Any number of factors including hormones, oil overproduction, environmental aggressors, harsh soaps, detergents and comedogenic skincare products can cause breakouts and create an unstable atmosphere for your skin. These conditions can cause inflammation, and, as a result, inadequate protection for nerve endings in the skin will cause the viscous, irritating cycle to continue on. You are not alone if you feel like balancing the oil production in the T-zone while trying to ease the dryness around the cheeks is a never-ending battle.
Here is a guide of what NOT to do when your skin suddenly breaks out:
- Stop picking, squeezing, popping and pulling at your skin
Seriously, hands off! Our hands are covered in bacteria and when you dig your fingers into your skin, you are placing dirt, debris and other irritants directly on and into the skin. Yuck! If you have a continuing issue with blackheads or pimples and you want to get help extracting them, call your local spa and schedule an appointment with a licensed esthetician. These skincare experts are trained professionals who can properly extract the bacteria from the skin without causing damage.
For an at home DIY fix, try the Cranberry Mud Mask to deeply purify and calm skin where problems start. A blend of richly detoxifying kaolin and bentonite clays absorb excess oil and debris from pores, while Totarol™ purifies and balances. Cranberry extract, known as one of the “super fruits” for its high antioxidant content, helps support skin and give it a luminescent glow.
Also, use something like the Clear Skin Spot Treatment to counter-balances. Its 7% colloidal sulphur purifies, unclogs pores and dries excess oil while zinc aids repair and speeds skin’s recovery.
- Stop skipping the moisture
Oily and blemish-prone skin tends to have overactive sebaceous glands, which produce an excess of oil, or sebum as it’s called in the skincare world. This problem can be heredity or hormonal and is often characterized by serious dehydration due to drying skincare products and the lack of proper moisture. Start giving your skin extra TLC by applying carefully chosen, natural bioactive products like Serious Hyaluronic Moisturizing Gel, which is rich in hyaluronic acid to deliver an instant dose of optimum hydration to skin. This fast-absorbing, lightweight formula contains copper mineral and the amino acid proline to help improve elasticity and repair skin for youthful, healthy-looking skin. This product can be used on its own as your moisturizer or as a booster under a richer cream.
- Stop only treating the blemishes topically
It’s our immediate response to tackle visible pimples, but start looking a bit deeper internally and treat the skin from within. Load your diet with leafy green vegetables packed with vitamin A, anti-oxidant rich seasonal fruits like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, and swap the sugary drinks for polyphenol-rich green tea or skin-benefiting H2O. Avoid greasy, fattening and highly processed foods, which can turn a good complexion into a total mess.
- Stop making matters worse with harsh, toxic, anti-acne products
Most blemish treatments on the market today create an unhealthy cycle for the skin that includes episodes of severe dryness followed by periods of extreme oiliness. Harsh chemical ingredients shut down the sebaceous glands, ultimately drying out the skin. Once you stop using the products, your sebaceous glands will rev back up.
Natural, safe bioactive cleansers, treatments, serums and hydrators can purify, detoxify and heal your skin back to balance.
Here is a simple routine that really works:
- Wash your face daily with the Clear Skin Cranberry Cleanser, a naturally exfoliating and pore-clearing cleanser that brings skin into a healthy balance and keeps skin calm.
- Keep breakouts at bay with the Clear Skin Pore Refiner, which contains a potent formula that minimizes surface shine while improving the clarity of blemish-prone skin. Retinol resurfaces skin and clears pore-blocking debris while montmorillonite clay detoxifies and absorbs excess oil. Totarol™, a botanically-derived antibacterial, and B vitamins assist in the growth and repair of skin tissues.
- To hydrate and ease inflammation use the ultra lightweight, yet highly effective oil-free, non-comedogenic Clear Skin Balancing Lotion morning and night to nourish blemish-prone skin without clogging pores. This unique hydrator is formulated to improve skin’s health, promote a even skin texture and tone and prevent future breakouts.