Hello. This is Korea Skin Mall. Recently, we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about acne-prone skin. There is no 100% correct answer for acne skincare. However, finding the cause and solution will be more likely to improve your skin. Here, we will tell you about the essentials for those who have sensitive acne-prone skin and oily acne-prone skin should know.
5 Causes of acne
Hormonal imbalance – Teenagers: Excessive sebum secretion, menstrual cycle / After the 20s: Pregnancy, childbirth, birth control pills
Extreme Stress – Smoking and drinking to relieve stress
Bad eating habits – sudden weight change due to excessive dieting and binge eating
Seasonal changes – UV rays, fine dust
Cosmetics overuse – #1 culprit makeup, #2 foundation
There are several causes of acne. The first is a genetic one – if the parents have acne-prone skin, their children also have a high chance of getting acne. And the second is hormonal imbalance, which is the major cause of acne. Sebaceous glands become excessively active during teens, and the oil-water balance gets broken. After the 20s and on, adult acne occurs due to hormonal changes such as pregnancy, childbirth, and birth control pills.
Bad habits and stress are also some of the significant factors. Smoking and drinking can make things worse than just causing skin problems. Sudden weight change (more than 5 kg per month) and oxidative damage to the skin barrier and cells from seasonal changes and fine dust can also cause acne. Lastly, excessive use of makeup and foundation products also causes acne.
“Even though I squeezed out the red pimples myself and applied ointment, the inflammation got worse, and the acne spread overall.”
You can classify acne into a total of 4 types
1. Comedonal acne (pimples before inflammation)
This is the most common form of acne that has not formed pus before inflammation. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but you can feel an uneven bump. If you squeeze it out properly, you can remove the excess sebum coming out like a worm. If you miss the time to treat it, it can become inflammatory acne.
2. Irregular lesions of 2~4mm in diameter due to warts Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
It’s not exactly acne, but people often mistake it for acne. At first glance, it looks similar to comedonal acne. If you don’t see the pore, sebum will remain in the skin even if removed. It may worsen if you squeeze it out, thinking it’s acne.
3. Pustular acne (inflammation accompanied by itching)
It has turned yellow with puss and grew large, and you need to remove the acne seed. But if you self-treat it at home, you may get a secondary infection and get scars.
4. Cystic acne
This type of acne is very inflamed and causes dark red blood puss to accumulate beneath the skin. Even if you go to the doctor to squeeze them out, it is highly likely to leave you with scars.
Leave acne extractions to a professional. They need to check the exact location of the pores and the condition of the acne to minimize damage to the tissues around the pores and prevent scars. We can take care of the acne daily so that the acne does not worsen with a home care method.
Then how about ointments or medicines?
Acne treatment ointment helps to expedite the exfoliation and skin turnover cycle. If you use the ointment over a long time to artificially control the skin turnover cycle, the skin will lose self-control and may become sensitive.
The most commonly used medications are Roaccutane and Accunetan. They are edible versions of the vitamin A derivative ointment. They strongly suppress sebum secretion, prevent the formation of comedones due to excessive keratinization of pores, prevent the proliferation of acne bacteria, and show anti-inflammatory effects. They are known to block all processes that lead to acne. However, you should be careful of the side effects of decreased skin immunity, hair loss, fever, and muscle pain.
Applying ointments or taking medications can be effective in a short period of time. However, after the age of 30, the skin’s immune system starts to weaken, causing repeated inflammation and easy scarring. That’s why we need to focus on short-term, long-term, and root cause solutions.
The vicious cycle of acne
Heavy makeup and deep cleansing multiple times
Aren’t you putting on heavy makeup to cover up your acne and deep cleansing two to three times to thoroughly remove the makeup? Makeup is the number one cause of acne caused by cosmetics. Pigmented makeup can easily cause skin trouble as it has a lot of oil, silicone oil, and polymer components. In addition, organic sun-blocking ingredients or glitters, pigments, and solvents used to enhance color expressions increase the probability of acne.
Not wearing makeup is better when acne is severe, but we need to apply sunscreen at least, right? Even with acne-prone skin, there are moments when you have to put on makeup. If so, try a cosmetic diet. Change the sunscreen essential for UV protection to a waterproof product that is easy to clean. Reducing the use of shimmery products with makeup that emphasizes the lips rather than the eyes would also be a way to reduce acne.
Lifestyle changes to get rid of acne
No excessive cleansing! Wash your face clean once!
Many people think that acne occurs because of insufficient cleansing and meticulously deep-cleanses to calm the acne. But this is a common misconception. Since cleansing itself is irritating to the skin, excessive cleansing will just irritate your skin even more. In addition, it will remove all the necessary levels of oil on your skin, which will break the oil-water balance and end up in more oil production.
Do not rub hard with your hands or a brush, but combine the physical and chemical methods appropriately for cleansing. Everyone has different skin, habits, and environments, so it is impossible to schematize it, but you would be able to find your answer if you search for a method with a high chance of improving acne.
Good luck!
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