When I was young I had great skin! In my teenage years (you know, when you're supposed to have acne), I could probably count the blemishes I had on one hand. I thought I was one of the lucky ones! By the time I turned 20 with no skin problems to speak of, I figured I was out of the woods. WRONG. 2 years later, the adult acne hit. I was so confused and frustrated because I had no idea how to deal with these types of skin issues, didn't know why they were happening, and hadn't developed the skills to conceal the little sons of bitches that kept popping up in my T-zone. A bit of a disclaimer here, I was VERY lucky not to have these types of issues in my teen years. While I had my fair share of stuff to be self conscious about, I know it would've been worse for me to have these problems while I was still young and not as confident as I am today. I also know that I didn't have it as bad as many many people. I never really had to deal with cystic acne or anything like that, so depending on your situation, medication might be the right answer for you! For me, I wanted to try and see if I could make some personal changes before taking that route as acne medications, while extremely helpful for some, can have nasty side effects for others. It's also important to remember that our skin cells take a minimum of 28 days to renew so be patient! Just because you don't see results immediately, doesn't mean it's not working. It took me a few months to get my routine right.
The Outside
1. I started off by visiting a dermatologist. The pros know more than the people on the internet including me, I promise, so this is your best place to start. Make sure you do your research and find someone who isn't going to try to sell you on their skincare line. You want someone who has YOUR best interests in mind. Many good dermatologists do cheap or free consultations! I got my best advice from mine. Starting with...
2. Never EVER use anything on your face that isn't non-comedogenic. This includes skincare and yes, your base makeup. It doesn't matter if it says it doesn't clog pores, or is good for acne, anyone can write that on their bottle. Non-comedogenic is a protected term that can only be used if it has been tested by dermatologists and indeed doesn't clog your pores. It is illegal for anyone to put this on their product if it hasn't been tested. I use Simple Skincare for this because it's also a good price, gentle, and more natural which I like. (not spons!) I didn't get something "acne fighting" because personally, I found that the more aggressive I was with my skin, the worse it got. So avoided anything like that with the exception of what was recommended to me by my dermatologist. 3. The dermatologist I went to did write me a prescription for Accutane as well as a medical grade spot treatment cream. I didn't go with the pills as discussed earlier, but I did take the cream, and it really was helpful. There's no shame in using the really good stuff.
4. This is something I learned while working in skincare, but I exfoliate every 4 days. Exfoliating is great for cleaning out the pores and encouraging cell renewal in the skin. But I do it every 3 or 4 days because if you do it do often, it can enlarge your pores and stretch them making them more visible and easier to clog. Do NOT exfoliate every day. In order to do this without adding extra steps, I got a non-comedogenic, natural exfoliating cleanser that I just use in place of my cleanser when I need to.
5. When sweat sticks on the skin, it clogs your pores. I work out really frequently, so I knew that part of my problem likely came from that. To solve this problem I started bringing a sweat towel with me to every workout so the sweat wouldn't stay on my skin for more than a couple minutes at a time. I also bought a gentle tea tree toner from Lush to spray on my face afterwards for the drive home if I wouldn't get to wash my face right after. This obviously isn't a substitute for washing your face, but tea-tree has bacteria killing properties so it was a good way to offset the damage in the meantime.
6. DON'T PICK! This advice is straight from the dermatologists mouth. If scarring isn't incentive enough for you to stop picking, know that every time you pick or pop a pimple, the bacteria goes onto your face and causes way more pimples! This is the hardest one but probably the most important!!
The Inside
I know you really don't want to hear about this stuff, but what's inside often shows on the face whether that's the food you eat, stress, hormones, or dehydration. I won't go into too much detail on this but it's very important to include. 1. Drink water. Yes, your skin can get more oily if you are dehydrated. If your skin is dry, it overcompensates by producing more oil. I offset this by making sure I drink 2 huge 30oz waterbottles worth of water per day minimum. You should be drinking more than half your body weight (in lbs), in oz of water. For example. If you weigh 120lbs, you should drink at least 60oz of water minimum. 2. Eat healthy. Sugary foods, dairy, greasy fried foods, all these things can cause acne. Don't restrict yourself like crazy, but try to keep these things to a minimum.
Everything else
There are also some things I've tried and liked but that just aren't part of my regular routine. I do these every once in a while and they seem to help!
1. Face masks. Remember to keep in non-comedogenic!! 2. Light therapy. I use a light therapy mask from Neutrogena (not spons!) that works really well! I also hacked the activator so that it has more than 30 uses. Message me on Instagram if you need instructions on how to do that.
3. The spin studio I go to offers essential oil refrigerated face towels after class and I swear the combo of the oils and the cold towel makes my skin feel amazing. And of course I follow with my tea tree spray. I know some of this is a little easier said than done, but this is what worked for me, and I hope it helps someone out there! Don't forget to follow my Instagram and sign up for the email list if you want to get notified whenever there is a new helpful post! Have a great week. Tara
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