My Quit Skinpicking Plan

Being a lifetime skinpicker, my habit and compulsion started by my awful nail biting habit along with cuticle picking. My mother has a terrible nail biting problem so thats one source of my C.S.P. The most problematic source of my csp is: boredom, stress and anxiety!! So, my long-term goal is to find ways to better my mood, stress levels, and self-improvement. My short-term goal is to quit this awful, nasty, gross, terrible disgusting compulsive habit!!! After research and personal positive experience... I have come up with a great starter skin care routine and quit plan. My Skinpicking Problem Kit: a handy skin care kit...I keep the scar care & wound/ new sores cleaning products in my pocket to resist the urge to Inspect & Clean in the mirror or to find a reason to go in the bathroom! ! - Water!! Keep it on hand. Reminds me it promotes healthy skin and hydration. - witch hazel, alcohol or pore-defining toner * I keep a small ziplock bag with pre-soaked swabs... So if I do pick...i cleanse it immediately. This has worked great for drying up new picked spots and healing them fast! - pore refining & oil control product. * I have oily skin. This causes new acne. - Aloe Vera gel... Great for quick healing after picking. Use can also use olive, vitamin e or shea butter oil. - Hand sanitizer. * helps me reduce germs and remember how dirty my hands are and how they shouldn't be constantly touching my face. - Oil-free face wash. *Proactive, clean and clear...or neutrogena - Ambi face cream!!! This is an African American skin care product... And has worked miraculously on my old dark spots!! My daily skincare routine includes a handful of simple steps: 1.) Steam cleanse pores! Using steam opens your pores allowing more effective facials. 2.) Extract dirt and oil. I am bad with tweezers and tools so MY help is using a blunt credit card or plastic spoon to lightly scrap out t-zone areas. This is not scraping new sores!!! 3.) Face wash that controls large pores and oil. Warm water... Clean towel blot dry. * Once a week mask: 2 tsps. Baking soda, 1tsps. Sugar... Add enough water to make a paste. This is my at-home microdermabrasion mask. The baking soda removes dead skin... It has worked great for my scars. The sugar leaves your skin soft. Sometimes I use the proactiv mask on zits. - I also heard Clay masks work well. 4.) Follow up with pore refining toner and witch hazel or alcohol on new sores. 5.) Moisturice face with oil control lotion. 6.) Make new sores old ones! * dab oil on dried sores. Dab ambi cream on old marks. My overnight scar care is lemon juice rubbed on old marks... Air dry... Then a thick layer of my Ambi cream. Lemon juice lightens the old scar tissue. This is how I treat my skin during my picking progress. I do not have money for therapy and I an not one to need anti-depressants. If self-help completely fails... Then I will consult my doctor. But with resources, being in touch with a Cps group with others and personal research I have come up with my starting plan to quit picking! My Quit Plan: - Try vitamin B inositol ... I have heard great reviews saying its a great natural help for controlling compulsive urges. - Drink more water and keep skin healthy! - Try some kind of brain activity or habitual meditation to use when on have urges or episodes of compulsive picking. - Find an activity to keep hands busy. My problem is once I pick....i keep at it. But once I stop myself..i actually stop for just a little while. I need to keep confronting myself! I'm thinking about picking up sewing again. - Get my nails done. Sorry fellas. =( I have gone back to doing my nails myself. But I def. Use them as a picking tool. When I had acrylic nails...i could never dig in my skin or re-open sores - Set post-it note reminders to Stop picking... Maybe even a bracelet reminder so that everytime I raise my hand to pick my face I see: " stop picking now!" or another target self-help message and motivation reminder. - Staying away from mirrors & Use a timer for Bathroom Time. So that I limit myself...15 min could turn into hours for pickers. - Tell a loved one to hide all tools. I had my husband hide the tweezers, safety pins, paper clips, Bobby pins, so that I wouldn't ask for them in embarrassment of their use! He is aware of my Cps. - Notepad...i keep a small notepad in my pocket..everytime I find myself in a picking trance...i write down what has me so deep in thought that I pick and dig like crazy. And then grab one of those pre-soaked witch hazel swabs and allow able gel or oil for immediate repair. I treat the old scars with the ambi. - Keep researching Compulsive Skin Picking and keep track of my progress!!! I am not my face! I once had beautiful skin and am nice even complexion... Now because of stress and anxiety I have ruined my face. Since it's Winter time... I hide my fresh sores with scarves or my hand covering my chin. I am not my face! I once was the girl who was friendly and outgoing and photogenic. Now, I haven't taken a close up pic in a couple years now..And often refuse to be included in close shots. I am not not my face!!! My ugly scarred face may detail my past... But these open wounds must close! I am not these open sores. I am not this torn peeled skin. I am not these deep picked pits. I am a beautiful woman...i am a pretty face and now I must progress with this problem picking and proceed with power to stop my C.S.P.