We all have bad skin days, especially if your a teenager with tempermental skin like me. We often fall into bad habits when it comes to dealiing with spots that randomly appear out of nowhere, I mean, the quick fix would be to just pop it stick some concealer over it and hope for the best. Don't get me wrong, I often do this too, but this is one of the worst ways you can deal with them because although it's quick and easy, you are exposing the broken skin, where the spot is, therefore increasing the risk of infection. This will likely worsen the condition of the skin and make the spot worse. If you keep doing this with spots then you'll begin to get acne scars which can be permanent and uncomfortable.
Today I am going to be showing you how to avoid worsening the skin and show you some of what I believe are the best ways to vanish pesky spots.

I have steamed my face with Tee Tree oil at home many times, especially when I am having a bad or dull skin day, not only because of the benefit that it has on my skin, but also because of how refreshing and cooling my skin feels after. Not to mention the pleasant smell of Tee Tree, (if your a mint lover then you'll definitley like this)!
Boil a kettle full of water and then pour the water into a large heatproof bowl, the drop in your tee tree oil. I reccommend no more than five to six drops of oil, using too much can irritate your eyes, trust me iv'e been there before. Tee Tree oil is very strong and should not be used in hogh doses. After doing this you should then place your face over the bowl with a towel covering your head. This is to stop the steam from going anywhere other than your face, basically intensifying the steaming.
Once you have done this the hot steam will open up your pours. The Tee Tree oil, which is antibacterail, anti inflammotory and anti microbal which is in the steam will then clean out the pours including the blocked ones (spots).
If you already have acne scars then don't fear because Tee Tree oil has been known to reduce the appearance of acne scars too!
From my own personal experience I can say that a good old face steam every now and then makes my face look and feel cleaner, I also notice that I look much more awake after a Tee Tree face steam. Now i'm not saying it's going to cure all of your skincare issues, however it's a good and easy way to start.

This one might seem obvious and it is really, drinking water helps to cleanand flush out your cells, this helps to reduce inflamation and the worsening of spots, so if you feel like your not drinking enough water then you may want to give this a try. Additionally, if you suffer from dry skin or dermatitis then this will help you further as water nourishes and moistersises the cells. It is reccommended that you srink eight, eight ounce glases of water a day, this equated to around 2 litres.
Be aware that drinking more water will not control the amount of oil being produced by your skin. So if you have oily skin in general then this may not be the best remedy, however keep this one in mind because water helps your health in pretty much every aspect possible and hydration is very important.
If you really want this to work then it's also good to avoid things that will dehydrate you such as, caffeiene, alcohol and smoking.

This is an important one because you don't want to pick a moisturizer that is going to make your skin even more greasy, resulting in the worsening of your spots and even increasing the amount of spots you have.
Many people that have acne but don't seek help or advice are actually just doing the wrong skincar regime, in my opinion the most cautios thing that people with acne prone skin need to look out for is the type of moisturizer they're using.
Often good moisturizers to use have "oil control", from my personal experience when I am trying to control spots I will use a much lighter thinner moisterizer. This is so my skin is still able to breathe and is not being smothered because if you do this to a spot it will only make it worse.
I personally reccommend using the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Proofing Moisturizer, this is an oil free moisturizer and feels fresh and cool to put on. You can buy it for only £5 from Superdrug.

So now you know a few more ways to control spots, they may or may not work, for me they are the key factors for keeping spots at bay and I believe that these tips can help many other people too.
If you have any other little tips or tricks then feel free to let me know in the comments, I love to hear from my readers!

​When I first decided to try herbal tea I chose peppermint, this was because I’d herd that there were many health benefits, it was good for your skin and that I’m quite keen on the taste of mint so I thought it would smell and taste nice. I decided to give it a try and brought a box of peppermint tea from the shop. I can’t remember how much it cost but peppermint tea can be fairly cheap therefore it’s very affordable.
After boiling the kettle and adding the water you can instantly smell the cool mint every time you make a cup of this detox drink, it’s really fresh and I also think that because peppermint tea contains menthol it’s good to breathe in as it could help to clear your sinuses. This is great for people suffering from colds or flu to ease the symptoms.

​When it comes to the taste of peppermint tea, I find that it’s very fresh. I usually pour boiling water into the cup with the tea bag and leave it for about ten minutes to cool down. I don’t take the tea bag out because the longer you leave it in, the better the water soaks up all of the goodness from the tea. By the time ten minutes are up the tea is usually warm to hot, but not mouth burning heat. The most suitable word that I can describe the taste of the tea with would be, cooling and also to state the obvious, incredibly minty. It just has an incredibly strong minty taste, I think this is because mint is quite a strong plant. I also make a lot of healthy smoothies and I often put mint in them, I have to limit how much I put in to the blender though as too much can be quite overpowering. If you have a sweet tooth then you can add honey to the mix, this is also good for soothing sore throats and sweetens up the drink a little.
Overall I think that if you like a strong, minty, cooling taste then you are going to love peppermint tea and all of the health benefits that come with it. The other plus side is that you can buy it in most shops, you can definitely get them from all supermarkets and local shops. It’s probably my favorite herbal tea and I would 100% recommend trying it out!

​Good day everyone, today is the start of a new topic of discussion for all you beauty gurus on Liv’s Beauty Spot… Yes, that’s right, were doing an edit on herbal tea.
As you may know herbal tea has many beneficial health effects on your mind and body, some more than others. Different types of herbal tea also have different benefits. One pro that can be applied to all herbal teas is the fact that they are caffeine free. This is one of the main reasons why I have recently grown to become a tea guru, not only can I avoid getting a caffeine crash by replacing my morning coffee with a zesty refreshing tea, I can also avoid oily skin. The reasoning behind this is that caffeine causes heightened levels of stress, this releases extra amounts of hormones such as cortisol, causing an increase in the production of oil, this makes you more prone to acne and spots.

​So, now you know a little bit about herbal tea. There’s so much more to know! I’ve got you covered though because from now on I will be posting weekly updates adding to the Herbal Tea Edit. Each week I will chose a type of tea to focus on and go into detail about how it’s beneficial, it’s history and more interesting facts. Of course I will only be including teas that I have tried so that I can talk from experience.
If you have any suggestions of certain teas that you would like to see featured in the Herbal Tea Edit on Liv’s Beauty Spot, drop a comment or fill in the contact form, I’m very open to my fabulous readers opinions and want to create content that interests you.

Before I used it I decided to do a bit of research as to why it was good for you and how it can be used. Turns out it has loads of purposes and can be very beneficial to your hair and skin.
Firstly were going to look at what coconut oil is and what are it benefits. Coconut oil is simply a type of fat, it is a highly saturated oil and at room temperature it is solid, however when heated up it becomes a liquid. It has many benefits not only for your hair and skin but it can also help with various health conditions, in particular it can be used to help lower LDL cholesterol levels as well as many other health benefits.
Some benefits that coconut oil has on hair and skin are:

• Can help to treat acne. Many people assume that because coconut oil is, well… oily that it is a bad idea for people with already oily and greasy skin to use as they think this can worsen their acne, this however doesn’t appear to be the case as studies have shown that lauric acid (found in coconut oil) has been found to kill the bacteria linked to acne, in fact it has been shown in another study that it can be more effective at clearing acne than benzoyl peroxide (a popular ingredient used to clear acne). It’s anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties also help to clear acne.
• Studies on animals have shown that coconut oil has anti-inflammatory properties. It is not certain that we can translate this onto humans as the research that I found on this was performed on rats, however it does give us an indication.
• Coconut oil has anti-microbial properties, making it great for fighting against infections on the skin, it is has been found effective for killing fungi and bacteria.
• It maintains the hydration of your skin, causing you less prone to develop skin conditions such as eczema and providing a barrier for your face to keep out bacteria.
• Coconut oil has been found to stimulate the growth of hair, it can also prevent hydral fatigue, this basically means keep your hair hydrated. 

• ​So now we know a few of the benefits, but how do we use coconut oil and where can we use it? Here are some ways coconut oil can be used:
• First of all, moisturizer, I cannot stress enough how amazing this stuff is when it comes to keeping my skin hydrated. I just scoop a small amount of it out of the tub, rub it between my fingers to melt it and massage it into my face, since I’ve been doing this not only as my skin cleared up drastically, it feels softer and much more hydrated. I apply coconut oil to my face every morning and night after washing. It also works as a brilliant moisturizer for your body, you can literally cover yourself head to toe in it! A good tip is you can also give yourself a mini facial with coconut oil, just apply it to your face in circular motions and massage into your skin for 5-10 minutes, you will notice the difference I promise!
• Another great use for coconut oil is removing make-up, sometimes I find it difficult to remove all of my makeup after I’ve washed my face, especially when it comes to mascara. If you have this issue too then look no further, all you have to do is take a generous amount of coconut oil, rub it onto the area that you want to remove the makeup and wipe over with  cotton pad, guaranteed you will be able to remove it all.
• Coconut oil is great to put on your lips, I carry around a small pot throughout the day with me because I’m always on the go and whenever I need to top up on my lips I just get a little bit of coconut oil and it helps with hydration.
• Sometimes I put coconut oil on the ends of my hair before going to sleep and wash it out in the morning, I find that my hair looks more shiny and feels softer when I’ve done that, however I don’t do this too frequently as my hair isn’t particularly dry, but this would be great for someone with dry, brittle hair to incorporate into their routine.
• Once of my favorite uses for coconut oil, which I think is brilliant is using it as a highlighter. Sometimes I use coconut oil as a highlighter when I’m going for a more dewy effect and it really does work and look great, the one thing I will say about this thought is that I find that it tends to fade fairly quickly, maybe this is just because the skin has absorbed it, maybe it’s just me, I’m not quite sure but I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.

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​In conclusion, I'm glad that I bought coconut oil as I have noticed the difference in how bright and healthy my skin looks and I am definitely going to continue to use it. One of the best things about coconut oil as well is that it’s widely available and it’s very affordable, so most people have access to it! Have any of you tried coconut oil before, what do you think of it if so?

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