Licorice Salicylic Acid Toner: Results!

Licorice: Glycyrrhiza glabra

A month ago I posted a recipe for licorice extract toner (Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract) to see if it would:

a. lighten my sun damage

b. NOT clog my pores!

 
It takes four weeks for skin cells to completely renew, so anything you try is going to take at least that long to work.

Here are the before pictures:

And here are the after pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I took these at the same time of day, hoping the lighting would be similar, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The sun sets earlier now than it did a month ago. 

Results!

Lightening:

That being said: I think it worked. You can see it best in the picture of the right cheek. The freckles have faded and my skin looks more monochromatic. O, plus my face is totally a different color than the rest of my body now. Lighter. I'll never have plain skin, but this is better! This is good! I'm going to keep going.

Clogging:

I did experience a couple of clogs. Two were relatively serious, but did not become inflamed and did not grow larger. The rest, maybe 3 or 4, were minimal and came out with a good hemp oil cleansing. I'm not sure if the licorice extract caused it, but it's the only thing that I've changed, so take that any way you want. Personally, if I was still experiencing the kind of clogged skin I was a few months ago, I'd hold off on the licorice extract until my pores were completely clear. No sense exacerbating the situation! 

To sum it all up:

Lightening: Yes!

Clogging: Maybe, but not too bad. 

It works, but wait till your pores are clear before you start on this, just to be safe.

Sun damage: Licorice and Salicylic Acid Toner

Continuing with the lightening theme and the experimental theme, I'm going to add licorice extract to my already tried and proven toner formula. 

I already know my toner recipe works really well for clogged pores, so if my pores start getting clogged again, I'll know the licorice extract is the culprit. 

Clearing clogged pores: Water only cleansing

soap and commercial cleansers can clog your pores. so how do you clean your face without clogging your pores?

Shall we start with the face? I developed closed-comedone acne when I was 27 years old. It was a rude awakening from the smug euphoria of having a perfect Irish complexion throughout my young life. Closed comedones are little plugs of sebum that collect in the pores. If they emerge on the surface, they oxidize, turn black, and become blackheads. If they stay trapped beneath the skin, they are whiteheads. They're the most difficult kind of acne to treat because it's difficult to get medicine down into a closed pore. I've used some things that have worked, like Retin-A and Obaji Nu-derm, but those things are really harsh. I was determined to come up with a home-made routine that would work just as well without the harshness.