Let's Talk Yogurt {My Skin Care Tips Part 1}

Part one of my skin care tips series!

If I were to choose one thing healthy/natural that I would not want to live without, it would probably be a toss up between yogurt and lavender essential oil ;) But for this post I'm going to focus on yogurt! I'm not talking about that runny super-sweet yoplait stuff, I'm talking creamy dreamy, thick and gloppy plain yogurt. :) Not only is it delicious to eat and incredibly good for you, it also works wonders for your skin!!
Yogurt is great for acne and red skin because it helps shrink your pores and sooths irritated skin.
What I love about going natural for "cosmetics" is that the simplest items are usually the best! And you can often find them right in your kitchen!
I suffer from acne, just like pretty much everyone else in their teens. My acne came a lot later in life than most, while most of my friends were breaking out at 13-16 I started breaking out late into my 16th year, and at nearly 19 I'm still breaking out. But yogurt has helped to sooth my skin and keep my acne at bay. When I am faithful to apply it every night or every other night I very rarely have breakouts, maybe an occasional pimple, but not much more, and my skin is healthier smoother, well hydrated and my pores are much smaller. You can apply it before bed, or when you wake up in the morning. It's easier for me to do it before bed, but one morning I got up several hours before my usual time and needed a little bit of a wake up, so I put it on in the morning, and the cold creaminess felt amazing on my sleepy skin, and was very refreshing, so I would really just go with what works for you.

I started with this yogurt facial cleaning routine a month or two ago, because my senior pictures were coming up, and I wanted to have clear skin for my pictures so I wouldn't have to touch up my photos. When my friend picked me up for my senior photoshoot we started talking about acne and skin, and I told her about the yogurt, she also had some minor acne, and so she bought some yogurt and tried it out, she came over about 2 weeks later, and I noticed at *huge* difference in her skin, (and her acne was not even bad), her skin was brighter and clearer in just the short time, she told me her twin brother had also started using it as well as another one of her friends, so that was cool to hear!

Make sure you use plain yogurt, look at the ingredients and make sure there is not sugar or flavorings added, it should have in ingredient list of milk and live bacteria cultures.(and possibly pectin) I would highly reccomend using only organic, but I have used all natural when I could not find anything else. Also try to find one that is not hemogenized. I don't think there is a yogurt on the market made with raw milk, but if you can find one, that would be ideal. Leave a comment and tell me your favorite plain yogurt! Do your research, read labels, and find a brand you trust! I am actually planning to buy a yogurt machine so I can make my own since good quality organic yogurt is very expensive.

One last thing, I've also heard that it's great for your hair especially dandruff and hair lost. My hair is very delicate, and in the past few weeks it has started to fall out again and I've also developed dandruff in the past few months, which with my dark hair is driving me crazy. I just used the yogurt on my hair for the first time today, and honestly can't tell much of difference in the dandruff or losing my hair, but my hair definitely feels softer and looks shinier. I'm interested to see if it helps with the dandruff/hair loss with repeated use.
{EDITED I did notice an improvement in the dandruff, and it also really helped strengthen my hair. Give it a try!}

I am planning to put a tutorial up on how I use yogurt on your face - not that it's hard, but sometimes if you see how someone does it, and how easy it is, it will give you that extra boost of confidence to try it out yourself.

{EDITED  - I did end up filming a tutorial if you interested find that post right here Cleansing with Yogurt Tutorial and I have another post on yogurt here, homemade yogurt as a matter of fact! Adventures in Yogurt Making}


~Elissa