Acne. It is the bane of a teenagers life. Not just teenagers though! It affects up to 80% of people, ranging from teens to age 30, and often beyond.
Acne cannot be put under one category, either. It’s what we call a “multifactorial disease,” which means that it can be caused by many factors.
These different triggers can then present as a wide variety of blemishes, ranging from whiteheads, “blind” pimples (nodules), blackheads, angry red pustules and more.
This is why your breakout may look very different from the next person - however the causes are often the same!
Acne is a skin condition that occurs when your hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. Some types of skin bacteria may make pimples worse. Pimples can appear anywhere on the skin, but they most often occur on the face.
Now, two of these causes are out of your hands - genetics and hormones, it can be difficult to avoid acne all together if you are prone to it. However, there are ways to help manage, treat and reduce the effects. The main focus is to regulate your skin's natural oil production, ensure your pores & kept clean & clear and not to disrupt your skin's healthy skin barrier. Here's 3 ways you can manage adult acne.
If you do ONE thing to help manage your acne, make it this. Proper cleansing! If you have excessively oily skin, your first reaction may be to reach for the oil-free cleanser, or the cleanser promising to dry up your oil. But without getting too sciency on you, your skin naturally has its own defensive barrier called the acid mantle, which is going to be the best protection against bacteria, dirt build up and environmental factors when it comes to acne, so we need to focus on repairing and maintaining your acid mantle, not stripping it away with over-cleansing or harsh cleansers. When you strip away the natural oils on your skin, your skin is going to try to rebalance itself and restore the acid mantle, which it does by, you guessed it, producing more oil (called sebum).
So what can we do to help?
Now, we mentioned how acne is commonly caused by hair follicles getting all clogged up with a build up of dirt, dead skin cells and bacteria? This is where a regular exfoliation routine comes in. Keeping your pores clear and removing dead skin helps cellular turnover and prevents acne. BUT - remember, you also need to protect your skin barrier (That's the acid mantle we touched on before). Over exfoliation can harm the acid mantle - so it's important to go easy.
The two best ways to exfoliate whilst protecting your skin barrier?
1) Only use gentle physical exfoliants (clay based masks can work well) and no more than twice weekly.
2) Use a product containing AHA's daily (Fruit Based Alpha Hydroxy acids). But ensure these are at a low percentage so as not to irritate the skin and disrupt the skin barrier.
By using a combination of gentle chemical and physical exfoliants you are able to dissolve and lift away that build up of dead skin cells and bacteria and keeping your pores clear. This exfoliation action will in turn promote the production of collagen in your fresh skin cells, which will help to heal any acne inflammation and scars.
You’re thinking, with all this excess oil, why would I want to add more - right? Here's the thing though - a lightweight, non-comedogenic facial oil won't clog your pores like excessive sebum (your skin's natural oils) can. It conditions the skin. When you top-up your skin with a high quality facial it signals the body to stop producing as much sebum. Net result less balanced skin.
But what about moisturiser? If your skin is dehydrated it will naturally start producing more sebum to protect itself. So moisturising the skin is critical to balancing sebum production. Be careful with this step however as most cream moisturisers can clog your pores. It's better to make regular use of a lightweight, water-based serum. This is an ideal partner to a facial oil.
The result? When your - your skin is balanced better, and you're less prone to breakouts.
Want a simple routine that does all this for your skin? Our Supercharged Trio is especially designed to help you manage oily skin and adult acne. It combines an oil based cleanser with a treatment oil & lightweight Vitamin C Serum. The routine features high quality, non-comedogenic oils, natural AHA's and powerful, Native Australian botanicals that can help regulate and rebalance your skin.
If you want to take the routine add a notch - try our Supercharged Plus pack - which incorporates a gentle Face Polish masque to keep your pores clear and happy.
