One of the worse parts of highschool for me (apart from, um, everything) was that my skin was a ranging, hormonal mess.
My best friend and I both suffered acne together. Though it was considered mild acne, we were plagued by blemishes, ranging from blackheads, whiteheads, pimples and the occasional painful cystic pimples.
I am extremely glad to report that both of our skin has settled down immesnsely from our hormonal teenage years, though the practices for clean, clear skin is always on our minds. Even after my skin began to get better, I’ve always tried my best to take care of my skin. I think anyone who has experienced some sort of acne would know how awful it feels, and try their best to prevent it from happening again! Here are some of my tips to keeping your skin in tip top condition and hopefully preventing new breakouts.
Remove all makeup at night.
This is the #1 makeup tip and I really cannot stress it enough: Do. Not. Sleep. With. Your. Makeup. On. EVER! Remember, before bed, remove every trace of makeup and cleanse throughly. I do a double-cleanse that I talked about here and would defintely recommend doing that.
Keep hair out of your face.
In my experience, acne and bangs do not go well together. However, you might be a bit lucky. Eitherway, hair can trap a lot of grime, dirt and oil, and it can spread it to your face, causing breakouts. The best advice I can give is to wash your hair regulary, and if you’re hanging out at home, wear hairband to make sure not a single strand of hair is in your face.
Use the correct products.
- Skincare products: I know what it’s like to go a little overboard with skincare products. For example, I once tried the Proactiv skincare line in hopes that because it was so powerful, my light acne will be banished faster and never come back. Wrong. Proactiv burned my skin, made me breakout even more, and my skin could not tolerate it and all sorts of reactions occurred. Lesson learnt: stick to what your skin actually is. If it’s just a little pimple here and there, don’t go overboard with acne washes and medication. For moisturizers, try to find an oil-free, non-comedogenic formula and ones that are marked for acne-prone skin. And yes, even though your skin is still oily, you still need moisturizer!
- Makeup: For liquid foundation makeup, use non-comedogenic (doesn’t clog pores) and oil-free products. I would highly recommend mineral makeup, especially in its power form for oily skin. Mineral makeup is amazing for acne-prone skin and gives flawless coverage. (Check out the other pros and cons of mineral makeup here.)
Be gentle on your skin.
Keeping the above tips in mind, when applying these products on your face, be gentle. Aggressive applying of makeup and scrubbing your face can aggravate your breakouts and make them worse. Be gentle by applying light pressure from your fingertips to your skin when rubbing on your skincare products. (Check out my post, How to: Cleanse Your Skin Properly for more tips.) For makeup, keep a light hand when using a brush.
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It may be an old wives tale, but it’s said that silk pillowcases are the way to go if you’re concerned about frizzy hair, zits, and wrinkles. Believe it or not, investing in silk pillowcases can reduce the chances of those ‘issues’ easily!
Hair-wise, silk pillows prevent static from the frequent movement as you sleep, and reduces any ‘lion’s mane’ look in the morning. It is also less ‘harsh’, so when your hair does move around, it’s not ending up in tangles either. Same goes with preventing wrinkles. Since silk is smoother, it is easy on your skin when you move around at night, which prevents creases and wrinkles in the face.
Furthermore, and the most important tip concerning your pillow, is to change your pillowcases regularly. Oils, (from your face and hair), dirt, grime, saliva – you name it – can lead to breakouts and irritate skin. So you can only imagine all the junk that could be left on your pillowcase after a week? (Am I the only one who has noticed that you tend to get zits on the side of your face that’s on the pillow?) Gross!
So to recap: Silk pillowcases are less ‘harsh’ on your skin and hair when you move around, so this prevents any frizz, tangles and wrinkles. Just remember to wash and change them regularly to prevent breakouts… and enjoy your slumber! :)
Have you heard this ‘old wives tale’ about silk pillowcases? Do you have them at home?
It’s the age old debate: does what you eat really matter to your skin? I’ve read countless articles on ‘skin myths debunked’ that states despite the logic behind it, eating greasy, fatty food will not make your skin break out. Yet, I have spoken to doctors who say diet plays a big part to your skin, so this is quite a mystery!
What do you think? Perhaps it’s more an individual thing – my friend can eat absolutely anything and her skin is perfect, whereas I always notice I start to get zits after a week of eating absolute junk, especially potato chips. So personally, I think that diet and skin go hand in hand and this ‘myth’ is very real to me!
What about you? Have you noticed that what you eat plays a part in your skin, or does it not make a difference? As always, would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. :)
This week’s beauty tip came straight from a text from my good friend Nat in Sri Lanka – thanks for the tip, Nat! (And if you have any other tips to share of Beauty Tip of the Week, e-mail me).
Reality TV star Olivia Palermo from The City (isn’t she beautiful?) says that she has a great way to zap a zit. She cuts the sticky part of a Band Aid up into pieces and layer it 3 to 4 times over a pimple before bed, and in the morning the pimple is gone.
I have to admit, I love when I hear a beauty tip I’ve never heard before – and this is one of them. I can’t vouch if this works right now, but do tell me what you think – have you done this before, and does it work? I’ll have to wait for a gross zit to pop up before I can try this out myself! :-P
I was asked a great question from N a few days ago, and I think that all of us – men and woman – can relate to. Blackheads on the nose!
I was wondering if you could write a post on blackheads especially for those on the nose. Mine are big and are very noticeable, I hate it! Are there any removal solutions for the blackheads specifically on the nose?
Though blackheads are just clogged pores and could develop anywhere on our face, those damn things seem to love setting up a tent on our noses the best.
From my research, trial and error after all these years and people I’ve talked to, extraction is the only way to really get rid of blackheads.
Squeezing isn’t recommended for zits, but if it’s tiny blackheads on your nose … I say if you dare, do it. And by little I mean little ones. I had one tiny ‘crater’ on my nose thanks to me trying to squeeze the living soul out of a big one, so trust me, get too squeeze-happy and they will scar. The good news that since blackheads are normally much smaller than zits, the scars will go away after while. But still – don’t risk getting scars, so only attempt to squeeze the smaller ones.
The trick is this: start by warming up your face so the blackheads loosen up. Remember, pores don’t open or close, but I do think warm water and it’s steam also makes the skin much more soft and easier to squeeze the gunk out.
Next, take a clean tissue and aim for one of those suckers, and gently press down, then towards the blackhead – the trick is to squeeze from “underneath” the blackhead. Tiny blackheads normally come out with ease, but if you’ve tried a few squeezes and it’s not budging, STOP. Believe me when I say this: you will start to become frustrated, will start to get obsessed and will eventually scar your face.
If squeezing doesn’t work, you can try nose stripes. I recently asked if you all still use nose strips and a few of you wrote that they do work, so it could work for you too! Basically you apply it to damp, freshly cleansed face. Leave the stripes on for 10 minutes, and gently pull off.
Another method you can try is a blackhead extractor. It looks pretty scary, but this tool is very simple. After a shower, when your face is damp and warm you position the “head” of the tool on a blackhead and gently press. The blackhead should shoot out and the blackhead vanish (for now)! I’ve tried it before and it doesn’t work too well on the bigger ones but it might work for you. Worth a try, no?
To sum it up, the only way is through getting the blackheads out, and regularly. Unfortunately you will always get blackheads – they clog up our pores, (which are always there, obviously) so there is always a chance a blackhead will form in it.
Just remember when extracting, make sure your skin is fresh from the shower and your skin is damp and warm. Also be extra careful when focusing on one blackhead – if after one ‘try’ it doesn’t budge, leave it alone. Also, if you can, getting a facial will help too – they know how to really extract it properly (although their way is always more painful!).
What do you do to get rid of blackheads? Do you have any other tips to add? And, as always, if you have a question just e-mail me and I’ll try my best to help. :)
Images: eHow.com
I only ask because I found one in my drawer earlier today and it is now sitting on my face. It also reminded me how it was such a craze a few years ago! I also vaguely remember some other ones that came out for your chin and forehead too. I was more obsessed with the nose strips, but did anyone try those T-zone strips?
I don’t even think they work that well (at least from my experience, squeezing always worked better for me, hehe) but the satisfaction you get after you peel it off and see what gunk there is (even if it’s only tiny facial hair!) is really exciting; if not a little obscene.
… In other words, I think the craze has hit me again. I need to stock up! :) Does anyone still use nose strips? Do they work for you?
This may be hard to believe – but pimples have no idea they are not eyeballs! So when you have red, itchy eyes and apply eyedrops to soothe the redness, pimples will react the same way.
Tame big, angry red pimples with a few drops of eye drops on a cotton ball (or straight on it you’re lazy like me). The redness should calm down quite a bit, and reveal a more easier-to-cover-up shade of pink.
I tried this out the other week, and sure enough, it seems like the volcanic thing growing on my face calmed down a bit. Who knew?!
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