The Causes To Your Acne
If you’re anything like me, you grow frustrated when you wake up and see a blemish on your face. Luckily, it’s more rare to have severe acne in our older age than it was when we were teenagers, but nonetheless, a blemish every now and then is just as annoying.
Why do we still get the occasional pimple? Being aware of all of the causes of your acne can help us prevent it (beyond internal causes of course), even if it’s just a little bit. Here are a few reasons why you’re still getting acne.
Stress
Obviously, stress is the cause of a multitude of skin and health issues. Even excitement (like preparing for a vacation or wedding) can be wrongly read as stress by your body, and affect skin the same way. If you are feeling stressed, or even overly excited, try taking 200 milligrams of ibuprofen, which will help calm any inflammation caused by your rollercoaster emotions.
Your Hair
The products that you use to style your hair rub up against your skin whether you notice it or not. Every time a lock of hair brushes across your cheek, you’re guaranteed to be transferring some type of product onto your skin, which causes pore blocking, especially if you’re susceptible to an oily scalp. To help prevent any acne caused by this, try swiping a salicylic acid pad near your hairline twice a day to keep your skin clean.
Water
Surprisingly enough, the same thing you use to help clean your skin can cause your pore blockage. Hard water, or water with a high concentration of minerals, does not rinse away soap as effectively, and the leftover residue can clog pores. You can easily install a cheap water softener to your showerhead in order to prevent this.
Toothpaste
Another item used to help clean yourself up; small red bumps around your mouth can be attributed to the toothpaste that you’re using. Fluoride and whitening agents are most likely to blame.
Lattes
Research has suggested that a dairy-rich diet can cause acne. Proteins and peptides in cow’s milk can increase your body’s oil secretion and clog your pores. If you’re a regular dairy drinker, like someone who has a latte or two a day, you could be causing some of your acne this way. Try skipping to skim or almond milk varieties, a soy latte every once in a while wouldn’t help either.
Your Boyfriend
Chances are if you have a boyfriend, his face is rubbing up against yours more often than you think. This causes friction, inflammations, and transferring of his facial oils onto your face: a major pore blocker.
Birth Control
The pill is frequently used as a skin clearer, but with any medication, it can have an opposite effect on some females. After all, the pill is essentially a huge surge of hormones being added to your body, this of course could be to blame. If you’re breaking out from your pill, ask your gyno to switch up your brand. They all work the same way; just some varieties could have different side effects.
The Sun
We all love the sun for bronzed skin and warmth, but it turns out that the sun may not always be a skin clearer. When your skin tans, it thickens itself to protect itself from harmful rays, and secretes oil to prevent itself from drying out, which of course, leads to clogged pores. Try wearing an oil-free lotion with a physical UV blocker, like zinc oxide, to help reduce flare-ups.
Ally | Elite.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
