Combination skin can be such a pain in the you-know-what! Dry and patchy skin in some places, normal in other areas,and oily in other areas like the T-Zone area (which includes the nose, forehead, chin, and sometimes the cheeks). Overly enlarged pores, shiny/oily skin, and blackheads all can play a part in this as well. So why does this happen?
Well it can be genetics, environmental, or hormonal reasons that can mess with your skin and make it all sorts of confused. When the weather changes is when we hear the most complaints about combination skin being a big issue. Kind of like right now as we’re transitioning from winter to spring and then to summer. One day it’s warm, so your skin is more oily. The next day it’s cold, so your skin dries up. What is a person to do when weather is not consistent?! It can be incredibly frustrating. One piece of advice, just breathe…
The T-Zone area is normally the most oily area on the face so it’s important to properly hydrate the area with an oil-free, non-comedogenic moisturizer to balance out the moisture on the skin, which minimizes oils from forming and clogging up your pores. Toners and astringents are great to use on oily areas but in moderation and should not include any alcohol, witch hazel, menthol, oils from citrus, or fragrance, natural of synthetic . Over-usage can make your skin too dry, in turn pulling more bad oils to the surface to hydrate that area, making you even more dry! For evening out the skin and complexion, use a gentle exfoliating scrub two to three times a week but not more than this because it can irritate the overly dry patches on your skin.
As with oily skin, do not use any cosmetics that contain oil, which can make the oily areas of your skin too oily. One of our favorite products to use at Acne Skin Site is De-Slick by Urban Decay Cosmetics. It contains tea tree oil, which is great for the skin in small amounts! It minimizes pores, combats oils without clogging your pores, and prevents breakouts! It is colorless and I don’t even consider it makeup because it doesn’t conceal anything or change your skin color so men and women can use it! Another great one is Tarte Cosmetic’s Smooth Operator Micronized Clay Finishing Powder with PM20. PM20 is clinically proven to reduce the appearance of pores 20% within four weeks! It will also lock your makeup into place without clogging your pores…love this stuff and its translucent so it’s great for every skin type!
Are you one of those people that suffers from waxing and has had skin ripped off or broken out on your face after getting your eyebrows waxed or upper lip hair cleaned up? You are not alone! But why “suffer to be beautiful” if you can try threading? Threading has been described as the “anti-acne” because you should not break out after this procedure unlike waxing. It’s the hottest trend and with good reason!
Threading was derived centuries ago and was most commonly practiced in Eastern Asia and the Middle East. Hair is removed with a piece of thread that is knotted together and a “trap” is created to wrap around the hairs on your face and is then gently pulled from the root without removing a layer of skin, unlike waxing. It’s less painful than waxing and the area can remain hair-free for an average of two to four weeks. Each time you thread, it will take the hairs longer to grow back which is a huge bonus as well!
One of the best things about threading is if you use topical acne gels or cream, you don’t have to stop using them a couple days before threading! With waxing, you need to wait at least 48-72 hours with no acne medicine applied to your face because if you wax while using acne medicine, the wax can rip off an even deeper layer of skin and can cause intense pain and scabbing! Yikes!
It is best to utilize threading when your face is clean and to give your skin a couple hours to breathe and allow any redness to disappear after. Threading is much less painful than waxing and if you do get red, it should go down within an hour. The esthetician will also apply a cooling gel to the area to reduce any redness and you should not see any swelling occur, which can happen with waxing. The hairs will grow back finer and smoother than with waxing and you don’t need to wait for the hairs to be a certain length before threading again. As long as the hairs are above the skin, threading is possible! It is less expensive than waxing as well! It’s an incredibly hygienic and natural procedure so what are you waiting for? Search out the best threading boutique in your city and see what we at Acne Skin Site are raving about!
No one wants large pores. Large pores can be genetic and tend to be associated with oily skin. Unfortunately as one gets older, his or her pores can become even larger as the skin becomes less elastic and sun damage can make the pores more apparent. Though large pores are more common among adults, teenagers can also have enlarged pores if they have a lot of blackheads, which are pores that are clogged with dirt and bacteria.
Though there is no “cure” for eliminating large pores altogether, there are steps you can take to minimize the appearance of large pores.
1. It is important to cleanse your face morning and night with a gentle cleanser.
2. Follow with an oil-free moisturizer to hydrate your skin and this step will also help with controlling the oils that come to the surface. If you don’t hydrate your skin morning and night with an oil-free moisturizer, you will become more oily throughout the day because your skin is trying to hydrate the dry areas, hence making your pores larger. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!
3. Exfoliate your skin two to three times a weeks with a gentle exfoliating scrub or microdermabrasion kit after using a facial cleanser. Removing cellular build-up from your skin will help to remove blackheads and old skin, allowing renewed fresh skin to take its place.
4. If you wear makeup, prime your skin with an oil-free, skin-priming foundation before applying your foundation. Doing so will minimize the size of large pores without clogging your pore, it will also minimize any fine lines and wrinkles you may have, and using a primer will also even out your skin tone. A huge bonus is that the makeup won’t settle in your pores because the primer acts as an invisible wall between your skin and the makeup!) Your makeup will also last longer when using a primer.
5. After applying your foundation, dust a translucent oil-free loose powder all over your face with a kabuki brush. The powder will lock the makeup into place and will minimize the size of your pores as well. One of our favorites is Tarte Cosmetic’s Smooth Operator Micronized Clay Finishing Powder with PM20. This PM20 is a pore-minimizing compound that is clinically proven to minimize the appearance of your pores by 20% after four weeks! The clay will not make your skin look dry either! It is proven to hydrate your skin!
Some people may say these steps will lead to perfection but we think it will lead to pore-fection…
It’s so hard not to want to pop a pimple when it’s just sitting there on your face, staring at you every time you look in the mirror. It’s honestly best if you just leave the pimple alone, to heal on its own, but we at Acne Skin Site rarely hear of people waiting patiently to let their pimples go away without doing some kind of “surgery” on them. When you pop pimples on your face, you will almost always break out more in that area because the fluid from the pimple that you squeeze will seep into other pores in your skin, thus leading to more pimples. You also risk serious scarring and possible infection if you don’t have clean hands or fingernails when attempting to pop a pimple. It’s important to note that you should NEVER attempt to pop a cyst or nodule. An appointment with your dermatologist is needed for this type of lesion, and more than likely he or she will use a cortisone injection to bring the swelling down.
Only pop a pimple if it has formed a white head at the surface of the skin and it’s best to pop after your shower or after cleansing your face. Here are the proper steps:
1. Disinfect a sewing needle with a sharp point with some rubbing alcohol and a Kleenex or q-tip.
2. Gently prick the sharp point of the needle into the head of the pimple.
3. Using your fingertips (not your fingernails) or two q-tips, gently squeeze the sides of the pimple, forcing the puss to come out. Don’t force anything to come out if it won’t. This is when blood or clear fluid will come out and can make your pimple turn into an infected cut on your face, possibly causing severe scarring to be left on your face.
4. Dab a Kleenex on your popped pimple for a few minutes after popping, to collect any extra fluid that may come out so it doesn’t seep into other areas of your skin.
If your popped pimple becomes a cut from not listening to our advice above, use a little Neosporin on the affected area once daily to stop any infections from occurring and to speed the healing process. Make sure to wash your face morning and night and to follow with an oil-free moisturizer. But again, if possible, avoid popping at all costs!
Blackheads, (open comedos), are pesky and unflattering and either black or yellow in color. And usually the first sign of acne. Nobody wants blackheads but everyone has them at one point in his or her life. Blackheads form in enlarged hair follicles on the skin and are filled with debris from the skin, bacteria, and oil.
Blackheads usually form at the start of puberty, when hormones levels are at an all-time high, awakening the sebaceous glands, which make the skin more oily. An excess of oil fills the pores, and get stuck, and once mixed with bacteria and germs in the air, become black or yellow in color. Though teenagers seem to have the most trouble with blackheads, you can also get them in your 20’s, 30’s, and beyond. Unfortunately, the more oily your skin is, the more likely you are to have blackheads. Makeup and skincare products with added oils can also clog pores which will lead to blackheads so it’s very important to cleanse your skin morning and night to wash away any residue that leads to this unwanted build-up. Many think that blackheads are formed by dirt in the skin but this is not true. It’s by an excess of oils so be sure not to over cleanse your skin because it will become irritated. Cleansers with salicylic acid will help those with oily skin.
Exfoliating the skin with a gentle exfoliant 2-3 times a week will also help ridding the skin of cellular build-up, hence minimizing blackheads. Some have found that using a facial masque once a week also helps gently remove blackheads from the pores.
Having greasy hair can also be a factor in having oily skin which leads to blackheads. Make sure to keep your hair away from your face, even while you are sleeping, if your hair becomes greasy throughout the day. The less contact your skin has with any oils, the better.
Avoid foods that are fried or greasy and drink plenty of water. Remember, what you put into your body will exude through your skin. If you are stressed, find ways to de-stress during the day because stress can affect the outcome of your skin. Get plenty of sleep and change your bed sheets weekly. Talk to your dermatologist about topical medications, which have been known to reduce blackheads and acne. Try not to pick or squeeze at your blackheads because this can lead to scarring, which will last a lot longer than blackheads!
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