When I was a teenager, I naively thought that all my acne problems would disappear by the time I became an adult. Whilst I’m no longer riddled with clusters of whiteheads, my skin is prone to breaking out in deep, painful zits a couple of times a month. However, I’ve now formed a few habits that are keeping my acne in check and the breakouts at a minimum.
Habit #1: Properly Cleansing My Face
In the past, I would quickly lather up my face wash, haphazardly work it around my face and then rinse it off. Now, I take the time to cleanse my face properly. Typically, I massage in my cleanser for about a minute and then wash it off with lukewarm water. If I have a full face of makeup on, I repeat this motion again to ensure that I’ve gotten it all off.
Whilst most people prefer having a cleansing routine only at night, I prefer doing this step twice a day. At night, it makes sure that the day’s grime and pollutants don’t settle into my pores. In the morning, it works to remove the residue of any skincare products that I’ve applied the night before.
Habit #2: Wiping Down Surfaces
We don’t realise the amount of surfaces (and thus, dirt) we come in contact with on a daily basis, which inevitably leads to pimples. To stop this from happening, I disinfect my phone screens and spectacles with a sanitising wipe. Another thing that has helped is washing my pillowcases frequently. From bacteria to hair products, there’s a lot that tends to stick to our pillowcases so it’s best to switch to a clean one as often as you can.
Habit #3: Limiting Dairy Intake
For a girl who loves cheese, this was a hard habit to take up! However, I’ve realised that my pimples flare up when I binge on any type of milk product. Whilst I definitely can’t give up dairy permanently (mozzarella=life), I try to limit the amount I have in a week. Simple tweaks like swapping my latte for black coffee have helped me do so.
Habit #4: Being Smart About Ingredients
Rather than piling on any product that sounded interesting, I now read the label behind every item. Ingredients like coconut oil and oxybenzone (which is found in a ton of sunscreens) don’t play well with my skin, so I try to use them on my body instead of my face if I have to.
Habit #5: Not Picking And Popping
It took me a long time to break the habit of picking at my skin. Doing so not only left behind scars and pigmentation, but also caused the bacteria to spread and cause another eruption. Now, I resist the urge to pop my zits and instead choose to attack them with products that are designed to deal with them.
Comment below to let me know if you have any tricks on dealing with adult acne!
P.S: Follow @missmalinifashion and @missmalinibeauty on Instagram for more updates.