We can all agree that acne is awful – no matter what age! It can hurt our self esteem, make us self conscious and ruin a perfectly good day.
Founder and President of B Spa Bar located in the Privé Salon at the Soho Grand Hotel in NYC, Diana Seo, has given her seven tips to help prevent adult acne. Diane Seo is a firm believer in combining both Eastern and Western teaching and preaches that balance is key to a healthy life.
Tips for Helping Adult Acne:
1. See a professional. Diane Seo has seen a rise in the number of adults coming in to the salon to treat acne. Typically she recommends a custom dermal peel (to exfoliate the dead cell layer) and a custom mask. She uses a qyurvedic chocolate herbal mask mixed with Moroccan clay to pull up more dirt and oil from underneath and close the pores. One treatment won’t do the trick. She recommends a series of 3-5 facials spaced 6-8 weeks apart.
2. See the light. Diane Seo utilizes the ANSR: BEAM in her professional treatments to help treat blemishes and also recommends this product to her clients for home use. The two-in-one devise utilizes blue LED light to treat blemishes followed by red LED light which increases collagen production and reduces redness.
3. Detox. It is believed that what goes in to our body is reflected on what is reflected on the outside. She usually puts her client on a detox program. Diane Seo encourages clients to drink a lot of water and eat lots of colorful veggies and fruit. Also consuming less sugar, less salty food and keeping processed foods to a bare minimum will help your skin shine. Encourage balance in your diet. Too much of anything can affect our systems.
4. It might be hormonal. By using a system similar to how the ancient Chinese herbalists use to map the face Seo can often tell the cause of the acne. Usually if the breakout occurs near the jawline it is because of hormonal issues. If it is on the cheeks it can be an issue related to the lungs, the forehead and eyebrows usually means the problem is associated with the liver or stomach, acne on your nose can result from problems with your heart, breakouts on the mouth or chin often relate to the stomach and if the issue is on your temples or brows it has to do with your kidneys.
5. Change your nighttime routine. I recommend showering and cleansing at night before you go to sleep. It helps to clean the skin and open up the pores since your skin begins to heal itself when you sleep. Sleep in a supine position with your head up. It won’t put pressure on or clog your pores. Change your pillow covers often. Most of us sleep on our sides or face down, which means the dirt that’s on our pillow gets on to our face.
6. Sometimes, less is better. These days we are doing more to our skin such as using more ingredients and doing more procedures. Microdermabrasions, IPL and even Clarisonic can be too abrasive in the long term. Simplify your skin care routine.
7. Cover it up. Most of the time, I recommend leaving a blemish alone, but if you have to cover up a zit I like using Priori Coffeeberry Minerals Makeup. It is non comedogenic and non acnegenic. The minerals are 100% natural and the only ones with the Coffeberry extract. Coffeeberry is nature’s most potent anti-aging botanical to help reduce the signs of aging. These minerals not only act as your foundation, but help protect your skin from the sun because they contain SPF 25.
Diana Seo is the Founder and President of B Spa Bar located in the Privé Salon at the Soho Grand Hotel in NYC.
Great article. Gotta say that nothing has improved my acne as much as #3, detox. Eliminating milk from my diet (but cheese and ice cream in moderation are OK) as well as partially (or fully) hydrogenated oils resulted in an almost 100% improvement. This was after years of various dermatology medications.
Awesome article you have to maintain a great diet in order to keep those darn blemishes off, aloe vera as well. Proactiv has worked miracles for me and most definitely works. I found a cheap site to buy it for you ladies that dont want to pay retail its <a href="http://www.HowToCureZits.com” target=”_blank”>www.HowToCureZits.com keep the diet clean ladies! and wash your face 🙂
My recent post Proactiv
Red and blue light treatment is scientifically proven to work but boy is it tedious to use….there are small acne lamps (the handheld variety) that you can use at home but you need to hold it over your spots for at least 30 minutes at a time, and if you have many spots…. good luck!
Still, thanks for the good advice. I definitely agree with some of the points here, especially the part about less being more! (we tend to try too much stuff, especially us girls and don't give the skin enough opportunity to repair/relax)
My recent post Thyme More Effective Than BP for Acne
The topical antibiotic clindamycin helps fight bacteria in the skin. Oral contraceptives and spironolactone can help balance hormones.
Never heard about number 4 at all, and at first glance I guess I’m kinda skeptical how true it is (guess I gotta look it up!). The rest of the list is solid though and definitely good advice. Thanks!
Hi Lauren, Diane’s tips for adult acne are excellent. A lot of people don’t realize how complicated an issue it is and the fact that hormones (as this article correctly points out) are often responsible for outbreaks. Keep up the excellent work!
Very good and useful information. There are so many skin myths out there, it is good to have correct direction to treat acne problems!
Like that this article teaches beautiful skin from the inside thru proper health. The best way to achieve a beautiful canvas!
Some good tips for helping to clear up adult acne. I do think one of the best ones is keeping an eye on the diet. Like a previous commentor, I find dairy is a real killer for my skin!
The real issue with adult acne is defiantly the increase in processed foods and simple sugars which effect the bodies balance milk and diary being the main culprits.
Thank you very much for sharing these tips. Getting rid of acne is really one of people’s desire. That’s why it is important that we know the different acne treatments to achieve an acne free skin. Also, we have to know how to manage our acne so that it will not end up scarring.
Great article! #3 and #4 are the most important in my opinion. When I had acne I found out that I was lactose intolerant and stopped drinking milk. That decreased my acne breakouts by almost 50% Moreover, I used to consume a lot of sugar and saturated fats which contributes to acne