At its root, acne at any stage of your life is caused by a few key factors, including excess oil production, clogged pores, hormonal imbalances, and bacteria. And as a consequence, taking care of skin with acne involves effective skincare choices as well as healthy lifestyle practices.
Many a time, however, misinformation and the desire to see quick results have us make mistakes that can worsen our acne instead of healing it. So if you’re on your acne journey and feel like you see no improvement despite consistent efforts, you might be unknowingly doing something that is hindering your acne’s healing.
Here’s are 5 things to AVOID doing when you’re trying to make progress with your acne:
- Touching and squeezing pimples
You may be tempted to pop that zit, but please don’t! Instead of doing any good, it might cause infection and scarring or even worsen your breakout. Different types of acne like pustules and papules extend deep inside the skin, and treating them the wrong way can lead to further irritation, redness, and even permanent depressions in the skin.
Do this instead: Leave those pimples alone. Use gentle products with ingredients like Salicylic Acid, which provide exfoliating, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory benefits and give them time to heal.
Try Lisén Perfect Balance, a calming anti-acne foaming cleanser and Lisén Moving Forward, a blemish and acne spot corrector gel.
- Frequently changing your skincare routine
Your skin needs time to adjust to new products. Changing products repeatedly, especially those with potent ingredients, can overwhelm your skin, worsening your acne.
Do this instead: Unless a product is causing an allergic reaction (in which case, stop immediately), give your acne-care regime time to work. You want to use a product for 6 to 8 weeks. It takes that long to see some improvement. If you don’t see any improvement by then, you can switch to other products.
- Letting your skin dry out
Like any other skin type, acne-prone skin needs hydration and moisture. For many people, acne is accompanied by increased oil production in the skin, so they might think that skipping a moisturizer is a good idea, but it's not. Without daily moisturization, your skin eventually dries out, leading to further irritation and acne.
Try Lisén Absolute Harmony, a skin-balancing daily gel moisturizer for acne prone skin
Do this instead: Use a light moisturizer that hydrates your skin without clogging your pores. If your skin is very oily, you can even look for water-based options.
- Wearing comedogenic makeup
If you have acne-prone skin, you need to be careful about what your makeup products contain. Since clogged pores are one of the most significant factors contributing to your breakouts, avoid makeup formulated with comedogenic ingredients as they can trigger your acne.
Do this instead: Check the labels and ingredient lists when purchasing your makeup. Ensure they are non-comedogenic, meaning they won’t clog your pores.
PS: Even when wearing non-comedogenic makeup, make sure you remove it before bed. No exceptions!
- Skipping Sunscreen
For those with acne-prone skin, sunscreen has to be one of the most essential steps of a skincare routine, considering discolouration and acne scars, also known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, are common after-effects of acne. Not only that but ingredients like exfoliating acids and retinoids make your skin even more sensitive to the sun, so not using sunscreen can cause further damage to the skin.
Do this instead: Look for a sunscreen with a lightweight consistency, and make sure it’s non-comedogenic.
You can try Lisén Soothing Shade. a lightweight, sweat-proof & non-greasy sunscreen with SPF 50+ PA+++. Formulated with Anti Pore-Dex Complex, it keeps your pores unclogged while providing extensive broadspectrum protection.
An acne journey requires consistent efforts, patience, and optimism as it takes its own time to make progress. And being equipped with the proper knowledge helps you develop a holistic action plan to heal and improve your acne. Rest assured, you’re alone in this, and we know for a fact that you’ve got what it takes to come out of this journey a clear winner!
