Skin care during recovery

[CRJG]

I just wanted to post here some skin care advice for anyone in addiction recovery. I am really involved in addiction recovery as I’m a recovering addict myself. I have noticed I have been asked a lot lately how I cleared by skin up during recovery. And your skin goes through crazy phases during recovery that is different then what others go through. You will experience purging, dryness, new sensitivities, my skin actually completely changed skin types. So thought I would share a little of my journey because it is hard to ask anything when it involves addiction and recovery. 1) During detox and even the first few months of sobriety your skin will purge. Like almost all the chemicals from substances are coming out of your pores. It’s a phase and it doesn’t last forever. The best products I found for this stage was (for some reason it won’t let me link products) but Eradikate by Kate Somerville which really helped keep white heads at bay and heal them up fast. Also, your skin is purging so it’s going to get acne no matter what. And your skin is also dry because lack of water, nutrition, sleep, lack of care during addiction so stick with more gentle cleansers even with purging. I really like the Peace out cleansing balm it’s gentle but helps with acne. Also the Ordinary Niacinamide 10% and zinc 1% serum helps too but because your skin is healing it is strong and I only used it 1x a day. And lastly a good oil free moisturizer! I really liked the Clinique 72hour moisture surge during this stage. And for toner I would switch it up from a strong acne toner (Kiehl’s blue herbal toner was my choice) mixed with the Kiehl’s cucumber toner. 2) after my skin purged I was left with very dry skin. And I found my skin needed lots of moisture during this phase even though I was battling scaring. So if I treated the scaring I would get sensitive and red on top of my VERY dry skin. So I had to treat the lack of nutrients next. My favourite products that brought my skin back to balance without making the last of the purge worse was: Glow Recipe Avocado retinol sleeping mask. I was never sensitive to retinol until recovery. And I still am and this sleeping mask is the only retinol product I have found that works with my skin now. It also really helped brighten my skin and make my skin get colour back into it. And plumper skin. Just a suggestion too, because your skin changes try patch testing when using stronger products in case you’ve built a sensitivity up. I also really liked the Wishful Thirst TrapJuice serum. I use to be able to use oils on my face but once my skin changed in recovery I couldn’t even use argon oil anymore (which use to be my go too) so I suggest looking for products that are oil free with hyaluronic acid, peptides, aloe, other calming and soothing ingredients. I also really liked Clinique’s moisture surge concentrated serum during this phase. Also during this phase I had to cut out the niacinamide and zinc serum to keep my skin moisturized. 3) it was almost like my skin changed over night. I went from very dry sensitive skin to somewhat back to normal and balanced. Then I could start treating all my acne scars from the purge and picking during active addiction. I was able to reintroduce the niacinamide and zinc serum back into my routine. I switched toners to Olehenrisken Glow2OH dark spot toner. Which really helped with my scaring. I also was able to introduce back into my routine my favourite product Sunday Riley Good Genes. I tried the Dr. Dennis gross daily peels (which use to work wonders for me) but they were too harsh on my skin now. So the good genes worked a lot better. And using both morning and night I had no problems. I also switched up moisturizers at this time to the Wish Honey Balm. This was still moisturizing enough for my healing skin but helped a lot with the scaring. The scaring stage is frustrating because your skin is sensitive and healing from years of damage and lack of nutrients so you can’t treat with strong products like I wanted too. But the scars will clear up it just takes time. I recently tried the Peace out Acne serum and it also does really well with brightening up scars but I found it strong so be careful you don’t dry your skin out if you use decide to try it. I also ALWAYS carry the Clinique Moisture Surge spray in all my bags, my car, always have on with me because I always want my skin to be moisturized. My one thing I’ve learned during this skin journey is skin damaged by addiction needs nutrients and moisture to heal properly! Whenever I let my skin get too dry my skin would stop healing. So the spray is great for moisture on the go. And lastly I started adding in the Youth to the People super berry hydrate and glow dream mask. I alternated with the glow recipe retinol mask. The dream mask really helps brighten up scaring over night but it’s really hydrating. But I still alternate with the retinol mask because I have found the retinol mask has completely gotten rid of my fine lines that were forming on my forehead for lack of sleep and water over the years. 4) I know I’m not the only one who picked my body during active addiction. My body scars were just as bad if not worse on my body then my face. The good thing about the body scars is my body skin didn’t go through crazy stages like my face. So I could treat the scars with more intense treatments. My body scars are 90% gone now from using: I used the Clinique’s prep start face wash at first but now I switched over to the new First Aid Beauty Bump Eraser which works better then the Clinique face wash and better price since you’re using it as a body wash almost. I also used Alba’s brightening enzyme face wash from the drug store in alternating with the Clinique prep start or the bump eraser. Then I used Palmer’s cocoa butter formula skin therapy oil. It’s the same thing as Bio-oil but half the price. Helps a lot with scaring. Then I get a tub (a tub not a push bottle) body cream (my favourite is aveeno but you can choose whatever you like) and I add 2 bottles of the Ordinary Asorbic Acid 8% Alpha Arbutrin 2% serum into my tub of body cream and mix it up. I apply it daily. I know it’s a long post but hope it benefits someone. I’m in my 16th month of sobriety and my scars are still not completely healed but it’s getting there so just be patient. Just like recovery is a process your skin healing is a process. Be gentle with your skin as it’s been neglected for so long. It really needs nutrients sleep water, LOTS of water! Patch test stronger products new products and even products you use to use before, as you may have developed new sensitivities. And lastly, if you’re struggling right now with addiction don’t be afraid to reach out! Recovering Addicts love helping other addicts stay clean it helps us too ! So always reach out 💜

[SassieAurora]

Just wanted to say grats on your recovery 🙂 I know it's rough, and I know its cliche, but it really is one day at a time, one hour, one minute sometimes. I am in my 16th year of long-term recovery and I still struggle. It is never cured, just in remission.

Thank you for your wonderful post!

[CRJG]

True warrior strength right here 👊💪

the day I can say 16 years sober can’t wait.

and very true it is a CHRONIC DISEASE that can be fatal, always just in remission ❤️