★★★☆☆
BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
For a long while now, my skin has been dryer than I think it's ever been in my entire life. I suspect I have some vitamin deficiencies (and/or thyroid issues) I need to address to get to the heart of the problem; but in the meantime, I decided yesterday that maybe I should start taking a little better care of my skin that I've been doing, so I decided to try washing my face with borax.
I had read about the many benefits of borax a couple of years back but didn't decide to try it until now. I was hoping it'd help exfoliate and perhaps even aid in fighting off any fine lines or wrinkles I'm beginning to develop (I'm 27); and though it's too early to tell with the wrinkles, I can say for certain that not only has exfoliated and made my facial skin extremely smooth and baby soft - but it has also unclogged so many of my pores! I still have some blackheads; but I suspect that those, too, will be gone, so long as I continue with the borax.
Before I get into what side effects I'm experiencing today, I'd like to also add that this morning I test exfoliated a patch of skin on my upper arm that's covered in dry skin and keratosis pilaris, and holy cow at the difference! There are still red spots (however, I'm interested in seeing if they'll disappear with continuous use), but I can't remember the last time anything ever made the skin on my arms this smooth!
Anyway, so that's all of the good things I've noticed in a two day period of time; but there is something has me a bit concerned - and that's that after using the borax on my face again this morning, I noticed that my usually clear, spotless cheeks were covered in red splotches and teeny, tiny little bumps!
(Side note: This isn't totally uncommon for me, as much of the time, when I wash my face with just about anything, it tends to bring out similar kinds of blemishes but in much lesser amounts - so I do NOT think that what I've experienced today is the result of an allergic reaction.)
At first, I was a bit horrified, lol. I wondered if I had over-exfoliated my skin. Perhaps two days in a row is a tad much, but not only that ... maybe I had scrubbed too hard (which feels very easy to do with borax)? Or maybe my skin is purging? But if purging is to blame, then why, in less than an hour, did most of the irritation subside? My cheeks look ALMOST clear again! So... where did those itty bitty bumps go, and what were they? I don't think they were blisters; they didn't look anything like blisters, and I think some of them even had little white heads on them. (Gross, I know.) How could my skin just reabsorb them in such little time?
I'll let it be known that I do suffer from an overgrowth of candida, and I'm curious if that may somehow have something to do with all of this. Like, is the borax sucking any bad "yeasties" out of my skin? Haha, I don't know! It didn't itch or anything, and I'm just making guesses based on things I've read; but I am really hoping that someone out there might be able to tell me what could be going on with my skin. Thanks! :-)
UPDATE (6/8/2015): I haven't used the borax on my face again quite yet, as I thought that'd be a bit too soon, considering I may have over-exfoliated yesterday. I've kept it moisturized with coconut and castor oil; and before I go out or if I start to feel too sticky, I simply rinse with water. I haven't needed to wash with borax or reapply any oils since yesterday morning, and my face looks so soft and dewy - I love it! The only thing is that my face looks sunburned! ? It doesn't hurt or itch; it feels and looks completely normal and even healthier than usual, other than the redness. Might anyone know what could be causing this? Is it the over-exfoliation alone, or is it some other side effect of using the borax?
