A Practical Guide to Acne

As someone who's had acne and who's researched it a whole lot, this is my straight forward, no nonsense guide to acne.

Myths

• You can dry out Acne. It doesn't really work like that, if you dry out a spot, you're not drying what's inside the spot, your drying out the skin around it. This can make it more angry and more prone to scaring.
• A daily scrub will help. Imagine the grain of sand in your scrub and compare it to the size of your pore. There's no way it can possibly remove the dirt from it, and if it was big enough how would it get back out of your pore?
• It's sugar isn't it? This is where people split. Acne can happen for a number of reasons, I'm not saying sugar is or is not a trigger for breakouts, but a healthy lifestyle never hurt anyone.
• Baking soda, Apple cider Vinegar and Lemon Juice will solve all my problems. Never put any of these things on your face. Constant use of any of these things will make your face irritated as they are not the right pH for your face. Stick to properly formulated products.

Treatments

The ones that work the Best:

• Benzoyl peroxide: Anti-Bacterial. Recommended to be used at 2.5 - 5%, I recommend only at night and always where sunscreen of SPF 30 and above.
• Salicylic acid: Acid exfoliant + Anti-Bacterial. Recommended to be used at 2%, if you find you skin sensitive to it you can use 0.5 - 1% and work your way up to 2%. Recormend product: Stridex. 

The ones that don't work as well:

• Tea tree oil: Anti-Bacterial. Not as good as Benzoyl peroixde.

Skincare Routine

What should skincare routine be made up of? I break it down into 3 Steps.

• Cleanse, day and night: Cleansing is very important and must be done twice a day. If you wear make-up you can use a wipe but always cleanse after. Never use a scrub. Cleansing will not rid you of acne on its own, but if you don't cleanse any thing you treat your acne with will be much less affective.
• Treat, day and night: Use benzoyl peroxide at night and Salicylic acid at night and day.
• Moisturise and Sunscreen, day: Use an SPF of 30 or above in the day, every day, all year round. This is very important as Benzoyl Peroxide can pose a skin cancer risk if you don't use sunscreen. Even in winter. Moisturise if your skin feels dry, if your worried about breaking out from the moisturiser don't go oil free, opt for some thing like Simple's spotless skin moisturiser as it also has acne fighting ingredients.