Most people associate acne with teenagers, but it can plague adults as well. In fact, 15% of adult women must deal with intermittent and chronic acne.
Not only is acne unsightly, it actually puts you at greater risk for depression. That means you want every weapon you can get in your fight against chronic acne.
Keep reading and we’ll do our best to arm you with the tools and information to take back your skin from chronic breakouts.
Back to Basics
Acne gets its start with pores clogged by dead skin cells, sebum, and bacteria. Before you do anything exotic, get back to basics with soap and water.
A twice-daily routine of washing your face with soap and water can help wipe away those dead skin cells and some oily residue. With less residue and fewer skin cells to clog pores, you help stop acne before it starts.
Strike Back Against Bacteria
If basic soap and water don’t do the trick, you can take the fight to the bacteria in your pores. Benzoyl peroxide possesses antimicrobial properties. That’s science for it helps kill bacteria.
Reducing the total amount of bacteria in your pores makes it much harder for acne to form in the first place. Acne gets the boot, and you get the clear skin you want.
Benzoyl peroxide can cause reddening or peeling, especially right at first. Also, the bacteria levels in your pores will bounce back when you stop using Benzoyl peroxide. That means it’s your new best friend for life.
Exfoliate
You can go another way and ramp up your exfoliation. Salicylic acid treatments boost your exfoliation, which keeps dead skin cells from clogging your pores.
Fair warning, though, this isn’t a one-time treatment. If you go with salicylic acid, you commit for the long-term.
The minute you stop, your exfoliation rate goes back to normal. That means dead skin cells can clog your pores again and trigger a new round of acne.
Retinol
You can also treat chronic acne with retinol. Retinol helps prevent chronic breakouts by keeping your pores unblocked. It does this by speeding up exfoliation.
As an added bonus, it improves collagen production. That can help you avoid fine lines and knock any visible wrinkles back a step.
Just make sure you keep sunblock handy since Retinol makes you especially UV sensitive. Trading acne for a sunburn is no kind of win.
Parting Thoughts on Fighting Chronic Acne Breakouts
Chronic acne isn’t just a young person’s problem. It can haunt you throughout adulthood. You can fight those chronic outbreaks.
Twice-daily soap and water scrubs can help keep pores clear and prevent new acne formation. If basic face washing fails, you can use salicylic acid as an exfoliation booster.
Retinol will also boost exfoliation with a bonus increase in collagen production. Benzoyl peroxide goes after the bacteria in your pores that help trigger acne formation.
Eva Naturals is a boutique cosmetics company with a focus on customer service and product quality. For questions about our products, contact Eva Naturals today.