Facial Analysis

I was writing a post about itchy noses yesterday evening and mentioned a Chinese medicine face map. Some people don't put a lot of stock in Chinese medicinal practices, I myself am not entirely convinced by a number of aspects, but one thing I am very interested in, is the mapping of acne. I'd say I have a reasonable complexion. It flares up from excesses of sugar from time to time, but that's my own fault and I can totally predict it. Similarly, like most girls, I get spots around my chin once a month when I'm on my period. The other spots on my face are fairly unpredictable, stubborn when they arrive, and difficult to coax out. That is, when I'm going to get a spot, I know about a week in advance because of infuriating red bumps under the skin. When I list out my ailments like that, my complexion doesn't sound so great, but I don't have acne and there are times (rare, delicious, unpredictable times) when my skin is *almost* entirely clear. I use Neutrogena's Clean & Clear Grapefruit range on a daily basis, dabble on occasion with a Rio Sonicleanse, and treat myself twice weekly to Montagne Jeunesse's heavenly vegetarian face masks.

Well, that's the background out the way. What I really want to handle in this post is the position of spots on my skin since I started the Master Cleanse. Running my hand over my face now, there aren't that many obvious spots I can feel. But there are bumps under the skin and the beginnings of spots in the following places: lower forehead, upper forehead, bridge of nose (I think that's from sunglasses!), chin and sides of mouth. Conversely, repeat-offender areas like the insides of my eyebrows, temples and sides of face are feeling pretty smooth. Do I have the Master Cleanse to thank for this? Research suggests I do. Many people report having their best skin in years during or after the Master Cleanse, even if they have to suffer through detox-induced break-outs first. This is the same with any successful skin treatment, cleanse-based or otherwise. They have to get the bad things out before the good things can begin. With Rio's Sonicleanse (similar to the Clarisonic Mia), this was referred to as 'purging', so I'm going to use the same term here. Now, let's assess my current 'purging' areas with a Chinese Medicine face map:

Apologies for the pink border. I don't own the image but I usually prefer them borderless... ah well, anyway!! So, I had spots on my lower and upper forehead, on my chin, on the bridge of my nose and either side of my mouth. This translates to toxins from the colon, small intestine, pancreas (though, as I said, that could equally be glasses!) and gynecological problems. The gynecological problems can include periods, and since it's my time of the month right now, and I always get these kind of spots, I'd say that one's safe from our cleansal analysis. So, I have spots in areas linking to my colon and small intestine. It might not be scientifically proven, but I'd say that's a pretty good indication of how the Master Cleanse is panning out for me. Here's hoping the face map is right, and when I finally get to ingest some bloody solids in a week-or-so's  time, I'll be putting them into a cleaner, healthier and better-functioning system! Over and out!!