When it comes to what you put on and in your body, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. With so many dos and don’ts, it’s difficult to navigate the advice out there. Our network of beauty experts share their takes on some of your most pressing beauty questions.
Q: The NOTION that acne ends when you’re through your teen years is a STRAIGHT-UP MYTH. I’m well into my 30s and still dealing with blemishes and it’s super embarrassing to roll up to a Zoom call with a pimple patch on my chin. PLEASE, help me clear up my acne once and for all! — YOUR ACNEIC ELDER
A: Hello Acneic Elder,
You are not alone. Adult acne is more common than we think: 50 percent of women aged 20 to 29 get acne and even 25 percent of women aged 40 to 49 still suffer from acne. Hormonal acne, with breakouts on the chin, along the jawline or even on the neck, can feel like a monthly hell-loop.
Let me digress for a moment on pimple patches. Most pimple patches have a high concentration of benzoyl peroxide (2.5 percent to 5 percent) so they oxidize your skin barrier (break it down) and dry out your skin, a no-no if you have sensitive skin. They also can’t treat surrounding pores clogged with dirt, blackheads or whiteheads that can then get inflamed from the glue and turn into future pimples. And forget it for cystic acne. On top of that, the patch kills the local skin microbiome, so when you remove it, bad bacteria can recolonize that area.
You first must remove makeup before you go to bed with a non-comedogenic, pH-balanced micellar water, one that preferably also removes excess oiliness without leading to inflammation, which puts your skin back into overproducing the sebum you just removed. Next, you want to use a microbiome-supporting, pH-balanced cleanser with salicylic acid to deeply cleanse your pores, wash away dirt, and loosen up comedones and not dehydrate your skin. You then need to follow that with a soothing, very gently exfoliating and hydrating toner that will also help shrink your pores. Smaller, cleaner pores won’t form pimples. And finally, you need a non-comedogenic moisturizer that will keep your pores as closed as possible yet protect and fortify your skin barrier, because a damaged barrier leaks, leading to inflammation, which goes back to the acne.
If you have too much stress or hormonal imbalance, then you should have your hormones measured. High cortisol means a supplement with l-theanine. An imbalance in testosterone, progesterone or estrogen means myo-inositol is needed to help balance them out. And anti-oxidants are always a solid bet, as you want to minimize general inflammation. Sleep more, drink lots of water and stress less!
Warm wishes,
BARB
FOUNDER AND CEO OF CODEX LABS
