Acne Magazine

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!

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! 

I have been using the same old trick at night for years when it comes to a blemish that I can just feel blanching the surface of my skin, before it becomes a full on red, erupted and scar-worthy zit on my face.  It’s really nothing special.  All I do is apply my mask, whatever kind it happens to be that I have laying around.  For a while it was a zenmed acne mask, then it was a Proactiv mask, and now I have a mini sized Murad acne mask that has lasted me forever that I got free with my face wash last time I purchased from them.

They are all a mud type mask, that is very thick and almost a chalky consistency, so thick that it will stay put as soon as you slick it on over a zit, or a burgeoning zit, as I do.  You should just need enough so as to cover the zit itself and only then the immediate surrounding area, careful not to put too much on around the radius fo the bump itself so that you don’t accidentally overdry the skin around it, which can end up looking worse than the zit itself.

I do this at night and then I leave it on all night long, and sometimes it works to clear it up, but if it’s a really hormonal zit that’s destined to come through the surface and hasn’t stopped gathering inertia toward becoming a full fledge boil sized zit on my face, it will only make it a tad bit more dried up, and I’ll still have to go through the motions of caring for the zit once it completely breaks through the skin’s surface. 

If you catch a new zit when it has just started to hurt a little bit, and you can see a faint bit of red and a very beginning of a bump or irriation in the spot where the bumpd is about to sprout into a full fledged zit, then you can often catch it and get it to go down if you just apply some sort of reputable acne cream, or my favorite is a thicker mask because it stays put and doesn’t come off all night until you wash it off, as long as you don’t accidentally rub it while it’s still wet. 

As I sit here typing this, I have a dot of the mask on my face, on a brand new bump that surfaced today because of the massive stress I’ve had to deal with today getting things organized and looking over documents that I didn’t understand for hours, as well as catching up on many things for work that were on deadline.  One minute it wasn’t there, the next I happened to look in the mirror and there it was!  Oh well, what are masks for.  Hopefully this one will be tamed by the mask! 

L’Oreal, one of my favorite “drugstore” makeup and cosmetic product brands, has a line that is relatively low priced that includes some creams that are suitable for the daytime that contain a high SPF of 15 in them that I have found do not break me out. 

I happened to find the line Noticeable Difference when it was on sale at a TJ Maxx type store by where I live for even less than drugstore prices I’m sure, and thought I’d use it this summer on my face as a light moisturizer under my foundation which also has an SPF of 15 in it to keep sun damage at bay during the harsh sunlight months of the summer here in Ohio. 

The one I chose is a simple moisturizing cream that helps to keep moisture in, and is not any kind of intensive moisturizer or intense anti aging cream, sometimes of which can be harmful to acne prone skin since they contain way too many heavy emollients that can clog the pores and cause acne postules to form on the face, namely in the chin, nose and forehead area where oil tends to form the most to begin with.

It’s a very light formula, and it has no artificial coloring in it which is great for the skin as well.  It is almost a whipped consistency.  As far as moisturizing I would say it doesn’t do any better than any other drugstore brand and there is nothing really miraculous about the way it makes my skin look, but I love that it has the SPF in it, so I use it primarily as a sun proection factor and not really as a skin improvement cream.

I have a really good suggestion for those that may have skin like mine which is a person in their early thirties who needs to address not only breakout and acne concerns, but also needs to address their anti aging concerns.  You may be able to go through a somewhat transitional phase with your cleansers and moisturizers, which is what I have felt I’ve been able to do as my skin has aged. 

It used to be that I had to use a certain kind of cleanser with no moisturizing agents or anti aging ingredients in it to get my skin to stay clear, and I find that now that my oil production has died down a bit (barely, but it has a little so I can tell I’m aging lol), I can use products now that feel great on my skin and don’t leave it dry at all. 

One such product I’ve recently purchased and really like is by BWC, Beauty Without Cruelty.  It’s a very reasonably priced product, I think it was like eight bucks or maybe even seven for this face wash, and it is gentle and has great, organic ingredients in it.  It is also a pretty generous size, and the cleanser is a clear liquid, which is best for acne prone skin in my opinion - far better than solid bar soap and colored cleansers with additives and colors, but that’s from my personal experience.

It’s BWC Vitamin C and CoQ10 facial cleanser.  It comes in a pump bottle which is great for ease of use, and it holds up fine in the shower, although I have found a bit of leakage around the rim where the pump meets the bottle, but no biggie, and it leaves my skin refreshed and not dry or tight at all, yet it thoroughly cleanses it.  Best of all, it’s anti aging in nature and has not broken me out at all, and my skin does tend to be sensitive to vitamin c sometimes, so this is a good sign as well.

I had talked about a Neutrogena anti blackhead product several months back - heck, maybe even a year ago now, it’s so hard to keep track of time these days. It’s called Neutrogena Warming Blackhead scrub and cleanser, and it comes in a tube that if you use very little with every use, it could probably last you a really long time.

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.   

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! 

Well, I think I’ve reviewed this one before, but I’m thinking I like the regular Neutrogena Deep Clean gel cleanser a little better.  True, the creamy acne wash feels a bit better while you’re washing with it, as though it may be a bit more moisturizing to the skin, because it is a creamy cleanser instead of a gel which usually means it’s more emollient (moisturizing), however, it seems that the Deep Clean actually is a little better of a cleanser.

For instance, the Deep Clean actually washes my makeup off of my eyes as well, which happens to be a huge pet peeve of mine.  I always wonder, if a cleanser isn’t good at washing my makeup away, then how well is it cleansing the daily buildup of oil, grime and dirt that automatically adheres to my face each day away? 

That’s just my take on it though.  You could also go from the angle that if you get a cleanser that takes everything off, it could also be taking off precious protective layers that are there for a reason.  However, we are talking about me, and I have very oily skin, even though I’m now thirty something, so I’m still looking for a cleanser that actually deep cleans my skin, without overdrying.  It still seems like Deep Clean by Neutrogena is the better product out of the two….