I share my teenage body image troubles, experience with adult acne and my renewed love for turmeric.

When I was a teenager, I hated my pimply skin, didn't understand why my legs had to be hairy, despised the shape of my feet and how my toes were arranged.

This battle against my own body stemmed from the habit of comparing myself and aspects of my physical self with others, usually celebs (who do I think I am? lol), icons of the moment or some popular girls in school.

Being insecure of the body can also be an extension of a deep-seated emotional and mental turmoil that can happen at any age. Having a negative body image is not only an issue for growing teens, but adults alike.

When I had my acne flare up just about a month ago, I felt burrowing into a dark cave was high on the list and even warned my boyfriend to let me get my clear skin back before dates could happen. I was down in the dumps and felt that if I felt bad at the state of my own skin, I was certain that experiencing other people looking at it and asking me about it would make me feel even worse.

I surprised myself by practicing loving-kindness directed onto myself and in the way I viewed my skin. Yes, I did wish the acne would go away quickly but since that didn't happen, I reflected back on the time before I had the acne outbreak, when my skin was clear. It became apparent that even then, I wasn't happy with it and obsessed with trying to erase old facial blemishes and plump up wrinkles with new skincare products.

In a nutshell, looking back, I judged my facial skin standard harshly even when it was just fine. What was that about, I ask myself. Sneakily, the game of comparing oneself with another had sent me into yet another an obsessive cycle over getting my skin to look a certain way, perfect. The quest is never-ending, it seems.

At the moment, my jawline acne is currently healing and I must say that even though my skin was in a healthy state two months back, I find that with the recent acne breakout, I'm working with my skin to give it what it minimally needs through gentle facial products I can actually eat and by eating more mindfully, checking back with what my body and mind need in the context of physical and spiritual nourishment.

Even though I did attempt to conceal them a few weeks ago when the acne was still bumpy and inflamed, I realized it defeated the purpose of letting the skin breathe and heal.

At the moment, my skin is relishing the use of gentle products like turmeric, coconut oil, and aloe vera gel.

What's even more awesome is that the use of turmeric, with a few tiny drops of coconut oil and some water as a night facial mask has helped balanced my very oily T-zone. I kid you not!

I cannot believe that I didn't know of this any sooner. I had initially utilized the combination of turmeric and chickpea flour together with a bit of coconut oil and water. I guess the chickpea kind of diluted the curcumin's effect. Finding out I could use turmeric alone as a mask and that it fantastically evens out my skin tone, refines my pores and regulates my crazy facial oil production renewed my love for turmeric in 2016.

The Infamous Turmeric Stain Dilemma - Ideas To Help

1. Wear your ugliest shirt you reserve for facial experiments like this.

2. It will stain the palm of your hands and the manicure so you should not be doing this the night before any type of situation where you want to look your best. I'm brown so the yellow glow actually is lovely as a natural facial illuminator. If you're pale, experiment with caution. I'd suggest mixing the turmeric with chickpea flour or yogurt (not the sweet ones, please) so that the yellow cast isn't frightening and is easily removed.

3. After cleansing your face the first time, go over with a piece of facial cotton mixed with your gentlest toner to clean up the remainder of yellow you might have missed.

4. To seal in the moisture after, I use a smidgen of coconut oil I warm with both of my hands and dab it gently at areas without acne first, the driest patches of skin and then at the cheek and jawline where the war zone is.

What About The Turmeric Scent?

If you're a fan of Indian/Malay cuisines, you will not mind it generally. I find the herbal scent of turmeric particularly soothing. It makes me think of food and you know how food and I go way back, don't you?

And The Turmeric Texture (after slapping the mask on the face)?

I find it dries up nicely. No slipping off of the face or flaking unless you're making rigorous movements to the sound of Drake's Hotline Bling for some reason I won't speculate. And the best thing? You can still move your face like normal. I'm happy to report that I could drink water from a cup with this facial turmeric mask on, which is a challenge if you mix it with chickpea flour as the mask hardens on your face at it dries.


Do you use turmeric as a facial skin treatment to help with your acne and control your facial oiliness? Share your experience down below - I would love to know. If you have other natural facial tips and tricks - please do share!

MakeupAlley Turmeric Mask Rating : 4.5/5
Turmeric Review on Acne.org : 4.3/5