Sprout, the savior.

Recently I experienced some massive skin chaos.

 

I had been trying out a new product for about a week - It was heavy on rosehip oil and it was the only product that was new to my regimen. I can't say for sure that this was the catalyst to the chaos so the product shall remain nameless, but I definitely have my suspicions. I woke up one morning, went about my normal skin care routine and after getting out of the shower I was greeted by cheeks that were on fire with the likes of an angry, bumpy, red rash. By the end of the day the rash had spread to my chin and forehead. I was at a loss. I popped an antihistamine and hoped for the best. 

The following day I tried to go about my normal routine, ignoring the now skin colored bumpy rash that remained, but again my skin became red, irritated and inflamed by anything and everything I attempted to put on it. I was a mess and pretty dang close to tears of absolute frustration.

I had, in the recent weeks leading up to my skin disaster, read about Sprout Skincare on one of my favorite blogs No More Dirty Looks. It's a line that takes a truly natural and simple approach to skin care with a "less is more" theory at the core, and before my beastly breakout of dermatitis I had fully intended on taking Sprout on a "test drive". 

I was looking to minimize and simplify my routine while keeping with products that were entirely natural and fully effective, and for this reason Sprout Skincare was super appealing to me.  The ingredients in each product are straight forward, gentle, natural and sensitive-skin friendly which is a HUGE bonus in my book. Not to mention you can count the number of ingredients in each product on one hand - ONE HAND! That's pretty impressive in my opinion, especially when we live in a world where ingredient lists typically consist of lengthy, tongue tie-worthy, seemingly unpronounceable words, generally indicating that the products in question are more than likely chalk full of crazy weird chemicals... but I digress. 

Sprout's simplicity and wholesome ingredients {which are also either certified organic, Fair Trade, or sourced from small family farms} were what first attracted my attention. However, I obviously still needed to consider taming the beast that my face had become. I purchased the cream, the toner, and the cleanser and then, call me crazy, I wrote an email to Adina, the creator of Sprout, and explained my predicament as well as my plans to dive into Sprout in hopes of soothing my angry skin. She wrote back in a flash and explained that my skin had gone haywire and needed some serious rest, sans ANY product whatsoever for at least 3 days. Thankfully this was over Labor Day weekend and I had three days to spare. 

After rocking naked skin and washing my face with only water the anger and irritation subsided - Thank heavens! However, my skin did not return to the "normal" that it once was. It was dry, scaly, and had weird, visibly clogged pores everywhere that the rash had been, not to mention I was breaking out like mad! I began to use Sprout's cream {Ingredients: Wildcrafted unrefined shea butter, Extra-virgin coconut oil, Extra-virgin olive oil} and within just a couple of days my dry scaly skin had become moisturized and soft again, and feeling brave I added a little exfoliation to the situation and voila - clogged pores banished! BUT, my breakouts were still raging. 

Adina actually reached out to me this time, checking in on the raging rash {how unbelievably thoughtful is that?!?!} - I explained how things had evolved and that I was no battling some fairly ferocious breakouts and she suggested using Sprout's toner {Water, Raw apple cider vinegar, Witch hazel, Essential oils of clary sage and sandalwood} in conjunction with the cream. 

Survey says: I am on week 2 of this regimen and - HALLELUJAH! My skin has been saved!!!! Sprout, along with the gentle guidance of it's wonderful, thoughtful and sensitive creator, Adina, have brought my skin back from the dark side. I cannot tell you the sweet relief I am experiencing, and how very much I adore Sprout's products. 

I've now explored and am using almost the entire Sprout Skincare line including the cleanser {Rosewater, Vegetable glycerin, Tea tree oil} as well as the make-up remover {Sweet almond oil, Extra-virgin olive oil, Jojoba oil}, both of which are wonderfully gentle. 

This week I'll run through my new Fall skin care routine, because lets face it, like the weather, our skin generally makes a gnarly shift right about the same time that the seasons do! 

{*Note: Sprout is pretty much the star of the show!}

Do you have any woeful skin tales? Any rescue remedies that have worked for you that you now will never live without? I'll tell you one thing, Sprout is truly my skin savior!!

photos via here & here