I get asked this question all the time, and rightly so. A great deal of trust is being put into me. The focus of my skincare practice is acne and sensitivity experienced by adults aged late-twenties on up. Why is that?
There are two reasons for
my focus on clients in their late 20’s and older.
One, I believe that those
of us who are looking for anti-aging products that won’t break us out and acne
products that won’t dry or irritate our more mature skin, are being largely ignored. I want to fill that void.
Second, I have found that
there are significant differences between teen acne and adult acne. This is something I covered in a previous
blog post.
Oftentimes when acne is
more severe, it continues into one’s 20’s.
There are many factors involved in a case being severe, or even just
persistent, like pore clogging makeup and lack of a good skincare routine.
But even when an acne case
is not severe, the early twenties are still within the age range that is
considered a normal time for pores and oil glands to complete their
development. This means there is a very good chance that an acne problem experienced
by an early 20-something will still be considered “teen acne.”
There is a plethora of resources, products and
experts out for teen acne.
But when it
comes to acne with aging considerations and the pressures of adult life thrown
in? Not much out there!
As an online skincare coach, my goal is to get your Adult Acne under control by improving the
hydration, integrity, resistance and resilience of your pores, to get them to
flow more freely and fight irritation and infection effectively. Whether you get monthly facials or not, the
main feature of my method of acne clearing is use of products that do each of
those things without clogging your pores or drying your skin out.
So the question of the day
is, what can you expect from an adult acne clearing program?
Individual acne breakouts have a maturation process. The normal time it takes for a blemish to go
from the birth of a microscopic blackhead, or "microcomedone", to a full-blown
pimple is approximately 3 weeks.
Here’s the thing,
though. If both dehydration from the wrong
cleansers or acne treatments and pore clogging from the wrong anti-aging
moisturizers create stiffness or obstructions, this maturation process can get
arrested. This often results in a kind of closed-in
blackhead that looks like a colorless bump, called a “closed comedone”. It can also result in stubborn inflamed bumps, or "papules".
Also, inflammation from newly flowing oil can bother pore linings which results in redness and swelling surrounding impactions.
This is where the beginning of acne clearing gets a
little tricky. The right products have to be used in the right way in order to control this process.
After starting a better skin care routine, some people experience less
oil as their pores get cleaned out and the skin gets more hydrated. There may be minor breakouts in this case, as
some pores get a little irritated by the new oil flow. As we continue with calming and hydrating the
skin, breakouts start to subside and blackheads become less prominent.
Most people, however, notice their skin becoming more oily as the pores finally start to flow more freely than
before. In this case, the skin might
break out a little in response to the newly flowing oil creating inflammation
inside pores. This subsides as oil
production normalizes because the skin has no longer a need to overproduce oil
in response to an ineffective skincare routine.
The time all this takes varies from person to person. It should also be noted that these temporary breakouts do not happen to everyone.
The solution to these temporary breakouts while we're clearing your skin with a regular personalized daily routine is the weekly use of either clay mask or
salicylic acid gel mask, depending on irritation levels.
In cases where there is a lot of congestion
with or without inflamed breakouts, salicylic acid may not be enough; we may
need to introduce benzoyl peroxide into the mix.
The best way to deal with individual blemishes that come up during this process is Ice Therapy.
How much clearing of acne can you expect and how long does it usually
take?
Generally speaking, we first see the larger blemishes go, with smaller
ones taking their place, oftentimes in larger numbers. At this point,
most people report these smaller blemishes taking much less time to subside and
hurt less than the larger ones that were there before. With most clients, this can take place in the
first month or two.
Next, the smaller ones start to clear, sometimes altogether, sometimes
simply getting smaller until they disappear.
Breakouts at this point are still a little worse near “that time of the
month”, but they have shorter duration and are less deep. This stage can last two to four months,
longer in more severe cases. Consistency
and diligence in your skincare are key here !
The blackheads and colorless bumps are the last to go and are the most
difficult to get rid of. In this case we
have a delicate balance between hydration and effective exfoliation. Acids and antioxidants become our best
friends with clays coming along for the ride.
The most important thing to remember, is that if you have
been experiencing acne problems since adolescence, it means you are engaged in
an ongoing battle, possibly for life.
That is NOT to say you can never get clear. But you have to be diligent and
committed to keeping your pores clear and healthy for life. Nothing the least bit clogging can ever come
in contact with your face and the right exfoliation and hydration will be of
utmost importance. Changes in your skin
will occur as you age, that will have to be considered when continuing to keep
your skin clear. I wrote a fantastic 2-part post about approaching anti-aging for the acne prone adult here.
If you haven’t been dealing with acne all your life, your
acne problem has a source, and clearing your skin requires finding that source
and either eliminating it or healing it. You can start that right now by filling out my Eval by Email® Online Skincare
Consultation Form created specially for ages Gen-Y to Baby Boom!
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