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Tell me if this is you:
You’re packing your bags for a well deserved vacation, dreaming of the water you’ll be swimming in, the fresh air you’ll be breathing, the food you’ll be enjoying and the laughs you’ll be sharing with your people, when you get a little pang of worry. What if I get a breakout while on vacation? What if I can’t cover my acne when going swimming or hiking or going to the beach? What if being out of my normal routine causes my acne to flare up? You start googling, ‘how to handle breakouts on vacation‘ and pray that someone has all the answers.
These are really common worries and are totally valid. That said, they can cause unnecessary stress and take away from your ability to be present and enjoy your vacation. Today, we’re chatting about how you can change your skin mindset so you can focus on living your life. Not on breakouts. Plus, we’re sharing some sneaky hacks for minimizing a pesky pimple if you’re really in a pinch.
How to Handle Breakouts on Vacation: How is mindset relevant to clearing my acne?
If the goal is to feel happy in your skin, you don’t have to wait until it’s ‘perfect’ to do that. Spoiler: it will never be perfect… and it’s not meant to be! Working on your skin mindset can help you accept your skin for the ebbing and flowing entity that it is. Thinking that you will suddenly find confidence, happiness and total satisfaction in your skin and self once your acne is cleared is a classic example of the ‘I’ll be happy when’ mentality.
We know that this is a detrimental way of thinking. Once you get to that ‘when’, you find something else to want to change. And the cycle never ends. Plus, as I said before skin ebbs and flows and even once it clears, your skin will likely still break out now and then. It’s completely normal. If you let your self-worth be determined by your skin, you will always be vulnerable to these fluctuations.
If you still need more convincing to try working on your skin mindset, think of it this way; when you believe in yourself and your ability to clear your skin through the various tools you have available to you (like this blog or The Acne Protocol guide) you are more likely to stick with them. On the flip side, allowing thoughts like, “My skin will never clear” or “I’ll never be confident until my acne clears” can be discouraging and lead to feelings of wanting to give up or lack of desire to stick with your skin-clearing habits.
How to Handle Breakouts on Vacation: Mindset
1. My physical appearance does not define my self worth as a human.
Spend as little as one minute on any social media platform and you can probably find something about your appearance that you want to change. Our constant exposure to perfectly curated images and the praise of these images makes us think that we have to achieve a perfect appearance to be valuable as a human being.
Instead of trying to derive your self-worth from your appearance, focus on what makes you FEEL beautiful. It could be eating foods that make you feel good, dancing to music you like, being a supportive partner etc. I promise you there are a million beautiful things about you right now. All you have to do to feel beautiful is acknowledge them and then stay as close to them as possible.
2. With the right tools and support I can and will clear my acne.
When you believe things are possible, they are more likely to happen. When you believe you have everything you need to clear your acne, you make better use of the tools you have available to you. On the flip side, when you sit in the mindset of ‘I’ll never clear my acne’ you’re less likely to make use of the resources you do have and are more likely to give up. Remember that change happens little by little. You have everything you need right now to clear your acne. Even if your toolkit is tiny right now, it will grow as you go.
3. Switch your mindset from “I need to hide my acne and I’m too scared to socialize” to “I want to enjoy my social life and my acne will not dictate my happiness.”
While this is definitely easier said than done, it’s a powerful switch that puts the control back in your hands. We can’t always control what’s happening with our skin. What we can control is our choice to not let the state of our skin control us. This is particularly important in the healing phase of your acne journey, but will benefit you forever.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others
If you’re wondering how to handle breakouts on vacation, but you’re thinking thoughts like “They’re three months into their acne clearing journey and their skin looks way better than mine” or, “All my friends have perfect skin and I’m the only one who has to worry about pimples” then pay this section some extra attention. We are all individual, unique beings and the only person you need to be comparing yourself to is yourself.
Instead of comparing your progress to someone else’s, compare your current self to your past self. You’ll see just how far you’ve come and it’s probably further than you thought. This works even if your skin has yet to see a big improvement. You can still see progress in what you’ve learned, habits you’ve changed and the commitment you’ve made to yourself. This encourages you not only to stop comparing yourself to others but also to really appreciate yourself. And seriously, you deserve the appreciation.
5. Go back to basics
If you’ve been searching for answers on how to handle breakouts on vacation on social media, chances are that you’ve seen superfoods, supplements and other products touted as miracle workers or the answer to all your problems. Here’s the reality; A lot of what you see on social media is being marketed to you by people without adequate knowledge or qualifications and for the purpose of simply making money. This means that there’s a pretty low chance that its going to be the one thing that magically clears your acne. And a pretty high chance that you will waste time and money.
One of the best things that you can do for yourself is to go back to basics. Put the blinders on when on social media. Focus on eating real, whole foods with lots of plant foods and trust the process. This may not be the most glamorous or the easiest and it’s certainly not a quick fix. But remember that you are healing and rebuilding solid foundations and there is no miracle product that substitutes that work.
How to Handle Breakouts on Vacation: Emergency Tips
Look, we know that even if you have the healthiest of acne mindsets, there are some breakouts that you just want to get rid of as fast as possible. Here are our best quick tips for hurrying the healing of a breakout while on vacation:
- Use Zit Sticka or a Manuka honey mask – these are great for quickly reducing the inflammation of the pore, helping with reduction in size and redness. Scroll through this blog post to the ‘What is the best product for acne’ to see more about Manuka honey.
- Wear sunscreen – If you’ve picked at a spot (ugh, so hard, I know!) make sure to wear sunscreen! I like using an acne safe mineral based sunscreen like this one to ensure you avoid making acne scarring worse from sun damage.
- Increase Vitamin C intake – while we still aren’t sure if topical Vitamin C works as well as internal, we do know that it acts as a powerful antioxidant to help clear acne and protect the skin. I always recommend increasing your vitamin C intake through food first – foods like bell peppers, purple cabbage and oranges are wonderful or try stirring in a teaspoon of camu camu powder for a smoothie booster!
- Sea salt spray or swimming in salt water – either make your own DIY sea salt spray like this one here, or take a nice long dip in the ocean. Salt water is amazing for balancing oil, naturally cleansing and balancing bacteria. It’s like a free mineral spa bath!
Final reminders…
These mindset tips help to remind yourself that you are deserving of love, acceptance and care, regardless of the state of your skin. You should not be withholding these things from yourself ​until you reach a certain standard. In fact, giving yourself love, acceptance and care right now as you heal is an important part of the process. You are more likely to make decisions that are nourishing and that facilitate your healing process when you are acknowledging your inherent value and worthiness. You are so capable.
Ready to clear your acne?
Are you ready to kickstart your acne clearing journey and gain access to all the tools you need to look at the root cause of your acne? Get on the right supplements, find out what skincare actually works and get your nutrition into gear. Grab your copy of The Acne Protocol now.
