Blog - The Love Vitamin

Sunscreen Breaking You Out? Internal Sunscreen Could Be The Answer

So, as you may know, a couple weeks ago, we were talking about sunscreen.

And how it’s, like, pretty damn nearly impossible to find a really clean, super acne-friendly sunscreen.

Unless you want to spend $85 US on the loveliness that is Josh Rosebrook Nutrient Day Cream.

I did find a few decent options, for less money. Moogoo. Badger. Babo. Live Live. None of them are as perfect as I want though. Except ol’ Joshy boy. But he’s pricey.

So anyway, there is another alternative to explore. And that’s internal sunscreen.

Namely, it’s the supplement called astaxanthin… I can NEVER remember which order the s or the x or the th go in. Ast-ax-an-thin. Say that five times fast. I dare you.

Fact: Putting this gif in this blog post led to me binge watching entire seasons of Blossom

Basically, astaxanthin is a super duper powerful carotenoid based antioxidant. Apparently the strongest natural antioxidant known to MAN!

It’s actually the pink pigment in salmon, and in shrimp, and also why flamingos are pink because they eat the shrimp… and then, well, somehow this magical pinkness protects from the blazing desert sun. The magical shrimp sunscreen.

Antioxidants. Free Radicals. Synergy.

Bright red astaxanthin

So anyway – here’s the deal. When the sun hits you, the rays create free radicals in your skin.

As I’m learning, even if you aren’t in direct sunlight, the rays from daylight still create free radicals – just at a slower rate than if you sat in direct sunlight all day.

Free radicals are the actual things that damage your cells and create skin cancer and visible aging. [Read more…]

Denise’s Path to Naturally Clear Skin Wants to Encourage You

by Tracy Raftl 6 Comments

This is a wonderful guest post from reader Denise, full of advice and encouragement for your clear skin journey.

Her main message: perfection and an aggressive, prison-like approach to healing just doesn’t work!

An Unexpected Beginning

I’d been living with adult acne for over 7 years. It has taught me a lot about the importance of taking care of my body and to live my life to the fullest.

Today I’m totally acne-free but as any other woman, I can get a small pimple around that time of the month. Being acne free is a big dream coming true and a huge goal that I strove for over a loooong time.

My acne story began when I unexpectedly started to get a lot of pimples around my early 20s. You should know that I didn’t suffer from acne AT ALL during my teenage years so this was quite a shocker for me.

I immediately felt how the pimples affected my self-esteem and I wanted them gone as soon as possible.

I tried contraceptives, didn’t work.

I tried the mild versions of antibiotics but those really messed up my body.

I also started to see a dermatologist but I very soon lost all faith in them because the treatments didn’t work and this only seemed to harm and scar my already sensitive skin.

After this period of four years, I stopped believing that any clinical doctor could help me with my acne. I had to dig deeper than that. [Read more…]

New Acne-Safe Sunscreen That I Truly Love… But Also Hate for One Reason

by Tracy Raftl 34 Comments

So… the acne gods always do this to me.

I spend all this time researching a product, ordering it, trying it out, deciding whether or not it’s worthy… and if I decide I like it, then I finally write a blog post to recommend it to you.

Aaaaand then they go and discontinue it.

That’s what happened with the 100% Pure Argan oil SPF sunscreen I recently recommended. I swear they discontinued it the literal second I pressed “post” on that blog! urgggggghhh.

So then the hunt began to find a replacement recommendation. Which so far has not been too fruitful. Really clean, acne safe sunscreen that looks and feels good is VERY difficult to come by. [Read more…]

Maria’s Journey to Clear Skin

by Tracy Raftl 13 Comments

The following is an interview with Love Vitamin reader Maria. After a four year nightmare with acne, she finally can share what worked for her!

If you’d like to fill out your own clear skin interview to be featured on the blog, then just click here.

What was your experience with acne? How many years did you have it and how did it make you feel?

I have had acne since I remember but it wasn’t always a bad case. It had ups and downs through my teen years but the nightmare began about 4 years ago.

My lifestyle was the worst during that period of my life… eating out all the time, partying every weekend and I always had pimples…

What kinds of things did you try prior to holistic healing that didn’t work?

After a visit to the dermatologist, she prescribed me Accutane and after 2 weeks I started purging like crazy.

For 4 months I had my face all covered in cystic acne and I felt so depressed that I didn’t want to leave home. I thought it wasn’t working but I kept taking it (worst mistake of my life). [Read more…]

Does Swimming in Chlorine Give You Acne?

by Tracy Raftl 6 Comments

A question I’ve been asked a fair bit over the years is whether or not swimming in chlorinated pools affects the skin and causes acne.

Although I never had a solid answer, I always had a sneaking suspicion that chlorine wasn’t so great for your skin. After all, I’ve seen from personal experience that my skin feels incredibly dry and flakey after a swim at the pool.

Well, now there is in fact a study that shows that chlorine will harm the skin barrier function. In other words, your skin’s ability to hold water in and bacteria out. [Read more…]

What’s the Deal with Maca and Acne?

by Tracy Raftl 23 Comments

Have you heard of maca?

It’s this root veggie from the Andes that is said to be a superfood, packed full of vitamins and minerals and all kinds of wondrous nutrients and benefits.

The big jazz in maca is supposed to come from the fact that it helps to balance your hormones.

It’s what they call an “adaptogen”. It doesn’t increase or decrease one specific hormone, but it gives your body what it needs in order to “regulate” its own hormones.

It does this by stimulating your pituitary and hypothalamus to balance the entire endocrine system.

Sounds magical and perfect right?

Because, of course, as adult women with relentless hormonal acne, we know that anything that balances the hormones is going to lead to better skin and less acne.

And yes – maca is indeed purported to help a lot of women with acne!

But Is Maca Really All Magic When it Comes to Acne?

Hello. I am Maca.

Now, since the beginning of The Love Vitamin (which was early 2011!! woot! Happy 6 years TLV!), I have been asked periodically what I think about maca for acne.

And here we are… six years later. And I’m finally going to talk about it!

To be honest, I never got into it or paid it much attention because back in the early days of TLV, I had read around about it and got the impression that: [Read more…]

How to Relieve Acne-Causing Stress in One Second Flat

by Tracy Raftl 4 Comments

Don’t worry – you don’t have to be in nature for it to work!

You know that stress = acne. Or at least it heavily contributes to it in a myriad of ways.

It affects your hormones, it affects your digestion, it eats up your nutrients, and it redirects blood flow away from your skin to deal with whatever’s stressing you out.

Hands down one of the best ways to reduce acne is to reduce stress. But it can also be the hardest!

How do you stop stressing?? It often feels like it’s not in your control. Or like you’re not even consciously aware of it for the most part.

Well one thing I learned this year from dealing with general anxiety is a quick, effective, and practical tip. [Read more…]

How Elizabeth Finally Ended Her Four Decade Struggle with Acne

by Tracy Raftl 10 Comments

Today we have an interview with reader Elizabeth Resnick on how she finally came to clear her skin and remain happy and healthy ever since!

If you’d like to fill out your own clear skin interview to be featured on the blog, then just click here.

What was your experience with acne? How many years did you have it and how did it make you feel?

I have struggled with cystic acne most of my life, starting around the age of 11 or 12 and off and on until my mid 40s.

It definitely made me feel self conscious. I was always worried about covering it up. To this day, I am always checking my makeup, even though my skin is clear. Old habits die hard.

What kinds of things did you try prior to holistic healing that didn’t work?

You name it, I tried it!

I started seeing a dermatologist early on. I was on oral antibiotics (back then it was minocycline and tetracycline… probably some others too.)

Also Retin-A and various topical prescription products. Tons of drying masks, face washes, toners, etc.

I used everything from high end department store products to drugstore brands. I also tried some more natural topical products.

In high school I went on Accutane, which cleared my skin up for several years, but the acne eventually came back with a vengeance. [Read more…]

This Cheap Drug Store Ingredient Is the Best Thing I’ve Ever Put on My Face

by Tracy Raftl 58 Comments

Okay, so I’ve been chomping at the bit to talk about this. I gave it a few weeks as a test run, and now I have to let you know about glycerin for dry, dehydrated, acne prone skin.

Last week on the blog, I talked about humectants, which are ingredients in skin care that attract and hold water in your skin. This is all very important for healthy functioning, acne free, and young looking skin.

Now, for good part of a year, I’ve been using an awesome DIY moisturizer that contains a mixture of facial oils, aloe vera, and an assortment of other nourishing ingredients like essential oils and MSM.

I’ve been very happy with this mixture. My skin has been looking very nice since using it, and it feels dewy and hydrated for… well, at least two thirds of the day.

I have to admit that later on in the day, as well as after waking up in the morning, I did still feel like my skin was a little tight. Not terribly, but a little bit. I felt like there was some room for improvement.

But the thing is, I thought I had my bases covered when it came to humectants. [Read more…]

Using Humectants in Your Skin Care for Hydrated, Acne Free Skin

by Tracy Raftl 29 Comments

In past Love Vitamin articles, I’ve talked about how to properly moisturize your skin to prevent acne…

The two main ingredients in the recipe of good skin moisturization are water and oil.

Water is probably the most important part… without water, your skin is dehydrated. It’s sort of prune like… it feels tight and unpleasant and shows all kinds of lines (even if your skin is also oily).

However, without proper oil (also known as an “occlusive” ingredient), your skin becomes dry because it can’t hold that water in. The water in your skin evaporates out into the air and gets even more dehydrated.

This is all very important because your skin needs to be properly hydrated in order to function the way it’s supposed to… in other words, skin that is smooth and acne free!

So today I want to talk about what they call “humectants”.

Humectants are ingredients in skin care that attract water to your skin and hold it there, magically making it feel super hydrated and young looking! No kidding! [Read more…]