My skin care secrets: an interview with me from Beautiful with Brains

Below is a repost of an interview with me with Beautiful with Brains (click here to view the original). Read on – I share all my juicy skincare gossip to help you on your journey to clean skin!

Got acne?

I do not know which is worse. Angry red muddy pimples that cover your face and deprive you of self-esteem or harsh procedures that make your skin as dry as sandpaper – and lead to the appearance of new acne.

Ugh. Isn’t there a way to get rid of acne naturally?

Yes. Just ask Tracy Raftle. Suffering from acne since she was a teenager, Tracy tried all the usual – read harsh – methods to get rid of this. But they seemed to only exacerbate the situation.

Only when she went the natural way to clear her acne inside and out, did Tracy defeat her acne and regain the clean skin she had always dreamed of.

Now, Tracy has the task of helping women do the same, so that they can say goodbye to acne, find joy and begin to rock the life that they had to live.

Her blog, The Love Vitamin, is a treasury of natural acne remedies, and Naturally Clear Skin Academy gives you access to all the e-books, programs and resources that Tracy has created to give you beautiful, naturally clean skin.

In this interview, Tracy talks about her skin care routine, her main tips for skin cleanliness and lifestyle habits that made her acne free:

When did you become interested in skin care?

I became interested in skin care back in 2010, when I developed a severe acne. Of course, I was completely devastated and turned to complex acne treatment and natural skin care.

What is your skin care routine?

It is very minimalistic and delicate, with a strong emphasis on hydration. I learned early that the more aggressive or drier the routine, the worse the results. I actually just wash my face with water twice a day (I wear a little so as not to do makeup), and then I have three steps to my hydration procedure.

If you could use only 3 skin care products for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Since I have three steps to hydration, it is these three products / steps that I would choose for use for the rest of my life. They are:

1. While my face is still wet from washing, I use serum with vitamin C (form SAP / sodium ascorbyl phosphate). In particular, I use a product called "All Natural Advice – Vitamin C Anti-Aging." Please note that SAP is not only great for anti-aging, but also very powerful against acne too.
2. Immediately after applying the serum with vitamin C, I apply a home-made mixture of high-quality aloe vera gel and glycerin. This is my moisturizing step for adding moisture. My skin loves this. It was never as good as after I started using glycerin in my routine.
3. Complete this with a few drops of a mixture of homemade oil and essential oil to seal all the moisture and add nutrients. There are a lot of things in my mix, but they are not completely fixed. I play with it. But now it has argan oil, tamanu oil, red raspberry seed oil and essential oils: frankincense, lavender, myrrh and, I think, immortelle.

My routine has changed a lot over the years, but I really think I can stick to this basic format for the rest of my life (and not just because you asked;). My skin feels great.

What are your favorite skin care brands and why?

I really don't have any favorite skin care brands, as I mostly make my own, but these days there are a lot of amazing natural products.

What are your 3 best skin care tips?

Best skin care tips:

1. Treat your skin with love. This means that do not use aggressive products that strip and dry the skin. Don't grab it, don't squeeze it and don't oppress it. Don't hit yourself because of how it looks. Give him love, food and meekness, and he will be healed and will look his best. Think of it as a metaphor for your life and how you feel about yourself and other people. How would you like to be treated by you? Treat your skin this way.
2. Moisture – so much moisture! Your skin needs water in order to function as it should. Without water, the pores are blocked, bacteria can penetrate, and the lines of the face look more pronounced. This is really the key.
3. Don't worry too much about it and be simpler. In fact, you do not need a thousand products and a skin care procedure that takes you two hours. You do not need to feel under the control of skin care.

What skin care routines did you regularly do?

I don’t do regular skin care treatments – too lazy for that 😉

What are your skin care habits that keep your skin in great shape?

I lead a healthy lifestyle to keep my skin in shape, but I do not take it as seriously as before. There used to be so much fear around food and lifestyle – the fear was that if I ate something wrong or made a mistake with my routine, my acne might come back.

I have done a great job in this area. Now I eat well (mostly whole foods), try to sleep a lot, play sports and keep myself under control from stress. But now I am doing these things, and it is not so important. It doesn't bother me like before. For example, I am much more lenient about my diet, and my skin looks as good as when I was very strict. I am also much happier!

What's in your makeup bag?

A small thing is concealer (from Juice Beauty) and mascara. This is about it. Well, I have some kind of random make-up for a strange occasion, but 99% of the time, little brush strokes of the concealer here and there and a bit of mascara are all that I use.

Thanks Tracy!

For more tips on how to deal with acne naturally, visit Tracy's Love Vitamin website or attend her online courses at the Academy of Natural Skin. You can also keep up with her on Facebook and Instagram.