I visited China in the summer. I washed my face 2 times each day with plain water. I did not use any skincare, I ate much more food (unhealthy and healthy) too. My skin cleared up (no joke. maybe 1 or 2 pimples, but that’s all.)
When I go back to Vancouver, my skin is bad again. I have tried switching pillowcases daily, getting 8 hours of sleep every day, washing my hair and face thoroughly, opening my windows big and wide, and even buying a small air purifier for my room—none of those worked.
I’m still in high school, school isn’t stressful. I don’t like my friends but I don’t think they’re the problem.
I have a habit of picking my skin. I didn’t do it in China because I didn’t care what people thought of me and my skin there. I pick my skin every morning before showering so my friends don’t see my pus-filled skin.
I’m a bit surprised so many comments are narrowing in on things like diet and humidity when it seems to me the big variable you’ve identified is skin-picking. You stopped while you were in China, your skin cleared up, you presumably started again when you came back and now it’s worse. I think it makes sense to start there. Have a look into dermatillomania and see if you think it sounds like it might apply to you.
I can’t believe I had to scroll so far. The skin picking is a contributing factor. Stress might also be a factor, on holiday one tends to be more relaxed.
I was surprised you’re the first person to say this. the top comments ignore the enormous variable that OP drops at the end.
I’m a skin picker so no shame but it sure isn’t healthy for your skin. I cover my mirrors with a curtain so I don’t start picking when I’m just washing my hands. i also think pimple patches (hydrocolloid ones with no actives) are a good way to stop your hands from automatically going to scabs when you’re not thinking.
Hydrocolloid pimple patches for the win! You can pop your pimple, pop a pimple patch over it, and go to bed. By morning the patch usually draws out the remaining core and leaves a mostly drained and healed spot.
Stopping skin-picking was honestly the biggest thing that changed my skin. It’s easier to underestimate the effect that it has. I used to justify it by telling myself that I was helping my skin by clearing whatever pimples it was there. When I started to leave them it was like night and day.
Some clinical trials/retrospective cohort studies are showing N-acetylcysteine over-the-counter supplements having a significant effect on behaviors such as dermatillomania or Trichotillomania (hair pulling)…. If you’re really at your wits end you could try including this supplement in your routine ofc consult a doctor. I am too inconsistent a taker to say whether I found it works with the hair pulling but found it interesting to think a supplement could modify a picking habit
This. I completely agree that the picking is likely to be the most influential factor.
I also wanted to address a tangential problem I’m seeing: the reason for the picking. OP says they don’t think their friends are the problem, but when speaking about the picking, they said they do it so that their friends won’t bother them about their acne. To me, this means OP’s friends are indeed a big part of the problem.
While it is OP’s responsibility to care for their acne and learn not to pick, a supportive environment is vital when it comes to improving any health condition (and life in general, quite frankly). Annoying friends who are being jerks about someone’s acne are the opposite of a supportive environment.
The same thing happens to me whenever I visit Vietnam. My skin looks as good as ever and I can be lax with my diet without worrying about flare-ups. If you’re like me, your skin likely likes the higher humidity compared to home. I bought a humidifier when I got back that I use at night and my skin thinks we never left!
It depends on what part of China they were in. There are a lot of places in China that aren’t high humidity at all. Vancouver has quite high humidity, I think?
It depends on what part of China they were in. There are a lot of places in China that aren’t high humidity at all. Vancouver has quite high humidity, I think?
I don’t think you need a humidifier. If you use one anyway, make sure it’s not humid all the time or you’ll get mold. If you have asthma a humidifier might cause flare-ups. Use distilled water if possible
humidity is not calculated purely by percentage…it’s related to the temperature, the higher temp is, the more water is stored in the air. Shenzhen would be 30-40 Celsius in summer. The percentage is only the relative humidity(relative to temp) not absolute.