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Battle of the Breakout
by Sophie Lambert
Everyone battles with breakouts that continue to rear their heads beyond the teenage years, well into the twenties and thirties. With a relatively clear run in my teens, I struggled with pimples and blackheads throughout my twenties. Nothing major – at most I probably had three or four pimples at once, mainly on my chin and forehead, but enough to get me down. Based on my personal experience with acne I have a few tips to share that have transformed my skin.
1. Cleanse Less
Yep, you heard me. I used to stock up on every anti-acne, blemish-busting, salicylic-acid-based product on the planet. And yet I still broke out. Since going clean, I have switched to kinder, gentler cleansers, and I haven’t looked back. Although it seems counterintuitive – conventional, chemical-heavy cleansers made to supposedly target oily and breakout-prone skin are incredibly stripping, which in turn encourages skin to produce more oil, leading to more breakouts, and the use of more stripping products to try to get rid of them. It’s a vicious cycle. Break this cycle by using a gentle, pure cleanser. Cleansing oils and balms are brilliant and will get skin back on track to regulate its own oil production. It might take a few weeks for your skin to get used to this, but it will happen. Your skin is a very clever organ (as a side note, I actually found that once I got back in balance, I had dry, not oily skin as I had always previously thought). In a similar vein, I now only cleanse once a day, at night. In the morning, I simply splash my face with water (unless I use a particularly heavy treatment the night before). This is for the same reason: to get skin regulating its own production and not disrupting its balance. A few of my favorite cleansers are: Planet Eve Organics Cleansing Oil and Spiezia Organic Facial Cleanser.
2. Eat Your Way to Good Skin
Whether we like it or not, diet plays a HUGE role in skin. Since cutting back dramatically on sugar, my skin is clearer, brighter, and softer (not to mention the other benefits – less mood swings, a clearer head, and less tummy fat!). I also try to avoid soy and dairy, as in my experience if I eat too much of either, they will also lead to breakouts. If I binge on junk food I will immediately see the effects on my skin over the next week – and it’s not pretty. I also add lots of chia seeds and coconut oil to my diet (I love to throw them into a hot bowl of porridge) as these ingredients supply the skin with good fats to keep it plump, glowing, and hydrated.
3. Get Into Clay
Clay-based masks are brilliant at giving congested skin a little jumpstart to purge impurities and heal existing blemishes. I use one once a fortnight to keep skin in top condition – it’s a great Sunday night ritual. I love Stark Skincare Green Tea Detox Clay Mask.
4. Don’t Scare Your Skin
In addition to my former life as a lover of oil-stripping cleansers, I must also confess to trying just about every overnight pimple zapper under the sun. At the mere hint of a pimple I would drop a dollop of (usually salicylic acid based) potion on it. Yet my skin didn’t get better – in fact, I found that these treatments usually left skin dried out, frazzled, and red. So I stopped, just ignored pimples, and let them do their own thing and heal themselves. And again, my skin’s ability to help itself amazed me. Sure, pimples took a little longer to go away, but they never erupted into a sore, inflamed spot, which meant they were far less noticeable (and much easier to cover with a little dab of concealer), and just gradually disappeared without a fight. I’ve also noticed that my skin scars far less with this approach.
By following these tips, I hardly ever break out, and when I do, it’s usually because I haven’t been following my own advice. If I could summarize my clear skin regime in one sentence, it would simply be: Be kind to your skin and to yourself. You will be amazed at what this will do.
This article was also posted on The Clean Beauty Blog. Visit for more helpful tips on skincare.
Author: Sophie Lambert of The Clean Beauty Blog Photo: Untangle Your Spangle.
