My New Dermatologist and Some Updates

Early this January, I decided to visit a new dermatologist. I had previous experiences with a dermatologist. Although I saw a lot of improvements after those visits, I realized how costly it could get for maintenance. Simply put, my original dermatologist caters to well-off patients. Each tiny bottle of skin care product costs 300-400 pesos. His cleaning sessions alone costs 800. I just didn't feel I was getting a great value for my money.

Acne, Air Pollution, Poor Diet, and Suggested Solutions

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Lately, I've been having serious acne flare ups on the face and I am not proud of it. It must be the air pollution or the poor diet I'm having. For some reasons, the vehicles passing by our neighborhood has increased, making dark smogs to be a frequent sighting whenever I go outside home. Ice cream and dairy products have also become more frequent in my diet.

The Danger Triangle of Your Face

I have a habit of popping my pimples despite hearing and reading several warnings against this. It is said that the act may infect the pimples and or leave permanent scars.

When the news about a boy getting hospitalized due to an infected pimple was relayed to me, at first I couldn't believe it. The "danger triangle of the face" sounds absurd and illogical. But research made it clear to me that it does exist.

Hormonal Acne and Diet

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Although the myth about eating chocolates can cause acne has already been debunked, other foods can still trigger acne breakouts.

Recent studies show that foods high in glycemic index (simple carbohydrates that are high in sugar content) can worsen acne condition. 

How to Prevent Acne

Nothing is worse than waking up in the morning to 

find out a large pimple on your face!

Source: Illustration by cheerfulnuts

We all get acne at some point in our life. The breakout of acne is often noticeable during puberty, but adults may have acne problems too. It’s hard to pinpoint the real cause of acne.  Genetics, hormones, and some dietary factors yet to be determined might play a role.

 

What is Acne?

Before I go into details how to prevent acne, you should first understand how it develops. Our skin has pores with hair follicles. Our skin naturally has oil to act as a natural barrier. The sebaceous glands are responsible for the oil or sebum production. Sometimes, these glands produce more sebum than necessary. The sebum, plus the dead skin cells, gets clogged in the pores. A trapped sebum leads to the formation of whiteheads or blackheads. Sometimes they go away by themselves, gradually releasing the trapped substances. At other times, rupture occurs along the follicular wall, leading to inflammation. Red bump starts to appear around the pore. A bump on the surface that gets infected is called a pimple, whereas a blockage that occurs deep in the pore becomes a cyst.

Acne and Hormonal Imbalances

Acne is a skin condition that most people suffer from. It comes and it goes. To some people, some acne just won't go away. If you have acne that are very stubborn despite following a quality skin care routine, then you might just have a hormonal imbalance.

Beauty Products and Acne Breakouts

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Do you still struggle with breakouts? One factor of developing acne is bacteria. You might wonder, you are cleansing your face twice a day and applying acne medication to keep bacteria away, and yet you still develop acne? How is that possible? Well, check your skincare products and cosmetics. They might be the culprits.

Lip Care Products and Acne

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Choosing the right skincare products takes time and patience. You have to check the ingredients as well when it comes to safeguarding your skin from possible breakouts. Is your face cream oil-free? Check. How about face powder? Check. Sunscreen? Blush-on? Foundation? check! Check! Check!

Wait. There is one thing you must be missing. Your lipstick/lipstain/lip gloss/lip balm. Don't forget that your lips are also part of the skin. Whatever you put onto your lips would migrate to the skin around the mouth area. Using the wrong kind of product would lead to breakouts. So when choosing lipsticks and other lip care products, don't forget to look for the noncomedogenic kind.

Sadly, not all lip care products include an ingredients list into their packaging. Always go with the safe side, by choosing products that show you what's inside. Jojoba oil and petroleum jelly are two ingredients that are good lip moisturizers that are also noncomedogenic.

When applying the lip care products onto your lips, make sure that your lips are clean. If you've just finished eating or drinking, wipe your mouth first before reapplying. This way, you lessen the likelihood of catching the bacteria with the product. Don't let your products be the breeding ground of germs. Not only do bacteria make your product unhygienic, they also encourage more breakouts.

Take care of your lips! By that you are also doing your skin a favor!

Skincare Product Ingredients that Won't Clog Pores

I have an acne-prone skin and a very oily face. I guess it runs in the family. In the morning after washing my face, my skin becomes rejuvenated, clean, and glowing. However, as soon as midday arrives, my face starts to become very shiny. The sebum that appears of course makes my skin even more prone to acne breakouts.

My Dermatologist

I used to have a lot of pimples. My lack of knowledge on skin care had worsened my acne condition. I rubbed and scrubbed my face and overused topical medications. My skin was peeling so badly. But I endured all these unsightly marks thinking that acne is normal for teenagers. High school passed then came college. My skin became a bit better, as a friend suggested me to use Likas Papaya Soap which has salicylic acid ingredient. However, my skin was still flaky and dry. Breakouts would still occur from time to time as college life was quite stressful. Now that I’m way beyond those teen years, I still get breakouts. It was only a few years ago that I decided to see a dermatologist.