Dealing with Breakouts - How to Get Clearer Skin
Whether it’s pesky pimples that pop up one after another, to breakouts at that time of the month, there are some simple, non-medicated steps to control oily skin and help keep acne prone skin clear.
This is not a guide on how to cure acne. For this, make sure to see your own doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Instead, the we will focus on skincare routines to:
- calm down irritated skin
- maintain clear skin long term
- get rid of blackheads and whiteheads faster, and
- get rid of acne scars and fade post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
The Best Cleansers for Breakouts / Pimples
It’s tempting to reach for the strongest, most oil-stripping cleanser when you feel your pores are clogged and your skin is getting oily. But the aim of cleansing shouldn’t be to strip your skin completely of oil. Cleansing your face removes oil and sebum clogging your pores, but the resulting dryness can actually prompt over-secretion of oil. You also don’t want to destroy the skin’s natural barrier, which in turn results in premature signs of aging.
It’s better to use two gentle facial cleansers (one oil-based and one water-based) rather than scrub at your skin with one harsh cleanser.
Make sure to rinse off each cleanser within one minute, and remove it gently without scrubbing at your skin. Cleanse no more than twice a day.
If you are wearing makeup or heavy moisturizers before cleansing, it’s good to use an oil cleanser as a first cleanser, followed by a second gel based cleanser. The Heimish All Clean Balm and the Farmacy Green Clean Balm, are some of the best gentle oil-based cleansers to try.
I have combination skin, and personally use the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (vitasprings) as my gel cleanser because it’s the most effective cleanser I’ve found that does the best job at removing sebum (for all skin types) while not drying out the skin. However, it does contain parabens, so you can experiment with different cleansers to find one best suited to your skin type. I’ve tried many other “cleaner” cleansing skincare products without parabens, but they either dehydrated my skin or left my skin feeling oily.
The COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser (Olive Young)(Style Korean)(Althea)(Jolse), works for some people, but can be too drying for others, especially if you lather up a foam with it. We recommend washing off this cleanser before it forms a foam. In general, be careful with foaming cleansers because they may be too drying for combination skin. Let us know if you have any better cleansers to recommend!
By the way…some of the skincare we recommend are available on iHerb, which we use to buy a lot of our organic skincare. You can use our code AEJ0519 at checkout to get 5% off.
Make sure to choose a balanced pH cleanser. For more information about these types of cleansers, sign up to our monthly newsletter. We’ll also let you know when we discover newer cleansers with more organic ingredients.
The Best Spot Treatment
Apart from using a cleanser, we find that the best way to suck away sebum during the cleansing process is to use the Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask (Style Korean)(Beautynet Korean)(Jolse). So as not to irritate the skin, we only apply this to the problem areas, leave it on for a few minutes, then wash it off. For our tips on the best organic masks, see our post here, or subscribe to our newsletter.
To calm down your skin, first start with our favourite essence, the COSRX Galactomyces 95 Tone Balancing Essence (Style Korean)(Althea)(Beautynet Korean)(Jolse), which contains galactomyces. Galactomyces is obtained from fermented sake, and is a great antioxidant, reducing sebum levels while still moisturizing your skin by promoting the skin cells to produce hyaluronic acid. Most importantly, galactomyces can be used by all skin types. This essence also contains 2% niacinamide, which we find is great for skin brightening but is also gentle and hydrating.
An alternative to this is the Neogen Dermalogy Real Ferment Micro Essence (Style Korean)(Althea)(Jolse), which contains saccharomyces ferment filtrate, as well as rice ferment filtrate, which act as humectants and make our skin feel really glowing and smooth.
If you can get away with wearing a thicker formulation over the top of this (such as dryer winter conditions, or as part of your night time routine when you don’t need to worry about makeup sitting on top, or if you have very dry dehydrated skin to begin with), try the Etude House SoonJung Cica Balm Panthensoside 5. This contains madecassoside and panthenol, which feel very soothing and cooling when applied to our breakouts.
The Best Pimple Patches
When we need to wear makeup over our breakouts, we like to pop on the COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch (Olive Young)(Style Korean)(Althea)(Beautynet Korean)(Jolse). However, this usually works better at sucking away the gunk if you apply it on pimples that have been “popped” (we recommend waiting for it to naturally pop).
A more expensive option is the Acropass Trouble Cure Acne Patch (Olive Young)(Style Korean)(Althea). This one is much more noticeable, so is best applied at night. It has the advantage of including tiny microstructures that can deliver active ingredients, including niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, into the pimple. It works well for us when applied at night, but may not be suitable if you have had previous reactions to hyaluronic acid.
How to Get Rid of Blackheads and Minimize Pores
For more on this subject, see our dedicated post on this topic. In summary, to get rid of blackheads, try using the COSRX BHA Blackhead Power Liquid (Style Korean)(Beautynet Korean)(Jolse), which has an approximate BHA concentration of 2%. Although we generally prefer AHAs over BHAs when choosing chemical exfoliants, you may need a BHA, which penetrates deeper than an AHA, to help fight blackheads.
If it does not work, try the Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment, which is stronger, containing four types of chemical exfoliants (both AHAs and BHAs) - glycolic acid, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, and salicyclic acid. It is also a clay mask, which works as an absorbent for oil and grease. This has worked really well at sucking away grease and clearing blackheads, when used sparingly (1-2 times a week), without wrecking our natural skin barrier.
How to Fade Acne Scars
To fade acne scars, marks and blemishes, see our post on hyperpigmentation. The best gentle exfoliant we recommend is the COSRX AHA Whitehead Power Liquid (Olive Young)(Style Korean)(Althea)(Beautynet Korean)(Jolse). Despite the name, this is not so much for tackling whiteheads, but as a mild but effective exfoliant. We found that when we used it consistently 3-4 times a week for 6 to 12 months, we saw results in fading postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Make sure not to put this on active breakouts or whiteheads, as it can irritate the skin further.
How to Moisturize Acne Prone Skin
It seems counterintuitive to moisturize oily or acne prone skin, but believe it or not, breakouts are often the result of dry, dehydrated skin, which oversecretes sebum to compensate…which in turn clogs pores and causes breakouts. One of the top moisturizers to use for normal to dry (but acne prone) skin is the Moogoo Full Cream Moisturiser. See our breakdown of the best organic moisturizers for more recommendations to try.
Finally, always apply sunscreen! UV radiation actually enhances post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. The type of sunscreen you choose will depend on your skin tone, skin type, and preference.
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P.S…this is probably obvious, but the information presented doesn’t constitute medical advice - always check with your own doctor!
