Swimsuit and bikini that covers back acne and scars

It's reaching the hottest months of the year, well perhaps not for you Australians and New Zealanders. With the sun comes the fun and also the dreading bikini seasons for those of us who happens to have less than flattering scars.

Now I can tell you to go other and enjoy yourself no matter what, because most likely people are not going to notice. But I know it is hard to enjoy yourself, when even if no one else does, you are minding your acne or scars on your back. It also just happens that all bikini and swimsuit designers out there seem to think that it is a must to bare your back, upper back especially when you are in a swimsuit. I'm not going to lie, it is a hard quest to find one that covers your back.

So my best advice is to look online. And I'm sorry it is going to be expensive, I haven't found one at a reasonable enough price yet. But comfort yourself that at least these are good quality swimsuits that are most likely to last you a couple seasons. And you will be able to enjoy yourself a little more!

So here goes my findings, if you happen to find something else, let me know!

First off, I found out that you can always trust a sporty brand to put practicality over style. So the Women's Xylia swimsuit full coverage by Speedo will do nicely:

Similarly is the athletic selection of Arena on Amazon: Arena Women's Mission FL Swimsuit, which offers three different colors:

The full coverage is great if you have scars all over your body. It is a bit athletic looking though, so if you're looking for something cuter or more sexy with coverage, read on.

First, if you want full coverage but cuter colors, here are some alternatives options:

TYR Women's Flirt Zipper Maillot, Limelight

Carmen Marc Valvo Women's Massai Glamour One Piece High Neck Swimsuit offers a little more feminine touch with the sheer white lining that offers somewhat less coverage than the swimsuits above. However, if you don't have that much scars or acne left, I think this is quite enough coverage, at least the high neck is better than strapless or tank top suits.

Now if that still makes you feel unsexy or gramma-ish, think of ways for you to reveal some skin but not the critical parts:) A good way to do it is to look at swimsuit with mesh, or some kind of sheer coverage. This way, your acne and scars are hardly noticeable, and you can still look and feel sexy:

ECOSCO New Arrival Sexy Cut Mesh Patchwork Bikini Swimsuit Swimwear Beachwear

And then if your scars and acnes are mostly on your upper back like me, there is no reason why you can't wear a bikini either. It's a little hard to find, but here are the bikinis that have back coverage:

MARC BY MARC JACOBS Maysie Floral Cropped Scuba Bikini Top

Beth Richards Maud Bikini Top

Another BETH RICHARDS Bathing Suit

And this Underbust Uniform Top from Dolls Kill:

See? So you can be sexy, cute, sporty, or pretty in swim suit even with your upper back, or whole back cover right. Hope this article helps you find the one you like, because I sure did:)

Fresh Aloe for Oily and Acne prone skin

Before discovering Lime Juice treatment for acne and bacne, I have tried many methods, including using fresh Aloe on my skin. It actually worked really well for me and I would recommend this as another highly effective treatment.

If you never heard of Aloe or Aloe Vera, this article on Wikipedia sums it up nicely:

In a nutshell, the use of Aloe Vera is first recorded in ancient Egyptian history. The plant is believed to be an effective treatment for different skin conditions, such as osteoarthritis, burns, sunburns, and psoriasis. Although it is said that there is no scientific research to back up the use of Aloe in treating wounds, it is seen as a very popular home remedy.

When I use fresh aloe vera gel on my skin, I did notice that it can work as a great moisturizer. The plant is 90% water, so it keeps your skin hydrated. You can test it out yourself. I noticed that if a piece of aloe is peeled, and then the clear gel piece is left unrefrigerated for a couple days, it will shrink noticeably to a tiny, dry piece. This is because it's mostly made of water, and when the water content evaporates, there is nothing left!

The natural soothing gel didn't cause me any allergic or unwanted reaction. I used it on both breakouts and bug bites, and found that it calms the spot nicely. 

Granted, I usually buy the aloe fresh and keep it in the refrigerator. So it might be the cold temperature that sooth my acne or bug bites, much like ice cubes. But overall, I still recommend it, at least to use as a natural moisturizer.

Another nice thing I noticed is that with bug bites, if I left them untreated, they will leave a scar on me. When using Aloe Vera, they just go away completely! I don't know if the Aloe gel prevents itching and scratching, or it really prevents scarring. In the end, what matters is that I have no scars!

This is how I used Aloe vera gel.

Take a stem and cut out a small piece of it.

Use a small knife, just slice and peel of the green skin. You will have a piece of clear gel.

Rub this gel on your skin, wherever you needed the treatment. When rubbing, try to press your nails into the gel to help extract the juice easier.

The gel feels very slimmy/sticky at first. Don't worry though because once it dries up, your skin will feel smooth and not sticky at all. Remember 90% of its content is water!

You will also see that it releases quite a lot of juices. I usually cut out a piece of about 1x2 inches in size, and that is enough juice for my entire face and back.

The only reason I stopped using fresh aloe vera is because in the winter, it is hard to find fresh ones where I live.

A good alternative is to buy bottled Aloe vera gel. I still think fresh aloe vera is the best, but if you can't find it, a store bought one will still do the work nicely and perhaps more conveniently.

So have you tried using Aloe vera before? And how did you find the result?

How Lime Cured My Bacne

Recently I just discovered the wonderful thing that can cure my bacne for good.

A little bit about me, I have had bacne for about 10 years now. And I'm not talking 1 or 2, but ALL over my back, mostly around my shoulder blades and upper back area.

It is painful and it is embarrassing. I would like to tell you to not be embarrassed about it. And it really is not a personal hygiene issue. Because I shower everyday, sometimes twice a day in summer, and my bacne just won't wash away with every shower time. I would like to tell you, just as I told myself repeatedly, that it is not something to be embarrassed about. But it really is. I don't want people to see my bacne, I want them to go away.

What I realized also is that bacne is much harder to cure than acne on your face. I have successfully got rid of acne on  my face (more on that later!). And my scar also went away. But on my back? That's a different story.

The hard thing about bacne is that it is on your back. It is hard to reach, hard to apply cream or wash it constantly.

And the first thing you should learn about acne is that you should not pop it or touch it, to keep it from getting infected. Infected acne gets bigger and definitely will leave a big scar. That's easy to do when the acne is on your face right? But on your back? Your shirt, your bra, and your backpack straps are constantly rubbing against your pimples. It hurts, and it will definitely leave you with ugly scars.

Not only that, I can't sleep on my stomach, because I find it very hard to breath that way. So at night, my back is rubbed against the bed also.

All these reasons combined just make my bacne getting worse and worse. And all my effort went down the drain, literally.

I was so desperate that I actually went to a spa, dropped $500 on a kit that includes a shower gel, treatment cream and some Vitamin C serum to put on my back. That was $500 wasted.

I tried Neutrogena body wash, using a loofah to exfoliate my skin too. I didn't notice a different. Well it does keep my skin a little dryer, but other than that I didn't notice a big difference.

The one thing that kind of worked for me was the Apple Cider Vinegar method. I used undiluted vinegar on my back after shower. For first time user though, definitely use diluted vinegar or test it for any reaction first.

The vinegar dried out my pimples so fast I couldn't believe it. Right after I put it on, I could feel it right away on my back. Kinda like a burning sensation, but not that bad really. It would burn like hell if you have an open wound, like if you popped a pimple recently, keep the vinegar away from it! But otherwise if the pimple is still under your skin, covered, and not open, it shouldn't feel painful at all.

The thing about vinegar though, is that it smells so bad, and the smell just lingers on your body and in the bathroom. I was living in a dorm, having roommates and all. And I just gave up, because the smell is even more embarrassing.

Years later, I stumbled across a post about curing acne and bacne with Lime Juice. And it was like, duh, why didn't I think of it earlier?

It has the acid needed, but without the smell! It actually smells very fresh and yummy.

Lime juice is a natural treatment for acne and bacne

Apply Lime Juice on Skin

The acidic nature of lime juice has a lot of benefits when it comes to treating acne.

First off, its acid helps dries out the pimple, and kill the bacteria.

Secondly, the acid is also said to help brighten up any scars that are left behind.

And then each lime is packed with Vitamin C. So unlike the vinegar, lime juice can also nurture your skin, like a serum or lotion.

Lastly, while commercially made toner and cream has preservatives, treating acne with lime juice is 100 % natural and without any chemical. This is if you use juice from freshly squeezed lime, not the bottle kind. I read that the bottled lime juice works just as well, it's just I like the scent of fresh lime better.

So to use lime on your pimple, just apply directly diluted lime juice on the spots. Because I use mine diluted, I just pour some lime juice into my hands, and throw it on my back without worry too much about hitting each spot individually.

Drinking Lime Juice to detoxify your body internally

Besides treating your skin on the surface, it's always good to treat it from the inside as well. Lime is packed with Vitamin C and is said to detoxify your body. The best way to take it is to mix half a lime with a big glass of water. Drink this first thing in the morning when you get up.

Adding water and vitamin to your body is a great way of cleansing out your body and keep everything healthy, including your skin.

Using Lime as a conditioner

Now girls, a big cause of bacne is using too much conditioner, which moisturize your hair and make your skin oily at the same time! I noticed that my bacnes are mostly located on my upper back, where my hair ended.

So conditioner residue could be causing my bacne all along. So I tried to not use conditioner any more, but then my hair dries out and got a lot of split ends.

But what a lot of us didn't know is that diluted lime juice is also a wonderful conditioner. How so? Because our hair actually grows healthier in a relatively low pH level or slightly acidic pH. Soap and shampoo are usually alkaline based, which means they leave your hair with a high pH level. The acidic nature of lime will balance out the pH of your hair.

Enough with the chemistry. Basically what I did is mixing half a lime juice in a jar of water, and keep the jar in my shower. It's good for a couple of days.

Then after shampooing my hair like usual, I just pour this juice over my hair and rub it in. Be sure to keep your eyes close because it would sting if it gets into your eyes. Then rinse again with water.

With this comes the surprisingly soft hair, and no residue. I use the same lime juice on my back anyway, so it's not a big deal if it touches my skin while I rinse the hair.