Acne Magazine

Picking the right products for acne prone skin, especially skin that may be prone to a lot of inflammation, such as those with acne rosacea, is tough. It’s hard enough to pick out moisturizers, foundations, and cover ups that don’t clog the pores or cause some other sort of mess on your skin when you are subject to oily skin that is bumpy and also produces comedones (blackheads) and whiteheads.

It almost never fails for me. If I wear a somewhat tight and confining piece of clothing on my upper half, and I happen to also sweat profusely while I’m wearing it, I almost always will break out in that area. Case in point is the fact that we used our infrared sauna last night, and I stayed in a bit too long, which means I ended up drenching myself in sweat, especially on my upper extremity.

For those of us who have suffered from acne on and off, or for much of our life, including adulthood and our teen years, it’s really tough to find a moisturizer that will not further clog the pores and also cause future breakouts through simply irritating or “over moisturizing” the skin.  I’ve tried several that I simply cannot use because of my oily skin, even ones that are marked noncomedogenic, which means non pore clogging, and had to throw them away because they caused me to breakout or just did not agree with my finicky skin in some way. 

For that reason, I am constantly trying new moisturizers, because contrary to what some may think, people with acne or oily skin still need to moisturize, especially when it’s winter time and the dry heat starts to make our skin dry and flaky, or if we live in arid climates where humidity is a rare commodity. 

So I’m glad I tried a recent one that seems to be working fine on my ultra oily skin (by the way, if you’ve read this blog before you may know this already, but I am 33 years old and still have very oily skin).  It’s by L’Oreal and honestly the only reason I even bought it is because it was on clearance at a local Marshalls store to where I work here in Ohio, so I bought it on a whim, thinking it might be good, although I already have plenty of other moisturizers that are half used that work fine as well. 

I only use this one in the morning though, since it contains an SPF in it, and I’m still a bit leery of using creams with SPF at night, even though I can’t be certain SPF can cause breakouts.  The L’Oreal cream I bought is in the Visible Results line, and it is labeled as a “skin renewing moisture treatment” that is supposed to provide visible results from using it within days, creating a more youthful, dewy and glowing appearance to the skin. 

I like it because it has not caused any breakouts, but as for improving my skin’s appearance, the jury’s still out on that since it’s only been a few days.  All in all, I think it’s a solid product, and I love that it has an SPF 15 in it without making your feel like you’re wearing a heavy mask, which often happens in day creams with SPF in them since the SPF can have a thicker consistency to block out the sun’s harmful rays. 

I decided it was time to again try a new face wash, and yes, I’m still not out of my last one that I tried, but I just can’t seem to stick to anything lately since I love to buy and test out new products, as you well know.  This product, I’m very pleased to say, I love.  I’m pleased to say it because it’s from a well respected line of organic beauty products and facial skin care called Beauty Without Cruelty. 

It means that they make, test, and sell their products without harming a hair on an animal’s head, which is not something that many cosmetics and beauty companies can claim since the majority of cosmetic safety testing is done on animals.  The face wash I purchased is one that contains some very powerful topical antioxidant nutrients that are used in cosmetics and skin care, as well as oral supplements that help to make skin clear and glowing, kind of like the antioxidant approach that the Acnezine herbal acne pill uses.

The two antioxidants that it uses are Vitamin C and CoQ10, which is an enzyme that has received a lot of just praise in the world of beauty and skin care for it’s skin tightening, antioxidant abilities.  The cleanser is a clear solution, and it’s not too thick.  It comes in a pump, which is very convenient to use (I hate to have to squeeze a face wash out in my hand, it seems more messy and more of a pain), and it has a very clean scent too it that is not overpowering in the least like some other cleansers, especially cleansers especially formulated for acne, as I’m sure you’re all too aware. 

I’ve been using it now for about four days, and I love the way it makes my skin feel.  It’s never tight or dry after I use it, and best of all, it’s not an “acne cleanser”, and yet it has not caused me to break out since I’ve been using it.  I love the fact that it has two very powerful antioxidants in it as well, but I’m not sure how much that really matter for something you have on your face for maybe one to two minutes all together before you rinse it off.  It’s price is very reasonable, I think it was just a little over seven bucks online.   

I received this question from a woman about using a rosacea product because she is pregnant.  Of course, I’ve kept this anonymous to protect privacy, but thought this answer may benefit some others potentially, although I did ultimately have to defer to the company to answer for sure. 

Question :

hello, my name is XXXXXX, I’m interested in zenmed acne rosacea kit for dry skin. i would like to try it, but just cant find information- if it’s safe for pregnant women?. or it’s better to wait whil baby is born and then buy it?

thankyou

I would be very happy to get answer

Answer :

Hello XXXXXX.  Unfortunately I do not know enough about the product (besides that it does work well for many people as a natural alternative to rosacea skin problems, it is very soothing and helps take the red out), to tell you whether pregnant women can use it. 

I have not read anywhere on the indications for the product for pregnant woman to not use it, however, I’ve included a link for you to go to their website and contact them to ask them directly about this issue.  Here it is Zenmed Rosacea .

Good luck if you do decided to go with this natural line of products.  Also remember that drinking fresh squeezed lemon juice in your water can help with inflammation problems in the skin (I also recommend this for those with acne, since both acne and rosacea are thought to be inflammatory skin problems).  I drink lemon in my water and find that it helps my skin stay much “calmer”. 

Again, good luck! 

I just read an interesting article about treatments and lifestyle tips and products for preventing and treating stretch marks on the body.  Stretch marks are caused when a person gains and loses weight rapidly, such as with frequent dieting and yo-yo’ing of weight, or when a woman becomes pregnant, from her skin expanding for several months. 

Many times what happens is, although our skin is extremely strong and resillient, almost like a balloon or a rubber band, if it is stretched beyond it’s elasticity capacity for too long, it may not go back to the original color and texture it was before the trauma.  That’s what a stretch mark results from.  It often is a white color or a purplish type of color, or sometimes can be a shade of pink.  Sounds an awful lot like what can happen to our skin’s coloration after an acne lesion has been treated, huh?

Personally, I have a few and they look white to me, almost like the absense of pigment, and they clearly look like a balloon that’s been overexapanded for two long, because they have a set of lines that looks where the point the collagen gave out and the skin began to give up and give away some of it’s integrity.  These marks, in many ways, are like acne scars, in that they resulted from a trauma to the skin in that area, and they have become discolored or misshapen because of that trauma. 

For that reason, what’s good for stretch marks and often recommended by dermatologists to help get rid of them, is often the same prescription for getting rid of and fading acne scars. 

Examples of the similar treatments that can be used on both acne scars and on stretch marks for improvement are laser treatments, lotions and creams with alpha hydroxy acids in them, which smooth and buff away old skin cells to reveal fresh new, and undamaged skin, Retin-A, which is a topical cream or gel that helps to regenerate lost collagen and build up the skin to renewed integrity and strength, softening lines and indentations and also helping with  discoloration, and using peptide-type lotions and creams (like the much hyped Strivectin, which believe it or not, is actually a stretch mark cream, not a wrinkle cream). 

Well, I never thought, being a lifetime acne sufferer on and off, that I would cut down to washing my face only once a day, but here is the day it happens!  I must confess, for the past week, I’ve cut down to washing my face only once per day, and that happens to be at night so that I can get all the foundation and makeup off of my face and eyes well since washing is the only thorough way to do that, and then in the morning, I just run a swab with a good toner over it a few times to make sure any extra grime and dirt is out of my pores, and I apply my makeup.

I thought when I first started to try this that my skin would be too oily or it would react by breaking out, but it didn’t.  It actually felt smoother and looked more radiant, and did not feel so tight after washing in the morning, so I didn’t have to apply a gob of moisturizer and let it soak in before I applied my SPF foundation. 

Now, I’m not saying this is good for everyone, I  just decided it was right for me because I am now in my early thirties and have to start taking precautions for areas of my skin that are more prone to fine lines, like under my eyes and on my forehead, and decided that washing twice a day was too drying for me personally.  I skip the under eye area in the morning with the toner, and it’s made it look a lot smoother and has less of the crepe paper look that fine lines can give under the eyes.

If you’re in your thirties and are starting to have to make decisions that benefit both you oily tendencies and your aging skin, this might be right for you, or it may not work for you.  I think it really depends on your skin type.  I alternate between a gentle tea tree toner (tea tree oil is supposedly one of the best natural acne treatments, but I only like it in a toner personally, all the other forms tend to irritate my skin) and a soothing botanical toner without alcohol and it works just fine. 

By the way, you will start to feel lucky that you have oilier than heck skin when you get to be my age, it really does make a difference in your resilience when it comes to wrinkles and aging, and maintains the suppleness a lot better into later age.  It may seem like a real pain and a curse when you’re younger, but believe, your skin will stay more youthful into later years than those that have naturally drier skin and produce no oil. 

They had it good in their teens due to a probable lack of acne and breakouts, but when the later years come, they will have a harder time maintaining moisture in their facial skin and keeping wrinkles at bay.  There are pros and cons to both! 

Why did I name this post Sleep, Skin Enemy Number 2?  Well, because I believe that lack of good, solid and fulfilling sleep is probably just about the number 2 enemy of good skin.  Even though it’s right up there with what I feel is the number one enemy of good skin, which is sun exposure.  Or would that be a bad diet? 

Hmm, those two are probably a tight race for the top honor of number one skin enemy, but I really wanted to talk about why lack of sleep can really open your skin up to all types of problems, including rashes, acne, worsening rosacea, and just plain old slackened, discolored and tired looking, sallow skin.  As we age especially, a good sleep regimen is necessary to maintain a good skin tone and healthy, clear and luminous skin that “glows”. 

Sleep does a couple of things for our bodies.  It allows our hormones to regulate, it rejuvenates our skin because our skin is at a resting metabolic rate with the rest of the body, which gives it time to rest from the environmental pollutants and assaults that come it’s way all day long.  This also allows the skin time to repair. 

Adequate, solid sleep allows us to function in a rational, calm way throughout the day, which facilitates even hormones, and you guessed it, inadvertently facilitates clean and clear skin because our hormones aren’t sabotaging the sebum production, as they do when one has acne problems.  It is thought that cell turnover happens a lot more at night on the skin, so allowing the skin adequate time to turn cells over and renew themselves certainly lends itself to pristine skin and a nice tight appearance that looks healthy and vibrant. 

Well, of course decaf is probably the best choice if you love coffee and can’t cut it out all together - make that organic decaf, but after a little while of trying to drink organic, freshly ground coffee beans, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is, for some reason, definitely less aggravating to my skin.  I’ve posted several times before how I believe coffee and other highly caffeinated drinks tend to make my skin break out and make the texture of my skin rough.

Now, since I’m finding it harder to wake up in the morning and stay alert, I’ve decided to try grinding organic coffee beans, as I had read somewhere that they don’t have pesticides in them and may be less inflammatory to the system (hence, the acne flare ups, in my opinion), so I decided to give this more expensive, but also much tastier option a try.

The result is that the organic freshly ground coffee has not aggravated my skin as much at all.  Of course, the best choice still in my opinion is to abstain from caffeine intake all together, but if you have to drink coffee, drinking organic may be the way to go.  Not only does it a taste a lot better and is probably much better for the body than drinking altered, chemically sprayed coffee beans, but you may also notice your skin doesn’t flare up when you drink it as much.  Just a thought! 

Dr. Perricone’s book, a best seller back in the nineteen nineties when it hit bookstore sheleves called The Wrinkle Cure, is one that I am on my second time reading.  First, because I remember the book containing invaluable information not only about how to keep the skin smooth, supple and wrinkle free for as long as possible, but also because it had great diet advice that was excellent advice to follow for acne sufferers. 

In fact, the book is a must read in my opinion for everyone because it explains how the skin gets damaged and its defenses are broken down by both environmental pollutants and intrinsic factors such as stress and anxiety, as well as external factors like sunlight and smoking.  One of the biggest features of the book is a guide on how to eat in what he calls the “anti inflammatory diet”, which as you all know if you’ve been reading this blog for very long, I highly advocate and have had a lot of personal experience with in my life. 

This book is available in most free libraries, and I know it’s available online several places for dirt cheap, especially if it’s paperback.  It’s a fast, easy read and it’s actually fascinating to read how he describes the aging process, free radicals, collagen’s role in healthy skin, and the factors that break down our skin’s elasticity and health quicker than you can say “acne and rosacea“.

Perricone has since come out with a couple of other excellent books on the subject of skin.  He is a dermatologist and author, and he has also come out with his own line of Perricone skin care products, which are made with the highest quality cosmeceutical ingredients.  I’ve used them before and they are truly high quality, but you will pay a pretty penny for them. 

I think the most important factor to taking care of one’s skin, no matter what you are trying to combat, is diet, and he really drills it home in this book, the Wrinkle Cure.  He also does briefly address acne directly, and alternative treatments for acne, but believe me, this whole book is not just how to prevent aging and reverse the signs of aging in the skin, but it also may be applied to how to prevent and treat acne.