Hey Tracy!

Do you think weather can help with acne? I am currently living in NZ (which is quite cold) but soon am moving to Brisbane (which am very excited about). I have noticed in warmer temperatures my skin tends to behave for some odd reason, it’s not a huge improvement but it helps.

What do you think?

Hi there!

Yes I think weather and humidity and that kind of thing does affect skin for better or worse depending on what your skin likes.

Some people break out in the summer in humid heat, possibly because if your body is very toxic, your constant sweating will contain toxins that may irritate your skin. It also tends to make oilier skin oilier. People may also break out more if chemical sunscreens are used on the skin that aren’t in winter.

On the other hand, others often find that the sun’s rays help to kill bacteria on the skin and that actually helps their acne (Vitamin D is very important too!). And if you normally have dry skin, the hotter temperatures seem to keep your skin more hydrated (at least it does mine) – but this may just be chalked up to the fact that indoor winter heating is quite drying. 

Personally I think mine likes warmer temperatures too (or at least just doesn’t like dry indoor heating), but like I said, some people’s skin absolutely doesn’t like the humidity. So yeah! If yours likes it then hopefully Brissy will agree with you!

*Note: A healthy lifestyle is going to solve this problem too because your sweat won’t be as toxic, and you won’t overproduce oil, and lots of good fats and Omega 3s will prevent skin dryness!

Hi!

In one of your videos (the one where you are showing the items you are taking with you the Australia) you said something about not using commercial products. can you ellaborate a little bit more please as to why you dont use them and the harmful effects they can have?

i have been using ‘skin id’ by neutrogeana for the past three years now and im afraid what will happen once i stop! it is working fairly well for me know but i would much rather do the natural thing because i know that is way better for my skin!

thanks 🙂

Hi there!

The reason I don’t use them is:

1. They’re full of chemicals and preservatives, some of which get absorbed into your blood stream and contribute to toxic load, which in the end, contributes to more acne.

2. The chemicals in commercial products are usually very irritating, and if you have a clogged pore, irritation makes it 100 times more likely that it’s going to turn into an inflamed spot

3. They’re usually very drying. This causes your skin to actually produce more oil in the end to compensate, making the problem worse. Or if you already have dry skin, it makes the skin too tight and its more likely for bacteria to get trapped in the pores. And then you have to slather lots of chemical laden moisturizer on there to fix it.

4. With the amount of ingredients in them (and this goes for formulated “natural” products too, of which most aren’t truly natural – they just use the label for marketing purposes), it makes it more likely that your skin is going to react to something in it and there’s no way to know which ingredient it was.

5. Although I’m being hypocritical because I don’t think jojoba oil is edible, I really like the idea of using things on the skin that are naturally found in nature that you wouldn’t have a problem eating.

6. This is just my personal feeling and nothing that you have to subscribe to – but I don’t like products simply because they’re products. I know not everyone shares this sentiment – in fact, I know that many people very much ENJOY products, kind of like a hobby! And I also know that there are natural formulated products out there with no preservatives or weird stuff that are great and work really well for some people (Annmarie Gianni’s line of skin care comes to mind, for example)… that’s fine… whatever you want to do!

But I guess I personally just don’t like it how it’s been stamped into everyone’s head over the years, especially women’s, that we NEED to buy someone’s formulated product to be beautiful – whether it’s face wash, body wash, shampoo, etc. It’s BS in my opinion and I don’t want to support it, because I think nature takes care of things and does a much better job 🙂

Hi Tracy,

I am not sure if this too personal a question…but is there a natural form of birth control that you reccomend?

I was searching your blog (and everywhere online) and am not sure which one to try that would work best.

I Do NOT want to go on the Pill again.

Thanks again for your time.

Hi there!

Well, the only truly natural way is the “family planning” method, where you chart your cycles and take your temperature and all that, and avoid sex on the days you’re ovulating. As scary as it sounds, I’ve heard it actually works incredibly effectively – although I can’t say I’ve personally tried it!

Or there’s the good ol condom. This used to be my method, but, who likes condoms? No one! Plus, it seemed like they always broke or slipped off and I’d find myself at the pharmacy buying Plan B (ie.. the morning after pill) one too many times, and really…. with the amount of hormones you’re getting there, its seemed hardly better than just being on the pill. I sometimes wonder if this contributed heavily to my skin freaking out so bad when it did.

Now I use a copper IUD. Which is a little thing that looks like a T and they insert it into your uterus and something about the copper prevents babies. And it lasts like five years.

For me – it’s been great. I’ve really, really liked having my IUD. There are some IUDs with hormones, but the copper one is hormone free, so that is sweet. And it’s so easy! You don’t have to do anything – and it’s highly effective and much more so than the pill since you can’t forget to take it.

However, it’s not without its issues. It makes your periods heavier and a bit crampier. It hasn’t been that bad for me – definitely not to the point where it hasn’t been worth it – but I never had bad periods to begin with. So if you do, it might be a problem.

The other issue is that excess copper creates an imbalance in your body. Copper competes with zinc and if you have excess copper, it lowers your zinc levels. Zinc is an incredibly important mineral in the body and over 100 enzymes rely on it to perform their chemical reactions. It’s important for the skin too.

So anyway… some people just do not react well to their IUDs for this reason. For me, it doesn’t seem to have caused any problems that I can tell and my experience with it has been very positive. However, my best friend, Jesse, had one put in on my suggestion and she ended up with reactions like yeast infections and rashes and things and she decided to get it taken out. However, Jesse has a lot of allergies and is sensitive to many things so this doesn’t really surprise me all that much.

Please note that mine only cost me $40, but if you live in United States, apparently an IUD might be quite expensive – see if insurance will cover it or if family planning places offer it a lower price.

Lots of love,
Tracy xo

photo by waikiki