9 Non-Toxic Quick Fixes For Common Skin Crises + How To Avoid Them

Are you suffering from cracked, inflamed skin?  Have an acne flair up?  Did your rosacea “bloom” this morning?  Whatever the issue, a skin crisis can have the potential to be debilitating. Our tendency is to quickly cover up the problem, and while that can work, there are some natural skincare options that can be both a quick fix and a long term remedy. 

Here are some product tips and daily lifestyle tweaks that can help you proactively and reactively deal with common skincare crises.

CRACKED, DRY HANDS + FEET

Quick fix:

• To combat extreme dryness, lather hands and/or feet with Healing Hand Butter and cover them with gloves or socks before going to bed. This will allow the moisture-rich ingredients to focus on your skin while you get your beauty sleep.
• Call into action a couple of ingredients that are naturally healing. Our Tamanu Neem Healing Bar features Organic Neem Oil and Organic Tamanu Oil, both of which repair skin cells and can remedy cracked skin. 

Preventative Solutions: 

• Ensure that your environment has plenty of moisture. While you can’t change the climate outdoors, you can add a humidifier to indoor air to deliver the moisture your skin craves.
• Keep skin soft and smooth with moisture-rich products like Healing Hand Butter, Eco Body Lotion, and Luxe Body Butter. Ensure that you pick products without potentially toxic ingredients like Parabens or mineral oil.
• Don’t over-wash hands as many traditional soap products can be irritating and/or drying. Avoid any soap containing Triclosan or antibacterial ingredients, which can strip the skin of its own moisture barrier (and, not to mention, is harmful to the environment). Try our Foaming Hand Soap.
• Exfoliate skin with our organic Moisturizing Body Buff to get rid of dry, flaky skin so that your moisturizing ingredients can reach the skin and do their job.
• Keep your hands and feet protected. That means wearing gloves when you’re in the snow or gardening, and shoes on your feet when you’re outside.

CHAPPED LIPS

Quick Fix:

• Exfoliate your lips with a DIY mixture of honey and sugar. Apply to lips and let sit for a few minutes before rubbing gently to help slough off dead skin cells, and reveal fresh skin primed to absorb moisture-rich products.
• Apply Lip Assist Conditioning Treatment to your lips.  It will keep them moisturized and smooth with its high powered ingredients straight from Mother Nature.
• For immediate relief from a cold sore or crack on the lips, spot treat with our Tamanu Neem Healing Bar on the affected area. While it may not smell as good as our other products, the effect is amazing. 

Preventative Solutions: 

• Avoid all lip products made with mineral oil as it is deceptively drying.
• Stash organic lip products like our Lip Yummie in routine spots in your day-to-day life, like your purse, desk, car, and nightstand. This will ensure that you can always keep your lips moisturized.
• Add coconut oil to your morning coffee. You’ll be surprised how smooth it makes your coffee and your lips with each sip.
• Add sunscreen to your lips when spending prolonged periods of time outside. You can add a thin layer of non-toxic sunscreen before you put on your Lip Yummie or Lip Skinny.
• Dehydration is a major contributor to chapped lips, so drink more water!

ACNE BREAKOUTS

Acne can be caused by many things, like hormones, environment, diet, and more. But there are some things you can do to give your face the upper hand against acne breakouts.

Quick Fix:

• Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water. Use a cotton pad to dap on the breakout area. Repeat 2-3 times during the day.
• Make a paste by combining 1 tsp of Sally B’s B Green Mask with 1 Tbsp Honey (Manuka Honey is especially effective in calming inflammation) and ½ tsp Cinnamon.  Dab on the affected area and let sit for 20 minutes, before washing it off. The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties will calm down a breakout.  
• Using a cotton swab, spot treat a pimple with organic Tea Tree Oil or Clove Bud oil. 

Preventative Solutions:

• Wash skin twice a day with a gentle cleanser like our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser. This will keep your skin free of the dirt and bacteria that can make skin oily, clog pores, and contribute to acne.
• Acne-prone skin doesn’t slough off dead skin cells efficiently, so exfoliate skin regularly with a non-toxic alpha-hydroxy toner like our Fruit Acid Toner. Dead skin cells can clog pores and interfere with the skin’s natural oil production. It's also important to note that this toner also has organic witch hazel and organic Aloe Vera, which both heal and soothe. 
• Avoid irritating ingredients like Bismuth Oxychloride in your makeup. It can be an irritating ingredient and can lead to acne breakouts.
• Increase your water intake. Water can help flush toxins from your body while allowing your body systems to work at their very best.
• Limit your consumption of dairy and sugar. Dr. Mark Hyman explains that a correlation between diet (i.e. dairy and sugar) and acne exists. 

ROSACEA FLARE UPS

Quick Fix:

• There is little you can do to quickly reverse a Rosacea flare-up, but you can reduce the appearance of redness. Our Seafoam Color Corrector is a non-toxic powder makeup that refracts light differently, therefore reducing the appearance of skin redness.

Proactive Solutions:

• Make sure to always wear sunscreen, as UV rays can cause irritation and flare-ups.
• Use anti-inflammatory ingredients like Organic Tamanu Oil found in our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser or Organic Calendula that we use in our Carrot Facial Dream Cream.
• Inflammation can be exacerbated by stress, so aim to create more balance in your life. Exercise, yoga, or regular baths can all help to reduce stress.
• Drink more green tea as it contains polyphenols that have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. You can even apply it topically by using our Antioxidant Daytime Serum, which has it on its ingredient list. 

We recommend keeping an arsenal of reparative products on hand in case of an OMG skincare crisis. Consider picking up our Traveler that has 6 pint-sized portions of our best-selling skincare products. Or, begin to incorporate these skin-loving products into your daily routine so that you can work towards eliminating outbreaks and flare-ups in the first place!