Personalized solution for YOUR
acne skin.

Stay hydrated

Cold weather zaps away moisture and this is not good for our skin. Sometimes it’s easy to confuse oily skin with moisturized skin, but they shouldn’t be considered the same. Colder months can really dry out the skin, but this doesn’t necessarily apply to a decrease in skin oiliness. Skin can still be oily but low in hydration. In fact, dry, irritated skin can lead to an increase in oil production leading to clogged pores and breakouts. This is why it’s so important to keep your skin moisturized during the colder fall months. It’s best to apply moisturizer right after washing your face and applying your acne treatment to lock in hydration. Depending on the dryness of your skin, it also might be a good idea to switch from a moisturizer to a cream to provide a stronger barrier for increased skin hydration. This will also help improve your skin barrier function to make your skin more tolerable for acne treatment products. And, we can’t stress enough that the best way to hydrate your skin is to hydrate your body. Drink up that water!

Exfoliate

No matter what time of the year it is, if you have acne-prone skin, you need to exfoliate! Clogged pores lead to acne and daily, gentle exfoliation works to remove dead skin cells and keep those pores unclogged. Again, gentle exfoliation is key since too harsh of an exfoliant can irritate the skin and cause redness, dryness and worsen acne. Chemical exfoliants like salicylic acid and glycolic acid at lower concentrations work the best for daily use, but of course, always follow with a hydrating moisturizer. As an added plus, daily exfoliation will help brighten your skin and reduce dark spots and acne scars over time if used consistently. Just don’t overdo it. Gentle is key!

Switch to a gentle cleanser and acne treatment

Dry skin can lead to a weakened skin barrier and, therefore, make your skin more sensitive to topical acne treatments and increase redness and dryness. Many commonly used acne treatments like benzoyl peroxide and sulfur can really dry out your skin, which can lead to more redness and irritation than when used in the summer months with higher humidity. This is why, especially for fall and winter months, you want to use a gentle cleanser with a lower pH and an acne treatment product that is gentle and hydrating. 

Eat well

Cold weather and thick sweaters can make that second helping of pie much more enticing during the fall and winter months.  Sweets high in sugar and fats, and delicious salty soups and breads are all fall favorites but remember to have everything in moderation! Foods high in sodium and sugars can contribute to breakouts so if that extra piece of pumpkin bread is just too irresistible, remember to drink lots of water and fill the rest of your meals with wholesome nutritious foods.

Developing a clean skin routine is an essential part of any acne treatment and prevention method. Nevertheless, figuring out a routine can often be more challenging than people think. Here, we will explain the essentials of such a routine and point out common mistakes to avoid. 

Wash it off!

Throughout the day, your skin secretes oils that may promote breakouts when left unchecked. This issue is particularly common on your face, which has about twice as many oil glands compared to the rest of your body. Dust particles, smog, sweat and makeup, further exacerbate the skin’s proneness to acne breakouts. As a result, it is important that you wash your face regularly to make sure your pores remain clean and unblocked. Too much washing or using harsh cleansers, on the other hand, may cause problems like over-drying the skin and weakening your skin microbiome, the collection of friendly, supportive bacteria on your skin that can help you fight acne. A good rule of thumb is to use a gentle, non-comedogenic cleanser to wash your face twice a day - once after you wake up and once before you go to bed. In addition to that, you should wash off sweat after you exercise. Harsh cleansers can be irritating and strip the skin of both the bad and the good bacteria, leaving your skin more prone to acne. A gentle cleanser with microbiome-rebalancing components and calming plant extracts will, on the other hand, target the bad bacteria without over drying and help make your skin happier in the long run.

Your skin’s unlikely foes

Although washing your face regularly is essential, there are additional steps you can take to ensure your skin remains healthy by reducing its exposure to harmful elements in the first place. For instance, you should wash your pillow covers, makeup brushes, hats (pimples on your forehead, anybody?) and towels frequently to shield your face from bad bacteria that live on them. For similar reasons, you should also pay closer attention the cleanliness of your phone. It may even be smarter to start using headphones when making calls to limit your contact with the bacteria-ridden phone screen.

One more piece of the jigsaw

Making sure you wash your skin regularly is a vital step towards long lasting results. However, it should not be the only thing on your mind. Rather, you need to adopt a holistic acne plan that goes far beyond your skin. Treating and preventing acne essentially means striking a body-wide balance by combining good skin hygiene with an effective topical treatment and a healthy diet supplemented by probiotics, vitamins, anti-oxidants and other key nutrients. The whole-body approach is something you should bear in mind regardless of the specific treatment method you choose. So make your skin and gut happy and balanced. Your skin will thank you.

Could your acne be a gut problem? It is well known that gut bacteria are important for your health. These bacteria digest your food, provide necessary nutrients and vitamins, train your immune system, and prevent bad bacteria from overgrowing and causing disease. What is less well-known, however, is that your gut health can also have an effect on your skin health!

Over 80 years ago, dermatologists, John H. Stokes and Donald M. Pillsbury, suggested a relationship between your gut bacteria, and your mental and skin health called the Gut-Brain-Skin axis. The Gut-Brain-Skin axis suggests stress and low fiber diets can lead to an imbalance in your microbiome allowing bad bacteria to outgrow the good bacteria in your gut. This leads to the release of toxins, which cause inflammation throughout the body. For people who are more susceptible to inflammatory skin diseases like acne, this release of toxins can cause worsen your acne.

Since the time of Stokes and Pillsbury, many scientists have further studied the proposed Gut-Brain-Skin axis. Trials have also shown that supplementing topical acne treatments with oral probiotics resulted in a greater reduction of acne lesions than when topical treatments were used alone. These findings support the hypothesis of Stokes and Pillsbury and suggests nutritional supplements and a healthy diet can be used to support skin health for acne sufferers. 

Foods that could cause breakouts

Acne and breakouts can be associated with many different factors like sleep, stress, hormones, and diet. Generally, it is believed that dairy and foods with high glycemic indexes like white bread, rice, soda and added sugars can contribute to breakouts and worsen acne.

Acne Fighting Foods

There is less direct evidence as to what foods help prevent breakouts, however, foods high in vitamins and minerals, lean proteins, fiber, probiotics and healthy fats are all believed to aid in maintaining clear skin by reducing inflammation throughout the body. For vitamins and minerals, look for foods high in selenium, zinc, and vitamins like nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, meats and beans, which together supports immune system health, reduce inflammation, and provide antioxidants to neutralize free radicals and other inflammatory causing agents. Probiotic supplements containing gut-healthy strains like lactobacillus and bfidiobacteria directly add healthy bacteria back to your gut and foods high in fermentable fibers like whole grains and vegetables feed the good bacteria in your gut to make sure they thrive and stick around. These good gut microbes break down the fibers into nutrients and vitamins necessary for our health. Foods high in omega 3 fatty acids like fatty fishes, flaxseed, walnuts and avocados can also help lower the occurrence of acne by decreasing inflammation throughout the body.

If you have been struggling with inflammatory acne, taking probiotics and changing up your diet could be a helpful change to get one step closer to getting rid of your acne.