Recently I’ve run into a few people with pretty serious looking acne. What made me write this post was that none of these people were going through puberty – in fact they were all in their 20′s, a time when your face care regimen should be established to take care of anything from dry skin to rashes to the odd pimple. Now I realize that for some people there’s just no solution and nothing they try seems to work – life’s like that sometimes. Science can’t solve everything. But when it comes to skincare products, the problem is that too many lotions and potions make claims that are simply untrue. Furthermore, regardless of the facts that companies have at their fingertips, the products that they make are often problematic for skin rather than soothing. That being said, I think I’ve found a few things that really work and I’m going to pass them along here.
The thing is that to see a change you have to be consistent. You have to make sure that you use the products daily (though skipping a day here and there won’t kill you or your skin). First things first – be kind to your skin. If something feels like it’s burning (a minty mask, perhaps?) or makes your skin turn obscenely red, then don’t use it. In the long run, it’s just not worth the damage you’re doing to your own face. Stay away from products that have alcohol in them – mainly toners. You might look at the cotton ball and think how amazing it is that it comes back from your face an ugly brown colour, but the fact of the matter is that it’s just not good for your skin just like it’s not good for your body. Chances are that if you’re suffering from repeated acne that you’re just irritating your pores even more. Furthermore, the alcohol dries your face out which is never good.
This brings me to my second tip: don’t dry your face out. I know how much it sucks to have oily skin. My skin is very oily as well, so believe me, I feel your pain – but drying your skin out is not the answer. Chances are that the skin will compensate by releasing more oil and that’s not good. Wash with something gentle and in the long run you’ll notice a difference. Don’t waste the money on drying potions and the like. Just treat your skin well and it’ll behave. While we’re on the topic of washing your face, let me just tell you that there’s no need to waste money on cleansers that have salicylic acid in them. Firstly, the acid isn’t on your face long enough to do any good – much like whitening toothpaste isn’t on your teeth long enough to work. Secondly, for the acid to work it has to be in a formula that has a pH of 3.5-4. Chances are that once you’ve mixed the cleanser with some water, which has a pH of 7, it’s not going to work on your face anyway. I personally like Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser which removes makeup thoroughly. Another fav, which was introduced to me by a friend, is Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser which is really gentle but pretty terrible at removing makeup. Regardless, working it in and washing your face twice will do the trick without any sort of dryness.
My main tip is exfoliate your skin regularly using a lotion or toner that has salicylic acid in it. Now the way that this is different from a scrub is that while the effect of a scrub is more immediate, it’s also more damaging to the skin and can make little tears and scratches on the surface of the skin. Also, you can’t necessarily use a scrub everyday precisely because it’s so damaging, so a chemical exfoliant works so much better and once you get into the habit of using it you will notice a difference. One of the best exfoliants for people with acne is something with salicylic acid in it since it’s the only thing that’s lipid soluble which means that it can cut through any oil that might be in your pores and on your skin and it can exfoliate from inside out. My favorite product is Clinique’s Mild Clarifying Lotion and I stock up whenever they’re having a bonus. Another equally good option is Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Eliminating Gel or Neutrogena Oil-Free Anti-Acne Moisturizer. What makes me so sure that both of these have a pH that will work? Because Paula Begoun says so. She actually tests the pH of all the products to make sure that they work. You can also buy her brand of products on her website and they are equally good options for skincare.
OK, so that’s it. Cleaning your skin well and using something with Salicylic Acid on it. You can also use something with AHA on your skin on alternate days or at night and my favorite product for that is Neutrogena Healthy Skin Facial Lotion Night which is a great product for the price. A
nd no, Neutrogena is not paying me in any way to promote so many products – they’re just a great company and their products really work (even if they do discontinue the ones that I really love). So good luck. If you don’t have a problem with your skin, I’m sorry I bored you, but if you did find any of these suggestions helpful, then you’re welcome.
Hi, I’m new to the whole blogging scene so I’m not 100% sure about etiquette viz comments etc., but wanted to say first thanks for sharing information that’s relevant to Canadians, and secondly, regarding oily skin and acne, my sister-in-law has really bad adult acne. She eats well, exercises all the time and washes her face religiously (although I don’t actually know what kind of cleanser she uses). Anyway, her acne has been a real burden for her. She would be super-cute (she is super-cute) if she didn’t have this issue. Anyway, a couple of months ago she bought this hand-held light-emitting machine called the SkinLift Light that she heard worked really well on adult acne and she said the results were amazing. When I saw her recently her skin did not look fantastic, but she said she hadn’t used the light in several weeks, but when she did it zapped or dried or obliterated in some way her blemishes. If you want to check it out, they sell it in Canada on http://www.juna.ca.
Thanks, and good luck!
Hi Valerie, thanks for the suggestion! I hope it helps people who need an alternative to creams and medicines.