It’s 2024 and you’re very much in your ‘this is me..take me for who I am’ era! Well we certainly can appreciate that, in fact..we celebrate it! Be you, be open, be authentic! We want to empower the most authentic you and domino effect that across your friends, family..whoever is around you. Where is this going you might be thinking?..Consider your most authentic self, zero cover ups or touch ups, messy hair, breakouts and all- this is where we want you to feel the most comfortable.
Be comfortable in your own skin they say! Comfort also comes from understanding. So let's get understanding why breakouts happen. Do you ever wonder why breakouts can pop up in the same area of your face time and time again…that one painful chin spot that screams hello every month, or the clusters partying on your darn forehead every week? Well! We are here to let you know there is always a reason, and those reasons date back to the ancient Chinese and Ayurvedic medical technique called Face (or Skin) Mapping. Technical much? Let's break it down.
WHAT IS FACE MAPPING?
Forget google it’s simpler than you think! The philosophy- Chinese face mapping theory suggests that a pimple/breakout’s location on a face chart can help in uncovering what is causing it. Pretty interesting right? I mean this is 3,000 years of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) , who wouldn’t want to understand what's happening inside their body and how it shows out on your skin? So how does it work and what are these ‘mapped’ areas?
THE FOREHEAD
Improper digestion and Hair products- you must be thinking how? who would have thought it! So, according to TCM the forehead is directly connected to your liver and gallbladder. What does this mean? It means clearly your diet is awful! - just joking! It may mean that you are consuming a higher level of saturated fats, possibly dehydrated or have a lower fibre intake. Your solution? Up your water intake- like literally stay hydrated! We also suggest eating more fibre rich foods- this also will help you push out any nasties out the other end regularly- you catch our drift.
How do hair products contribute? Think of it like this… hair products have all sorts of ingredients and these are specifically made for your tresses, contact with your skin may cause extra debris to build up or reactions contributing to the party happening on your forehead. We suggest always wiping your forehead rid of any product that may have creeped on during your wash day or simply cleansing thoroughly after sweaty activities.
THE NOSE
Honestly….The Pain, The Fight- The Endurance! Who told them! WHO! Nose breakouts although not as common can be your most memorable gift. Like seriously, people are out here naming them! But why and how do they affect us so badly or you know just cause havoc?
To start… The pores on our noses are MUCH larger than any other areas of the face. Thirst- ..we mean dirt trap! The ultimate trap! Screaming double cleanse and if you have no other reason to do it for the snout. Imagine the build up of dirt and debris after a long day. Now imagine that dirt sitting in pools within your skin - GAG!
Pause- we’re forgetting the science, the ancient history, the reasoning aside from not cleansing properly *side eye* . TCM connects the nose to heart- they suggest oiliness and acne around the nose could point to an issue with cholesterol or blood pressure. Now now don’t be alarmed, these are both very common issues within the human body. Both are easily bettered by cutting down on meat, salty foods and instead by increasing your vitamin B intake and upping your raw nutrition ie. fruits and veggies.
THE CHEEKS
Wash your hands- nasty! Do you have any idea how many times on average we touch our faces? Well the stats are absolutely wild! Humans touch their faces 23 times per hour on average- we’ll let you do the maths per day. You should know where we are going with this now…bacteria bacteria bacteria! We transport bacteria to our face through face touching, phone cases, pillowcases, make up applicators…and the list goes on. These sneaky culprits are enough to trigger cheek breakouts - the solution? Frequent hand washing, cleaning/changing pillowcases and make up applicators regularly and for goodness sake do we have to scream* DISINFECT* your phone + case regularly- you’d be surprised how a quick wipe can save those cheeks..and we are talking face cheeks- get your mind out the gutter!
In addition to this, it is believed that breakouts occur on the cheeks due to poor detoxification and diet. Back to the teachings of TCM a high intake of red meat, sugars and dairy can be a contributor to cheeky cheek spots as they often slow down your metabolism. Cheeky bottle of wine and steak weekly? Munching through packs of sweet treats daily?- Boy Bye! We can’t be screaming good health but OVER-indulging- check yourself.
THE CHIN & JAWLINE
*Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin*- Our PCOS girlies you get it! So most commonly spots around your chin and jawline correspond generally with fluctuating hormones, which means a disruption with your endocrine system- in simple terms these are the glands that make hormones. This excess of hormones overstimulates oil the glands and clog pores leading to those painful under the skin monsters.
Gut health is also a big contributor to changes in hormones, mainly inflammatory foods such as sugar, gluten and dairy, let’s not forget caffeine and alcohol. So what helps exactly? well… it’s always worth going to your gp for a hormonal check, you can also try natural remedies, hormone supplements and shift your lifestyle to one that is more balanced all round.
BETWEEN THE BROWS
Honey show of that unibrow! But seriously those in between the brow spots are stresses. TCM links this space to your liver and its role of detoxification, so if you are an avid smoker or big boozer this may be detrimental to your skin (let alone health)- no judgments here though, we just want you to be the best version of yourself. So consider cutting down on those toxic antics.
