I am 42 years old and instead of battling my wrinkles, I am battling my acne. I am beyond frustrated. Up until 2 years ago when I went off the pill, I had clear skin and was only concerned about fine lines. What a problem! I recently went back on the pill but my breakouts keep coming. I am trying to see the bright side of dealing with adult acne - that I have now done a ton of research into treating oily and acne prone skin. Hopefully this will be a benefit to my clients!
In school we
were taught that oily skin needs to be
balanced. One of the worst things you
can do to oily and acne-prone skin is to strip it by cleansing too often, use
drying / irritating products and exfoliating the skin too much. Compromising our protective skin barrier, a mixture of oil and sweat leads to irritated and dehydrated skin which then in turn leads to more
breakouts.
But HOW do
you BALANCE oily acne-prone skin??? Like I said,
I have been in major research mode. The first
thing I have been researching is how do you "balance" oily
and acne-prone skin? What does it take???
Well, here is what I have so far:
1. Oily skin produces more oil than normal skin. That said, shouldn't we be "calming down oil production" in oily and acne-prone skin in order to balance it? By calming down oil production, we may be able to calm down clogged pores and breakouts. Right? Maybe? To calm down oil production, we need to use products that will help reduce oil production but also keep us hydrated and our moisture barrier protected. If our moisture barrier is damaged or stripped, our skin signals for MORE oil to be made. Not good for oily skin so we want our skin hydrated, protected, just with the right stuff. Keeping our skin hydrated and balanced is a difficult because as acne sufferers know, hydrating our skin tends to bring on acne since many cleansers and moisturizers just add more oil to our skin or contain irritation products that aggravate acne.
So what a girl to do? Well, for the past week I have been working to calm down my oily skin production while also keeping my skin hydrated with non-pore clogging, non-irritating organic ingredients. I also am avoiding products that contain high percentages of acne ingredients.
2. Oily and acne-prone skin tends to have a slower rate of cell turnover. Basically our skin cells don't exfoliate as fast as they should. They get trapped in the oil which then leads to clogged pores, an infection and then a pimple. To help with cell turnover, I have been chemically exfoliating with an AHA, glycolic acid, and a BHA, salicylic acid, to promote cell turnover and keep my pores clear from bacteria and cell buildup. I am avoiding any manual exfoliation which can be too irritating and aggravate my skin. My results so far: I not only have NOT had any new breakout's but my hundreds of small clogged pores on my cheeks and jawline are almost non-existent. I can't remember the last time my skin was smooth on my jaw and lower cheeks. Also, my skin redness and irritation is gone! Freaking gone! I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Here is my
current skin care routine for the past week:
-Cleanse AM and PM with a gentle acidic cleanser containing salicylic acid that helps to unclog pores and is anti-bacterial. This cleanser is not organic. I have been using a cleanser by Philosophy which contains a very small amount of salicylic (1%). It's enough to help reduce oil but not completely strip my skin like some cleansers.
- Tone with an alcohol free toner to remove any remaining residue
- Moisturize AM and PM with an oil-free moisturizer by Juice. It is non-pore clogging. It is also free of parabens and preservatives that can irritate acne prone sensitive skin.
- In place of serums, which tend to clog my pores, I've been adding 3 or 4 drops of Jojoba oil, which is a non-pore clogging organic oil, to my Juice oil-free moisturizer both in the AM and PM. Jojoba mimics our natural skin oil and may actually trick our skin into producing less oil. BTW, This has been amazing! Amazing!!! It is so calming, not greasy feeling and does not clog my pores.
- In the PM, I've been adding a teaspoon of Aloe Vera along with the Jojoba oil to my Juice oil-free moisturizer to help hydrate and protect my skin overnight.
- Glycolic and Salicylic peels weekly. Glycolic has the the smallest molecule of all AHA's and penetrates the deepest helping to exfoliate and turn over skin cells so you are less prone to breakout. It is really great for acne-prone skin AND wrinkles! Double Yay! Salicylic is anti-bacterial. It penetrates into the hair follicle to clear the follicle of bacteria. This prevents new pimples from forming and faster healing of current breakout's. Salicylic also eats up dead top cells like pac man revealing fresher skin and reducing post-tramatic hyper-pigmentation. So far this is helping tons!
Today, I am going to give myself a stronger glycolic peel to further help with on my path to healthy, clear skin. I plan to keep alternating glycolic and salicylic each week to help prevent any further breakouts and to help keep my skin smooth and healthy.
All the best,
Karen
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