Milk - Skin-Saviour or Dairy-Devil?

MILK!

Recently, I've begun studying my cleansing products ingredients a little more carefully (due to adverse skin reactions to certain chemicals, damn my overly-sensitive skin!) and noticed quite how many times some sort of milk makes the list. Ever the thrift-queen, I started looking into the possible benefits of applying regular milk directly onto the skin, cheap and natural! 

From the little research I have done, applied externally, milk does seem to have great benefits to your skin. For bad eczema and other dry skin conditions doctors have actually recommended whole baths of milk. (Not so thrifty! Cleopatra used to bath in tubs of goats milk!)

ORGANIC WHOLE MILK is recommended and is what I've been using. Less chemicals, more fresh milky goodness and not much more expensive, unless you really are planning on pouring a load into your bath! 

What milk can do for your skin - The semi-sciency bit

Apparently milk is a great skin hydrator due to the large content of fat. The alpha-hydroxyl acid and lactic acid help exfoliate and cleanse gently, stimulating cell renewal. Essential proteins, amino acids and vitamins (A & D) help soften the skin and slows the skin darkening from age.  

Bad-Milk!

Sounds good, right? So then I started thinking, if I increase the amount of milk I actually drink as well maybe that'll help me even more. However, I have stumbled across quite a few articles that claim some sort of correlation between drinking milk, and having acne, including this article from the dailymail, this is something to do with the hormone levels in cows milk. 

Whether or not any of this is true, for the purpose of my experiment I'm going to assume that 1) Applying milk to my face = good

2) Drinking milk = bad!

The Experiment

For the past 2 nights I have externally applied Organic whole milk to my face with cotton wool, it felt fine. It was nice and cooling, I felt a slight, barely-there stinging sensation, left it on until it was dry and then thoroughly washed it off. I think the key is to make sure you have washed it off. I'm not saying scrub it off as this will just aggravate, but carefully remove it all as if there's milky residue left it could be a bit drying. I then followed this up with Lush's lovely moisturizer, Vanishing Cream. Apart from the slight milky stink, I have to say I think it's worked bloody fantastically. In only 2 short days, there's no miracle but my pores look smaller, my skin looks brighter and is much softer. So far, milk for teh win! 

I plan on continuing this for a week or so to see if I still get good results so bookmark/subscribe away and keep posted.

 

Blog Fail

It has been so long since I updated, college work got in the way of things and in the end I just kind of *forgot* this blog even existed. I'm reviving it now! Seeing as I'm jobless and therefore have plenty of time to whine about my skin and waste on the internet.

The water experiment didn't go down very well, 

I know theoretically, it should be easy to force water down my gullet, I just can't seem to make myself! But this experiment is going to be revived too, only this time I'll be aided with some tasty ...

Robinson's Orange squash! Dunno' why I didn't think of it sooner. 

Drinking Water for Clear Skin - Experiment

  For as long as I can remember I have read article upon article in girly magazines, seen pieces on TV, posts on the internet, and heard my friends talking about the benefits of water for the skin. 

 It seems to make sense. Water is good for your overall health, it aids your kidneys in flushing toxins from your body, it's good for digestion, circulation, and even your energy levels. It makes sense to me, then, that keeping your body well hydrated would have possible benefits for your skin.

Why have I not tried it?

I think the main reason for me is that I don't particularly like the taste of water. Especially the slightly-chalky-with-a-hint-of-chlorine water that leaves my taps! As a kid I was given fizzy drinks, sugary cups of tea and fruit juices. I'm used to tasting my liquids.

Another reason for me is that the supposed required 8 glasses of water a day seems like such a chore. I've tried to increase my water intake before but I've ended up getting lazy and going back to my old drinking habits in a few days...which is not to drink much at all. (Apart from at the weekends, but this type isn't very hydrating).

 I can usually get through the whole day fine on one cup of tea and a glass of fruit juice. 

I'm guessing my less than great skin, lack of energy and dry brittle hair could at least be partly to blame for this, which is why I'm going to try the 8 glasses/2 litres of water a day thing for the following 2 weeks.

I'm skeptical of needing as much water as this, and I've also read a lot of articles where people refute the 8 glasses a day rule. Water is obtained through food and even caffeinated or fizzy drinks to an extent; drinking too much can even be dangerous.

However, I think drinking more will overall be beneficial and I'm interested to see whether or not it will have much effect on my skin in such a short space of time. I know that out of my group of friends, whether it's a coincidence or not, the ones with the best skin do seem to be the ones who drink the most water. 

While I was researching this I found lots of arguments about which kind of water is best for your skin, bottled vs tap, room temperature vs chilled etc etc. I've decided to drink 2 litres of regular tap water a day. I know I whinged about the taste earlier but I resent having to pay for bottled water when I already pay for the stuff that comes out of my faucet. Also, there are the green issues of getting through a crap load of plastic bottles every week, not mentioning the fact that bottled water isn't any better for you (and in some cases may be worse).

To make this easier for myself, I'm going to fill a plastic 2 litre bottle with tap water every day and try to keep it with me at all times, at college, at the gym, in my bedroom, next to me while I'm watching the TV, and in my bag while I'm out and about..(I'll be needing a big bag, then). 

I'll update within the week to record my progress and note any changes in my complexion. For future reference, my skin as it is now is okay. Following the "no-wash" experiment, it's better than it was before, but it is still a bit dry, dull, a few blackheads, the odd pimple now and again and looking quite tired. Let's hope all this water injects a little life into it, as well as me! 

No wash Experiment - finished. A success!

  I've come a long way with this experiment since I last posted and I'm really, really pleased. I've got to a stage where I feel I can actually go outside without wearing a thick layer of concealer and foundation..Yay!

I think this was due to being so good on the second week of my experiment. For the majority of the time I wore absolutely no foundation and didn't get even the tiniest drip of water on my face, and I think it's paid off. Going out without foundation on actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, nobody noticed or cared and I didn't feel too horrendous...and the less I wore it, the better my skin got!

My skin has been looking pretty even, generally quite clear (apart from one or two hormonal chin spots) and just looks less haggard and damaged. I'm getting less of an oily shine and I'd say my skin is looking better than it has in a long while.

I think I should tell you about my few little cheats, though. I did get annoyed with my blackheads at the start of the second week, they seemed a little more prominent so after a shower I gave them a good squeeze and got rid of a load. Without the make-up and over-washing they haven't made a return as of yet. 

Also, a couple of days ago I decided to very lightly brush over my skin with cotton wool pad dipped in a little water, but apart from that my skin has been left well alone.

So due to the relative success I've had with not washing, I'm going to continue with it for a further 2 weeks, the only amendment I'm going to make is allowing myself to lightly dust over my face with a wet cotton wool pad once a week. I'm going to continue avoiding the make-up as much as possible as I think it's probably just going to make it worse if you don't wash after wearing it.

I'm very happy with the results, which makes me even more hungry for even better skin! More pictures coming soon!

Zooooooom....Onto the next experiment..

I'm a badKat! End of week 1-No Wash Experiment

 I've been really crap at updating lately, mainly due to losing the internet at home while I wait for a new contract to start.

I've also been crap at this experiment. I've not been washing my face with water as such, but I have been removing make-up with a wee bit of water and almond oil on a cotton pad most nights and technically, I think that's cheating!

So from now on I'm going to go hardcore and not use any water. I'm changing my foundation from Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse to the Maybelline Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation which should be far less skin smothering (I'll review it later after a few uses). For the next week there won't be a drip of water touching my face.

As for my skin so far, I haven't really noticed much of a difference. My skin seems slightly dry most of the time, oily a little of the time. My skin hasn't gotten any worse, although I would say it is tending to look a little dull. There is an improvement in my skin tone, it isn't as blotchy as it once was.

The blackheads and open pores are still bad, nothing seems to be changing on that front, more's the pity.. I think this experiment is proving that I really don't need to scrub away at my face morning and night with chemically laden face wash products to keep my skin in a reasonable condition. 

Day 2, and a smidgen of Day 3-No wash skin detox

Technically it's Day 3 now, as it's 1.30 am here in the UK. I shouldn't even be awake, I'm such a disgustingly ill, bunged up, dribbly, sneezy mess. I'm gross.

In skin news I'm actually looking rather good, I've been so good with not wearing make-up! (mainly because I'm so ill I don't actually give a crap what I look like, ahem, but we'll ignore that!) My skin's still feeling soft, looking generally very clear and I'm looking quite fresh-faced. I'm not sure whether that has anything to do with the not washing or the avoidance of foundation but still, I'm PLEASED. :)

The only thing I'd say that hasn't improved is the blackheads on my nose, still quite apparent, if not a little MORE apparent.. but I'm going with the theory that it's just my skin starting to get rid of all the gunk, fingers crossed anyway. 

I went to the gym earlier and got really sweaty, it was so frustrating not to just be able to wash it away! Ahhh, what with this illness and all I'd love to just dip my face into some nice cool water!

Stay tuned for some pictures at the end of this first week.

No Washing Experiment - Day 1

 As expected on Day 1.. nothing much to report here. 

I feel as though I have cheated a little in the fact that I did wear some make-up which needed to be removed, therefore a teeny amount of water on a cotton pad with a bit of almond oil was used to get it off. (Really awesome way to take your make-up off by the way).

My skin at the moment is looking dull, tired and feeling very dry (this can probably be attributed to the fact that I had one too many double vodka cokes last night, didn't sleep very much, and have been sat in a house with the radiators blasting all day!).

I have to say my skin is feeling a little softer, and there's no extreme greasiness that I sometimes get around mid-day. It definitely isn't getting *worse* which I was afraid of, no spots have appeared, blackheads aren't more prominent or anything like that, so i'm still hopeful. I'll do a bare skin picture update at the end of the week to keep a record of how it's looking

From now on I'm going to try and use even less water.. which I guess means less make-up for me, boohoo. Fugly day for me tomorrow.