Get your gorgeous skin back

I am very interested in skincare even though some people judge males that are into this as they think it is feminine. However, I think having healthy and clear skin is actually quite important in terms of appearance and shows that you are taking good care of yourself. It also helps you to look young and not age that rapidly. And people might not be able to guess your age when you get older!
You can be 50, but others may still thought that you are in your late 30s. haha
Who doesn't like to look young? =D

I tried using home remedies for face for 1-2 years, as I like things that are natural. And I have tried using basically everything that is edible like carrots, turmeric, tomatoes, avocados, eggyolk, yoghurt, cucumber, honey, oatmeal on my face. I am not sure is it just me, I notice very subtle difference after using them for some time despite many people claiming that home remedies help their face tremendously.

What I have come to notice is that no matter how you cleanse, tone and moisturize your face, it doesn't help much if a few stuffs are not being well taken care of.
To improve skin complexion, it is not that complicated, just simple things like diet, exercise, sufficient hours of sleep everyday as well as having adequate hydration can bring a huge difference to your face complexion in matter of months.

What I do to get a glowing complexion:

Cleanse, tone, moisturize

Cleanse twice per day using gentle cleanser, tone and moisturize.

Shower twice per day.

Exfoliate once or twice per week.

Diet (Food/Drinks)

Eating almonds,oatmeal, nuts, seeds & other antioxidant-rich foods
No salty foods/junk food/fast foods. When I eat fast foods, my face tend to be oily the next day. 

Drinking lemon water, (don't drink it straight, as it can be harsh on your enamel. Dilute it before drinking with some water or better yet use a straw to drink.)
Other options:
- chia seed + honey + water (my favorite)
- citrus fruit juice (orange, etc) , all berries juice, prune juice

Drinking 2 litres of water per day

Sleep

+Have 7-8hours of quality sleep per night 

(Be in your dreamland before 11pm)
+Keep the bedsheets/pillowcase  clean. I like to use my shirt as the pillowcase, as it is easier to change every 3-4 days. 

Exercise

- at least 15 minutes per day.
- Make sure you sweat. Circuit training/ high intensity interval training (HIIT) can keep your workout under 30minutes and still sweat like crazy. 

Stress management. 

+Meditate. What I like to do is to just focus on my breathing and listen to some soft musics.

+Yoga/ self facial and scalp massage/ lymphatic drainage massage/. 

+Any other stress relieving methods that works for you : the list is endless = dance, sing, zumba, taking a stroll in the park, gentle stretching after you wake up and before you sleep, etc. 

+Breathing technique (4-5-6) That's the number that worked for me to relax. 

[Inhale 4 seconds, hold 5 seconds & exhale 6 seconds/ even longer.] 

You can come up with your number that allows you to breath comfortably. Or maybe you don't like the idea of counting your breath, then you can just breath in and out deeply to feel relaxed. A few minutes of breathing consciously can make you less stressful. =) 

Others (less conventional ones)

-Visualize yourself having great skin complexion. 

-Be disciplined, persistent and patient. Keep yourself motivated to stick with your daily skincare ritual. 

-Be happy and don't ever let anyone bring you down. No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent - Eleanor Roosevelt. No matter how bad others treat you, you have a choice not to let them affect you. And you always have a choice to either feel bad about it, changing the perspective, shrug it aside, fix the problem or leave. 

Love yourself. 

-You can try doing the mirror work by Louise Hay if you struggle to love yourself. 

- Write a list of 10 positive things you love about yourself.
- Give yourself a hug or a pat on the shoulder. Compliment yourself & not seek validation from others.

Honestly, my skin complexion have improved after doing those things above .

But...
Recently, my skin complexion has not been that well due to lack of sleep each night, stress and a lot of negative self-talks. Haha writing this blog post just made me realize that I need to be more disciplined to adhere to my skincare regimen and deal with all those negative emotions.
Anyway, its good to be aware of where the problems are and address them accordingly to get our gorgeous skin back!

What I suggest here are the things that worked for me. It may or may not work for you.They are just some suggestions that you can include into your skincare regimen. By the way, I am still in the process of learning too. Do enlighten me if you have any other tips towards having a bright and smooth complexion. =)