Basic skincare for acne-prone skin

I work in a beauty store, and each day I'm at work, the most common issue people come in for is acne. Acne sucks. I'm pretty sure most people have had to deal with it at some point in their lives, and it's rough. 

I've dealt with acne, although it wasn't too horrible for me like it is for some people I've talked to, and it's not fun. It's not fun having those huge cystic zits on your face that hurt every time you smile (leading to you just not smiling), lovely, and it's not fun being a girl in middle school with braces, glasses (until your amazing parents let you start wearing contacts), and that huge zit on the tip of your nose that immature boys ask you about because they don't even know what it is and you do. Sigh.

So after a year of feeling miserable each time she started breaking out, thirteen-year-old-me plunged herself into the world of skincare. And where did I go? The Proactive kiosk in the mall. Rookie mistake #1. The stuff worked for about three days. My little zits started to fade, and I thought miracles were happening. Wrong again. As time went on, my skin started getting dry, flaky, and then even later, my skin got oilier, and the Proactive did absolutely nothing for me. I was back to square one.

Then I started moving "up" the ladder. Clinique 3-step, Bioré, Neutrogena, Clearasil, Clean and Clear, everything. It wasn't until high school that I discovered what I was doing wrong. I was drying the crap out of my poor skin and in general using too much of the wrong stuff. With some more research, I realized what I should be doing.

Cleansing properly is only the first step. (We'll get to the rest later, I promise). What I was doing before (and wondering why I kept getting zits) was using harsh foaming cleansers that stripped my skin of all oils and created a breeding ground for bacteria.

Your skin is your largest organ. It's the first line of defense your system has from the outside world. Basically, it takes quite the beating. And by using foaming cleansers, you're not helping it. 

The reason why our skin works as a defense is because it's acidic. The oils in your skin trap all the nasty stuff that tries to attack your body, and the acidity kills the bacteria (like the bacteria that gives us pimples). Your skin naturally has a pH that's about 5 or lower. The ingredients that make your foaming cleanser lather up (like sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate), raises that pH to a 10. They alkaline the skin. So that protective acidic barrier? Gone. Not to mention the stripping of the oil on your skin kicks your oil glands into over-drive to replace it, making you oilier. Great. All this = acne. Yayyyyy

Sad thing is, the only thing you're being sold if you have acne is these stupid, stupid cleansers. But really, just ditch them. Now. Go do it. Do. It. 

Instead, reach for a cleansing balm or really anything as long as it does not lather. I just massage my (Eve Lom, at the moment*) cleansing balm into my skin for a while (that's why I prefer balms, so I can get a nice massage) to dissolve all my makeup. Then with the hottest water I can stand, I just massage it off with a wash cloth. Then I go in with my Clarisonic (optional), and do my second cleanse (if you wear SPF or makeup you need to cleanse twice - once to get the layer of stuff off your face, twice to cleanse your skin) with the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser, which is lovely and does not foam. 

Then I go in with my toners. People usually skip this step, but it's crucial to preparing your skin for the rest of your treatments. I use two toners. One to take away (exfoliate) and lower the pH of the skin (ACID, yay!), and one to put pack in (moisture). I don't care what toner you use, just read the ingredients. No alcohol? Good. Some of the toners in the drugstore today could probably take off your nail polish, too. Do not use those on your face. And if your exfoliating toner feels irritating, don't use it every time you wash your face, but maybe once a day or every other day.

Then I do my eye cream* (it absorbs better onto clean skin), then a serum to treat whatever (for me, it's usually hyperpigmentation) and to hydrate (look for hyaluronic acid in the ingredients). Last step is a moisturizer. Because YOU NEED TO MOISTURIZE. Especially if you have acne. I find I only break out when my skin is dehydrated. Don't put your skin through that. Make sure there is no mineral oil in your serums and moisturizers (cleansers, too, but I'm less picky about that one). It sits on the surface of the skin and keeps the good ingredients from absorbing. What a waste of money. Yikes.

In the morning, you can do the same thing. However, you won't have makeup on, so you'll only need to cleanse once with your "second-cleanse" cleanser. Also, I use a broad spectrum SPF of at least a 30 (a light-weight one that works well under makeup). Not only will SPF prevent you from looking like a Shar Pei by the time you're forty (start early, y'all), but it prevents hyperpigmentation of any existing blemishes. But really, the whole topic of hyperpigmentation needs its own post, so more on that in a bit.

So that was a basic routine overview. I do like to have additional products in my skincare line-up to treat my skin's needs as they come, as well. 

Leave any questions in the comment section below, and I'd love to help you out!
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