Adult acne tips & tricks

When you are approaching your mid-thirties and you are like me, still battling or again battling pimples and break-outs, you are in good company. One in five women between the ages of 25 and 40 suffers from adult acne. The causes of adult acne include stress, bad (old) cosmetics, hormonal fluctuation and/ or a reaction to birth control pills, and are unfortunately hard to pin-point when you lead the life of a busy professional. Adult acne, like teen acne, begins with blackheads or white heads, aka clogged pores and skin’s own proneness for inflammation. We certainly know how to fight acne with over-the-counter acne products we get at the drugstore: medicated cleansers, purifying masks, salicylic acid creams, benzoyl peroxide spot treatments, etc. But what I find challenging at my age, when I am battling an onslaught of pesky break-outs, is how to best reconcile or combine my anti-aging/ age-prevention program with my anti-acne program. When I look in the mirror closely and see an area of my face with budding pimples as well as fine lines or wrinkles or sun spots, I always wonder, which problem should I focus on? Which problem should I treat first with what product? And which product could possibly tackle both at the same time?

Having suffered from partially dry, sensitive, break-out prone skin almost all my adult life, I have tried a lot of products and product combinations, especially after I hit my 30th birthday and realized I had to do something about age-prevention. Here are my recommendations as well as advice I have picked up during my research:

Cleansers: Keep it Simple

I have mentioned this before, but personally, I don’t believe in medicated cleansers with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. No matter how convincingly they promise not to dry out your skin, I find that they do and that the subsequent dehydration exacerbates the appearance of dry lines. Therefore, I stick to either a gentle, sulfate-free cleanser for normal to dry skin, or use one of the new oil cleansers for normal to oily skin. Currently, I love DHC’s Deep Cleansing Oil with polyphenol-rich olive oil, which rinses off without any residue, leaves skin super-supple and is suitable for all skin types.

Treat & Prevent: Products that help fight acne and aging

My wonder-drug of choice is Eau Thermale Avene’s Diacneal Skin Care Lotion for Blemish-Prone Skin ($60 at www.dermstore.com) lotion ever since I discovered it in France a couple of years ago. To me, this is by far the best product that will truly treat acne and aging skin at the same time while not causing skin irritation.

Diacneal Lotion contains a combination of 1% Retinaldehyde and 6% Glycolic Acid. Retinaldehyde is a highly effective, patented form of Vitamin A, stronger than Retinol, yet well-tolerated by sensitive skin, that will stimulate collagen production, smooth out lines and wrinkles, and improve overall skin tone and radiance. At 1%, Retinaldehyde has also been shown to help unclog pores. Glycolic Acid, a form of Alpha Hydroxy Acid originally derived from sugar, helps exfoliate skin, the benefits of which are 3-fold: Smoother, younger-looking skin, prevention of clogged pores and break-outs, and finally, because glycolic acid removes the dead skin cells, the Retinaldehyde can penetrate the skin faster. I use Diacneal no more than twice or three times a week at night. The results are instant and sometimes quite dramatic. Not only does my skin look much more radiant and smoother, but I also notice fewer bumps immediately and in the subsequent days and weeks. You may feel some stinging if you are not used to AHA products, but your skin should get used to it after the first or second application. Even if you use this product only at night, make sure that you apply a broadspectrum sunscreen during the day, as your newly exfoliated skin will be more sensitive to the sun.

Another effective option for daily use is Olay’s Total Effects Daily Anti-Aging Anti-Blemish Moisturizer, at $20 a great value (www.drugstore.com). It contains salicylic acid, which helps unclog pores, as well as Niacin (Vitamin B3), which has been clinically proven to improve skin tone and skin elasticity.

Lastly, green tea extract is a great ingredient with both anti-aging AND anti-acne benefits. By now we all know that green tea is good for your health and your skin. While green tea extract has been shown to have great anti-aging, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, recent research suggests that at concentrations of 2-3%, it has anti-bacterial properties comparable to benzoyl peroxide without the common side effects. While more research needs to be done to prove this effect, this is still promising news for people with sensitive skin and adult acne. I have yet to find a green tea extract product that details exactly the percentage of extract it contains. Last year, a colleague of mind gave me a sample of Replenix Serum ($39.95 at www.skincarerx.com), which touts its high concentration of green tea polyphenol. Available mostly through dermatologists and through online boutiques, this lightweight serum did improve my skin tone, while making my break-outs less red.

Spot treatments: Traditional solutions and high-tech gadgets

For isolated, inflamed pimples, I still rely on the tried-and-true benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid spot treatments, however, I may soon invest in a Zeno’s Pro Acne Clearing Device ($185, at www.sephora.com), a battery-powered medical device to treat inflamed acne pimples. It delivers a targeted dose of heat to the acne pimple, which kills the bacteria and is said to significantly clear the pimple within 24 hours. Sounds like the perfect solution!

At the end of the day, the best approach to treating adult acne is and remains a multi-pronged approach involving good multi-tasking products, targeted medicated treatments and healthy diet. And don’t stress…

Yoshiko’s skin care line www.juaraskincare.com