HOW TO: STOP BREAKOUTS.

Especially when your teens were quite some time ago…

Breakouts are one of those things that I thought would stop by the time I hit twenty, like a magical power that would regulate all my hormones the second I was no longer a teenager. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

I had really good skin up until the age of about 14 when all hell broke loose. I wouldn’t say I had ‘acne’ but it was consistent turnover of breakouts. This was a full time issue and probably what made me so interested in skincare and what products did what in the first place. Now more than 10 years later and I just about think I have a hold on
things. I know this is an issue for lots of people so I wanted to share what I’ve learned over the years, and the best products to help you have your best ever skin.

Cleanse

I mean: duh. But if you’re prone to breakouts I suggest starting with a balm or oil cleanser to remove your makeup and then go in again with a cream cleanser. Don’t use harsh products, these often just make things worse. Make sure you double cleanse to remove all dirt and makeup.

I use a mix of Neal’s Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm, Emma Hardie Amazing Face, Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm, Sunday  Riley Blue Moon, La Mer Cleansing Gel. 

Post Cleanse

Hydration is the name of the game with breakouts, even though everyone thinks you’re meant to be drying everything out – that won’t work in the long run.

I use an essence (SK-II Facial Treatment Clear Lotion) to soften my skin – plus it’s great for ageing so ideal for adult acne – and then apply a targeted mist (La Roche Posay Serozinc) to soothe my skin and tighten pores.

Exfoliation

Please, please, please don’t use those harsh scrubs full of apricot kernels! For sensitive skin (which your skin will be when it breaks out) these are the worst and just irritate the skin. I started using chemical exfoliants at 22 and it’s been life changing. They do an even better job of exfoliating and I don’t have to scrub all the good skin off my face at the same time too.

Some of my favourites are REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate, Colbert MD Tone Control Facial Discs, Omorovicza Radiance Serum and Skinceuticals Retexturing Activator. My all time favourite exfoliating mask is Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask. Use just one exfoliating product once a day.

Hydrate

Hydrating your skin won’t make you have more breakouts. Hydration is the biggest and  most important thing in skincare because it helps prevent everything that can go wrong (aka ageing, spots, pigmentation, scarring…). At one point I was using a hydrating mask every night. Yes, every night. There’s nothing wrong with going all out! It’s almost impossible to overdo. My current trick is to mix my hydrating serum in with my oil. Pure heaven.

I love Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Masque and Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Masque,  Sukin Chia Seed Oil, Bioderma Hydrabio Serum.

Target Areas

When you have spots on your chin doesn’t mean you need to apply acne treatments to your whole face. I remember first being told that I could use different serums/treatments and even masks on different areas of the face, that I didn’t have to treat my face as one whole thing and being amazed that I hadn’t thought of it before. Doing this helps you be more specific and targeted with your skincare. For example, I’ll just apple a clay mask to my t-zone, and perhaps an antioxidant one to the rest of my face. I only use my overnight clearing gel on actual spots, not over my whole face. So simple, and so incredibly effective.

My favourite products to target blemishes specifically are La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo,  Avene Cleanance Expert Emulsion and Dermalogica Overnight Clearing Gel.

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