Acne Magazine

Hey, before I go into this fairly short one about cover up and which kind I feel works best for covering up old acne scars or fading acne redness, I just wanted to remind readers that if they choose to post a comment, please make it respectful of other readers and refrain from using profanity. 

I’ve had some lately that are downright disrespectful, and I will not tolerate that, because I believe we can all talk to eachother like adults here on this blog and share our views and opinions without name calling or plain rudeness.  It’s a world where only people who use common sense on the golden rule and how to treat others gets you ahead, so I firmly believe we should all observe that golden rule in every facet of life, even if it is just some “stupid blog”. 

Anywho, I wanted to share with you that I recently gave the cream form of cover up another go, and has lousy results again.  Not sure if anyone else has had the same experience, but for me, it seems the best kind of cover up for covering blemishes and healing acne bumps, or even old faded scars that you want to blend in with your skin better, a stick form of cover up works better.  If anyone has any reviews on cover ups they want to share or any other tips on how to find good, effective and non irritating coverups, please share!  Thanks! 

Well, let me clarify the title of this one.  I’ve said over and over again how I can only drink very little caffeinated coffee or any other highly caffeinated beverage without getting a breakout.  I am especially susceptible to breakouts when drinking the high octane ones like Starbucks brews that are stronger and others that are super caffeinated, but have little problem when drinking weaker coffees or coffee that I have diluted down a lot with hot water.

However, I wanted to include some information here on recent health benefits that have been confirmed by research recently, which confirms that drinking coffee actually may reduce mortality rates (make us live longer), and has shown in women to be a beneficial prevention measure when it comes to heart disease.  Other health benefits are bound to follow, since the mechanism by which they think coffee, both caffeinated and decaf, works is because it has a high antoxidant count.

So, for those of us that are sensitive (our skin) to coffee that has a lot of caffeine, it may be an option for us to drink half caffeinated ( a new hybrid that contains only half the caffeine of regular coffee), or decaffeinated coffee to get the health benefits.  However, my choice would be to go for things like green teas if you’re looking to get an antioxidant power punch, or maybe the stimulant drink yerba mate, which also has a lot of antioxidants. 

Remember though, anything that has a lot of stimulants in it, regardless of how natural it is, may cause you to break out, so if you are concerned about that, then you could always just take a few sips of acai juice a day, which is a highly concentrated source of antioxidants, and I must say a very tasty and satisfying drink. 

We know that smoking cigarettes, and any other smokeable substance is not a good thing for our health.  In fact, it can cause a number of leading health issues that we see here in the US, or at least contribute heavily to them.   Smoking is definitely not something that “healthy” people do, or usually choose to do if I may phrase it that way, because the Surgeon General has been so kind to inform us of the health hazards we subject ourselves to if we do smoke cigarettes (tobacco). 

The thing is, tobacco in itself is not so much carcinogenic (cancer causing), it’s the fact that we smoke it and pollute our lungs with tar and smoke inhalation that causes it to be carcinogenic, and it’s the nicotine that’s added to cigarettes that is what makes it addictive and so hard to quit for those who have been doing it for any length of time. 

But what about what smoking does to your skin?  Of course, smoking also may appeal to our vanity because many people see it as a hip or cool thing to do, and as a way even for some to control their weight since it can both reduce appetite and even speed up metabolism for some (this does not always work this way).  However, it also appeals more greatly to vanity to quit smoking or never pick up the habit, because the habit actually does more harm than good when it comes to your skin.

Smoking constricts the passageways that carry oxygen throughout the blood stream, and that means that the skin does not get enough oxygen.  This accelerates the aging process in a big way, and many times even gives the skin a sallow and unhealthy appearance.  It can also aggravate acne because it does not allow lesions to heal properly and makes the skin a slower healer because of the lack of circulation. 

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you have pretty oily skin! Not that that’s a bad thing. Heck, it probably means you’re going to age a lot more gracefully than some of those people who’s skin you secretly coveted as a child, who never got a zit because their skin was dry or normal, so that’s a plus right there! However, you’re also faced with having the “shiny face” syndrome when the oil starts pumping out, especially on hot days, and are faced with the dilemma of blotting a couple times a day at least just so your face doesn’t look like you just came out of a sauna.

Shiny face definitely doesn’t look good in pictures either, so you should always keep you blotting sheets handy in your purse or on your person, or you can just visit the nearest bathroom and use a piece of toilet paper or a piece of a toilet seat cover (my favorite backup) if you don’t have any blotters handy.

Now that we’re smack dab in the midst of summer weather, and the humidity is starting to creep up on us, it’s especially noticeable, since humidity condenses on our faces and even those with dry skin or combination skin (part dry, part oily in the t zones), may have to blot once or twice a day.

For me personally, I have to blot about 3-4 times on a hot and humid day, and once (at least) or twice on cold winter days since my oil glands don’t know the difference between hot and cold weather, and I’m convinced they will be producing as much oil (sebum) when I’m eighty as they do today!

It’s summer time again, or at least darn close to it in most places, and that means something that us women hate - or maybe I’m only speaking for myself, but I doubt it.  It means way more leg shaving.  And that takes time, and lots of shaving cream or gel, or whatever it is you happen to use on your gams.  One thing I really can’t stand sometimes in the summer is how after I shave, I seem to sometimes get these razor irritation bumps that resembe and acne postule on my legs.

It begins as a red irritation bump, and once in a while one of them will fill with puss and act like a whitehead.  I’m thinking they are actually acne, because perhaps the pore got infected, just like it can happen to varying degrees on other parts of the body but only where acne can be normal there, like the back and the chest, which women often get and men as well.

I’ve started using an epilator, which rips the hair out by the root, and it just seems to compound the pore irritation problem, and it seems that because it clears the pores of the hair completely, it might leave it more open to infection and dirt getting trapped in there, and will be more subject to becoming an acne bump.  I’ve found that the problem starts to subside after you’ve been epilating a while, but at first my legs were nothing but bumps.

You can use aloe vera gel (I recommend an organic one so it’s not filled with alcohol, but most aloe gel itself), and that does seem to help with the acne-like irritation bumps on the legs, but you may also have to let your legs adjust to, once again, getting shaved or epilated weekly, whereas in the summer ladies, let’s admit that we like to slack a little in the hairless legs department.  Or maybe I speak for myself there too

A customer posted this as a comment on a product I had never heard of called Environ.  For more acne product reviews see Acne Treatment Reviews page, as it looks like this product may have limited availability by the sound of it.

Hi,

I’m from Australia and am using a product from South African that I’m finding very successful. It is called Environ and my using it for my acne. My acne is hormonal and I’m 23 and over it! I’ve only just had this outburst of acne so it is quite devastating and depressing having gotten through my teenage years with little more than the occassional T-zone break out.

I’m finding that this South African product is helping control my sebacious glands and the consequences my hormones are having on my skin. They have a website, enter Environ into google. There are articles on the website about the products that are interesting. The rest of my skin surrounding my breakouts is so pretty, I can’t wait until my entire face looks like these patches of beautiful skin!

Remember to be patient and focus on the small good changes that continously happen and know that you will have good skin if you follow a good skin care regime designed for you acne, a good diet (if you want good skin, you have to cut down on the carby sugary stuff….am sorry but this has to stop if you want clear skin), low stress and lots of sleep….and of course water, water, water! There is no such thing as a quick fix, but the better you stick to the above the quicker the results will be and will last a life time!

I’m using this skin care with a weekly-fortnightly Environ facial. If you email them and see if there is a distributor of their product near you (don’t got to a beautician unless they are trained really well, otherwise it will take twice as long to fix you acne as most of them just don’t get it. You may know someone who is very knowledgable but on the most part, beauticians just regurgitate information that they don’t thoroughly understand themselves.

They need to know the answer to your every question thoroughly not just regurgitate information to you they learnt from a 5 hour training day). I see the rep for Environ that trains beauticians around Australia. She is extremely knowledgable and this is so important. You need to understand what exactly is going on with your skin and why this product my be helping it. She is educated about the workings of the skin and the effects of the product on your skin.

Hope this helps. If you are in Australia and want the mobile number of the lady I see, email me at tashigye@spin.net.au. Read the articles on the website and try and understand them as much as possible. Any questions, email them, they are very helpful.

Tashi.

I was reading about a scrub that is used by Greek women (at least it was a trend that was started by Greek women as I understand it), and wondered if it might be more beneficial or harmful to people with acne prone skin or acne rosacea or rosacea prone skin, and thought that it could possibly be good for any skin type, as long as it is not used during periods of flareups for either sufferer, because any “treatment” may be irritating when one’s skin is already suffering an inflammation of some sort.

The simple idea that sugar - just regular, granulated sugar like you’d put in your coffee or on your unsweetened cereal in the morning, mixed with a little fresh lemon juice from a freshly squeezed lemon, may help soothe and smoothe the skin is definitely one that makes sense.  Sugar possesses an exfoliating ability due it’s granular form.  Not only that, but it also does have some beneficial compounds that can help smoothe out the skin.

The lemon juice is pretty obvious, since lemons have a high concentration of Vitamin C, which is one of my favorite topically applied vitamins for helping even out the skin tone and helping to make sure the skin turns over at a rapid rate, which is the key to maintaining that fresh look that so many people associate with youth and vitality.

Lemon juice is also a natural astringent, meaning it can help tighten and clear pores, as well as help kill harmful surface bacteria.  You can use the sugar and lemon juice gentle exfoliant as an occasional cheap exfoliant, but don’t expect any serious exfoliation from this if you are looking for a something akin to a home microdermabrasion system for acne scarring or something to that affect.  This would just be a nice little in between treatment to help pep the skin up and give it a little kick in the pants toward looking fresher and more vibrant, without doing a full on treatment. 

Someone had written and asked about the L’Oreal Sublime self tanner and whether it was safe for people like us (people who have acne) - in other words, whether it was comedogenic (pore clogging).  I advised her it was not pore clogging for me.  See the question and answer below :

Question (she posted this in response to the original post on this issue before)

hi. I am having the exact same problem!!!! I am really interested in this product and you say you have had no trouble with acne at all with this product?

Thanks for your post thats great to know someone feels the same way as me.

Answer :

Hello, and thanks for reading AcneMagazine.com - we love when people share their experiences with products, techniques and skin care regimens, so it’s always great when one of my personal experiences can help another reader.  As far as the Sublime self tanner from L’Oreal, I did not have any problems after using it several weeks in a row (applied a couple nights apart of course, to avoid that orange look).  It did not cause any breakouts or any smaller bumps, and did not appear to clog my pores.

Further, it did go on nicely.  It’s consistency is a bit thick, which concerned me as far as it being possibly pore clogging, but I had no problems, and I tend to have somewhat sensitive skin on my face to new products sometimes.  Hopefully it works the same for you! 

I know I harp on the subject of sunblock a lot, and this is just the annual reminder, since we are officially in the month of June, when people who live in states like mine (Ohio) are going to most likely experience a lot more sunshine but most likely not yet the blistering temperatures that remind us wearing sunblock is a necessity no matter what the temperature, as long as the sun is shining. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think sunshine is a wonderful thing, and it is vital to us producing a naturally occurring vitamin that is created through sunlight exposure, Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is a vital ingredient to our health, and there are also numerous studies showing that substantial levels of this vitamin may help prevent certain types of cancers as well as other grave illnesses.  So to say the least, I think some sunshine is very important. 

In fact, many researchers are saying that a little sun exposure, maybe fifteen minutes or so a couple times a week sans sunscreen may be in order, but those really fair skinned people need to even watch that, because burning undoes the good of the Vitamin D production.  No matter what, you ALWAYS want to protect your face from the sun’s rays.  Especially for acne sufferers. 

And yes, there are now plenty of good, non irritating and noncomedogenic sunscreens on the market that are both great moisturizers and excellent blockers of sun that will prevent aging as well as help protect the skin from the drying sun’s rays, which also can exacerbate oil production and make acne scars look worse and be more permanent. 

Right now I’m using a L’Oreal facial sunblock with an SPF of 15, which is noncomedogenic and also happens to illuminate the skin at the same time.  I recommend buying special facial sunblocks instead of putting an all over the body sunblock on your face.  This way, you don’t have to worry about a greasy look or feel, and you certainly shouldn’t have to worry about the sunblock causing a breakout.

You can look for the label “oil free” on facial sunblocks too, but most of them automatically will not have oil if they are especially for the face, unless they are specially made for mature skin.  Just remember, the sun may look like it’s helping with your acne, but in fact, it’s only covering the problem and actually making your oil glands work over time.  I can’t tell you how many times I burnt my face in my teens, only to find a massive breakout follow, with whiteheads peeking through the redness - not pretty!