Winning Ways To Stop Acne!!
Nothing is as maddening as breakouts that won’t quit! I’ve had several run-ins with acne; the first time in my 20’s when it decided to rear its ugly head again in my life, right after college. The second time, was in my late 30’s early 40’s. I had switched birth control pills, and my hormones were totally out of wack!! I was fed-up, embarrassed, and desperately wanted nothing more than to stop acne in its tracks for good! Add to that the fact that my new business endeavor required me to have great looking skin, and you see acne was no longer just messing with my self-esteem but my livelihood too!!
I buckled down and learned all I could about it…. the causes, prevention methods, and what I could expect during the whole treatment process. As a result, I got rid of those incessant breakouts and the ugly dark marks that many had left behind too. Let me tell you; knowledge is power!!!
So, Beauties, I want to share with you some of the things I learned along the way. I sincerely hope that this knowledge can help and give you some relief too!
But first, let’s see which one of these next three categories you fall into with regards to acne. Would you say you are more of a scenario 1, 2, or 3? Feel free to share in the comments at the end of this post below.
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Acne Scenario 1: The Uninvited House Call…
Acne can make a rather spur of the moment, completely unexpected, house call for some of us. You look in the mirror and out of nowhere, you find an unwanted visitor, who has taken up residence on your face!
Even worse, perhaps, that undesired guest has brought along a few friends…two, three, or the whole freaking family?!? What in the world happened??
You went to bed with clear skin only to have this rather “rude awakening”. Now, you are in full panic mode, trying to figure out what to do. Maybe as a teenager, you only had moderate acne or never broke out at all.
So, as an adult, you wonder, how is it possible that at your age, you’re now having to address signs of aging (preventing & treating) and acne too??!!
Acne Scenario 2: Not Again??!!!
Unlike those in scenario 1, acne hit you very hard in your teenage years. When it finally ended, you were so relieved and overjoyed to finally be free and clear!
You were busy living your best life and on full “adulting” mode, but then something happened. Yep, you guessed it! It came back!!!
The shock of what you began to see quite regularly in the mirror, all over again, hit you like a ton of bricks! Now, as an adult, that old defeated feeling has come over you. You thought those years were behind you.
How could this possibly be happening all over again? It dang sure isn’t fair!!! And this time you feel even more overwhelmed, frustrated, and embarrassed. All you can think about is how to stop this repeat acne phase so you can get back to your normal life again.
Acne Scenario 3: The Neverending Story
Acne has been a shadowy plague on your life for as long as you can remember. It hit you in your teens, and you imagined that one day as an adult, it would finally stop.
Only here you are now, a full adult and you still have had no reprieve. Well, before you give up or decide there is no hope, read through the tips in this article and see if there’s is anything you have not tried just yet. You never know what slight shift or habit change could make all the difference in the world.
What Causes Adult Acne?
To best address, stop, and prevent acne breakouts, we must start at the root. Why do breakouts happen in adults?
Well, in the simplest terms, you may have hormones, aging skin, genetics, stress, and/or environment to blame. You see, acne is a perfect storm. A combination of things can contribute to it, and there are specific processes that occur, step by step, leading to that last, infamous final step…the pimple.
- First, there is the issue of an accumulation of dead skin cells. As we age, our skin cell turnover slows down, which can lead to a pile of up dead skin cells.
- Secondly, there’s excessive oil production. Hormone fluctuations, environment, genes, and stress can all trigger excessive sebum (oil).
- When dead skin cells and oil combine, they form a plug that blocks the pore (clogged pore). Naturally, our oil is meant to travel up from inside the pores to the skin’s surface. But this plug traps that oil. *Dirt and debris also contribute to clogged pores.
- The oil then builds up behind this plug, creating the perfect cozy home for bacteria, where it thrives and grows.
- Your body then sends red and white blood cells to the area to wage war and fight off infection. As a result, you get inflammation, swelling, and ultimately that dreaded pimple.
Now, to put a stop to acne, a clear cut in its strut, the key is to tackle those processes head-on and prevent each from occurring (pile-up of dead skin cells, excess oil production, plug formation, bacteria, and inflammation).
27 Best Tips For Clearer Skin: Stop Adult Acne Once & For All!
Whether you fall into scenario 1, 2, or 3 from this article…First, know that you are not alone; approximately 40% of adult females suffer from acne.
The good news is that it can be controlled. All it takes is a few switch-ups and changes! You may or may not be aware of a few of these bad habits that can contribute to breakouts.
But as I said previously, knowledge is power. And with knowledge, you can take back control of your skin. So, without further ado, let me share with you some of the best ways to help you stop acne and start loving your skin again!
Tip 1: Wash Your Bedding Linens Often
Sleeping and resting your face on pillowcases that haven’t been washed recently is a recipe for breakouts and clogged pores. Your pillowcases accumulate dirt, oil, dust, sweat, and dead skin cells. All yucky things that can clog pores!! Therefore, you should make a habit of washing your sheets, and most importantly, your pillowcases at least once a week!
Tip 2: Clean Your Cell Phone
Are you guilty of never cleaning your phone? Sweat, dirt, and oil… yep, you guessed it!!! These bad boys accumulate on the surface of your cell phone, right where you rest your face. To prevent more breakouts, you should make it a habit to wipe down your cell phone with travel-size Clorox or antibacterial wipes daily.
Tip 3: Wash Your Face 2x A Day
Do you sometimes skip washing your face? Maybe you are too tired when you get home after a long day?
Your face encounters so many things daily from dust to dirt to bacteria. Therefore, in the evening, it’s important to not only remove these things from your face, but also to remove the oil, sweat, and dead skin cells that have accumulated from the day as well.
In the morning, you also need to wash away the sweat, oil, and dead skin cells from overnight. Not doing so can lead to clogged pores. Gently wash your face with a cleanser using warm water (not hot) each morning and each night. Also, be sure to thoroughly rinse off your cleanser.
Tip 4: Limit Your Time Wearing Makeup
Are you constantly wearing makeup? Do you never go days without it? Do you ever give your skin some time to breathe?
If you are experiencing a breakout, it is always best to take a little break from makeup, in particular foundation, concealer, and powder. This way, you can be sure to avoid further irritation or possible clogged pores. Your skin needs to breathe!
However, if you absolutely must wear makeup, limit the amount of time that you have it on. For example, you can wear it to work and then as soon as you get home, you immediately wash it off. You can also try going without it on a low-key weekend.
Tip 5: Quit Over-Washing Your Face
Many people fall into the bad habit of thinking they need to wash their face much more often to prevent acne. But, when you wash your face too often, you will cause dryness, which can then trigger excessive oil production. As a result, this can lead to more breakouts.
So, don’t over-wash your face, stick to twice a day! Always be gentle with your skin!
Tip 6: Avoid Washcloths If You Can
Most of us grew up using washcloths, so it’s always just been a normal day to day habit for most of us when washing our faces. But washcloths are a breeding ground for bacteria that contributes to breakouts.
So, if you want to stop acne and nip it in the bud for good, it is best to simply use your hands to wash your face and then gently pat dry with a clean towel. After using the towel, be sure to wash it in a washing machine with hot water before using it again.
If you absolutely must use a washcloth instead of your hands, just be sure to use it only once and then like the towel, wash it in hot water before using it again.
Tip 7: Sanitize & Wash Your Hands Often
Do you forget to wash your hands before applying makeup? How about before starting your skincare routine? Or before you reapply a moisturizer or sunscreen to your face?
Always wash your hands with antibacterial soap before touching your face, particularly before applying makeup or skincare products. This will keep the dirt, grime, and bacteria exposure to your face at a minimum. This is the antibacterial soap that I use daily!
Tip 8: Try Not To Touch Your Face
It can be hard, I know! You may be used to resting your chin or your cheek on your hand throughout the day. But the dirt and bacteria your hands come in contact with easily move from your hand to your face, every time you touch it.
So, try to be more aware of when you do it (it can be an unconscious habit) and try to make sure your hands come in contact with your face as little as possible. If this is an especially hard habit to break, be sure you follow the previous tip #7 of keeping your hands washed often.
Tip 9: Look At Your Hand Cream Ingredients
Like most people, you may be guilty of overlooking your hand cream’s ingredients. If you use a hand cream or lotion, you need to become knowledgeable about the ingredients, it contains. Since our hands can sometimes unintentionally touch our face from time to time out of habit, you want to be sure the ingredients are not those that can lead to clogged pores.
Hand creams are usually heavy, so be vigilant in looking at the labels. To be safe, steer clear of those that have cocoa butter, mineral oil, coconut oil, wheat germ oil, palm oil, or petroleum.
Tip 10: Look At Makeup Labels
When picking out and shopping for makeup products, do you just try it out, love how it looks, and then quickly buy? Or do you take some time and do a little research?
From now on, always diligently do your research and look closely at the labels. You want to seek out products (foundation & concealer) that say oil-free, non-comedogenic, and non-acnegenic on the labels. Non-comedogenic means it won’t clog or block pores. Non-acnegenic means it won’t cause acne.
Related: How To Use Concealer The Right Ways: Game-Changing Tricks & Expert Makeup Tips
Tip 11: Don’t Forget To Use A Moisturizer
Do you neglect to use a daily face moisturizer because you think your skin needs to stay dry to stop breakouts? Maybe you worry about a moisturizer making your skin look too oily?
Often using products topically to help with acne can dry the skin out a great deal. If you get too dry, you are looking at not only irritation, but it can also trigger your skin to produce even more oil. Your skin does this a means to compensate for the initial dryness. And as I’m sure you have now realized, yes, more oil production leads to more breakouts. You will find yourself caught in a vicious cycle going from one extreme to the other.
Therefore, to avoid this, use a moisturizer that has hyaluronic acid and/or glycerin. These ingredients help your skin to retain moisture. Also, look for products that say oil-free, non-comedogenic, and non-acnegenic.
Tip 12: Only Use Moisturizers & Sunscreen Made For Faces
Do you think one size fits all so to speak and use body moisturizers or sunscreens on your face?
SPF and moisturizers made for the body are generally heavier than ones made for the face. So, if you by chance have ever opted to use these on your face, you may have ended up with clogged pores that triggered breakouts.
Always stick to using products on the face that are made specifically for the face. The skin on your body is much rougher and tougher; it can take on a whole lot more than your face.
Tip 13: Wash Immediately After You Exercise
After you work out, how long do you wait to wash your face? Ever wait until you get home from the gym?
When you exercise, be sure to always wash your face and shower right after completing your workout (at the gym). You need to wash away the sweat, oil, impurities, and bacteria that may have come in contact with your face and body during your workout. Don’t give it too much time to settle into your pores, wash immediately after!
Tip 14: Pay Attention To Your Hair Style & Hair Products
Do you neglect to pay attention to your hair? The products you use on your hair can sometimes have ingredients that clog pores when they come in contact with your face.
Therefore, it’s best to keep your hair in a style that keeps it pulled away from your face. Avoid bangs for sure! If any hair products do come in direct contact with your face, be sure to wash them promptly off.
Tip 15: Clean Hair Is A Must
Are you guilty of not washing your hair weekly? If you want to put a stop to persistent acne, keep your hair clean by washing it regularly. The dirt and oil that builds up on your hair can clog your pores and contribute to breakouts.
Tip 16: Limit Sun Exposure
Are you a sun worshiper? Maybe you think the sun helps dry up your breakouts, so you try to get a lot of it?
But, sun exposure while initially drying things out a bit can trigger excess oil production, not to mention, contribute to hyperpigmentation (acne scarring). Not only that but if you are treating your acne, many acne-fighting ingredients in skincare products also make the skin hypersensitive to UV rays.
Therefore, to prevent burning, irritation, and discoloration, a sunscreen is a must! Look for one that is oil-free and non-comedogenic.
Tip 17: Don’t Pick & Don’t Pop
Yes, this one is a big bad habit for most people. You MUST STOP picking and popping if you have acne. Doing so can lead to infection, irritation, inflammation, and scarring. And what’s worse of all is that it allows bacteria from the infected area/ pimple to spread to other parts of your face.
If it really bothers you and you are tempted to pop it, make an appointment to have a professional do your extractions.
Tip 18: Don’t Scrub Harshly
Do you scrub your face vigorously trying to get rid of pimples? Be gentle with your skin, over-exfoliating or scrubbing rather roughly can trigger inflammation and/or disrupt the skin’s lipid barrier, leading to more acne. When the lipid barrier is disturbed, your skin loses moisture and struggles to keep irritants out. When this happens, you will notice tiny pinhead-sized whiteheads. We want to keep inflammation down, so avoid over-scrubbing.
Tip 19: Stay Hydrated
Did you drink any water today? Like most of us, you probably forget to drink enough water throughout the day. Or worse, you drink a lot of caffeine instead. But dehydrated skin can lead to excessive oil production.
So, try to drink at least 8 ounces of water a day. Spread it out throughout your day and try to take sips here and there.
Tip 20: Work On Ways To Reduce Your Stress
Are you a constant worrier? When you stress, your body produces too much cortisol (hormone), which triggers acne.
So, you should make an effort to find ways to reduce stress and cope with the ups and downs of life…try listening to relaxing CDs with the sounds of nature or meditation exercises. You could also try yoga, a relaxing bath, or a peaceful walk outside.
- Learn about the additional ways stress can impact your skin from this blog post.
Tip 21: Clean Your Makeup Brushes
Are you guilty of not washing your makeup brushes often enough? Dirt, oil, dead skin cells, grime, and bacteria can buildup on your makeup brushes (sponges too).
For individuals with acne-prone skin, most makeup brushes that are used most often should probably get a deep clean once a week at a minimum. You can do so by washing them in a gentle baby shampoo like this oldie but goodie.
Pro Tip: If you have sensitive skin or react to fragrances a good option would be Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Baby Liquid Unscented Soap.
Brushes used for foundation, concealer, powder, and possibly blush (essentially products used on more of your full face), you will likely want to clean more often (possibly after every use). You can use a spray brush cleanser, or at the very least, you can spray with some 91% rubbing alcohol (fill a little spray cosmetic bottle with the alcohol). Spray and then wipe on a paper towel. Always lay your brushes down flat for drying.
*Keep in mind these instructions are primarily for synthetic brushes.
Tip 22: Sanitize Your Makeup!
If you are guilty of never sanitizing your makeup, it’s time to get started doing it now! I learned in makeup school how to sanitize makeup products in between clients. But this can be useful as well if you have acne-prone skin.
With both powder and cream products that come in a compact, palette, or little jars like your face powder, concealer, eyeshadows, bronzer, blush, highlighter, contour, foundation, etc., you want to sanitize with 91% rubbing alcohol. Fill a little cosmetic spray bottle like this with the alcohol and just gently spritz the makeup.
This will kill off any bacteria and stop acne for sure! Since it’s just you using the product then once a week or every other week should be good. If others are using your makeup, do this after each use. For stick foundation or concealer, you can spritz the top and wipe with a clean tissue.
Tip 23: Use Topical Treatment Products (Skincare Routine)
Are you using treatment products with the best ingredients or just trying a bunch of different things?
Develop a skincare routine using products with ingredients designed to treat acne by both reducing the inflammation associated with current pimples and preventing the formation of new ones.
To prevent the formation of new ones, your products need to strategically stop acne before it starts, by addressing every part of the acne process from skin cell turnover to oil production, to preventing the combining of dead skin cells with that oil, stopping bacterial growth, and ultimately addressing inflammation.
Sulfur is a great ingredient for current pimples, as it quickly treats them, improving swelling, and addressing inflammation. But it also assists in preventing new pimples from forming.
Additionally, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, alpha-hydroxy acids (glycolic acid), and retinol help in preventing new blemishes. Benzoyl peroxide kills the bacteria that causes acne. While salicylic acid, AHAs, retinol, and sulfur prevent dead skin cells and oil from clogging the pores.
Tip 24: Have Patience And Stay Consistent With A Routine
In the quest to put a stop to acne, many people jump around from product to product. But it’s important to be consistent with one skincare routine and give products enough time to work. Treating acne takes time.
You see, the pimples you see today have been silently hiding under the surface, dormant for weeks, and waiting patiently for the perfect moment to pop out!
So often, when you start treating acne, it will seem to get worse before it gets better. When treatment products start working beneath the skin, they begin to bring all those bad boys who have been hiding out to the surface.
Subsequently, you can experience somewhat of a purge. If this happens, just hang in there, things will get better, you just must stay consistent and give it time!
Tip 25: Sanitize Your Beauty Tools For The Face
Ever notice acne near your eyebrows, in the brow area? To stop the spread of acne to this area, first off, before plucking your eyebrows or quite honestly before doing any beauty treatments that involve your face, wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
Additionally, tweezers need to be sprayed with 91% rubbing alcohol before using (I use a spray bottle like this and just fill it up with alcohol). Dirty hands and tweezers will spread bacteria and can lead to infections of the hair follicles.
And what about face massaging tools…like jade or rose quartz rollers that help with puffiness and lymphatic drainage? After each use, be sure to wash in gentle soap and water. Lightly pat dry or air dry.
Lastly, for both tweezers and rollers, think about where you store them. Whether a little box, organizer, or bag, just be sure it’s sanitary and sealed.
Tip 26: Throw Out Expired Makeup
Do you hold on to makeup products a little too long? Do you know when you should stop using certain products?
For the safety of your skin, if anything has expired, you need to toss it! Makeup can collect bacteria, so to decrease the chances of it making its way to your lovely face, you need to keep potential expiration dates in mind.
Not sure when your makeup expires? Download our FREE Makeup Expiration Guide (Cheat Sheet) to keep track…Print it out and keep it with your cosmetics, so you never have to wonder again when to toss expired makeup!
**Also, no matter the date, if you notice changes in the smell, color, or texture of your makeup, throw it away!
Tip 27: Never Go To Bed With Your Makeup On
I myself have had a hard time breaking this bad habit! When you go to bed with your makeup on, the makeup settles into your pores, clogging them and trapping in oil. So, it is imperative to remove your makeup before catching some ZZZ’s.
Not to mention, you need to remove the dirt, grime, sweat, and oil that have built up on your skin throughout the day, which also can cause breakouts.
Additionally, while you sleep your skin cells turnover and try to shed. But if you have makeup on when this is trying to occur, your risk blocking the dead skin cells and preventing them from shedding off.
Before bed, you should use a makeup wipe remover first, then follow with your cleanser. Not only is this one of the best ways to stop acne breakouts from occurring, but it also prevents your skin from premature aging.
- Curious about the other ways sleeping in makeup can damage your skin? Learn more about your skin, makeup, and how not washing it off before bed affects the aging process.
Last Thoughts On Ways To Stop Acne
Don’t let acne get you down, ladies! Trust me, I know it can be frustrating to suddenly as an adult have this extra issue to tackle, but if you start applying some of these tips, you will definitely see an improvement in your skin.
Using these tips, go through them and see what mistakes you may have been making with your skin thus far. Don’t beat yourself up about it though. My motto is when we know better, we do better. Simply use this knowledge to make better choices, if you are guilty of any bad habits.
Do you struggle with adult acne? Are you guilty of any of the bad habits listed? Leave a comment below!
Would you like a FREE skincare consultation?? Click here to reach out.
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