with all the extra vitamins and nutrients. Something else I began eating more of was corn. I switched from pita chips to corn chips when dipping into hummus. I also began snacking on popcorn because it's high in fiber. And I began using corn tortillas regularly in my cooking, since I had completely eliminated breads. So maybe I'm allergic to corn? Another thing I added a bit extra of is sugar. I mean, if I'm going to cut out all meat, dairy and gluten, I'm going to treat myself to gluten-free dairy-free cookies! I have a handful of other treats that are filled with sugar, but are gluten-free and vegan. So I know I've upped my sugar intake. Obviously, being a health nut, I know refined sugar is enemy number one. But thanks to cutting out the other stuff, I was still looking and feeling great. Except when I looked at my face in the mirror, lol.

Several days ago, when my skin seemed like it was at its worst ever, I decided just to stop using all fancy products and stop wearing make-up. Just use plain old soap 3x a day and see if it would settle down at all. This is where my ah-ha moment #2 comes in....I was terrified to leave the house with such horrible skin and NO MAKE-UP. What would people think?? Then I got to wondering, is this why I buy so many clothes? Why do I always want to look my best? Is it for me or is it for others? Why should I care if others agree or disagree with my fashion sense? I want peoples' opinions of me to be based on how I act, how I treat them, how I interact with the world around me, NOT what I'm wearing or whether my skin is perfect. And do I judge others in accordance to what they are wearing? I can honestly answer that with people I know (friends, family, etc.) absolutely NOT. But with strangers and acquaintances? Yeah, maybe I judge a little. And I guess THAT is why I care so much about how I look out in public. So going forward, I am going to make it my personal quest to not pay attention to what people are wearing when I'm strolling the isles at Target and not purchasing anything fun. I am going to look into faces and smile.

My skin is still a wreck, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Something tells me it's the corn. As for my insides, I'm pretty sure I've grown a bit today.