Acne is a skin problem that can occur regardless of age. For many people, noy only does it frequently appear and often recurring in the same area, but also tends to flare up right before important occasions.
There are many factors that can contribute to acne. The most direct cause is the overproduction of sebum due to dehydration and a compromised skin barrier. Additionally, clogged pores, bacteria, and inflammation caused by the accumulation of dead skin cells play a role, while hormones, menstrual cycles, stress, and diet also have a significant impact. Furthermore, certain medications with corticosteroids, synthetic metabolic steroids, lithium, and others can contribute to the development of acne. However, in many cases, it is actually bad skin care habits that perpetuate the problem.
So, what are some bad skincare habits that can contribute to persistent acne?
Many people believe that once they start using skincare products specifically targeting acne, their acne problems will completely disappear within one to two weeks. This can't be more wrong.
First, let's take a look at the process of acne formation:
As shown in the diagram above, when a healthy pore is affected by various triggers, it takes one to six weeks for visible acne to form. So, the acne that seems to have appeared overnight has actually been developing for some time.
When you start using skincare products for acne, the anti-inflammatory and cell turnover-promoting ingredients in them do shrink fully formed acne rather fast. However, during this process, since they will also accelerate the clearing out of the inflammation-causing bacteria, excess sebum and waste that were brewing beneath the skin surface, more acne lesions may be visible at first.
Let's take an example. Suppose you have two acne lesions on your forehead. Generally, that means there are five, six, seven, or even more acne lesions beneath the skin surface that will emerge down the line. When you start using acne skincare products, the two already visible acne lesions will indeed slowly shrink. However, at the same time, the hidden acne lesions deep in the skin will also need to come to the surface to be eliminated, which means there is a high chance that they will initially appear as visible acne bumps before they gradually diminish.
During this process, many people would mistakenly believe that the product is either ineffective, unsuitable for their skin, or exacerbating their acne problem, leading them to switch to other skincare products. However, this not only disrupts the entire acne improvement process but also has the potential to further irritate the skin and prolong or worsen their acne problem.
Remember, even the most potent anti-acne ingredients are not magic potions. Seeing real improvement in acne requires a minimum of six to eight weeks, and completely clearing acne issues can take three to four months. So, don't stop using or switching products just because you don't see immediate results or feel that the problem isn't going away within one or two weeks.
As mentioned above, suppose you have two acne lesions on your forehead, there is a high chance that there are five, six, seven, or even more acne lesions ready to emerge in the surrounding area beneath the skin surface. This is the reason why oftentimes when you think you've taken care of the all your acne, you might find new ones appearing in the surrounding area soon after.
Therefore, it is not a good habit to only use anti-acne skincare products on the acne lesions that have already appeared.
The correct approach is to use anti-acne skincare products on the entire area. For example, if you have one acne lesion on your chin, you should apply acne-fightning skincare products to the entire chin area; if you have two acne lesions on your left cheek, you should apply products on the entire cheek, and so on.
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Unless the skin is naturally born oily, excessive oiliness is more often a result of a compromised skin barrier and dehydration. In such cases, using oil-control products can actually worsen the problem of oiliness and dryness, leading to persistent acne.
This is because the ingredients in oil-control products may actually clog pores and dry out the skin, which can be irritating, especially for more delicate skin. Furthermore, excessive oil control can further damage the skin barrier, preventing it from self-repairing and maintaining hydration, as well as from blocking out bacteria, allergens, and irritants. This not only exacerbates the issue of oiliness but also makes the skin more prone to inflammation and acne formation.
Therefore, instead of focusing on oil control, it is more important for acne-prone skin to prioritize hydration and repairing the skin barrier; and to repair the skin barrier, the first thing is to not be afraid of using face oils!
The skin barrier is composed of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids. Together, they form a waterproof barrier that prevents the invasion of bacteria, allergens, and pollutants, as well as the loss of water through evaporation. As mentioned earlier, the skin barrier of most acne sufferers is compromised, so restoring and strengthening the skin barrier through the use of facial oils is more crucial than simply hydrating the skin. Once the barrier is restored, acne and inflammation will diminish.
Let's use a reservoir as an analogy. If the water in the skin is like the water in the reservoir, and the skin barrier is the dam of the reservoir, then sebum and lipids are the cement and building materials of the dam. If a damaged dam with gaps is not repaired with cement and building materials, even if water keeps getting poured into the reservoir, it will continue to flow out. Insects, animals, and pollutants will also continue to invade the reservoir. On the contrary, if the dam is repaired properly first, then water will not flow away when the reservoir is subsequently filled, and bacteria and pollutants will no longer contaminate the entire reservoir.
In fact, besides lipids, face oils contain over a hundred types of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, and many other phytonutrients, while some of which are also rich in anti-inflammatory and anti-aging substances. This means that not only do they moisturize the skin and strengthen the skin barrier but also help to improve multiple aspects of acne at once, such as acne formation, pigmentation, and scarring, by enhancing the skin's own defense against free radicals, speeding up wound healing, reducing inflammation, stimulating collagen production, and slowing down skin aging.
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The most common mistake for oily or acne-prone skin is using harsh or over-drying cleansers, in an attempt to wash away that greasy feeling or because people believe their skin isn't clean enough.
Indeed, cleansing is the first step to beautiful skin, but harsh or over-drying cleansers often contain multiple irritating and drying ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), which are surfactants that create foam. These ingredients can excessively strip away the skin's natural sebum. This not only disrupts the skin's natural lipid barrier but also prompts the skin to produce more sticky sebum in an attempt to repair the barrier. As a result, pores can become clogged, leading to inflammation and the formation of acne and blackheads.
On the other hand, many individuals with acne-prone skin like to use cleansing devices or brushes, believing that they are more effective at cleansing the skin than using their hands, and therefore, would help improve acne and blackhead issues. It is true that initially they may provide a smoother and brighter complexion due to the physical exfoliation they offer, and acne and blackheads may improve because there is less build-up of thickened layers of dead skin cells. However, long-term use can lead to a series of problems.
- Firstly, constant friction can disrupt the skin barrier and the skin's pH balance, making the skin dry, sensitive, and prone to redness, acne, and even peeling.
- Secondly, when the skin barrier is compromised due to friction, inflammation may appear, causing persistent acne breakouts.
- Thirdly, regardless of the brush head material, they can all irritate existing inflamed or acne-prone areas and spread bacteria from those areas to other parts of the skin, making the problem even worse than before
- Fourthly, unless the brush bristles are thoroughly cleaned after every single use and allowed to dry completely in a dry area, bacteria can easily thrive, leading to more acne and inflammation.
Therefore, for acne-prone skin, the best way to clean their skin is to use cleansers that are gentle yet effective at dissolving the oil, sebum, and dirt inside the pores.
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The particles, walnut shell powder, or similar substances in exfoliating scrubs physically remove the skin's surface layer, and thus can give a smoother skin texture. However, in reality, not only do they fail to improve acne and blackheads, they can actually make the problem worse.
- During the scrubbing process, the back-and-forth friction can easily irritate your already inflamed skin, which can exacerbate acne problems and even spread bacteria to surrounding areas.
- Besides dead skin cells, scrubs also remove healthy skin and cells, and may even cause micro-wounds and micro-tears in the skin. This not only damages the skin barrier but also provides an opportunity for bacteria and allergens to enter the skin, leading to skin inflammation and worsening acne issues.
- Friction stimulates melanin production, which can result in the formation and intensification of post-acne hyperpigmentation that can take weeks, months, or even longer to fade!
- Furthermore, scrubs cannot penetrate pores, and thus cannot dissolve the trapped oil and dirt, which means they have little impact on acne, blackheads, or whiteheads.
On the contrary, while some people believe acid-based ingredients are irritating, they actually work by dissolving the bonds between aged keratinocytes and cells, thereby accelerating their natural shedding, all without harming healthy skin and cells. Moreover, besides having anti-bacterial and antimicrobial properties, these ingredients can actually effectively penetrate pores to dissolve clogged sebum and dirt. In fact, regular use can even promote collagen and hyaluronic acid synthesis, which can help improve acne scars!
In other words, as long as they are formulated with the right ingredients and at appropriate concentrations, acid-based products are definitely the best friends for acne-prone skin!
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Most acne care products contain benzoyl peroxide, which is used to kill acne-causing bacteria. It is true that this ingredient can eliminate acne bacteria, but it also inherently increases oxidative stress on the skin that can lead to dryness and exacerbate inflammation issues. It also increases the chances of developing acne scars and accelerates the skin's aging process.
Compared to benzoyl peroxide, ingredients like retinol, salicylic acid (BHA), azelaic acid, and kaolin clay are safer for acne-prone skin. Apart from their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, they can also unclog pores, balance sebum production, and promote skin cell turnover, thereby improving and preventing acne and post-acne hyperpigmentation.
Since this article mainly focuses on skincare habits that can worsen acne, we will further discuss skincare ingredients that can improve acne in the next article.
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The most common bad habit that can worsen acne is popping, squeezing, or picking at acne, pimples, and blackheads!
It is a well-known fact that you shouldn't pick at or squeeze your acne or blackheads (or your skin in general). While resisting the urge is truly difficult, when you use your fingers to "deal with" that acne lesion, not only are you damaging the skin barrier that helps retain moisture and protects the skin from bacteria and pollutants, but are also spreading those bacteria to other areas of your face and introducing new bacteria into the wound. This only leads to more and more severe acne.
So, really, stop picking. Specifically, besides washing your hands thoroughly before cleansinng your face and applying skincare or makeup, refrain from touching your face, period!
Apart from picking at acne, using unclean items on the face is also a bad habit for acne-prone skin.
One major concern is towels. The bathroom environment itself is already inherently humid; combined with the particularly humid weather in Hong Kong, towels kept in the bathroom quickly become breeding grounds for bacteria. Additionally, since acne-prone skin already has a higher amount of bad bacteria on the skin surface, every time you use a towel to wipe your face, you're transferring bacteria onto the towel. In other words, if you repeatedly use the same towel after cleansing, you're just putting bacteria back onto your face every single time. Therefore, while it is essential for acne-prone skin to avoid using body or hair towels to wipe the face, it is also important to avoid reusing face towels (even within the same day). Ideally, use a different clean towel for your face every morning and evening. If that seems too troublesome, disposable face towels can be used (although they are not environmentally friendly).
The same principle applies to pillowcases. Every night, bacteria, oil, sweat, and more accumulate on pillowcases, so if you only change your pillowcase once a week, you're essentially sleeping with bacteria every night. It's best to change pillowcases daily if possible. If daily changes are not feasible, at least change them every two days——sleep on one side today, then flip and sleep on the other side tomorrow, then get it washed.
In addition, makeup tools such as brushes and sponges are also worth mentioning. Obviously makeup brushes cannot be replaced daily, but they should be lightly cleaned daily and thoroughly cleaned weekly. As for sponges, they tend to harbor bacteria more easily, so it is best to clean them thoroughly daily and replace them with new ones every one to two weeks.
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Not using face cleansers in the mornign is a very bad skincare habit, especially for acne-prone skin. There are three mainn reasons behind this:
｜Remove traces of skincare from the previous night
Unless you don’t use any skincare products at all, chances are, there will be residue of products from the previous night left on the skin surface no matter how much they get absorbed by the skin throughout the night, whilst some products are actually designed to form a film on the skin for protection and repair purposes. Now, if you don’t wash everything off in the morning, they can eventually clog pores and lead to acne. The anti-acne skincare products used in your morning skincare routine won’t be able to penetrate the skin and do their job either.
｜Wash away dead skin cells and oils accumulated throughout the night
Your skin enters the most active state of self-repair and cell turnover when you sleep, so although you may not see it, there is likely dead skin cells, waste and excess sebum on the skin or in your pores. In fact, there may also be saliva, sweat, or even traces of hand cream, hair oil etc. It is therefore necessary to wash them off in the morning, otherwise, acne may appear as a result.
｜Rid the skin of bacteria, irritants and allergens
Circulated air from your fan, air conditioner or heater can kick up dust, mold and other environmental irritants. They can also fly in from your open windows and land on your face. Let’s not forget bacteria, hair products or dust mites on your pillowcase, blanket, or even the person sleeping next to you! Unless you wash them off thoroughly in the morning, they will stick on your face the whole day. That won't improve acne, will it?
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Sweat, certain dirt and other substances are water-soluble, but excess sebum, certain ingredients in skincare products, makeup, sunscreen, as well as pollutants encountered during the day, and even cooking fumes, are all oil-soluble. Remember how water and oil don't mix? This means that oil-based impurities cannot be completely dissolved and removed solely by water-soluble cleansers.
When these oil-based impurities are not completely washed away during daily cleansing, they begin to accumulate, leading to clogged pores, inflammation, and the formation of blackheads, whiteheads, and acne. Additionally, other follow-up skincare products cannot penetrate properly.
In other words, whether or not you wear makeup, when cleansing at night, it is important to embrace the concept of "removing" before "cleansing."
｜Step 1: Cleanse With a Cleansing Oil or Balm to Remove Makeup, Oils, Dirt and Pollutants
Celebrities with flawless skin, like Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Hee-sun, Kim Tae-hee, Song Ji-hyo, Suzy Bae, and Taeyeon, have all revealed that their first skincare step every night is cleansing with an oil-based cleanser. Yet there are still quite a few misconceptions regarding oil-based cleansers——they are not suitable for oily and acne-prone skin, they will make the face more oily, sensitive skin shouldn’t use oil-based cleansers etc. That is simply not true.
As long as they are thoroughly rinsed off, as with all cleansers, not only will they not add more oil to the face, they will actually melt away all the excess oil and unclog pores as oils remove oils, which means less blemishes and acne! In addition, they won’t damage the skin barrier but in fact, cushion and nourish it whilst cleansing, making it perfect for sensitive, inflammatory skin.
｜Step 2: Cleanse Again With a Water-Based Cleanser
By thoroughly removing all the oil-based impurities, the water-based cleanser used in this second step can now really work its way into the skin, removing sweat and grime, as well as dead skin cells. This also ensures better penetration of follow-up products like toner and serums.
Whether it is in a gel, lotion, or cream consistency does not matter, as long as it does not foam or contain any alcohol or scrubbing bits.
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Many shampoos and conditioners contain silicones and various other ingredients that can make hair smooth and soft. This in itself is not a problem. The problem is when we wash our hair, water mixed with shampoo, conditioner, hair masks, and even dirt, often get to our faces. More often than not, people simply wipe it off with bath towels or worse yet, with the same towel they use to dry their hair. These ingredients then stay on the skin, and may cause irritations, redness, or worsen already existing acne and other skin conditions.
Therefore, a better cleansing practice is to cleanse the face with cleansing oil or cleansing balm before showering and washing the hair to remove makeup, oil, dirt, and pollutants. Then, after showering and washing the hair, proceed with the second cleansing step using a water-based cleanser, then gently pat dry with a separate clean towel.
Research shows that diet can play a significant role in acne development, as different foods, such as dairy, gluten, soy, sugar, eggs, and alcohol, are linked to factors that contribute to acne, including sebum and keratin production, acne-causing bacteria, hormones, blocked pores and inflammation.
In addition, certain foods can be taxing on the liver, making it hard for toxins to be eliminated from the body. Whilst, some foods can make the body too acidic, which can be very inflammatory. Both of which can exacerbate acne issues.
For details, read：How Differnt Foods Negatively Affect the Skin and How Differnt Foods Negatively Affect the Skin - Part 2 。
Is it really a must to restrict your diet? Well, say if potato chips always give you pimples, using anti-acne skincare products can indeed help you get rid of those pimples, but unless you stop eating them, even the best products won't stop pimples from reappearing!
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On another hand, gut health and acne also go hand-in-hand.
Our digestive system has outer walls that act as barriers to the rest of the body - keeping certain toxins, harmful substances, food particles and other substances out of the bloodstream and away from the rest of the body. The problem is, these walls are very thin, and when we ingest certain foods that our bodies do not respond to well, these cell membranes can become ruptured, broken, and damaged, gaps begin to appear in the digestive wall, and substances from within the digestive system start to migrate into the body. Since they are not meant to be there, the body then treats them as foreign invaders and turns on an inflammatory response, which then manifests into inflammatory skin conditions like acne.
At the same time, studies have found that people with acne have lower diversity in their gut microbiome compared to those without acne. When the gut microbiome is in imbalance, the chances of developing acne are also higher.
Therefore, paying attention to diet and gut health is crucial for individuals with acne-prone skin!
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暗瘡當然令人沮喪，尤其是當它們無止境地出時... 但過度執著於面上的暗瘡或在乎其他人的目光而給予自己過多的壓力是對改善暗瘡百害而無一利。
Firstly, stress triggers the release of pro-inflammatory substances in the body, which can worsen the existing inflammation in acne-prone skin.
Secondly, stress can disrupt the normal functioning of the immune system, making it more sensitive and reactive to triggers that can induce acne. This excessive immune response can exacerbate inflammation and make acne more severe.
Thirdly, stress can actually compromise the skin's natural barrier function, causing it to become more permeable and lose moisture. Not only will this make the skin more prone to dryness, bacteria, irritants and allergens can also easily attack the skin, exacerbating acne issues.
Fourthly, stress triggers the release of cortisol, often referred to as the stress hormone. Elevated cortisol levels not only worsen inflammation but also affect the skin's ability to retain moisture and impair the skin's healing process. This can lead to an increase in the number of acne breakouts and make them more persistent over time.
Lastly but not leasst, when you become overly fixated on the acne on your face, it is natural to frequently look in the mirror. And when you see the acne on your face in the mirror, it becomes difficult to resist the urge to "deal with" them yourself. However, not only does this not help improve acne, but can also introduce more bacteria onto the face, damage the skin's overall health, and transfer inflammation to other areas, leading to more acne. Additionally, constantly looking in the mirror can make you unhappy and inadvertently stress yourself out, resulting in elevated cortisol levels that worsen existing problems.
The truth is, other people do not really care about your acne as much as you imagine. They couldn't care less if you have one or two more pimples on your face, and they wouldn't scrutinize them as closely as you do in the mirror either. In fact, more of then not, they won't even notice at a normal social distance! In other words, when it comes to acne, the biggest enemy is often your own excessive obsession!
Therefore, although it is incredibly difficult, the first crucial step in improving acne is to accept it, learn to coexist with it, and learn how to manage and release the stress that comes from it. Otherwise, the accumulated stress will only worsen existing symptoms, and make your acne more persistent！
Now that we have discussed skincare habits that can worsen acne, in our next article, we will share which skin are ingredients and nutrients have been clinically proven to effectively improve ance. Stay tuned!
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