As a woman who struggles with adult acne, I wish that I could’ve had some simple ways to clear my acne sooner.
They may seem obvious or not very important, but these following 7 tips to help clear your skin is a life saver- or should I say skin saver!
1. Stop Touching your Face
You may or may not be surprised, but this can literally help save your acne prone skin!
Think about how many things your hands come in contact with throughout the day: phones, door knobs, money, people, etc. Our hands are filled with bacteria!
A study was shown that for every square centimeter of our hands, had an estimate of 1,500 bacteria living on it. So gross!
Now imagine all the times we rest our cheeks or our chin or our hands, rub our eye area, or even pick at our acne (please, please don’t do this!).
Acne is formed when your skin becomes blocked with dead skin, oil, and bacteria.
So if our goal is to get rid of our acne and to heal the damage that was done, we really need to wash our hands regularly and stop touching our faces.
2. Minimize Stress
Do you ever wonder why right before a big event such as an exam, the loss of a loved one, or starting a new job, you suddenly begin to break out?
This is because stress triggers your body to produce the hormone cortisol.
This then tells the glands in your skin to produce more oil.
Your pores will then become clogged, and acne will form.
Eliminating stress from our lives can be really hard at times when we are dealing with situations we can’t control.
But in order to keep cortisol low and to prevent acne, we need to try our best to do so.
I am a nanny of 3 and as much as I love them so much, it has been a very stressful job.
I noticed though, that as soon as I really tried my best to keep my stress level to a minimum, that is when I started to notice my breakouts coming less frequent.
Some affective ways to reduce stress could be:
✧take a yoga class,
✧go on a nice walk,
✧take some stress relieving supplements,
✧journal.
These are all ways that I relieve stress in my life, and I have noticed a huge difference in my mood, and my skin!
3. No Makeup to the Gym
Believe me when I say that it is SO hard to not wear make up to the gym, especially when you struggle with a face full of acne.
Not only does your face get all red and sweaty, but you have discoloration and zits-
everywhere.
It’s very important however to not wear make up to the gym, or anytime you’ll be sweating.
When you sweat, your pores open up and anything it comes in contact with (makeup, bacteria), your skin will literally swallow up.
This will lead to irritation and terrible breakouts.
We want our skin to be able to BREATHE while working out!
Ultimately we want to heal our skin, not make it worse.
So as hard as it is, let’s learn to be confident not wearing make up, so we can truly start to heal our skin!
If you are really self-conscious, try putting on a cute hat to help you feel not as vulnerable.
Or skip the gym and go for a run around your neighborhood. I’ve noticed that this helps a lot!
And don’t forget to always wash your face after a good sweat session!
4. Wash Your Pillow Case
This is definitely one that people forget, and it’s so important.
Your pillowcase is in use for many hours of each night, every day of the week.
It builds up with dirt, sweat, and oils from your face and hair, which harbors bacteria.
If you’re not consistently washing, or switching out your pillowcase, it can lead to breakouts.
Experts recommend to wash or switch out your pillowcase about every two days.
It’s also really important to wash your pillowcases (even your blankets and clothes) with a natural laundry soap.
Your face can pick up harmful chemicals from the soap you use while sleeping, causing you to breakout.
5. Drink Water
We sometimes forget that drinking water can help with acne, because it’s such a normal part of our every day lives.
But if we can be disciplined to drinking plenty of water every day, we will see amazing results in our skin very quickly!
Our bodies are made up of about 70% water. And since our skin is the largest organ in our body, our skin will suffer if we aren’t properly hydrating it.
Benefits of drinking water for your skin:
✤hydrates skin cells
✤flushes out toxins
✤reduces the size of pores
✤calms inflammation
✤softens skin
✤reduces puffiness
✤maintains youthful looking skin
When you don’t consume enough water daily, your kidneys and lungs will suffer.
Being that they are the main organs that cleanse the body from toxins, having them dehydrated can result in toxins building up, and not being flushed out.
This all will show through our skin, causing our skin to look dull, and acne to form.
Experts recommend drinking 8 8-ounce glasses of water every single day, ( The 8×8 rule is a good way to remember!).
Drinking plenty of water everyday results in your skin looking healthier, and healing your acne overall!
6) Wash Your Makeup Brushes
This is something that I hadn’t ever even thought about till around a year ago (yup, I was grossed out too).
But if you think about it, your consistently applying makeup with these brushes that are covered with product.
Throughout time, your makeup brushes will accumulate bacteria.
They also pick up dead skin cells and oil, which can block your pores and cause breakouts.
By regularly cleaning them (recommended at least once a week), you can prevent the spread of bacteria to your skin.
A Great Little DIY Brush Cleaner That I Usually Do:
❁2 tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar,
❁A few pumps of Castile soap
❁Hot water
-Dip in your brushes cleaning them out really good. Then let them sit in it for about 20 minutes. Afterwards dump out the dirty water, rinse really well, and let them dry on a wash cloth and it’ll be ready for the next day!
By just doing this once a week can really help to keep your face clear, not to mention it allows makeup to apply so much better!
7) Don’t Pop Your Pimples
Last but definitely not least, is to not pop or pick at your pimples!
When you have an inflamed zit, that means it’s full of dead skin cells, excess sebum, bacteria, and even pus.
When you pop a pimple, your putting extra pressure on the already swollen zit, inadvertently causing more debris to go into the deeper layers of the skin.
What we don’t realize is that there’s a ton of action happening beneath the skin, and that can cause bacteria to spread, and cause more flare ups in your skin.
When you pop or pick at your pimples, it can also cause a ton of deep scarring. This is what I personally struggled with and it made getting rid of my acne a whole lot harder (My Story).
So although it’s SO tempting to just get rid of them by popping, it’s so much better for your skin to just apply some essential oils or cream, and to let it go down on its own.
I hope that these 7 secrets to clear skin helps you out in your skin clearing journey!
I know that they personally have saved my skin, and I 100% stand by them!❁
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@KristinaFlour, @jareddrice
@brucemars, @sekibaku
100 Summers 