Acne Magazine

When it comes to OTC acne fighting ingredients that are commonly found in the best products for fighting acne, whether adult acne or teenage acne, there are a few ingredients that really are better at fighting acne while also not drying or irritating the skin too much.  The best one between benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid is, in my opinion, salicylic acid. 

I especially think it’s the best choice for women in their twenties, thirties and forties and higher who are battling both aging skin and dryness, and may also be battling the occasional breakout.  I know, so unfair that we have to battle both aging signs like crow’s feet and fine lines AND acne, but it seems to be the way of the world these days with more and more adult women, and men, getting acne later in life. 

Salicylic acid is a highly recommended ingredient in topical acne treatment products for adults because it not only gets into the pores and unclogs them, but it’s ideal for aging skin because it does not have the drying and irritating properties of many of it’s counterparts, and it also has an added benefit for aging skin that many don’t know about.

Salicylic acid is an excellent natural exfoliant, meaning it sloughs off those dead layers of skin cells that crop up every single day, very easily, leaving a refreshed, glowing layer of skin and accelerating the turnover of the skin cells so that wrinkles look less deep and noticeable and the skin takes on the fresh look that tend to go fade with age as our skin has less tone as well as less ability to turn over because our cells do not renew themselves as quickly as they did when we were younger.

Salicylic acid is even found in many acid peels, and is an excellent peel for those that are treating acne and acne scarring because it is gentle enough, but also gets the job done of getting those dead skin cells to turn over and “forcing” our skin to make new ones. 

Well, it’s on the verge of becoming a new reality, well, a new and improved reality since the first try was a flop due to too  many side effects, including inducing male acne in the men who took them, presumable due to hormone shock and imbalance, but a newer and better male birth control pill is supposedly on the near term horizon as an option in couple’s birth control endeavors.  Many women now take the pill, some for reasons other than birth control alone, but most for reasons that include birth control. 

As we’ve talked about before, many women use the birth control pill in part to help clear their face of acne, and some have had great success in clearing either adult or teen acne by taking specific types of birth control pills that allow the woman’s hormones to be a more controlled level at all times rather than go up and down constantly as they do in nature. 

One of the major complaints with the first male birth control pill was that the men who were taking them broke out a lot, and some got very severe acne, presumably a hormonal side effect of the pill.  The newer male contraceptive pill would be available in several different options, like the female birth control pill, including a daily pill, a gel that would be administered to the skin and utilized transdermally, and a patch.  Still, many men are leary of taking a pill and messing with their hormones, much like women understandably are.  In fact, many recommend women do not stay on the pill for more than ten years.

The reason that acne may have resulted in that the balance of the testosterone and the progestin released in to the man’s blood stream to help turn off sperm production was a little off kilter, and this in turn threw off their oil production, and resulted in hormonally induced acne, but men who have tried the newer versions have seen little side effect, aside from maybe a little bit of weight gain. 

George Carlin, the famous comic of his generation whose famous routine about the seven dirty words, and many other famous lines, had among others, a famous line about why he grew a beard and grew his hair out in the sixties when the hippie peace movement began to gain momentum and an “anti establishment” sentiment began to abound.  He joked that he grew his beard out to cover up his facial acne, which of course wasn’t true, but it made for a good laugh. 

Those of us who actually have acne know that facial hair actually aggravates it, after all   I had read this article about him, because he of course passed away recently, and I thought our little magazine could pay a little bit of tribute to the funny man, who died ultimately at the age of 71 of heart failure.  George often even joked about death, and said he never wanted to see death coming whenever his time was up, that was his forte though, making light of subjects that everyone is typically loathe to talke about and is considered taboo. 

But that’s what comedy is.  It’s about making us laugh at sometimes scary things or even inappropriate happenings that we don’t know how to often deal with in our real lives.  He made this stuff funny, and he was actually a huge part of the sixties comedy scene with his controversial views on war, racism, and censorship. 

He believed that no one should be censored, and many say that his motives for being in comedy were not to make boatloads of money, which is of course what happened naturally because of his talent anyways, but to make people laugh and think, and to get up on the stage and talk about whatever he wanted to talk about without being hassled or interfered with. 

Sorry for the use of the word “imbibed” in the title there, but I couldn’t decide whether “drank” or “drunk” would be more appropriate, so I chose to go with neither and use a less often used word there!  This is really a lame post today, so sorry, but you know I post any and every thought that goes through my mind when it comes to my skin and acne, and my personal experiences no matter how small, or observations, no matter how trivial, whether everyone agrees with them or not.  Be warned, this is an example of one such trivial observation!

I’ve been drinking a half a cup of coffee lately - about five days a week.  You guessed it, the five days a week I work, usually, and maybe one off or so on the weekend too, because I need to wake up in the morning, and coffee is the best tasting way to do that for me.  What I’ve been doing though is diluting it just a bit, and only drinking a half a cup, with lots of cream and one packet of artificial sweetener.

I’ve noticed that my skin’s grown “accustomed” to the coffee, and I haven’t experienced any breakouts from drinking it, aside from the first day or so I started my spree in drinking caffeinated coffee.  I’ve often written about how super sensitive my skin usually is to caffeinated beverages or any sort of “speedy” medication or pills (we’ve talked about Vicodin, ephedra, and other medications that seem to make me break out, and others have shared that sentiment as well), so I was kind of surprised when I didn’t break out at all for the next few weeks of my coffee binge.

I’m thinking my skin has become accustomed to it, but I’m also thinking that if I were to quit drinking it for a while and cut out all caffeine for a few weeks, and then went back to it, I would probably start to break out again -no?  Just a thought.  I told you this was trivial

It’s swimsuit and skimpy clothes season, and that means that you are probably meaning to pay a little more attention to that area of your body you scarcely get a direct look at, and definitely don’t pay much mind to when it comes to beautification of upkeep (I’m guilty of this too, believe me, I’m not being accusatory).  However, now that the skimpy backless and barely there clothes are all the rage, and we like to wear less clothes for those hot days when our backs sweat and every other part of our body gets hot, sweaty and oily, we all want to pay more attention to our backs.

Backs are a funny thing.  We don’t really pay much attention to them because we generally can’t see them - but other people can.  Backs can be very sexy and alluring.  Or they can definitely need a few good facials - or shall I say “bacials” or something of the sort, since it’s really for your back area?

Well, it looks like one of the best things you can do, or you can maybe have a partner of close friend do for you, is to use a clay mask for your back to help get the process going to a clear, clean and dirt free, and blackhead and whitehead free, back.  Clay masks are a great way to suck up extra oil and help to unclog sebum from clogged pores. 

Clear Pores has a body acne system that works wonders for those with back acne and acne in areas other than their face, but you can also find a simple clay mask at your local drugstore for no more than a couple bucks that can help get you on your way to a fresher, cleaner looking back that is bump free, even toned and ready for the summer. 

Clay masks work to help eliminate bacteria, which can aggravate and even cause acne lesions and bumps, the latter which is the most common on the back area since this area is not commonly arrated enough and often stays in the dark and damp for too long, and may also be susceptible to acne in the first place depending on how active a person’s oil glands are back there to begin with. 

Doing a clay mask on the back once or twice a week in the warm weather can help to smooth that rough skin and also to unplug the pores and keep the oil production under control, just make sure you don’t leave them on too long.  Overdrying is as bad as overly oily, so be careful with how long you leave them on for.  Just let them dry thoroughly and take them off, don’t let it sit overnight or anthing or you can just aggravate the situation more. 

I have recently had some great experiences with Vitamin C, and thought I’d share what I think is a very important vitamin for you to take daily to help improve and/or maintain the texture and elasticity of your skin.  Vitamin C is a cheap vitamin that is often underestimated because of it’s simplicity and over exposure, including the fact that many think it helps prevent colds and flus, and the medical establishment has “debunked” this theory, although I still feel it has merit.

Vitamin C is a great antioxidant, and it is one that needs to be replenished on a daily basis.  We all would like to say we eat our daily fruits and veggies that would give us more than enough vitamin C every day, but many times this isn’t true, so a supplement that is well absorbed into the body is a good alternative, although of course, no pill is ever as good as the whole food istelf, but in this world today we need supplements because we can’t always ensure we get adequate amounts of each nutrient daily.

Vitamin C is one that we can take every day, and it will not result in a toxic buildup in the fat cells, like the ones that do not get flushed from the system every day.  I take a supplement called Ester-C because I personally believe that after all the reading I’ve done on Vitamin C and it’s health benefits, that this form of vitamin C is the most well absorbed and utilized form of the vitamin available. 

Another form is ascorbic acid, and it’s been hotly debated whether this form or the ester form of vitamin C has the same antioxidant capabilities as the other, so that’s really a matter of choice and judgement to the person taking the supplement - of course after doing all their own homework and drawing their most logical and comfortable conclusion. 

We all know that antioxidants are great for a variety of reasons for the health of our bodies, and that it’s also great for our skin as it is used in some of the top anti acne supplements like Acnezine, which is essentially an antioxidant based acne formula, but adding vitamin C every day to your regimen is something that not only can help ensure a long, healthy and glowing life for your skin, but can also help prevent cancer, illness and other diseases in conjunction with an otherwise healthy lifestyle.

I read about the benefits of lemongrass while I was recently reading about how it works as an insect repellant, because I noticed that another one of it’s listed side benefits was that it could also help with acne prone skin because of it’s antiseptic and pore-shrinking and clearing properties.  I have noticed, come to think of it, that lemongrass is listed as an ingredient in a lot of the natural soaps and face washes that I’ve looked at for skin clarity, so this didn’t really shock me.

What I was surprised at though, was that citronella, the ingredient that you always see in those mosquito repellant candles that are used outdoors to keep insects at bay, and lemongrass are one in the same thing.  It hit me though, that yes, they do smell exactly the same, but I guess I had just never thought of it. 

Citronella candles have a wonderful scent, and I’ve also had some products made with the essential oil of lemongrass, and it has a wonderful, squeaky clean smell to it the is reminiscent of freshly squeezed lemons and the feeling of thoroughly cleansed skin.  Lemongrass may be a great pore tightener too if you are interested in trying some product with the ingredient in it (if you happen to love organic and natural skin care lines like I do, or buy natural acne treatments that include ingredients you’re unsure of, lemongrass may be a beneficial one for acne prone skin).

And hey, those aren’t the only uses for this relatively cheap plant.  Lemongrass is also used extensively in both Asian and Indian cooking, and I’ve had it in a variety of exotic dishes (well, more exotic than a burger and fries, I’m not talking anything really fancy here though), and it always gives a wonderful, fresh and light taste to anything that’s seasoned with this versatile spice, skin care ingredient, and additive for natural insect repellant.  Truly, lemongrass is a multi purpose plant! 

That’s right folks, you may recognize “cannabinoids” as a derivative of that all too infamous word, well there’s a lot more that are clang, but the word cannabis is the term used for the plant that most of us know as pot, weed, and any other variety of names it goes by.  In other words, the stuff you put in a pipe or roll up in joint to smoke it may actually have properties that heal our skin, and also can help to clear up acne.  Talk about a novel alternative approach to acne treatment! 

The specific organism found within the cannabis plant is called cannabinoids, and these little organisms may help to speed healing of the skin, without smoking it.  Instead, scientists are looking at ways that this compound can be used to help heal skin cancers and also to mend harmed skin, such as skin with acne. 

This research is definitely brand new, and it’s been almost somewhat of a surprise to the scientists that are studying it.  It would be a certain variety of marijuana that would work, and the whole plant would not be used, but rather parts of the plant would be isolated and used for their beneficial properties, much as other plants that have been used and manipulated to create  other pharmaceutical drugs that require a prescription to use.  This may mean that the cannabinoids would be synthesized into a cream or some sort of oral medication where the cannabinoids can internally (or externally) help a person’s skin heal more quickly and quell inflammation. 

They are first to say that this does not suggest smoking cannabis provides any benefit, as this is obviously not anyone’s agenda to get people smoking and destroying their lungs for the sake of possibly helping their skin, but rather they say it is a positive step in the right direciton to use the marijuana plant for other applications (other than the one we all know it’s used for, besides medical pain relief). 

Well, it’s no surprise that a lot of people who have prescription to drugs share their prescriptions with others.  How many times have you heard of someone “borrowing” a few prescription pain pills, or muscle relaxants, or even sometimes something like an antidepressant of anti anxiety pill, especially one that has enjoyed recreational use called Xanax and Cymbalta to name a few are shared as a purely recreational drug because people enjoy the effects they have on their mood, psyche, or how it makes their body feel. 

One that is a little perplexing though is that it was reported that out of respondents who admit they have shared or are sharing prescription medications, about six percent of them claimed they have shared or are sharing acne medications with someone else.  This could mean they are sharing the less dangerous and side effect laden ones like antibiotics, but it could also mean they are sharing something like Accutane, which we all know must only be used under a doctor’s careful supervision and can have serious side effects if not monitored by a doctor or taken correctly by the patient.

Another baffling one was that patients will also share their birth control pill prescriptions.  Not only is this strange, but it also seems like the people sharing wouldn’t be getting adequate dosages to keep themselves from getting pregnant, so I’m not exactly sure why anyone would want to share a prescription for birth control knowing that they are only getting a partial dosage of hormones that they know will keep them from getting pregnant, so maybe there’s something I’m missing on that one. 

Also, the concern with sharing acne antibiotics is that if one is sharing a prescription for that, they may not get the dosage or length of treatment they need for optimal results, so it may render their acne treament with antibiotics totally ineffective if they do not take the full course of treatment because of sharing pills.   

Going back to the days when there were fewer cosmetic choices, and there seemed to be a lot of common “no no” ingredients in the cosmetics we had to use as teens (at least I’m speaking for myself, maybe I’m the oldest one here though:), whereas today there is such a wide range of non-irritating makeup for us acne sufferers to choose from that we can easily choose one that is good for our skin and won’t clog us up so we can keep clear pores, which is one of the keys to avoiding acne postules such as whiteheads and blackheads.

One of the worst ingredients that can be found in foundations and other makeups that might cover the entire face, such as primers for foundation or heavy powders like pressed ones that really grind into the skin’s pores, in my opinion, is mineral oil.  Now don’t get me wrong, mineral oil can be ok when it’s found in trace amounts in makeup today, but mineral oil used to be used as a heavy base for many of the foundations and makeups of yesteryear, and I always found that not only did it feel cakey and heavy going on, but it also caused me to break out.

Not only did it cause the smaller irriation-type bumps of acne, but it also would cause periodic lesions that were more serious and took more time to heal, and of course I couldn’t put two and two together until my dermatologist told me that I had to stay away from makeups that had a lot of mineral oil in them because it was a comedogenic substance that was not good for those with acne, but instead was really an ingredient that was meant for totally clear skin or aging skin.

Mineral oil should not be confused with the light mineral powder makeups of today like Bare Minerals though.  These are in powder form and are much lighter and are supposedly made to be noncomedogenic because they are so light and airy that they do not absorb into the pores and clog them like mineral oil can in it’s liquid form. 

However, there are some readers who have shared with AcneMagazine that they have not had good experiences with mineral powder makeup and in fact have broken out from it, so there may even be some truth to the fact that some of us cannot even use minerals in their powder form.  When reading the labels of your foundations and other makeups that stay on the face all day and inhabit the areas where you typically break out, look for water based makeups, and if mineral oil is in the list of ingredients, it shouldn’t be listed toward the beginning. 

Neutrogena is one product that comes to mind that is noncomedogenic, but there are also several other foundations by L’Oreal and other top names that have lines that  are made for sensitive and acne prone skin that still have good coverage but also keep the pores clear of debris and irritants that lead to breakouts.