My 7 step acne free routineThis is a guest post from Jill Therese from HealYourFaceWithFood.com

4 years ago, after struggling with acne my whole life, I cleared my skin naturally through a combo of nutrition, exercise, positive thoughts and great products. I finally felt confident and proud of my face, for the first time in years.

However, keeping my skin clear was another thing altogether. I was deathly, deathly afraid that my acne was going to sneak back up on me (We all know the anxiety that comes with acne, right?) and I’d look exactly like I did before.

Let me tell you, I was NOT ok with that.

So, I devised a 7 step acne free routine that was based on the original elements that initially cleared my skin: nutrition, exercise, positive thoughts and great products. I wanted to share it with you-then we’ll help you find your best acne clearing routine. 

My 7 Step Acne Free Routine:

1. The First Step

The first step I take every day is to drink my “morning tea”; hot water with juice from a quarter of a lemon and a dash of cayenne pepper .

This is a great way to wake up because the lemon acts as a balancing agent in your body and immediately sets you up for a higher level of pH in your system (pH= good, acidity= bad).

The cayenne pepper stimulates your digestive system and really starts things a movin’, if you know what I mean.

2. The Second Step

The second step I take is to drink a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I usually chase it with some water because it can be quite strong- but it’s worth it.

Apple cider vinegar is great for your skin because it has antibacterial and antiseptic properties that help to balance out the natural pH on your skin’s surface and also helps to stimulate circulation, liver detoxification and can help clear up chronic indigestion.

3. The Third Step

The third step I take is to drink my “morning juice”. It’s a green juice recipe of cucumber, kale, green apple, celery, parsley and a bit of lemon.

Green juices were the absolute key to my acne healing; they are chock full of nutrients, they have powerful enzymes, low sugar (if you take it easy on the fruit:) and they’re a super cleansing way to start each day.

4. The Fourth Step

The next step I take is to sweat for at least 30 minutes every morning. I try to make it difficult enough to make me sweat- because sweating is a brilliant way to release toxins and purify your skin.

But, the point is not to wear you myself our- the point is to move and express myself. We hold so much stress in our bodies that it can create a bad balance of hormones that ultimately hurts your skin.

Sometimes my “movement of the day” involves putting on my favorite music and spastically dancing around my apartment. May scare the neighbors but it feels oh-so-good.

5. The Fifth Step

The next step of my acne healing routine is meditating for 5-10 minutes. This is my personal method: each Sunday I take a look at my week ahead and ask myself these questions: What do I want to accomplish this week? and how do I want to feel?

For example- I’ve been a bit sick lately. So my buzzwords for next week will most likely be: vibrant, healthy, energetic, excited, powerful. For the next 5-10 minutes, I set a timer, I sit down in a quiet corner and I visualize myself feeling the way I want to feel & accomplishing the goals I want to accomplish. I feel my way into an awesome week.

6. The Sixth Step

The next step is more of a “rule” than a routine. I try to make sure that every meal I eat has at least 2-3 veggies in it; my overall goal is to eat 10 fruits and veggies per day. Food was such a huge part of my acne healing process- vegetables to specific:)- so I try to incorporate as many as possible in my day now.

7. The Seventh Step

The final step in my process is that I apply moisturizer with sunscreen in the AM and regular moisturizer in the PM.

Now, I know your knee jerk reaction might be something like this: “I can’t moisturize or put sunscreen on because I have so many zits and my skin is SOOO oily anyways and I hate everything”. Haha- that was often my reaction anyways, when I had acne and people told me to moisturize.

However, especially for those of you who are using more intense creams that can make you vulnerable to the sun, it’s essential to protect yourself from sun damage. There are a few natural oil free options for sunscreen as well as moisturizers that can work for you.

Once your skin finally does clear itself of acne you’ll want to be able to clear the scars ASAP too, and it’s easier on more nourished skin.

Now that we’ve gone over my acne free routine for the day, how about we create one for you?

Follow These Five Steps to Create Your Own Routine:

  1. Develop an AM ritual for yourself that starts your morning off in a balanced, focused, peaceful, low-sugar way; a way that sets your hormones up for success.
  2. Create a food goal for yourself daily and stick to it. Have the rule based on the answer to these questions: What makes me feel vibrant? Full? Energetic? Eat as many of those items as possible and crowd out the bad stuff.
  3. Decide how you will move daily. Figure out what type of movement feels best to you and explore that. Make it a daily practice to express yourself through movement to relieve stress and increase the “happy hormones”:)
  4. Find a meditation practice that speaks to you and do it 1X daily. This step is to ground and balance you.
  5. Finally, find an oil free, all natural moisturizer that doesn’t make your skin break out. It’ll help you to heal any acne scars later on if you’ve nourished your skin along the way.

This Acne Free Routine has been so important to maintaining my skin’s health, grab some ideas from above and create your own!

Jill ThereseBio: Jill Therese is a former acne sufferer who finally cleared her skin naturally in only 30 days after struggling for 15 years. She is now committed to helping others heal their acne from the inside out with the powerful Heal Your Face With Food Program- a 30 day program to heal your acne naturally through food and nutrition.

To grab 34 tips and tricks to start healing your acne today- head over to www.healyourfacewithfood.com and grab a ton of skin healing goodness.