Ten Acne Skincare Habits You Need To Break

There are many reasons why acne can become worse – a change in season, hormones, stress and a poor lifestyle, to name a few. If you want to reduce your chances of your acne worsening, here are 10 skincare habits you need to break, fast.

1. Stop trying a new product every week

Stop trying a new product every week, because you aren’t getting results. Of course your not, you haven’t given it enough time. Acne requires a multi-pronged approach and needs to be measured over a 90 day (yes, 3 month!) cycles. Your skin didn’t start behaving badly in a week, so you can’t expect it to start behaving again in one week. Not only have you not given it time, you run the risk of irritating your skin further.

2. Avoid acne causing ingredients in your skin and beauty products

Stop using makeup, skincare products and hair care (including shampoos) that contain acne causing ingredients. Speak to your skin professional about the best products for your skin and use them as prescribed.

3. Don’t sleep or exercise with your makeup on

Stop sleeping or exercising in your makeup. Your skin is an organ, you need to let it function properly while it is in repair mode at night, with a clean face.

4. Stop scrubbing

Stop scrubbing your skin. You’re not scrubbing it clean (even though you think it feels ‘nice’). Scrubbing can irritate an already inflamed skin and worsen the situation. While you do need to exfoliate, you need to do it correctly.

5. Don’t let your skin dry out.

Don’t let your skin dry out. The oils in your skin work as a protective barrier from harmful pathogens (bugs). Stripping your barrier will inflame your skin and trick it into producing more oil, which will lead to more breakouts and clogged pores.

6. Avoid too much cleansing

Don’t cleanse your skin throughout the day. You should be cleansing morning and night ONLY, with a cleanser suited to your skin. Choose one that doesn’t make your skin feel tight. Remember, that means dry and dry = irritation and extra oil production.

7. Don’t skip your skincare routine

Don’t skip your skincare routine. Even if you don’t wear makeup, you need to remove pollution, dirt and excess oils that clog your skin during the day. This will also allow your skin to accept your acne fighting, active ingredients more readily.

8. Don’t take random advice

Stop taking advice from your friends and family (my grandfather’s advice was to ‘pour methylated spirits on that pimple’) – unless they are acne experts! This also applied to using the same skincare products that they use, if they have clear skin, they will be using very different products to you.

9. Don’t share makeup brushes

Don’t share makeup brushes. Do we even need to explain this? Sharing bacteria is NOT a good thing!

10. Stop eating those naughty foods.

Stop eating those naughty foods. As the saying goes “you are what you eat” and while foods don’t directly cause acne, they can definitely make it worse. The two biggest ‘feeders’ of acne are dairy and processed foods (especially instant noodles!) so avoid those groups where possible.

Need professional help with your acne?

Acne is a complicated medical condition that affects approximately 85% of adolescents and some adults at some stage of their life. Skin Clinic Blyss offers a number of in-clinic Acne treatments to assist with you Acne skin condition. See our Acne treatment options.

There are also several products we recommend for treating Acne. See Acne treatment Products.