rough skin

[butrflywish]

I've been really stressed lately because of school and I barely have time to sleep, so my skin's been breaking out and being rough.  How can I make it smooth and stop breaking out?

[pinkipinklips]

start bringing a water bottle to school and drink lots of water. use a daily face scrub my faveorite is st. ive's apricot srub they have different degrees like gentle or invigorating  don't get anything too harsh. use toners and cleansers that target your acne but an overkill on acne products will make your skin dry alway moisturize good luck

[cortnie]

Aside from the excellent internal advice from the other answers (sleep, water, and destressing) - if you have the time (and $) go see an esthetician. As one myself, I would give you an acne facial to help your skin kick start repairing the break out damage. Look for Esthetics schools in your area (also called Cosmetology, Beauty, and Spa schools) and see if they have an esthetics program - schools are a good way to get some help for cheap! Schools run around half of salon prices, depending on your area.

Also, listen to the advice of the cleansing and scrubs. And keep your hands off your face if you can.

[ezsnnev]

I agree with the others - sleep is essential! But during those times when sleep is not an option, you can make ammends by altering other parts of your life .

Water, water, water ... its so important. I try to have at least 10-12 glasses a day. This isn't really hard, beacause I down it mostly when i'm at work and later at the gym. If you find it a little bland, try adding some tea leaves and letting it cool down.

I find that yoga has also helped with my breakouts ... the simple notion of relaxing does wonders. If you don't have time, deep breathing is great way to relieve some tension. Pent up stress causes all sorts of skin problems ...

What you eat can also affect your skin. Stay away from greasy foods and try to add raw unprocessed foods into your diet. I'm a reader of ohsheglows.com, and people swear by this particular smoothie .. its called the green monster:

http://greenmonstermovement.com/

Fish oil supplements are also known to help with skin problems. I'm currently taking a combination omega-3 pill for women.

[melalah]

Assuming the breakouts are stress related and not hormone related, TRY and get some sleep. Since I graduated, I still (not so fondly) remember the stress school causes and I know that sleep is somewhat impossible. If you have no open breakouts (popped ones) then use an exfoliator for the rough skin--I really like Korres Pomegranate scrub $21. 

You will want a gentle cleanser so you don't irritate your skin.  Bliss has a travel size of their Fabulous Foaming face wash for $9 and if your SiJCP still has it, the Ole Henrikson African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser is $10. either of those are great! You could probably even skip the exfoliation if that's not in the budget (I'm still poor! lol). 

As said, drink lots of water. Hydration really does help your skin! Good luck 🙂

[capybara]

Hi, I know you know you need to sleep.  NEED to!  So I won't go on about making time for yourself and taking a good look at your habits to see if maybe you're shooting your sleep in the foot somewhere. 

First - drink plenty of water.  PLENTY.  LIke 10 glasses a day.  WATER, not soda.  Water is your skin's best friend.  Be sure to wash your face before bed (or at the end of the day) with something gentle.  Even if you haven't worn makeup.

For the dullness, you might try Clarin's "one step gentle exfoliating facial cleanser".  It is a great product.  (Keep it away from your eyes. learned that the hard way.  ouch.)  I've recently started using it every other day and it really smoothes out the skin and helps clear congestion in the t zone(it is not a "clearing" kind of product, just the exfoliation helps the skin clear itself naturally).

It is $35, which is steep on anyone's budget.  As a student, I assume that's kind of REALLY steep.  Maybe ask for it for your birthday?  In the mean time,  try to do the basics (drink water, wash your face gently)...  and a good tip an aesthetician (sp?) gave me once, is after a steamy shower, wet a washcloth with warm water (not hot, you'll break capillaries) and hold it on the area for a minute or two, then gently GENTLY scrub.  EDIT:  And when I say gently, I mean GENTLY.  GENTLY!  Everything you do to your face today you will see when you are older.

Clarins also has a great alcohol free toner that could be good for after washing your face. It's the yellow one.  Forget the name.

I don't work for clarins or anything, I just have really sensitive skin and their skin care has done well by me.

(For tinted moisturizer and normal moisturizer though, I use Boscia because Clarins is out of my budget for that)