Why Your Breakouts Won't Clear: 3 Mistakes I See Most as an Esthetician
You're Using The Wrong Clarifying Ingredients
You're Not Wearing An SPF
You're Not Hydrating Enough
You're Using The Wrong Clarifying Ingredients For Your Breakout Type:
First you must determine what type of breakout you're having. Is it cystic, white heads, fungal, inflammatory? If it's fungal or severe acne, I'd refer you to a Doctor because meds would work best. Though it's tough to give blanket advice for skin, and usually I would want to assess before advising anything, I support people trying to care for and address their skin conditions on their own.
Here is a rough guide to what type of ingredients in products to pay attention to for your breakout type:
Cystic: Benzoyl Peroxide or Sulfur White Heads: Salicylic Acid, AHA's or PHA's if you're sensitive Inflammatory: Azelaic Acid (will also help address redness), Mandelic Acid My general rule is clarify a breakout with a spot treatment no more than 3 nights in a row. If it hasn't cleared, make sure you're also following my next two points to understand why.
You're Not Wearing An SPF:
Here's the deal: the suns UV rays not only damage our skins DNA, which eventually leads cancer (since DNA recognition is how our skin cells heal), it also stimulates your oil glands which can lead to more breakouts, AND it cooks your skin- drying it out to the point that your current breakouts don't get a chance to heal. My current favorite way to use an spf is with EADEMS spf stick (it's also a mattifying makeup primer), and TOCOBO's Sunstick for my hands and body (I keep it in my purse). SPF sticks look like a deodorant stick, making it the easiest and most efficient way to apply and re-apply SPF.
You're Not Hydrating Enough:
"Hydration is healing" we all say in unison while holding hands around a body of water. I've been preaching this since I got my license in 2015 and I got very into the korean skin care method called "7 Skin Method", which called for 7 layers of a hydrating toner. One layer after the other, gently pressed into the skin and finishing with a moisturizer to seal it all in. Was it a bit excessive? In my opinion looking back, yah- kind of excessive but I'd wake up with the softest skin I'd ever felt on myself. Hydration speeds up the healing process in our skin so if you find that you've done all of the clarifying and wearing spf daily, then it could mean your skin just needs a little push at the end to clear it all away. Though it's best to incorporate hydration throughout your entire skin care regimen, if you haven't already- here are some hydrating ingredients to look for: Glycerin: My current favorite because of how inexpensive and efficient it is Hyaluronic Acid: Found in a lot of formulations, its popular but not my favorite Beta-Glucan: In my opinion the most superb ingredient you can use for both hydration and inflammation- perfect for aiding the healing of a breakout. (If you're my client feel free to ask me about products with this ingredient)
Though everyone's skin is different and we don't all respond to the same things well, I've come to find (in my 11 years licensed) these 3 reasons are a very good starting point.
I hope this helps you and any difficulties you're having with your skin.
with love,
rachel xx
Rachel Amar, Licensed Esthetician since 2015, Placentia, CA
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