Acne Magazine : Skin Care, Tips, Treatment Reviews

As summer approaches, most people enjoy feelings of excitement and elation. We can’t help but want to “let go” a bit when this more carefree, less stressful time rolls around.  However, for those that suffer from acne outbreaks of varying severity, summer brings a special brand of concerns and skin related issues, particularly for the most oily skin types.

Various summer activities, and even the climate itself, can irritate skincare issues unless addressed correctly.  I would say one of the biggest irritants is sunscreen, followed by facial sweating, and back and chest sweating, which are the two secondary areas for acne to crop up on the body.

First the good news; exposure to the sun can, in small moderated doses, help with skin related issues of all sorts, not just acne. Research indicates that between 5 to 30 minutes of sunlight twice a week is sufficient to supply the average adult with the necessary light based nutrients.  We absolutely NEED the sunlight. We just don’t want to over do it and cause over drying and of course photo aging sun damage and skin spotting.

Unfortunately, many people feel that exposure to the sun helps acne more than it actually does, because a darker tan serves to camouflage acne outbreaks and previous skin damage.

Overexposure to sunlight can actually harm skin, leading to increased risk for cancer and other potentially damaging skin conditions. For this reason, skin protection is extremely important during the summer, especially for those suffering from an existing skin condition or acne outbreak.

The primary method of protecting skin during the summer is though the use of sunscreen. However, sunscreen use can potentially trigger an outbreak, or worsen an existing condition. It is also extremely important to choose the correct sunscreen based on medication use and side effects.

Many prescription acne medications increase light sensitivity and increase the damaging effects of UV rays.   Choosing the right one means you won’t be clogging your pores. Sometimes, the ones I’ve tried in the past even burn my skin, and make it turn red, so there are tons of potential irritants in sunscreens.

For oily or acne prone skin, a basic, unscented, lotion free sunscreen is often the best option. Many sunscreens contain extra ingredients that are designed to increase the market appeal of the sunscreen while offering very little protective functionality. While these ingredients have not been clinically proven to increase the likelihood of an acne outbreak, when dealing with sensitive skin, it is often best to minimize ingredient exposure.

More to come in the next post about how to care for your skin in the summer if you have an acne prone skin type.

The diet season is in full swing, and has been since, well, since before spring time, when we all knew in a few short weeks or months we were going to have to bare more skin and show off a little more of our bodies.

It’s the season of bathing suits, tank tops, and other body baring outfits. And it’s a time when we all like to feel free, and a little bit skinnier to boot. After all, being thinner is often freeing in the summer time since we like to be more active, and having less weight to carry around is just more fun.

The problem is that many people, especially women, tend to resort to diet pills that contain lots of stimulants that speed up your nervous system, your metabolism, your movements, your thoughts, and just about everything else.

One problem for those of us that are acne prone to begin with. They can also seriously mess with your hormones. They trigger responses in the body that cause the estrogen and androgen levels to greatly fluctuate.  Stress on the nervous system often does this.

Depending on the person, it can cause dramatic fluctuations, or none at all. I’m one of those fortunates that can have pretty dramatic breakouts from serious fluctuations like this in my nervous system and cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

The kicker is, you may not even notice it for a few days after taking a stimulant that is designed to suppress the appetite. Once for me, it took three days for the effects of a stimulant diet pill, and for some vicodin, to show up as a breakout on my face.

I had to be on Vicodin, a powerful pain killer that has hormone altering capabilities and can make some break out because it can act as a nervous system stimulant, for some oral surgery.

I never even knew it had the effect of aggravating my acne until I was on it for at least 3-4 days. Even then I had no idea it was the pain pill that was actually causing it until I went off it for a day and my skin almost instantly cleared up.

Certain diet pills have similar effects. If they contain green tea in concentrated form, caffeine, guarana, or any other caffeinated derivatives or stimulants, you may be in for a not so delightful surprise on your face.

It’s not just your face where you can break out. Some people notice their back, chest, neck, or other areas of the body breaking out when on certain diet pills or other stimulant supplements or drugs.

Yep, you read that right. There is currently a pretty serious shortage of dermatologists here in the United States. In some geographic locations, people may be on long waiting lists just to try to get in to see a dermatologist, unless it is an emergency situation, if you can believe it.

When it comes to skin care doctors, there are orders of priority. Acne, rosacea and other non life threatening skin conditions may have to take a back seat to other potential problems such as skin cancers and other potentially troublesome skin health issues.

That’s why we’re so glad that there are some great natural acne treatment alternatives out there – even more so I guess you’d say than we were before. After all, if this were ten to twenty years ago, you would have been in a tizzy trying to get help for your acne if you couldn’t find a dermatologist.

When I was a teenager, there were very few options to treat acne other than finding a good dermatologist.  You may have heard of the occasional folk remedy or alternative therapy here and there when I was in my early teens and fighting with the worst of my asthma.

Or you might have been lucky enough to get your hands on a great book that told you how to get rid of acne naturally that actually helped your skin. Or maybe you could hope for finding a great naturopathic doctor that prescribed something along the lines of diets, supplement and meditation that just so happened to work for your particular brand of acne.

Even people with some serious issues such as a history of skin cancer cannot get in to see dermatologists for several weeks or months, forcing them to seek alternatives, such as seeing a general practitioner, who may not have as much experience or knowledge when it comes to skin care.

That is quite a travesty. Forget about the fact that those of us with every day nuisance skin problems like rosacea, acne or various rashes and irritations can’t get in, but people with serious health backgrounds related to their skin.

Right now, there may be more people getting into dermatology because they have sniffed out a business opportunity, but until the graduate, which takes several years, there is a severe shortage in many different areas of the country.

Maybe it’s the fact that schooling is so expensive, or that this particular practice has for some reason fallen out of favor as a specialty with those pursuing medical degrees. Whatever the reason, at least we have alternative ways to treat our acne.

I’ve always said, and will continue to say, that diet and nutrients, taken internally, are the key to healthy, radiant skin. I believe that the products you use externally are important, and can greatly enhance this healthy appearance, but it’s what you take in, orally, that really makes your skin look fabulous.

This goes for aging skin, and young skin that may have problems with acne and other nuisances that come with younger, oilier skin.  Of course, we can get away with a lot more when we’re young, since our skin has a natural elasticity and resilience that we don’t have as much when we’re older.

However, young people who have acne prone skin will find a good diet a great benefit to their clear skin routine. Herbal acne supplements can help fill any nutritional gaps, but by and large you MUST eat right to have clear, beautiful, young looking skin.

I feel that if I knew have the dietary secrets to clear skin that I do today back then, my struggles with acne may have been greatly reduced.

That being said, one of the most important aspects of clear, age-resistent skin is your dietary antioxidant intake. A lot of Americans do not get nearly enough antioxidants in their diet.  They eat too many processed foods that are full of preservatives, carbs, fats and sugars, all of which are enemies to clear skin.

They also happen to be devoid of antioxidants, which help repair the skin and deflect free radical damage and erosion.  Antoixidants that are a necessity every day are vitamin C, some vitamin E (don’t recommend taking the supplement, this is a fat soluble vitamin that can build up to toxicity easily, get it in your diet), beta carotene, lycopene (found in tomatoes and tomato products).

This is not an all inclusive list, but it is a list of antioxidants that you can commonly find in many of the whole foods that are in the diet.  I supplement my diet now also with a very popular antioxidant called astaxanthin. I supplement with this one and don’t rely on my diet for it because it is not found in heavy enough concentration in most foods.

Vitamin C is actually an easy on to get every day.  You can get this in your citrus fruits. In fact, most fruits contain some of this powerful vitamin.  It’s easy to get your daily dose of this because if you don’t eat foods with it, you can take a supplement or drink a vitamin C fortified drink.

It is of course recommended to get it from food, as this is the most complete, therapeutic form of the vitamin.  Vitamin C needs to be replenished on a daily basis, so you have to get it every single day or you will be deficient.

It helps rebuild collagen and may even help your skin to rebuild faster after the trauma of acne scarring, and also helps the skin to glow. It is excellent when applied topically as well.

I’ve gotta be honest. As a teenager, and even in the years leading up to my official teenhood, I had OILY skin. I’ve always been the type that washes my face, and only an hour later, has an oily sheen on my skin. I constantly use blotters, Lord knows I’d be lost without them, and I certainly would always have “shiny face” in pictures without them.

If I step out into the humidity for even a few minutes, I need to blot my face, it speeds up my oil production and sends it to the surface that fast. In short, I have very oil skin, and always have.  But as I’m getting older, I’m beginning to appreciate it, as the risk of acne breakouts abates and I’m getting more concerned about things like wrinkles, sagging, dryness, and fine lines.

Excessively oily skin when you are younger can actually be a blessing as you age.  Oilier, more hydrated skin actually has a better chance of aging a little more gracefully, since it has more natural elasticity typically.  Dry skin requires a lot of manual hydration (ie the application of topical moisturizers), since people with dry skin typically do not naturally produce a lot of sebum.

Sebum, although it is also the great trouble maker for those with acne, also acts as an internal hydration mechanism for your skin, especially on your delicate face. The skin on your face is especially delicate and prone to free radical damage, and also is more prone to wrinkles due to expressions like squinting, smiling, frowning, and other daily expressions.

Producing a lot of oil helps “lubricate” your face, and makes it less likely to wrinkle and get lined from expressive gestures. It may also protect your skin a bit better against the elements, but it never hurts to also layer on a great, chemical free moisturizer as a protective barrier as well, especially as you age. Heck, you’re gonna have to blot no matter what!

Since oily skin can be a great thing as you age, it’s one of the reasons I don’t like acne medications that dry up the oil glands permanently (Accutane, or its generics now actually).  When you get older, you may want some of that oil production back to give you skin that natural lubrication that you had when you were older.

I’m 36 years old and my skin still gets slick with oil. Yes, I may still get the occasional blemish, but in hindsight, I’m kind of glad I have naturally oily skin. I guess you get used to it and start to appreciate what you were born with after a while.

With more and more focus being put on wholesome food, and environmental concerns like pollution and chemical exposure, it’s only logical that people are just now becoming super savvy about the chemicals, artificial scents and preservatives that are in their skin care products.

Many may assume that since they are putting something on their skin, it is protected from ever entering the body. Nothing could be further from the truth though. In fact, you are probably a tad more protected by taking chemicals in orally than you are by putting it on your skin – especially if you are applying it over a large surface area.

With body lotions, you want to be especially diligent. Body lotions are usually applied on the entire body, and if you’re like me, you apply your body lotion every day on your entire body.  I don’t ever deviate from this regimen, because I believe that part of keeping your skin looking great as you get older is to make sure you moisturize as often as you can.

I also make sure I pick body lotions, and face lotions, that do not contain any of the harmful chemicals that are on my “buzz” list.  Some of those are parabens, which is a common chemical preservative that is used in just about every body care product you see on the shelves (unless it is marked paraben free).

My body lotion is paraben free, and lists a host of other baddies that I like to avoid as being absent from their formula. Some of the other ingredients I like to avoid are sulfates, acrilimides, propylene glycol, mineral oil or petrolatum, anything ending in “aldehyde”, ethanol, and PEG. That’s just a short beginners list, there are a lot more that are in skin care formulas.

It is hard to make good skin care products without these chemical preservatives, but it can be done. The additional cost involved in making products 100% natural is well worth the additional cost that would be passed on to you, the consumer.

When you consider that most of what you put on your skin ends up in your blood stream in a relatively short period of time, it’s important to make sure you don’t put anything like toxins on your skin that you couldn’t TECHNICALLY eat as well without grave consequences!

One of the ingredients in skin care products that I’m totally against as a former serious acne sufferer and still occasional breakout sufferer (I’m a stress break out kinda gal), is mineral oil.

Mineral oil probably sounds natural and harmless, but it actually is a biproduct of petroleum, which is the same base that we use for the gasoline and oil that fills our gas tanks and powers our cars. Yeah, that drippy, oily, thick stuff.

Mineral oil is used in a LOT of products, because it is cheap and easily accessible though, so you do need to be diligent in reading the ingredient labels to make sure you’re not getting any of this stuff in you skin care products.  It can go by other names as well, it’s not always labeled as “mineral oil”.

Mineral oil can be labeled as paraffin oil, paraffin, petrolatum, albline, lignite, glymol, and more.  If you see an ingredient that has the base “petro” in it, chances are, it may be a mineral oil derivative.  Why is mineral oil not recommended in skin care products, especially those with acne?

Well, it is a pore clogger for starters. It does not allow the skin to breathe, and coats the pores, instead of letting them breathe as well as not allowing them to trap dirt, oil and other things that cause acne postules to form from inflamed and infected pores.

Mineral oil is also questionable as far as safety goes, since it is a derivative of petrolatum.  I personally don’t feel comfortable using it on my skin since it can be toxic, and all products that I put on my skin are absorbed directly into my blood stream with no filter, as they get when I eat something and it goes through the digestive system.

There are plenty of safe and more natural, breathable ingredients that can be in moisturizers for the skin. Those skin care products that are labeled noncomedogenic will usually not contain mineral oil in any capacity, so those are usually pretty safe.

Baby oil is made almost entirely of mineral oil, so try to avoid ever using baby oil on your body for anything.  You may not even want to use it on your child and find a safer alternative.  I remember all those times when I was WAY younger, slathering myself in baby oil so I would tan better. More like burn usually!

I also remember that I would inevitably break out in zits where I had applied the oil, which only confirms why those with acne problems should not use it.

Sunscreen is a real buzzword these days. That and skin cancer, wrinkles, premature aging, and vitamin D. Why vitamin D? Because our bodies absolutely require this vital nutrient in order to fend off disease and cancer, and we derive most of this vitamin from the UVB rays that come from the sun.

Unfortunately, it’s the UVB rays that also supposedly cause sunburn. What is particularly confusing about UVA and UVB rays though, at least to me, is that UVA rays are the ones that cause the skin to tan. Wouldn’t it make sense then, that the UVA rays were also the ones to make the skin burn?

I guess it just seems counterintuitive to me.  Most sunscreens today only protect against UVB rays, because these are the ones that burn the skin, however, UVA rays are the ones that are thought to be most responsible for skin cancer and wrinkles!

Wait, so those sunscreens that we’ve been slathering on for years, don’t even protect me from UVA rays, which cause skin cancer!?  Apparently, now you have to look for labels on sunscreens that explicitly say they are “broad spectrum”.

Broad spectrum means that the sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB rays, which gives you full protection from burning, skin cancer causing, and wrinkle causing rays.

But what if you block out all the UVB? How then do you get your body to produce enough vitamin D to be healthy?  That’s my problem with the whole system. Most sunscreens protect your skin against the very type of sun ray that causes something GREAT to happen – vitamin D production.

The other problem I have with most commercial sunscreens is the plethora of unhealthy chemicals they use in them. For example, many contain parabens, which have been linked to cancer.

Some even contain a derivative of vitamin A, which has been shown to actually accelerate the growth of skin cancer when combined with sun exposure.

Make sure when choosing a sunscreen, especially to protect your facial skin against the sun, since it gets so much sun exposure (your forehead and nose especially), that you look at the ingredient list. If “retinyl palmitate” or any other ingredients resembling this name are in the ingredient list, you should probably avoid it as it contains vitamin A derivatives and may actually accelerate skin cancer on sun exposed skin.

It’s the day after the 4th of July, one of the most fun American holidays, where we get a day off work (it was a monday this year, yipee), and we get to go maybe have a few drinks, barbecue, and see some fireworks. Not a bad weekend plan, I’d say!  But are those barbecues and beer runs taking a toll on the health of your skin?

Not really, if you stick to eating the right kinds of foods that you typically might find at a barbecue.  Foods like watermelon, potato salad, and lean grilled meats like chicken aren’t bad choices at all.  Fruit salads and cole slaw are often barbecue fare as well, and those fit well into a healthy skin diet as well.

The worst choices you can make for your skin at these summer time festivities are drinking too many sugary sweet alcoholic (or non alcoholic for that matter) drinks, indulging in sugary sweet desserts (try to stay away from the cheesecake) and indulging in fried fatty foods.  But those types of foods are usually not found at barbecues, it’s most the excessive alcohol consumption and not enough water that you need to worry about.

First of all, excessive alcohol makes your skin look “older” than it really is. It is also burned as a source of energy by your body before any other sugars are, so it hurts your blood sugar suffers, which means your skin may break out.

Excessive alcoholic consumption makes your face looked tired and drawn, because it’s nearly impossible to stay hydrated. Did you ever notice that you pee once every 20 minutes or so when you drink too much? That’s because you’re peeing out all of the GOOD liquid like water out, and you are becoming dehydrated, which makes you skin look terrible.

I have looked at myself in the mirror after a night of too much drinking, and I always look about five to ten years older because of the toll dehydration takes on my skin.  Alcohol inhibits a hormone called the anti diuretic hormone, and it therefore makes you pee out all the water that you consume instead of maintaining it for electrolyte balance and blood sugar balancing.

This is why you feel that shaky, sick feeling the next morning after over doing it. It’s also why you may experience a banging headache as well. So, hope you had a fun fourth and didn’t over do it

Rosacea and acne rosacea are particularly bothersome skin conditions because they can be very tricky to treat correctly.  Sometimes, one roscea treatment will work wonders on one person, while it will fall flat with another. It depends on a variety of factors, not the least of which are your complexion type, race, gender and hormone levels.

While there are some excellent natural rosacea treatments out there which help to calm the redness and irritated look that commonly are associated with this skin condition, there are also some home remedies that are very inexpensive which can help to soothe the irritation and calm the redness down a lot.

One of them, which I agree doesn’t sound too appetizing, is the milk facial acne and redness treatment mask. While the last thing I want to do is bathe my face in stuff that usually goes in my cereal and in my eggs for scrambled eggs, milk has some interesting properties which make it a great facial treatment for those with redness, irritation and inflammation.

First off, milk contains protein, and along with that, it contains amino acids.  Amino acids are great for the skin because they help to calm redness in the skin.  Milk also contains lactic acid, which helps to smooth the skin since it has a mild, non irritating exfoliating action.   Have you ever seen acne facial peels?

Many times these peels will contain lactic acid, because it is gentle enough for acne and rosacea sufferers, and because it helps smoothe it out better than other acids without irritating it, over stripping, or over drying, which can stimulate the oil glands even further.

Milk also contains vitamin A. Vitamin A is a smoothing, soothing vitamin which helps to also gently exfoliate the skin, but also helps to calm it and quell any redness that crops up.  Combined with the natural fats found in milk, these antioxidants and exfoliants really help to ease the redness and irritation of rosacea and dry irritated skin.

You may be able to add the milk facial to your list of home made acne treatments!