For about a week each month I endure skin flares up with bumpy texture and breakouts. It instantly puts a damper on my mood when a new bump comes up, and I’m sure lots of people have the same dilemma. I get them on my jawline and chin the most, so I think they are hormonal. It doesn’t help that I have oily skin and a habit of resting my chin on my hands when I’m working, so that area on the lower half of my face is extra prone. The following steps are how I combat acne and give my skin extra assistance to fight breakouts.
CLEANSE / I add another round of cleanser after I get home from work to wash away the oil, product I put on in the morning, and bacteria.
MASK / Adding in an extra face mask during the week I have a lot of breakouts makes me feel like I’m taking action against them. Clay, charcoal, and glycolic acid masks seem to help me the most.
MOISTURIZE / Since I’m usually adding exfoliators and anti blemish treatments, it’s important to also add moisture and protection back onto my skin barrier. Especially in the evening, I think it’s helpful to have a very moisturized face so that pores aren’t dried out on top and can stay open to let anything out that wants to push its way forward instead of being an annoying closed comedone lump of texture as a under my skin. Egyptian Magic is my holy grail, and I use Cerave as a lighter option.
NIGHT TREATMENTS / ROC Retinol & Differin Gel make a big difference in at least flattening out the inflammation on a bump or reducing redness the next day.
TRIPLE ANTIBIOTIC / When I have a particularly nasty blemish I like dotting triple antibiotic on it to kill bacteria and ward off infection.
SPEARMINT / On fanserviced-b.com, an amazing skincare blog, I read that spearmint has been shown to clear up acne. I take spearmint capsules and notice a major difference when I’m not taking them. Spearmint tea is also recommended and probably better to absorb all the benefits, but capsule supplements are definitely easier for me. I read recently that Vitamin A is also helpful to clear up acne- it is the main ingredient in Accutane. I currently have this one in my Amazon cart.
PILLOW CASES / When my skin is going crazy I take extra care to change out my pillow cases and sheets as often as I can manage to do laundry. Think of all the products you put on your hair and face that get on the fabric we lay our faces onto, along with sweat and skin cells from sleeping/ dust/ pet hair/ whatever.
STOP TOUCHING IT / This one has definitely got to be the most difficult for me to do. Rubbing grubby fingers over everything isn’t helping the matter whatsoever. Make an effort to wash your hands more often so that when you do touch your face you aren’t adding more germs. KGMTL has a rule that if you feel the NEED to pop something, you get two tries only. No tries are ideal of course but it’s a good way to stop yourself.
For ideas and products for battling temperamental skin, check out my “Skincare” category to see more posts and product recommendations. Thanks for reading! 🙂
-Kim