Let's Have a Little Talk About Acne

Who has never had acne in their entire lives? In as much as I want to raise my hand and say I've never had one, I can't do that. Although I consider myself having pretty good skin, I still get bumps and zits every now and then especially when I am stressed, when I have tried a product that does not work well with my skin, or when I get the raging hormones time of the month. A lot of teenagers and even adults are battling with acne and it is something that I believe is one of the reasons why certain people are not confident about their looks, thus, the low self-esteem. I am not a skin expert and neither am I a dermatologist but as most of you may not know, I am always on the look out for products that can help me with the zits I get on certain occasions so I would like to share some of these info to you guys.

Concealer and pimple dots made for healing zits on my face

Before you look for treatments for your breakouts, it is important to determine the cause why your skin is having such problems. Sometimes, just a change of habit works. Here are a few of the most common causes of breakouts aside from the usual known causes (stress, anxiety, period) unbeknownst to some of us:

1. The things we put on our face. 

Do you have a complex beauty routine or do you only use a couple of products on your skin? It doesn't matter. Some of our skin care products and makeups are the actual culprit as to why we get acne. Just imagine piling on layers of products on your face - toner, serum/moisturizer, primer or makeup base, liquid foundation or bb cream, setting powder or powder foundation, then a setting spray. Do you think your skin can breathe freely? And most importantly, are you sure you are washing off everything when you cleanse your face? Even if we have a very simple routine like cleanse-tone-moisturize-foundation, some of these products could still clog our pores that could result to zits. Aside from that, our cosmetic sponges and brushes have bacteria from leftover makeup and oils that can be transferred onto the skin if not cleaned regularly. These acne that are caused by these topical products are what is being referred to as Acne Cosmetica. That's new to me but it's nice to learn that there is a specific term for acne caused by skin care and cosmetics.

2. Have you ever gotten an advice from people to use toothpaste to treat your pimple? 

For some, it might have worked but some of the ingredients on our toothpaste can be quite harsh on the skin that instead of treating it, it will just aggravate your pimple.

3. Do you spend all day talking on your cellphone or simply holding it and not letting it free from your grasp?

Whenever our hands touch something, we get bacteria and dirt and that gets transferred on the surface of our mobile phones And then we touch our face. Wiping it clean with a wet tissue or antibacterial wipes will in a way lessen its dirt.

4. Work out tools and materials. 

Gyms and yoga classes are public and people share those gears and mats with each other. So just imagine all the sweat and dirt these things have accumulated from all of those who have used them before you and you get a lot of those on your hands, arms, feet, you put your towel on top of those and then you wipe your face. Ack! I know, right? An alcohol or cleansing tissues would do you a lot of good. Or if you can keep your towel inside your bag and just bring it out when you need it, I think that's a pretty good option.

5. The most common thing I have mentioned here is touching your face. 

I think this is pretty self-explanatory and I believe a lot of people already know this but I think it's worth mentioning. You touch a lot of things with your hands and they get all the dirt. And then you touch your face with it. A hand sanitizer will surely come in handy if you can't find a washroom to wash your hands first if you can't keep them from touching your face.

6. The food we eat.

What we eat and our diet reflects on our skin. So cut down on too much greasy and fatty food.

7. Water intake.

Drink lots of water. Aside from being good for digestion, it also helps hydrate us, making our skin healthier and better.

8. Prescription Medicine.

Pills for female hormones and steroids are notorious when it comes to causing pimples. There could be other medicines so you might want to ask your doctor about it as he prescribes those medicines to you so you'll know what to expect.

9. Other more serious health and skin conditions such as rosacea, hormonal imbalance and PCOS so it is always best to consult your doctor about it especially if none of the over the counter and natural treatments help.

Now, speaking of treatments, you can do some DIYs as a lot of the ingredients can be found in your kitchen. These are mostly inexpensive and natural too. You can make face masks out of honey, milk, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, turmeric, green tea, oatmeal, cinnamon. 

I personally like mixing brown sugar with milk or oatmeal and honey to exfoliate my skin. For spot treatments, I use apple cider vinegar alone and dot it on the pimple/s and I wake up to a dry pimple. You can mix some of those ingredients I have mentioned and there are a lot of recipes for DIY natural masks you can find online.

This is kind of a lengthy post but it's nice to share some important information especially when it comes to taking care of our skin.

Here's also a little video that might prove insightful and helpful.

Do you have natural treatments that you can share?

Cheers,