Acne Magazine

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.

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. 

Mineral oil, in makeup, lotions, sunscreens, or any other topical solution that you may be applying to your face or other areas of your body where you have acne is actually probably one of the worst things you can put on your skin for acne. 

Mineral oil is extremely comedogenic, meaning it will and does clog those hopefully clear pores.  This is why when you are searching for a foundation (if you’re a woman, foundations that are liquid), make sure you steer clear of any liquid foundations that contain mineral oil. 

Believe me, although mineral oil has proven to be bad for the complexion, some foundations still have mineral oil in them.  Opt instead for “oil free” or look at the ingredients on a foundation you may find intriguing to make sure it doesn’t have mineral oil in the ingredients. 

I remember one of my first experiences with mineral oil was when I was very young, probably only 15 years old, and was just beginning to experiment with foundations and powders, and purchased a really cheap foundation, it may have even been Wet ‘n Wild for those of you who’ve ever purchased the notoriously inexpensive and cheaply made cosmetics. 

The foundation, it turns out, had mineral oil in it and I broke out almost instantly from putting the stuff on my face.  Most well made, higher end foundations today will not have this as a main ingredient, but it’s still worth checking so something you use to make yourself look prettier doesn’t, in the end, make your face break out like never before. 

One thing I noted is that I got the smaller bumps allover from the mineral oil instead of the larger more infectious zits, but it still made my face look terrible and rough. 

It’s that time again. Summer skin care routines should be implemented. The sticky, hot days of summer, with their increased humidity and sun exposure can cause some serious damage to our skin, especially those of us that have acne and sensitive skin. So, what should we do to minimize our chances of sun damage, and also minimize our chances of new breakouts?

I’d like to discuss this in depth over the next posts, but unfortunately I’m running low on time right now. I’d like to especially focus on the three big no no’s of summer acne skin care :

1. Using the wrong sunscreen
2. Wearing the wrong types of moisturizers for acne prone skin
3. Overdrying our skin in an attempt to have less surface oil and shine throughout the day.

Until next time….

Clean & Clear acne products have been around for ions, at least in my book they have. These cheap acne products, specifically geared toward teens with acne who do not have a lot of money to spend on acne skin care, were one of my first forrays into the world of acne skin care.

Acne is not only the number one skin-enemy of teens, but now it affects adults at great lengths too, prompting thousands to seek out alternative and effective ways to banish acne for good. Although acne involves physical pain only in the most severe cases, the condition usually has a negative psychological impact because of its high level of visibility.

Unfortunately, acne is right on your face for everyone to see, and sometimes we even get it on our backs and chests, which are very visible in the summer when we wear less clothing. People with terrible acne tend to exhibit more outwardly signs of self consciousness and lack of confidence, since every glance in the mirror is a reminder that the skin is working against us and not with us. 

Clear Pores is a comprehensive acne treatment system that actually works in tandem with your body’s chemistry to calm the skin internally, via an all natural supplement, and then treats your skin topically, with a special cleanser and a protective cream. 

Their websit boasts many before and after pictures of successful use from clients, and literally PAGES of testimonials.  That is why I recommend the Clear Pores system so highly.  See here for multiple testimonials and reviews : Clear Pores Customer Reviews and Testimonials

This may seem a bold or trite statement to make, but in a world obsessed with physical perfection and social interactions, acne can be a sometimes unbearable burden which affects us emotionally, physically and socially.

Early breakthroughs in the use of various substances and the large number of patients willing to try anything has been the basis of finding new methods of curing acne, whether permanently or temporarily.

One of the best ways to fight mild cases of acne is to speed up the natural exfoliation process of your skin. Exfoliation is the process by which the topmost layer of your skin, which contains many dead cells, is removed by mechanical or chemical means. Clearing away dead skin helps prevent the clogging of pores by a combination of excess sebum and dead cells. 

Not only that, but exfoliation is the number one recommendation to get rid of acne scarring such as ice pick scars, pock marks and depressions in the skin. 

Exfoliation is not meant in the visible sense of the word, since you won’t see skin peeling away as in the case of shedding. The topmost layer of your skin is too thin to be seen with the naked eye.

The recommended procedures for speeding up the exfoliation process feature the use of mechanical means or chemical means. Salicylic Acid is actually the most recommended exfoliation agent, since it also helps to unclog pores whose openings have already been obstructed by sebum and dead skin cells.

Over-the-counter Salicylic Acid solution or cotton pads soaked in Acid should be available in every pharmacy or drugstore. You can safely and easily use these at home to take care of acne flare-ups. If you want a complete and comprehensive system that employs the use of this pore-unclogging acid, you can try the ClearPores system.

The effective comprehensive system combines the cleansing and pore-purifying power of  salicylic acid and alcohol SD with herbal acne pills as well as a protection cream in order to get rid of acne now and prevent further inflammation and flareups in the future.

The herbal acne fighting pills kill bad bacteria which tend to multiply in clogged pores, while the deep facial and body washes open up the pores to release pent up dirt, grime and oil that causes blackheads and those all too familiar whiteheads.  Finally, the acne protection cream acts as a protective environmental shield for your skin.

The thing I like most about this acne cleansing system is it targets multiple areas of acne fighting, including deep cleansing treatments, daily gentle cleansing and internal causes of acne (with the pill) , ClearPores is not a single product, but a full solution designed to destroy acne with the utmost effectiveness.

There’s a new, fairly cheap product out for calming facial redness by Aveeno.  While it’s not directly advertised on the commercials as a “rosacea treatment”, the commercials do lead you to believe that this day and night calming cream can be used to treat rosacea and other facial redness issues. 

Aveeno products are a line of skin care that focuses on natural products, like oatmeal for exfoliation, or soy for increased skin brightness, and has gained some followers who want good skin care but for less.  If you want to read reviews on other rosacea skin care products go here:  Rosacea and Acne Rosacea Skin Care Reviews

A lot of people - especially adults - with acne, since their skin is aging and they also have acne with sagging, lined skin, tend to try to use alpha hydroxy acid creams and products on their skin in an effort to combat aging. But, before you do that, you should know something.

I actually used to be one of these people.  I unknowingly was dousing my skin and my acne in something I thought, that since it was natural, it was good for my skin and would not make me break out worse.  The problem was that the alpha hydroxy was making my acne worse.

It seemed to make my skin more red and irritated, and even seemed to conjure up more acne lesions than I had before I used it.  Could I have been allergic to it?  Sure.  But I did a lot of searching on the internet and on forums to see if anyone else had this problem and sure enough a lot of people who used alpha hydroxy acids in their cleansers, their moisturizers and their other skin care products said that they had inadvertently aggravated their acne. 

So, although these fruit acids work well in general, if you have acne and need to use an anti aging cream, you may want to aim more for creams with DMAE and hyaluronic acid, both of which are firming, but do not contain inflammatory ingredients. 

There are other uses for the organic compounds found naturally in tea tree oil. While these are mostly not medically proven, there are people who report success in using this natural antiseptic for several other health issues, mostly fungal or bacterial in nature, so it does make sense that this particular natural product may work well for related types of infections of issues.