A little pot of magic

This is not a sponsored post. I am here impartially, to share the love!

I had a constant line up of products I hoped might fix my skin.

If you’ve ever had any kind of skin ailment and have trudged down the path of desperation, buying every product promising to fix you, spending hours knee deep in the internet looking for answers, then hello my friend. Fancy meeting you here.

I had pretty good skin in my teenage years, which made it all the more baffling when I started getting rosacea and hormonal spots in my mid 20s. For ten years, I tried everything. Tea tree oil, witch hazel, scrubs, soft cleansers, harsh cleansers, no cleansers. My doctor prescribed a topical medication containing benzoyl peroxide and I applied it with abandon, ignoring the fact it’s both a medication for mild to moderate acne AND an industrial chemical. Slap that industrial chemical all over my delicate face!

I went back and forth to the doctor, who eventually sent me to see a dermatologist who diagnosed untreatable rosacea and suggested I learn how to apply foundation really well. How disheartening.

Going vegan didn’t make any difference, although I know for a lot of people cutting out dairy helps - and I am happy for them. Whatever bonuses are to be had from not eating cow products is a win from my vegan perch, regardless of whether they work for me.

Just over a year ago, I read an article about the benefits of salicylic acid. Brilliant, I thought, buying a bottle and hoping I’d found the cure. I ignored the voice in my head suggesting maybe something called anything-acid might not be something I should put on my face.

A year ago, my skin problems had never been worse.

Myself and two friends met for a weekend of snuggles and bonding. I love these two women very much indeed, but my skin was in such a sorry state I didn’t want to see them, or rather, I didn’t want them to see me.

On the first night, I admitted what a fragile mess I was and they, being the kind souls they are, showered me in compliments, which was sweet but compliments ain’t fixing no broken skin. I soldiered on. We drove to a well being festival. There was an eclectic mix of classes, activities and workshops on offer. I almost didn’t go to the facial massage workshop. What’s the bloody point, I moaned to myself, plus I really shouldn’t be massaging my face with these grubby little fingers, how’s that going to help the mess I’m in?

I did go, I don’t know why, maybe after a decade of wrong directions the skin gods were finally ready to guide me somewhere useful.

Sitting in a semi circle with about 15 other women, we were all asked to remove our make-up, if we were wearing any. Remove my make up, in public! I wanted to bolt out of the window, broken glass everywhere as I commando-rolled down the roof like Jason Bourne but, spotty.

But the workshop leader, Mary, had the most glowing complexion I’d ever seen so I decided to hang around and see what she had to say for herself.

We were given warm, soapy water bowls to wash our hands, then a pipette’s worth of Mary’s oil. Mary proceeded to tell us her story as she guided us through a facial massage. I had to hold back the tears, for it was as if she was speaking directly to me. Plagued with rosacea, hormonal spots and scars, she’d tried everything. Until she’d eventually got into the life changing art of facial massage using oils.

As her complexion began to clear, she figured out the absolute best blend of oils, bottled it and long story short, here she was to share the results.

Little pot, little pot of magic.

I liked her vibe and my skin felt great after just 15 minutes so I bought a bottle and spoke to her afterwards. I told her how I’d been applying salicylic acid and the look of horror on her face said it all. I told her it seemed counter-intuitive to apply oil to oily skin and she explained that the reason so many people have an oily complexion is because they use products that strip the skin’s natural oils, which means the skin overproduces sebum, resulting in an oily look. Applying oil works in harmony with the skin’s natural pH level, leaving you nourished, protected and naturally matified. .

I promised never to put acid on my face again and trotted off to reunite with my friends.

For the first time in years, I had hope. That night I applied Skinirvana again and it was as if my dry, oily, spotty, sorry, red skin had been gasping for a drenching. It looked visibly better already.

Things only continued to improve.

I write this one year on to tell you that I have since bought nothing but more of Skinirvana’s magic in a bottle. To call it magic is actually to do it a disservice. It’s not magic. It’s a blend of seven pure plant and seed oils, including geranium bourbon, which balances and moisturises, neroli, which reduces inflammation and irritation and juniper berry, an antiseptic with incredible healing properties. At £45 a bottle it might seem a little dear (although there are regular discounts) but I would have paid twice as much to fix my skin, and indeed often did. Now I’m no longer throwing my money away on various lotions and potions. A bottle lasts about two months and coupled with the twice-daily facial massage, is an absolute game changer.

Skinirvana, is, of course, vegan - I would never recommend or buy anything that wasn’t. Mary herself is vegan, if you, like me, are keen to support vegan-owned vegan brands.

My troubled skin is happy skin these days. I get an occasional pre-menstrual spot, but they are quick to come and quick to go, which is a country mile from the stubborn spots I used to get which lasted so long the next period would come around before they’d sodded off, in a frustrating and disheartening cycle of doom.

I so completely believe in Mary that I had the honour of writing about her for Best magazine recently:

And you see Jane, there? Founder of Sweet Revolution. Also vegan, running a vegan business. I don’t mind if I do infiltrate the magazines I write for, with vegan women running vegan businesses. I don’t mind if I do one bit.