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This is an article from handbag.com, I thought it was interesting so decided to post it, its a bit long though, sorry!
Late-onset acne is nearing epidemic proportions. What with stress and pollution, plus a hefty dose of excess lifestyle, our poor skins don't stand a chance. Fortunately, along with the new threats to our beauty (not to mention our fragile egos) are advancements in technology that can help us to re-address the balance. Nobody is saying you will never break out again, but at least if you do, there will be a few new weapons in the medicine cabinet to help zap those zits! Start with a clean slate
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Well, not necessarily. You can scrub your skin to within an inch of its life and there is still no guarantee that you will have clear skin. Many of the blemishes we suffer in our later years are not to do with the excess oil production we have in our teens, but are more to do with changes in hormonal levels and good, old-fashioned stress. You need to find a balance between keeping skin clean and not stripping it of all its oils. If you strip your skin, the skin will automatically try to rebalance the oil levels. But if the pores are too tight, the oils cannot get through to the surface, thereby leaving something trapped underneath the skin just waiting patiently for that hormonal swing or the pressure of a little additional stress and a few late nights to trigger Mount Vesuvius into erupting.
However, it is important to remove the day's sludge, grime, and make-up. Clean the skin any way you feel comfortable with, but ensure that your skin doesn't feel dry or tight. Fresh and clean - nothing more, nothing less. Tone it to rebalance the pH, moisturise with your chosen potion, and then treat problem areas.
A blanket treatment
If you are having a huge problem with constant breakouts, you may want to think about the sort of treatment that comes in a moisturising product. That way you will be killing two birds with one stone. The classic ingredients in this sort of product would be either benzoil peroxide or salicylic acid or even glycolic acid. Many will also help to slow down excess oil production, though that may not be the problem if you are a more mature sufferer. Clinique Blemish Solutions, MD Formulations, Dermalogica, Estée Lauder Clear Difference, Neutrogena Visibly Clear, Johnson's Clean and Clear, Ole Henrikson, Clearasil Ultra, and Garnier SOS. Although many of these products were originally formulated for younger spot-prone skin, Estée Lauder Clear Difference was especially formulated for more mature skins that are experiencing late-onset breakout. X marks the spot
On to zapping the zits, hopefully without drying the skin around it out so much that it resembles a cornflake! Have you ever tried to cover up a cornflake with a concealer? Not a pretty sight. And we are not going to bother with home remedies like toothpaste or standing on your head while licking a frog during the first quarter moon. No, we want technology. You will have seen me writing a lot recently about a great little product that can easily be picked up from most chemists and supermarkets; Johnson's Clean & Clear Quick Clear Treatment Gel. I find this a fantastic little product and it will cost you under a fiver. No matter how many times a day I attack a blemish, the skin around it never dries out. I use it after cropping my hair to help me avoid ingrowing hair and irritation.
You can scrub your skin to within an inch of its life and there is still no guarantee that you will have clear skin
To use most blemish products you clean and treat the skin first. Once that is done, dab on a little bit of your treatment and allow it to sink in. There are a few exceptions, so read the instructions. These products come in every price point you can imagine, from very inexpensive to very dear. My suggestion is usually to start with something that costs less and see if it works for you. If not: lesson learned and trade up. I would never have believed that an inexpensive product would perform as well as a luxury product until I was proven wrong on several occasions. So now I use what I think may work for me... and then shop around if it doesn't. But be warned: the one that works for me may not work for you and vice versa. The performance of a product is largely down to the way it works with your own body chemistry. Mass-market products that I have recently found to be really effective are the good old Johnson's Clean & Clear Quick Clear Treatment Gel, Clearasil Ultra Rapid Action Treatment Cream, Garnier Pure SOS Anti-Blemish Pen (convenient for in a pocket or handbag), Boots Tea Tree And Witch Hazel Day & Night Spot Wand, and Neutrogena Visibly Clear Rapid Clear Treatment Cream. The price range for these is only £3.19-£4.99. Not bad at all as long as they do the job for you.
In a moderate price range there are even more to choose from. Some of my favourites include Shiseido Pureness Blemish Targeting Gel at £13, Clarins Minimising Blemish Cream and Blemish Control Stick both at only £11.50, Lauder's Clear Difference Targeted Blemish Gel at £12, and Clinique's Clear Blemish Gel at only £9.50. And then in a slightly higher bracket is a fantastic little product by Ole Henrikson called Roll-On Blemish Attack (£20), a very old Guerlain product called Crème Camphrea (£16.50), Eve Lom's Dynaspot (£17.50), and Chanel's Controle Imperfection Blemish Control Emulsion/Gel at £18.50.
Last but not least is really the paragon of blemish treatments. Mind you, it is very costly. But worth it? I think so. It is one that I would always have around for the sort of blemish that just will not go away, or the very deep undergrounders that never seem to amount to much other than pain, throbbing, misery and the ability to make you feel like you want to bury your head in the sand. LaPrairie's Blemish Control retails at a whopping £44, but if you can justify having it sit on your shelf, it will keep you in good stead when the need arises. From the moment you take the lid off, you know it is going to work! Zits shrink back in fear at the mere sight of the bottle! Blemish be gone
One last product that I thought good to mention is one that really stands alone. Clinique has brought out a product within the Anti-Blemish Solutions range called Post Blemish Formula. This one is specifically designed to help heal up the mark once the blemish has come and gone. It reduces the scarring and helps eliminate the redness so the mark is easier to cover.
So next time you feel a blemish coming on, or even worse, wake up to find your face resembles a pepperoni pizza, make sure you have one of these in your cupboard. We all get the odd spot from time to time, but the worst thing you can do is sit and fret about them. That usually makes it worse. You can always tell yourself it's because of your young age that you are getting breakout!
(Handbag.com 2006)
Late-onset acne is nearing epidemic proportions. What with stress and pollution, plus a hefty dose of excess lifestyle, our poor skins don't stand a chance. Fortunately, along with the new threats to our beauty (not to mention our fragile egos) are advancements in technology that can help us to re-address the balance. Nobody is saying you will never break out again, but at least if you do, there will be a few new weapons in the medicine cabinet to help zap those zits! Start with a clean slate
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Well, not necessarily. You can scrub your skin to within an inch of its life and there is still no guarantee that you will have clear skin. Many of the blemishes we suffer in our later years are not to do with the excess oil production we have in our teens, but are more to do with changes in hormonal levels and good, old-fashioned stress. You need to find a balance between keeping skin clean and not stripping it of all its oils. If you strip your skin, the skin will automatically try to rebalance the oil levels. But if the pores are too tight, the oils cannot get through to the surface, thereby leaving something trapped underneath the skin just waiting patiently for that hormonal swing or the pressure of a little additional stress and a few late nights to trigger Mount Vesuvius into erupting.
However, it is important to remove the day's sludge, grime, and make-up. Clean the skin any way you feel comfortable with, but ensure that your skin doesn't feel dry or tight. Fresh and clean - nothing more, nothing less. Tone it to rebalance the pH, moisturise with your chosen potion, and then treat problem areas.
A blanket treatment
If you are having a huge problem with constant breakouts, you may want to think about the sort of treatment that comes in a moisturising product. That way you will be killing two birds with one stone. The classic ingredients in this sort of product would be either benzoil peroxide or salicylic acid or even glycolic acid. Many will also help to slow down excess oil production, though that may not be the problem if you are a more mature sufferer. Clinique Blemish Solutions, MD Formulations, Dermalogica, Estée Lauder Clear Difference, Neutrogena Visibly Clear, Johnson's Clean and Clear, Ole Henrikson, Clearasil Ultra, and Garnier SOS. Although many of these products were originally formulated for younger spot-prone skin, Estée Lauder Clear Difference was especially formulated for more mature skins that are experiencing late-onset breakout. X marks the spot
On to zapping the zits, hopefully without drying the skin around it out so much that it resembles a cornflake! Have you ever tried to cover up a cornflake with a concealer? Not a pretty sight. And we are not going to bother with home remedies like toothpaste or standing on your head while licking a frog during the first quarter moon. No, we want technology. You will have seen me writing a lot recently about a great little product that can easily be picked up from most chemists and supermarkets; Johnson's Clean & Clear Quick Clear Treatment Gel. I find this a fantastic little product and it will cost you under a fiver. No matter how many times a day I attack a blemish, the skin around it never dries out. I use it after cropping my hair to help me avoid ingrowing hair and irritation.
You can scrub your skin to within an inch of its life and there is still no guarantee that you will have clear skin
To use most blemish products you clean and treat the skin first. Once that is done, dab on a little bit of your treatment and allow it to sink in. There are a few exceptions, so read the instructions. These products come in every price point you can imagine, from very inexpensive to very dear. My suggestion is usually to start with something that costs less and see if it works for you. If not: lesson learned and trade up. I would never have believed that an inexpensive product would perform as well as a luxury product until I was proven wrong on several occasions. So now I use what I think may work for me... and then shop around if it doesn't. But be warned: the one that works for me may not work for you and vice versa. The performance of a product is largely down to the way it works with your own body chemistry. Mass-market products that I have recently found to be really effective are the good old Johnson's Clean & Clear Quick Clear Treatment Gel, Clearasil Ultra Rapid Action Treatment Cream, Garnier Pure SOS Anti-Blemish Pen (convenient for in a pocket or handbag), Boots Tea Tree And Witch Hazel Day & Night Spot Wand, and Neutrogena Visibly Clear Rapid Clear Treatment Cream. The price range for these is only £3.19-£4.99. Not bad at all as long as they do the job for you.
In a moderate price range there are even more to choose from. Some of my favourites include Shiseido Pureness Blemish Targeting Gel at £13, Clarins Minimising Blemish Cream and Blemish Control Stick both at only £11.50, Lauder's Clear Difference Targeted Blemish Gel at £12, and Clinique's Clear Blemish Gel at only £9.50. And then in a slightly higher bracket is a fantastic little product by Ole Henrikson called Roll-On Blemish Attack (£20), a very old Guerlain product called Crème Camphrea (£16.50), Eve Lom's Dynaspot (£17.50), and Chanel's Controle Imperfection Blemish Control Emulsion/Gel at £18.50.
Last but not least is really the paragon of blemish treatments. Mind you, it is very costly. But worth it? I think so. It is one that I would always have around for the sort of blemish that just will not go away, or the very deep undergrounders that never seem to amount to much other than pain, throbbing, misery and the ability to make you feel like you want to bury your head in the sand. LaPrairie's Blemish Control retails at a whopping £44, but if you can justify having it sit on your shelf, it will keep you in good stead when the need arises. From the moment you take the lid off, you know it is going to work! Zits shrink back in fear at the mere sight of the bottle! Blemish be gone
One last product that I thought good to mention is one that really stands alone. Clinique has brought out a product within the Anti-Blemish Solutions range called Post Blemish Formula. This one is specifically designed to help heal up the mark once the blemish has come and gone. It reduces the scarring and helps eliminate the redness so the mark is easier to cover.
So next time you feel a blemish coming on, or even worse, wake up to find your face resembles a pepperoni pizza, make sure you have one of these in your cupboard. We all get the odd spot from time to time, but the worst thing you can do is sit and fret about them. That usually makes it worse. You can always tell yourself it's because of your young age that you are getting breakout!
(Handbag.com 2006)
/emoticons/
