As the new year progresses, I’ve made it my mission to curate my own personal skincare routine that is the blueprint to breakout-free skin. Having acne for 11 years has taught me valuable information about knowing when I’m going to break out, why it’s happening, and what’s going to cause it to happen. Unfortunately, my acne is primarily caused by hormones, which makes it significantly more challenging to keep my breakouts at bay.
Through countless dermatology appointments, facials, trial by error, and doomscrolling on TikTok, I believe I have mastered a plan to help keep my breakouts minimal.
what causes a breakout?
The first step starts with identifying these types of things in your environment and what you put on your body that may make you break out. Some of the main factors that cause my breakouts are typically stress, consuming inflammatory foods and drinks, sweating a lot, wearing hats or helmets for sports, and trying a bunch of new skin care products.
Personally, I suggest taking a look at Clearstem, an acne-friendly skincare brand that provides a basic rundown of inflammatory foods that may influence acne, as well as a pore-clogging checker. One of my best friends in my acne journey became pore-clogging checkers. Here, you can take the ingredient list from any product, and this mechanism checks for ingredients that may not be acne-friendly. This was really important in finding brands and products that I could trust.
While some things may be unavoidable, such as stress, hormones, and sports gear, there are certain things I have done in the last few years to reduce these external factors as much as possible. Stress comes in all different forms, but the most consistent activities I have found as relievers are low-impact exercises or cardio, steady sleep routines, strong friendships, and anything that might personally bring my mind calm.
Reducing my stress helps eliminate how frequently I pick at my acne and touch my face, as well as reduce cortisol. High cortisol can create an excess of oil in your skin, which is the perfect environment for acne-causing bacteria to survive.
Additionally, hormones can be influenced by medications as well as diet. Consuming tons of sweet potatoes, avocados, ginger, turmeric, and peppermint tea, and other whole and organic foods decreased my acne breakouts significantly. I noticed that decreasing my intake of processed high-sugar foods and, most interestingly, eggs, also helped with my acne.
However, a diet as such was not a cure. I still suffer from hormonal acne breakouts consistently, but a mix of birth control and spironolactone has helped, along with this diet. Spironolactone is an oral medication that can be used to decrease sebum production and cystic acne in women. This medication typically takes 8-to-12 weeks to fully kick in. Spironolactone has been a holy grail for the last six months in navigating my acne journey.
finding the right products
The next step is to find products that work for you, as everyone’s skin is different. I personally have very sensitive and acne-prone skin, which makes it very difficult to find acne-friendly products. I’ve also found it helps to cycle products based on your skin day to day. My top two face washes of the last six months remain the Eucerin Hydrating Cleansing Gel and PanOxyl’s Acne Creamy Wash.
I have combination skin, which means I have to balance face washes to help keep a healthy skin barrier while also treating bacteria and deep acne cysts. I most consistently use the hydrating face cleanser, but when I feel as though I have been exposed to a lot of dirt, sweat, makeup, or when I get closer to that time of the month, I use the PanOxyl as a way to “pre-treat.”
I find it deeply cleanses my skin and will also kill bacteria that may be on the surface or below by leaving it on my skin for 2-to-5 minutes. I do not recommend doing this more than two days in a row if you have very sensitive skin. PanOxyl is very strong and can strip your skin barrier, which leads to further breakouts.
After you wash your face, it is time for toner and topicals. For my girls who are highly active, I recommend hydrochloric acid spray. My favorite brand is Tower 28, as I have found it’s a fantastic product to bring to any activities, such as the gym, hiking, etc. As for topicals, I currently have a prescription for clindamycin and Retin-A. These products have helped with skin inflammation and getting rid of stubborn post-acne marks and deep breakouts.
However, if you are not quite ready to visit the dermatologist, here are my recs. Differin Gel is first up; this product gently increases skin cell turnover, which helps to unclog pores and reduce post-acne marks. Murad Deep Relief Acne Treatment has 2% salicylic acid and works on deep cystic acne breakouts.
Lastly, my favorite product would be the Neutrogena On-The-Spot Acne Treatment; I would say this product is best for breakouts related to sweat. While not my favorite for my acne type currently, it is a great, safe, and affordable product.
As for some effective products for bacne, my favorite treatment is the PanOxyl Acne Banishing Body Spray. This product has 2% salicylic acid, which helps to decrease oil production and deeply clog pores. These products are all chemical exfoliants, so I highly discourage using them every day. I would start at least every other night, depending on the sensitivity of your skin.
finding the right moisturizer
Finally, the last step is to find a moisturizer. My personal favorite remains the Cetaphil daily moisturizer for my face. I also use this on my chest and back. My face is highly sensitive and acne-prone, so I find this moisturizer to be gentle yet effective, as well as buildable. This non-pore-clogging moisturizer has been my favorite for years.
I don’t have many recommendations outside of this, but for people with highly oily skin, I recommend checking out a gel moisturizer. A few I have heard great things about are the Neutrogena HydroBoost, Byoma, Good Molecules, and the Skinfix gel moisturizer.
My last few products are face masks, and I am very picky about my face masks. The first is the Murad Rapid Relief Acne Sulfur Mask, which acts as an anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and exfoliating agent. I also recommend any product with papaya, pineapple, or pumpkin enzymes. A great brand is Peter Thomas Roth, which can be found at Ulta or Sephora. It is very important that you follow the directions on these and do not apply them to open breakouts.
the power of sunscreen
The last product I recommend is sunscreen! This should help prevent severe acne scarring and hyperpigmentation. My favorite is the Mad Hippie Luminizing Facial SPF, which protects my skin and gives it a glowy filter, all while being affordable!
My runner-up is the Hero Force Shield SPF, which contains zinc and has a green tint. This zinc contains anti-inflammatories, and the green tint helps to minimize redness. Lastly, I recommend the Dermalogica Clearing Defense SPF. This may be the best SPF out of those that I recommended, but because of the expensive nature of the product, I put it third.
While I recommend these products, keep in mind your skin is different from mine, so what works for me may not for you. Make sure to follow directions and the guide of your dermatologist if you have one. Best of luck!
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