Looking after your skin on a daily basis is important for it to feel and look better, but people with skin prone to acne will not be able to cleanse away spots instantly. You should look at skin-care as a complement to acne treatments and be extra careful when selecting the best products for your skin.
Too many chemicals, combined with scrubbing or harsh toners, might result in making your acne worse – the very opposite of what you are trying to achieve! Keep your skin-care routine as simple as possible, especially if you are using prescription creams from your doctor, which may make your skin red or flaky.
There follow some helpful tips about skin-care:
- Expensive products are not always the best! Look for oil-free or ‘non-comedogenic’ products that will not clog the pores.
- Look for products that are aimed at oily skin types; these will help reduce surface oil and help keep the skin ‘balanced’. The skin has its own natural level of oiliness, which, if products are too harsh, may be stripped away, resulting in over-dry skin – not very helpful if you have acne, as this will result in the skin working overtime to try to ‘re-balance’ itself.
- If your skin is dry from prescription creams or lotions, apply plenty of oil-free moisturiser.
- It is OK to wear make-up over any prescription creams or lotions. If your skin gets dry from using these, though, apply the oil-free moisturiser and allow this, together with your acne treatment, 10–15 minutes to be absorbed into the skin before applying foundation or powder. Make sure that your make-up is also oil-free.
- Thoroughly remove all make-up each night.
- If you are choosing a foundation, it must be a colour match you are going to be really happy with. Don’t even think about buying it until you have seen your skin tone in natural daylight. Try it on your face or neck and look at yourself in a mirror (perhaps take one with you). Walk outside and look again. Is it natural enough? Does it look too thick, or too thin, on your skin?
- Most acne-type skins are bombarded with products: cleansers, soaps, scrubs, toners, moisturisers, and then acne creams on top. No wonder the skin can’t cope. Wash with a pH 5.5 ‘balanced’ soap or soap-free cleanser that you foam up and then wash off. This will prevent the skin’s natural oils being stripped away. Rinse with warm (not hot) water and gently pat dry.
- Use an exfoliator at least once a week if you feel it is helpful. This is equally suitable for men’s and women’s skin. Exfoliation helps keep the skin free from a build-up of deadskin cells (which are bad for the acne-prone skin type) as well as smoothing the skin. They usually come as ‘masks’ and can be left on to work on their own. Rinse off with warm (not hot) water.
- Apply oil-free moisturiser as often as your skin needs it. Because they do not contain oils, they don’t lock in the moisture as much as those containing oil. Toners are often alcohol-based and may dry out the skin more than necessary. They will make your skin feel tight and tingly but serve little useful function.
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