There’s more than one way to deal with skin saboteurs like blemishes, puffiness and redness. Check out our top tricks to neutralizing the most persistent problems plus how to prevent them from erupting in the first place.

Acne

Breakouts aren’t caused by dirt or too much chocolate,  not at all.

They may accelerate the appearance of pimples, but the real problem starts when pores become clogged with a combination of dead skin and oil.

Breakouts don’t always stop even after our school days, although adults are more likely to get red bumps rather than black or white heads, and these usually develop on the nose or cheeks.

Prevent:

Pimples radiate pain to the surface of your skin as they start rising. Here’s a trick you may already know, once you feel it, use Benzoyl Peroxide on it, but keep the concentration to 5% or less.

This helps stops bacteria from brewing and will reduce if not prevent, eruption. Keep it to 5% or less, reason being any more may irritate certain Skin Types.

Use a salicylic or glycolic cleanser, the exfoliating features will also go a long way in reducing eruption by reducing the amount of dead skin.

We also like to finish that off with a light, oil free moisturizer, this is the step that a lot of people with acne concerns, skip and what it does is to only cause  skin to pump out more oil, and more oil means happy days for acne bacteria.

Counter Strike: What to do when they erupt!

Hands off.

Don’t pick, poke or puncture, this only makes the marks more noticeable, last longer and leave scars. All scars are resulted in this manner and it is always very expensive to treat acne scars.

If you must pick, learn to do it the right way with a sterilized tool but such things are really best left to the professionals.

Use spot treatments with a high dose of salicylic acid, sulfur, or even my personal fav, Retinol. Be careful, though, you won’t want to be using Retinol after the pimple has erupted, this usually worsens the redness that comes with the eruption.

Watch for the next edition where we give counter strike tips for Ingrown Hairs, you won’t want to miss this if you/re waing, shaving or epilating at the moment.

Someone had to figure this out; why does it seem like everyone around us is having loads of skin complaints at a time when there are more skin care products than ever before?

Well someone did, no not us but a dermatologist came with the Baumann system that we have been using to stunning effect at our location.

Have you noticed dark spots on your skin after sun exposure or as a cut heals? If you borrow a friend’s cleanser, will you end up with irritated skin? Great skin results from addressing those questions and  the four parameters that really define your skin type:

• Dry (D) vs. Oily (O)

Oily skin appears shiny, and those who have it may prefer gel- or powder-based cosmetic products, as moisturizers feel greasy. Dry skin may appear dull and rough; dry skin types find moisturizer soothing and gravitate toward creamy makeup.

• Sensitive (S) vs. Resistant (R)

Sensitive skin flushes easily and may become red and irritated at the slightest deviation from its standard routine; it may also be prone to acne and eczema. While resistant skin sounds like an unqualified blessing, people with this type often need to use stronger products to penetrate their skin and achieve the desired effect.

• Pigmented (P) vs. Non-Pigmented (N)

Some people believe that pigmented types are always dark-skinned, which is absolutely not the case. Anyone who experiences unwanted dark spots (melasma, sun spots, or freckles, for example) is a pigmented type.

• Wrinkled (W) vs. Tight (T)

Short of a crystal ball, this parameter is the best indication of how your skin will age, based on both genetic tendencies and lifestyle. You can’t do much about your genes, of course, but your daily routine can significantly affect your score on the wrinkled-tight scale: sun exposure, smoking, and poor nutrition, for example, all contribute to skin aging.

Put them together, and you get 16 skin types instead of three or four – a far more realistic picture that we can work with.
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Hi, I’m Deborah Chan, technical director of the Skin Type Solution programme at Spahaven. Like what you’re reading?

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birth control and acne

Yes you must have heard or read about this one; contraceptive pills can help acne.

It’s true but before you start buying some, you need to know which ones to look for.

Most birth control pills contain both estrogen and progestin (synthetic progesterone).

Progestins can act either as androgens (that is, they can act like male hormones) or as anti-androgens (which means that they block male hormones); androgens trigger oil glands to produce sebum, thus worsening acne. That’s why birth control pills work for acne management, due to their anti-androgenic makeup.

SO if you’re looking for pills that could help with acne as well, you can look at the labels for brands that contain progestins with less androgenic activity such as norgestimate, norethindrone, desogestrel, ethynodiol, or levonorgestrel.

Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Estrostep, and Yaz are all approved pills you can consider. Another option, Yasmin, is similar to Yaz (they both contain drospirenone, another anti-androgen) but not specifically approved for the treatment of acne.

Not everyone may necessarily like the idea of using birth control pills to control oil production and improve acne, while I think it’s perfectly fine, I also like to think that there are other more elegant methods to treat such as retinol, alpha hydroxy acids, and salicylic acid, for example, are also important treatment tools.

Besides,  where birth control pills are concerned, they typically take three to six months to really start working and not many people with more serious acne would like to wait for such an extended period – another reason that you’ll want to use other approaches simultaneously.

Special: 50% off acne treatments for the first 10 readers of this post.

It is a link that I discovered during our consultations; the products that we use to wash and treat our hair is a factor in causing breakouts.

This is why. Many hair products contain acne-causing ingredients such as isopropyl myristate (a chief culprit), coconut oil and other natural oils, silicone derivatives and petrolatum, all of which clog pores.

If you experience breakouts and acne, avoid these when you go shopping by looking at the labels. You can also look for products labeled “oil-free” or “noncomedogenic.”

Whatever conditioner you choose, try what I do; I always wash my face after rinsing my hair. This ensures any potentially irritating ingredients are not left on the skin.

If you use hair-styling products,  keep hair off the face with clips. If you are troubled by acne, try washing your hair product out before bed. Changing pillowcases frequently is another good way to avoid transferring hair products - an

d the dirt that can settle in your hair over the course of the day - to your skin.

Finally, try to avoid using hair-styling products when you know you’ll be exercising or perspiring. As you perspire, there’s a higher likelihood that those products will reside onto your skin and trigger breakouts.

Reader Special: 10% off all PHYTO haircare products that we carry in-store. PHYTO is a french botanical based range for hair and is to tresses what CLARINS is to skin, pure plant extracts and brilliant for sensitive scalps and diminishing follicles.

Yes you read it right, there is something that can do all three just by washing your face. What is it?

Salicylic acid.

The proper concentration of this key ingredient is proven to clean out pores (hence reducing the appearance of enlarged pores), fight acne and reduce skin sensitivity. I recommend 2% salicylic acid and we regularly sell out of this stuff which is found in the Peter Thomas Roth BHA Cleansers that we retail on our location.

Insiders’ Tip: The trick here is to avoid choosing from a lot of products of there with 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% since these are not going to be able to do the proper job.

If you are one who shy away from products which contain the word ‘acid’, look again as you could probably benefit a great deal from using it, especially if you have the above mentioned concerns.

I like to have our clients do salicylic peels and have this in their treatment plan for acne as there is a very high incidence of people out there who react adversely to Benzoyl Peroxide, a commonly used ingredient for acne spots. Common reactions include burning and stinging sensations, and this usually is a sign that the product may be doing more harm than good as time goes by.

Insiders’ Tip: There’s a way to use salicylic products as it may feel a little drying. I like to either alternate it with a simple non-foaming cleanser on a daily basis, or just to use it on oily t-zones. It may cause a little dryness around the lips and mouth area so you can either avoid that area when cleansing or apply a little moisturizer after that.

Insiders’ Offer: 10% off our Peter Thomas Roth BHA Cleanser with 2% Salicylic for the first ten readers of this blog entry.

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Hi, I’m Deborah Chan, and I’m the Singaporean technical director at Skin Type Solutions, we use a revolutionary system designed by Dr. Baumann that shows you exactly what your unique Skin Type requires when addressing your Skin Type’s concerns.

We insist our clients save money by buying the right treatments & products for your Skin Type & not necessarily the most expensive ones that cosmetic brands & other aesthetic places are always pushing you to try.

Unlike many aesthetic providers who have to hurry through a consult, we provide a non-obligatory consultation that is designed to save you money & time by showing you what your unique Skin Type can benefit from our well researched treatments and products. Should you be looking at solving certain skin concerns, you can enquire here.