Breakout Stakeout - Common Causes of Adult Acne

Have you ever had an acne breakout as an adult that you didn't try to explain yourself?  In my experience, people who break out pretty regularly have read and watched enough on social media to have quite a few ideas on what's causing their problem.  Sometimes they're right.  

But many, many adult acne sufferers don't have that kind of experience.  To them, their breakouts are just baffling.  They have no idea what's causing them. Shockingly, at least 60% of my adult acne clientele never had acne as teens!

My job as a specialist in adult acne is to help my clients examine their daily habits, diet, hormonal history, medical history, and products, as well as have a visual picture of their breakouts by being sent photos, to determine and navigate through all possibilities for causes of their breakouts.

I'd like to share some of those possibilities.

The Year Of Maskne: An Adult Acne Expert's View

COVacne!  The Scourge of the Year

Most people call it "maskne", of course, but I call it "COVacne" because it's obvious to me that more is involved than just the physical wearing of masks.  There is no question that friction and heat from mask wearing play the greatest roles, but there has to be meaning in the fact that for so many the acne also gets bad in areas otherwise designated as "hormonal"; the jawline, sides of the chin, inner cheeks, and lower central forehead.  Stress must play a roll, too!

Sensitive Skin? Maybe Not!

By the yearly sales of moisturizers in this country alone, you would never know that only 10% of the world's entire population actually has genetically dry skin. The rest of us with dryness issues all have **dehydrated** skin.  The problem is, the skincare industry often doesn't seem to understand this concept.  The result?  Genetically oily skin that's leaching water all day long gets lubricated with heavy, often pore-clogging, moisturizers instead of hydrated, and truly dry skin still doesn't get the replenishment of lipids, cholesterol or water that it loses all day long, either.  How does this relate to the possibility that your skin isn't actually sensitive?  If you have Adult Acne, or even just raw, irritated skin, it's actually not a safe assumption that breaking out from products means your skin is sensitive!

Pants On Fire! A Solution For Your Ingrown Hair Blues...

As the summer months transition into autumn, chances are that you’re wearing more jeans, yoga pants, leggings, etc. You may also have noticed an upsurge in the severity of your ingrown hairs along your bikini line and even extending down your inner thighs. Since I began performing waxing services over 18 years ago, I have long noticed that the frequency of ingrown hairs along the bikini line seems to increase during changes in weather, particularly from warmer into colder months.



So many questions about this phenomenon have run through my mind...

...Is it me? ...Is it my waxing technique?

If so, why would there be more ingrowns at that time of year? And why would the frequency of my clients' ingrown hairs increase compared to other months? If this really was connected to my waxing technique, why am I noticing more ingrown hairs on the sides of the client's bikini line rather than all over? ...I also had to wonder why the ingrown hairs would also exist in those same outer/side-areas in people who had never even been waxed at all.

Instead of focusing on myself, I began to ask my clients about their ingrown issues.

Adult Acne Tip - Are You Oily or Sweaty?

At this particular time of writing, it’s the end of August in Chicago.  This month has been hot and muggy.  Of course, you could be reading this during another season altogether.  But, if you’re in a hot climate, you’ll still benefit from the info I’m about to share, so let’s put aside the “summertime” designation for this post.  What I’m talking about is sweat vs oil, and what happens when you have Adult Acne and think you feel greasy when it fact what you’re feeling is perspiration.  Or, both at the same time.  So, what’s the story?

Stubborn Acne Around the Chin and Mouth

As an Esthetician specializing in Adult Acne and Sensitivity, acne in pores where oil glands are larger due to being located in the “T-Zone” but where pore sizes are smaller due to facial contours, is the most common problem I see in my clients, both in the salon and in my online adult acne coaching service across the nation.  Excess oil from all kinds of hormonal changes rush into pores causing inflammation of pore linings, resulting in swelling, redness and pain.

These areas of larger glands and smaller pores are located on the sides of the chin, around the mouth, the inner cheeks, and between the brows.  Sometimes, the sides of the chin will also extend to the inner jawline and lower cheeks.  

Working Out with Adult Acne

We’re edging toward the end of winter, and your workout resolution is well under way.  Or, your regular workout routine has been under way for a long time.  Either way, this is often the time I get asked about the best way to keep acne clear with a workout schedule that seems to interfere too often with keeping skin healthy.  How do you avoid over- or under-washing the skin with workouts, and how to keep skin hydrated enough?