The "A" Word

The dreaded "A" word.One every woman runs from! Acne. No matter how many times you say it, it can still make you cringe. For me, unfortunately, acne is a part of my everyday life and no matter how much I fight it, its usually there when I wake up. I have however, had my ups and downs with acne and that's why even though I still deal with it every day; I have become a pro on what improves it and what doesn't. I also haven't stopped looking for a cure..when I do find one, you guys will be the first to know!  

Every one's skin is dramatically different, even though you've probably heard it all if your an acne sufferer I want to make sure you know what your skin type is that way I will be able to give you specific help. If you're combination skin type like me, you are oily in the T-zone area (your forehead, nose and chin area) but are mostly dry everywhere else. If you have oily skin, your skin texture will be generally oily everywhere and  if your a dry skin type you will be dry all over. Improving your skin comes from solving these oily, dry or combo inconsistencies. 

Skin Picking

One thing usually leads to another with acne and we end up doing the very thing that provokes even more embarrassment on top of the red bumps that we already have, we pick and pick and pick some more. This leads to total trauma of the skin and further inflammation. While we might thing we are doing ourselves a favor in the moment by extracting the infection, it is far from the truth and actually causes the infection to be pushed deeper into the skin. Usually this means longer healing time and worsening of the mere bump we might have turned into a volcano or worse, an intrusion on the skin that looks awful. What most don't know about skin picking is it actually a disease, otherwise known as "dermatillomania" and yes, I suffer from this so there is no need to be ashamed. In fact, most women I know have this problem but I think mine is more on the extreme side. When I have lots of acne, I usually go to town on it and this leads to scabs that are completely obvious and can't be covered. If you have this problem, I know your pain. My self esteem has suffered and I don't have the confidence I should have. However, I have never given up hope that I can cure my acne and my picking problem. In my mind, the picking is connected to actually having acne, I don't think most of us would do it at all if we had no acne. 

IF you slip up: Picking is a lot less traumatic to the skin if you use an extractor or poke the head of the zit with a pin first, that way it will have an entrance to come instead of damaging the skin. Always sterilize the area first  with toner and soak skin with hot water to open the pores and make it easier to extract. Here are some post-picking tips that will improve things when you do pick, these have helped me a lot and I pretty much always have them on hand!

Neosporin $6.99 at Walgreens (You can get this much cheaper as a generic at Target or Wal-Mart)

Neosporin greatly speeds up the healing process, for large cystic acne I put this and cover it with a band aid, this helps a ton and the size is greatly reduced overnight!

Witch Hazel $5-8 (depends on where you get it, any drug store or even dollar store will have it)

This is incredibly soothing for inflammation, swab some of this one with a cotton face pad or cotton ball and your redness will be diminished in no time. 

Benzoyl Peroxide Spot Treatment $6.49 at drugstores

This persa gel by Clean & Clear offers a high concentration of Benzoyl Peroxide which is an ingredient known for wiping out bacteria on the skin. This is extremely important after picking because you spread a lot of bacteria around with your fingers, make sure to definitely treat the surrounding areas near the pimple with a spot treatment so you don't create more acne. 

Hot & Cold Compression

One thing I do if my skin is super swollen is douse a washcloth and dab it on my face several times, alternating between hot and cold water. This really brings down the puffiness and redness quicker than anything. 

Quirky but Helpful De-Sweller!

This tip might be an embarrassing one to have in the house but none the less its one that works! Either Anti- itch cream or hemorrhoid cream such a Preparation H (That's the only brand I know but I'm sure there lots of generics). These creams do make a big difference with swelling and you can get them at just about any drugstore. *Word to the wise: stash somewhere secret! lol.