Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic

Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk  Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned.  To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here.

October 25th, 2009:  Facial Cleansers

Q I am 32 and suffer with acne, which makes me very self-conscious. Without makeup my skin looks pimply and blotchy. Which cleanser/skincare could help my skin? And is there anything else that I could do? I am also thinking about having regular facials but unsure which type to try.

A We’re so sorry to hear about your problem.  Acne is very common at all ages now, probably due to increased environmental pollution. 

To start with, we do suggest cleaning up your diet.  Try to cut out, or significantly reduce, your sugar intake; sugar contributes to inflammation, a big part of the problem with acne.  The obvious foods are sweets, cakes, biscuits, squashes etc, but remember that fruit contains lots of fruit sugar, which comes to the same thing – so aim for a couple of pieces of fruit daily and pass on the fruit juice.  Sip lots of water instead.

A detoxifying herbal supplement called Tejaswini ClearSkin Capsules (£9.95 for 30 capsules from Victoria Health) has helped many acne sufferers.  Take two capsules daily until skin clears, then one capsule daily for maintenance.  Adding in Vitamin A, which helps strengthen outer skin cells, may also help (Vitamin A 5000IU by HealthAid, £5.99 for 100 capsules, also from Victoria Health); take one daily.

For a cleanser, we recommend trying Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser by Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare (£12.50 for 100ml pump dispenser plus 2 muslin cloths, from lizearle.com).  In our Tried & Tested consumer surveys for the Beauty Bible series, it has consistently scored the highest marks and suits virtually everyone’s skin.  If you go to our website, www.beautybible.com, you will also find exclusive starter kits which allow you to sample other Liz Earle products, such as Skin Repair Moisturiser, which we think may suit your skin well.  Liz’s book Skin Secrets: How to Have Naturally Healthy Beautiful Skin, published by Kyle Cathie, covers this subject in depth, so it could well be worth your investing in a copy (currently £12.79 on Amazon).

Other brands that may help your skin are Madara Purifying Floral Foam Cleanser, £13.50 (which unlike many foaming products won’t strip the skin);  this all-natural brand also makes a great Moisture Gel for Oily Skin, £23 for 50 ml. 

Above all, don’t be tempted to use products that dry out your skin, stripping the natural oils.  This will only send it into a frenzy of oil (sebum) production, trying to compensate.  And as for facials, to be honest we’d say:  just don’t, till your skin settles down.  We have encountered over-zealous facialists who use too-harsh scrubs and just love to squeeze spots, leaving angry red marks which take ages to fade.  Instead, we both recommend Liz Earle Naturally Active Deep Cleansing Mask, £12.25 for a 75 ml. starter kit (with two sponges):  a brilliant once-a-week mask packed with antiseptic botanicals, and which will lift away impurities and leave your skin feeling calm and looking fresher and more even-toned. 

And trust us:  this skin phase will pass.  Keep the faith.

We . . . Neom Luxury Organic Body Oils, £32.  We love body oils – but we truly don’t adore the way that some linger greasily on the skin.  From the maker of our all-time favourite scented candles, Natural Magic, these new additions to their body/bath line are rich but sink in beautifully, leaving a pretty waft of aromatherapeutic fragrance.  For us it’s hard to choose between Unwind (a calming blend of bergamot, patchouli and French lavender), Complete Bliss (and it so is, packed with Moroccan blush rose, with a hint of lime and black pepper), and Real Luxury, which they call the ‘cashmere blanket’ of the NEOM scent library, ‘to make you feel calm and cocooned’.  Trust us:  it does just that. And you can also enhance the delicious experience of any of these body oils by lighting the ‘matching’ candle. Mmmm, love that.

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Archive

October 18th, 2009 - Winter Colours
October 11th, 2009 - Omega-3 and probiotic supplements
October 4th, 2009 - Winter Skincare
September 27th, 2009 - Jawline
September 13th, 2009 - Thread Veins
September 6th, 2009 - Thread Veins
August 30th, 2009 - Vitamin C and Skincare
August 23rd, 2009 - Beat Stings and Itches
August 15th, 2009 - Sunscreens
August 9th, 2009 - Good Skin Care
August 2nd, 2009 - Lash Conditioners
July 26th, 2009 - Spa Treatments
July 19th, 2009 - Organic Tinted Moisturiser
July 12th, 2009 - Hair Protection
July 5th, 2009 - Cellulite
June 28th, 2009 - Sexy Summer Scents
June 21st, 2009 - Eyeliner Tricks
June 14th, 2009 - Natural Suncare
June 7th, 2009 - Anti Ageing Skin Care
May 31st, 2009 - Natural Nail Polishes
May 24th, 2009 - Body Polishing
May 17th, 2009 - Rosacea
May 10th, 2009 - Manky Feet
May 3rd, 2009 - Makeup Makeover
April 26th, 2009 - Facial Hair Removal
April 19th, 2009 - Teen Skin
April 12th, 2009 - Swimmers Hair
April 5th, 2009 - Make-up For Damaged Skin
March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne