Natural Tips for Helping Your Teen Be Back to School Confident in 2021

Oh hey, guess what? Back to school time is around the corner. For real. We hope.

Let's help our teens be ready!

Your kids have been home doing virtual school for the better part of the last school year. Going back to school next week may be both a time of excitement and also anxiety about being back at a desk, with a real teacher, in person.

You, Mom and Dad, have been real troopers helping your kids with online learning while holding down the household, your careers, and managing your own pandemic anxiety. You all deserve a Gold Medal! 

Just a regular old school year brings much anxiety and also sadness as the carefree days of summer end for thousands of school-agers and teenagers who are heading out to do their back to school shopping. This year brings a whole new face of uncertainty of what the coming school year will bring. 

Some of the anxious thoughts may include:

• Will my friends notice my acne and bad skin?
• Will I make friends?
• Will I fit in?
• Will I be made fun of if I have body odour?

These are just some of the questions of angst that tweens and teens face as back to school approaches. I, for one, remember many sleepless nights filled with anxiety, nightmares, and hot sweats as the dread of back to school drew nearer. 

Parents, stop! Don't run off to the drugstore to fix the acne and body odour yet! 

Parents before you run off to the drugstore to buy all the pimple creams and antiperspirants (filled with aluminum and other chemicals) for your kids to solve their concerns, be sure to first educate yourself on what other natural options are available for healthier solutions.  And please read all of this before you buy the smelly colognes and other very fragrant drugstore fixes. 

Your valiant efforts to solve their issues may actually make them worse or create other ones. We have natural tips to help teens and tweens feel confident, look great, and actually focus on the important stuff like school and good grades rather than these other issues that plague so many kids.

Choosing healthier options not only can solve their anxieties about acne and body odour in the short-term, but longer-term they will help promote healthy hormone balance. 

ISSUE #1: Acne Solutions

1. Proper hygiene.

Acne is not only common for teens to encounter, it is actually quite normal as their hormones change during the period of puberty. This is the time to help them to manage a big part of the acne problem with proper hygiene habits of cleansing their faces every night to remove dirt and/or makeup.  

2. Clean Makeup Brushes.

Girls that wear makeup also need to be taught to wash their makeup brushes every two weeks at least, throw away old and expired makeup, and all teens need to know to change their pillowcases a couple of times a week to remove the bacteria that causes acne. 

3. Natural Acne Ingredients that Work.

Natural, plant-based skincare alternatives to look for in healthier acne treatments are things like jojoba oil that help to balance the oil (sebum), white willow bark which is a salicylic acid alternative to fight acne, lemon and tea tree essential oils for anti-bacterial action, and witch hazel and aloe to calm and soothe. 

4. Stay Away from Harsh Irritants.

Stay away from alcohol-based cleansers and harsh benzoyl peroxides as these both dry out and irritate the skin quite badly. 

5. Change Pillowcases.

Change pillowcases twice a week because they are a haven for bacteria to live and this bacteria causes the acne breakouts.

6. Hands Off! 

Keep hands off the face and never pick! Picking not only adds more bacteria to the face, but it also creates permanent scars and damage. 

7. Look to the Gut.

Gut health and skin health has a direct relationship. Ensure your teen is eating a diverse diet that includes all macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates and protein) and micronutrients (16 Amino Acids). They should be eating a healthy variety of at least 50% plants (fruit, vegetables) at every meal, drinking lots of water, and possibly take a probiotic to balance their gut microbiome if acne is a real problem for them. 

ISSUE #2: Body Odour Solutions

Teens worry about smelling bad. All the time. 

The other issue that teens worry about (and adults too!) is smelling bad and being made fun of. As teens bodies are developing hormonally and physically, you don't want them adding chemicals and harmful ingredients such as aluminum to their developing body, such as what is found in traditional antiperspirants that are designed to stop sweating from occurring.

There are natural, safe, plant based deodorants that truly do work 24/7. 

Sweating is natural and an important bodily function so we want to encourage our underarms to release the toxins and to sweat it out.

Remember that 70% or more of what goes ON your body, goes IN your body! So choose wisely to stay away from toxins.

There is no need to resort to conventional drugstore chemical solutions to fight body odour. Natural deodorant is the "gateway" to healthier natural skincare solutions for your teen and your family. It should be the first thing you consider switching to natural! 

1. Natural Deodorant to the Rescue!

Look for natural deodorants that contain powders and clays, moisturizing plant-based butter and oils such as shea to calm skin, and essential oils to kill the bacteria that causes the odour in the first place. It is the bacteria in the sweat and armpit that causes the stink.     

2. Personal Hygiene is Critical.

Showering every day, or twice a day if your teen is very active is recommended. 

3. Eat Well. 

Ensure they are eating well-balanced meals that look like a "rainbow" of colour on their plate with 50% fruits and veggies, 25% carbohydrates, and 25% proteins. This helps to balance their gut microbiome and not only affects acne breakouts but also body odour! 

4. Breathwork for Stress Relief.  

Teach them how to focus on breath work to calm their minds, their emotions and in turn their stress and anxiety. Pranayama or breathwork is something they can use in class to calm their nerves, at home, at work or anywhere they need it.

Try this "Box breathing" exercise to help calm down - inhale for 5 counts where their lower belly expands like a balloon, hold the breath for 5 counts, exhale for 5 counts where their belly deflates towards their spine, and hold the breath for 5 counts. Repeat. 

5. Exercise 30 minutes a day

Help your teen to find an activity they love to move their body every day for at least 30 minutes a day. This will not only help their stress and anxiety, it will also help them to develop healthy habits at a young age that will last them a lifetime. 

6. Get Enough Sleep

Teens and tweens need between 8-10 hours of sleep per night but most are lucky to get 6-7 because of their social lives and electronics. Sleep deprivation causes cortisol to spike (stress hormone) and thereby can aggravate anxiety, acne, social issues, and poor grades.  

Try the other tips above such as healthy eating, breath work and exercise to help set the groundwork to ensure they sleep solidly each night. 

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About the Author, Jodie Pappas ~  Founder, Clean Kiss:

Struggling with hormonal skin issues? Not sure what to eat to help your skin out? Strange rashes, eczema, psoriasis, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation? Not sure what the best natural skincare products for mature woman are or how to create your own natural skincare regimen that really works? That's where I can help.  

Jodie also offers private Skin Health Coaching for women of all ages. If interested, send her an email at jodie@cleankisslifestyle.com to inquire if this coaching is right for you or book a FREE 30 minute discovery call here.  

Learn more about Clean Kiss.