5 Things You Never Knew About Adult Acne
Struggling with acne breakouts even though you’re no longer 15 years of age? We hear you. Adult acne: it’s a thing.
Adult acne affects around 85 percent of adults across the world. Now, correct us if we’re wrong (math was never our strong point), but with the world population being around 7.8 billion at last count, and approximately half of the world population being between 25 and 65 that amounts to roughly 3.3 billion people being plagued with breakouts at some point during their adult lives.
More bad news: adult acne is more likely to affect women than men.
Dang!
Chances are, therefore, you know a thing or two about dealing with whiteheads, blackheads and/or pimples way past the age of 25, correct? But why do you get adult acne? And more importantly, what can you do to keep your pesky pimples in check?
Here’s five things you need to know to help you get a firm grip on your adult acne…
1. Adult Acne Is Caused By One Thing And One Thing Alone
Just like the breakouts you had as a teenager, adult acne occurs when your hair follicles become blocked with excess oil and dead skin cells, clogging up your pores and forming a kind of ‘plug.’ It’s as simple as that. Scrap that, it’s not simple at all, because this plugged follicle can then form into a number of things...
If the plug bulges out above the surface of your skin it creates a whitehead, but if it opens up, it will oxidize with the air and cause a blackhead. And you know all that bacteria that breeds on your skin? Well, if this infects your blocked pore, it will cause a much larger, angrier kind of beast – namely a papule, pustule, nodule or cyst. Or as you probably call it, a zit.
Most adult acne takes the form of zits.
2. Not All Adult Acne Is The Same
While the cause of adult (and indeed all) acne is always the same, it’s generally split into two different types: persistent and late- or adult-onset acne.
Persistent acne is when it never lets up from your teenage years, continually plaguing you with pimples and carrying on right the way through to adulthood. Late-onset acne, however, is the stuff that appears on any of you who didn’t have acne as an adolescent. Instead, it decides to strike later on in your life, just when you least suspected it.
Neither type of adult acne is fun and both have the same end result, but it’s worth noting the difference.
3. Many Factors Can Trigger Adult Acne Breakouts
While adult acne is caused by the simple process of excess sebum and dead skin cells blocking your pores, the reason this happens to you and not the next person are many. Acne, as a rule, runs in the family, so first and foremost, you can 100 percent blame your parents. But this is not something you can control, so best not get too angry with them, OK? Instead, try to pinpoint your triggers.
According to the American Academy of Dermatolgy (AAD), most cases of late-onset acne are hormonal and occur during your periods or through the menopause when your hormones are literally all over the place. During menopause, in particular, your estrogen levels start to drop, while androgens like testosterone remain far more constant, creating an imbalance that causes your skin to freak out. If this is happening to you, make an appointment with your doctor to discuss a plan of action. Hormone replacement therapy can be a very effective way to keep your hormones – and therefore your skin – under control.
But it’s not all about genetics and hormones – there are plenty of other factors that can trigger your skin to break out. Chocolate and pizza? Baloney. But other things? For sure. Certain medications can overstimulate your sebaceous glands, for example, and stress is a real biggie. You should also be careful not to use pore-blocking skincare, makeup or even hair styling products if you’re spots are concentrated around your hairline. Any product that contains occlusives like rich oils and butters will create a physical barrier on the surface of your skin which will block your pores and play havoc with acne-prone skin.
4. Acne Scarring Is Often Worse Than The Pimples Themselves
Sure, acne sucks, but the scarring it leaves behind? Way more annoying and far harder to get rid of.
To avoid your spots leaving scars, never pick, prod or press at them – and if you really can’t help it, at least wash your hands first and clean the problem area afterwards to prevent bacteria from spreading and causing inflammation (which is what causes discoloration and scarring in the first place).
Our Charcoal Face Wash is great for detoxifying oily skin and if you follow it up with Tea Tree Serum, you should be on to a sure winner. Tea tree oil is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory so it’s ideal for spot-treating specific areas of your skin that simply won’t behave.
Finally, always wear sunscreen. Post-inflammatory pigmentation (PIH) is a type of hyperpigmentation that occurs when trauma like an acne spot causes an overproduction of melanin in that area, turning the skin dark and patchy. And it often stays like this permanently. This is the same melanin that causes your skin to tan in the sun, so by protecting your skin from damaging UV radiation you’ll reduce your risks of PIH. Stat.
5. Retinol Is One Of The Best Ingredients For Treating Adult Acne
How to get rid of acne is the million dollar question and one that Google is asked by thousands of people on a daily basis. Of course, managing your triggers is a great start, but it’s not always that easy. Which is why awesome skincare is a must.
It’s tempting to want to scrub away at super oily skin with harsh cleansers and toners. Don’t do that, it’ll just make matters worse. Instead, the key is yes, to keep your skin clean and free of bacteria-inducing oils and debris, but to do so gently with calming, balancing products that are free of harsh chemicals and sulfates.
One of our favorite ingredients for helping treat adult acne is retinol. Most people think of retinol as the gold-standard in anti-aging and they're not wrong. But it’s also crackerjack for dealing with breakouts. Retinol works by communicating with your skin on a deeper level to decrease sebum production, reduce inflammation and, most importantly, help regulate skin cell turnover which stops dead skin cells from hanging around at the surface and clogging up your pores. What’s more, this means you get to create a better foundation at a surface level, so the rest of your skincare ingredients (salicylic acid, always a winner) get a better chance to do their job properly.
Try our Retinol Moisturizer for a gentle but effective way to reduce acne and keep your skin balanced and moisturized without weighing it down.
Final thought: If your adult acne is severe, persistent and painful, always visit your doctor or a dermatologist for professional advice and a targeted treatment plan. Chances are you might need more than smart skincare alone...
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No idea why you’re getting an influx of acne right now? Many lifestyle habits can trigger your breakouts – and sometimes they’re found in the most unsuspecting places.
As you know, acne is caused by one thing and one thing alone: an excess of sebum that causes your pores to become blocked with oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other impurities. Eating too much chocolate doesn’t give you pimples. Neither does moisturizer. Sure, they can trigger breakouts if you’re genetically susceptible to them, but acne isn’t caused by uncleanliness, a poor diet or crummy skincare routine. It’s caused by blocked pores. End of.
OK, so this begs the question: why bother trying to cure them if your breakouts are totally out of your control? Well, here’s the thing. You can’t change your genes, that’s for certain. However, what you can do is keep acne-triggering factors under control to help lessen the blow. Sleeping well, reducing emotional stress and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet; all these things are important for maintaining balanced sebum and therefore reducing the likelihood of you breaking out week after week.
But there are also some less obvious reasons why you face might be suffering with regular breakouts. So if you’ve already dispensed with things like smoking, poor cleansing and too much exfoliation, but you’re still getting pimples on the reg, it might be time to look at some of the more unexpected areas of your life.
On that note, read on for five slightly more unusual causes for your breakouts.
1. Your Pillowcase
Getting enough beauty sleep is crucial for the health of your skin, but if you’re sleeping on a dirty pillowcase for a solid eight hours every night dirt and bacteria is inevitably going to build up and irritate your pores. This is especially true if you sleep on a synthetic pillowcase because man-made fibers don’t absorb sweat as effectively as natural fibres like cotton or linen.
The answer? Go natural all the way, for starters. Also, cleanse and moisturize your skin before bed to reduce the amount of grime getting on your pillowcase. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ is a great acne-fighting cleanser that balances and clarifies your pores. Follow this with Retinol Moisturizer to lightly hydrate and moisturize your skin while boosting cellular turnover to keep your pores free of dead skin cells.
Finally, wash your pillowcase every three or four days. And ditto, your face towel. Old, dirty towels that are used by the whole family for drying their hands and who-knows-what-else are another breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Do you really want to be swiping this all over your freshly cleansed skin? Thought not. So, invest in a couple of cotton face towels for you and you alone and wash them every other day.
2. Your Makeup & Hair Products
Your skincare routine might be spot on, but what about your makeup and hair products? Rich hair conditioners, for example, are notorious for containing heavy ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil which, granted, are incredible for moisturizing your precious locks, but are not so great for acne-prone skin. Of course, we know you’re not smothering your face with conditioner but still, it can settle on your face when you rinse your hair so always cleanse your skin after, never before conditioning.
Makeup can similarly clog up your pores, especially if you use formulations that contain oil. So don’t do that. Instead, look out for noncomedogenic products (this means they’re less likely to block pores) and use powder rather than liquid formulations whenever possible.
3. Your Workout Routine
Do you love to get a good sweat on when you’re working out? High fives to you. However, allow all that sweat and grime to sit on your skin and your pores are going to clog up quicker than your instructor can say ‘hit the floor for ten push-ups.’
Cleanse your skin thoroughly and swiftly after exercising (the longer you leave your skin doused in sweat and grimy workout gear, the more bacteria is likely to breed), and always use a mild but effective cleanser that helps to detoxify your skin without drying it out. Our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is a goodie as it harnesses the powers of coconut-derived activated charcoal which destroys skin-smothering impurities to offer a deep, gently purifying clean every time.
4. Your Winter Cover-Ups
Any fabric that rubs against your skin can lead to unwanted issues in the long-term. Remember how face masks were causing ‘maskne’ back in the pandemic? This was all due to friction from the mask combining with the obvious culprits of sweat, dirt, oil, bacteria and humidity which caused dryness, irritation and pimples.
Thankfully, for most of us, the days of having to wear a mask 24/7 are over. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter and like to wrap yourself up in woollen hats and thick, heavy scarves, these can cause similar problems, trapping sweat and increasing friction around your chin, jaw, neck and forehead.
To help reduce breakouts caused by beanies, scarves (and even turtleneck sweaters), avoid synthetic fabrics and launder your winter cover-ups regularly. Weekly, at least.
5. Your Laundry Detergent
Speaking of laundry, your choice of detergent is also imperative. Just like your beauty routine, certain ingredients in your laundry detergent can be super irritating – especially if you have extremely sensitive or acne-prone skin. Fragrance, for example, can be a real Debbie Downer, as can harsh dyes, essentials oils, strong surfactants and preservatives.
To reduce the likelihood of your laundry detergent triggering those pesky breakouts, first up, choose liquid over powder detergents. Why? Because these leave behind less residue on your clothes and fabrics (who knew?!). Also, never use more detergent than is recommended on the label, avoid fabric softeners and try double rinsing your laundry after washing to remove as much residue as possible.
5 Unusual Things That Can Trigger Breakouts
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![What Happens To Your Pores As You Age?]()
Do you feel like your already-supersized-pores are growing by the minute? They're not. But it might feel like they are...
Pores are the foundation of healthy skin. Of course, collagen makes your skin strong, supple and plump. And yes, elastin gives it that all-important bouncebackability. But without pores, your skin would be a dry, shrivelled up shadow of its former self. Not to mention the fact that your entire body would lose its ability to regulate its own body temperature.
As a quick reminder, pores are tiny, microscopic openings found at the surface of your skin right at the top of your hair follicles and sweat glands. They exist to allow important liquids (as well as other particles and gases) to pass through the surface of your skin. The human body has two types of pores: sweat pores which help regulate body temperature; and oil-producing pores that are found at the top of your hair follicles where they release sebum to moisturize and lubricate the surface of the skin. The good thing about sweat pores is that they’re so small you can’t see them making them of very little concern in the grand scheme of things.
Oil-producing pores, on the other hand, are just so annoyingly visible. So why?
What Determines The Size Of Your Pores?
Like your height, skin tone and color of your hair, the size of your pores is largely shaped by genetics. This means that yes, you can blame your parents, and yes, the size of your pores is pretty much fixed.
Of course, this is great news if you have almost invisible pores. Not so much if yours feel like they take over your entire face. But let’s get one thing straight: no matter how enlarged you believe your pores are when you study them in the mirror, they’re rarely as bad as you think. Because the truth is, nobody else scrutinizes your skin on the same level as do you.
Do Pores Get Bigger Over Time?
Yes and no. The size of your pores never really changes on a physiological level. So yes, all those half-truths about being able to ‘shrink’ your pores with alcohol-heavy toners or freezing cold water is a bit of a con. But there’s a little bit of truth in there because while the actual size of your pores doesn’t alter, their walls can stretch and expand, making them appear more pronounced.
Penny drops.
What Causes Pores To Stretch With Age?
Many things happen to your skin throughout your life that can cause the walls of your pores to become damaged and loose. Of course, regular aging plays the most obvious role as your collagen levels naturally decrease over time. Sadly, there’s not a huge amount you can do about your biological clock (there’s those genes doing their worst again!) but there are many other factors of which you can control that contribute to the rate at which your pores become slack.
Sun Damage
Gosh, the sun gets blamed for a lot of skin issues. But we don’t apologize for that because it really is one of the worst things for the condition of your skin. UV radiation breaks down important proteins like collagen and elastin thanks to a build-up of free radicals. This weakens the collagen fibers that give your skin its structure, thus allowing the walls of your pores to become slack, weak and kind of baggy-looking. AKA more visible!
Picking Your Skin
If you have a tendency to pick or squeeze your skin, this not only irritates your skin as a whole, but it can seriously mess with the collagen and elastin fibers that keep your skin firm and supple. Scarring is the most obvious possibility from picking your skin, but you pores will also suffer as a consequence.
Excess Sebum
After puberty sebum production usually levels out to a somewhat more ‘normal’ rate. However, things can get messy again during significant hormonal changes in your life. Menstruation, pregnancy, the menopause, all of these periods in your life cause your hormones to become unbalanced and your sebum levels to fluctuate. And when sebum production increases it fills up your pores causing them to expand, stretch and appear bigger.
Slow Cell Turnover
When you’re in your 20s each skin cell has a life cycle of around 28 days in which time it is formed at the lower levels, moves up to the surface and then sheds. As with most biological functions, however, cell turnover slows down as you mature, causing dead cells to hang around longer than necessary at the surface of your skin. Like excess sebum, these dead cells have nowhere else to go but to clog up your pores. And clogged pores = saggy, enlarged-looking pores.
Bad Makeup Choices
Certain foundations and face cosmetics that contain heavy oils and thick butters can also block your pores, causing them to expand and become more noticeable. Make sure you scan the labels of your favorite makeup formulations to ensure they’re non-comedogenic. Non-comedogenic means they’re way less likely to block your pores (comedone is the fancy term for pore, if you didn’t know).
The Best Ways To Keep Your Pores Tight
After reading the above you can probably guess what you need to do to avoid your pores becoming damaged and saggy. But we’ll lay it out for you anyway, just to drive the point home!
1. First up, wear sunscreen. This is the best thing you can do to conserve the collagen you’ve already got while ensuring you’re still making quality fresh stuff. Apply SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C every morning as par for the course, and do your skin even more of a solid by doubling up your protection with an antioxidant serum underneath sunscreen. Niacinamide is a very good ingredient for smoother, more resilient skin so try our Niacinamide (B3) Facial Serum.
2. Don’t pick your skin. Pimples or no pimples. Nothing good can come of this.
3. Balance sebum by gently cleansing and lightly moisturizing your skin come what may. It’s super important to keep your skin clean morning and night so that oils don’t build up at the surface. We love Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ which harnesses the power of tea tree oil to clarify the skin without leaving it feeling parched. Just remember, it’s equally as vital to follow with moisturizer so your skin doesn’t think it’s dry and overcompensate with more oil than you started with!
4. Exfoliate to boost cellular turnover. But don’t overdo it. Listen to your skin and exfoliate just once or twice a week if that’s all it needs. Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub (which just won an industry award may we add!) is a fantastic way to keep your skin bright, clean and dead skin cell-free. Plus, it’s kind to your skin. Which is super important, at any age.
5. Finally, don't underestimate the powers of retinol. Retinol is an incredible way to boost collagen AND encourage healthy cellular turnover. That's great news for your pores. And for controlling acne. And for reducing the appearance of wrinkles. And... well, you get the picture. Try our classic Retinol Facial Serum once or twice a week to begin with, building up to nightly as your skin acclimates.
What Happens To Your Pores As You Age?
read more -
![5 Unusual Things That Can Trigger Breakouts]()
No idea why you’re getting an influx of acne right now? Many lifestyle habits can trigger your breakouts – and sometimes they’re found in the most unsuspecting places.
As you know, acne is caused by one thing and one thing alone: an excess of sebum that causes your pores to become blocked with oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other impurities. Eating too much chocolate doesn’t give you pimples. Neither does moisturizer. Sure, they can trigger breakouts if you’re genetically susceptible to them, but acne isn’t caused by uncleanliness, a poor diet or crummy skincare routine. It’s caused by blocked pores. End of.
OK, so this begs the question: why bother trying to cure them if your breakouts are totally out of your control? Well, here’s the thing. You can’t change your genes, that’s for certain. However, what you can do is keep acne-triggering factors under control to help lessen the blow. Sleeping well, reducing emotional stress and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet; all these things are important for maintaining balanced sebum and therefore reducing the likelihood of you breaking out week after week.
But there are also some less obvious reasons why you face might be suffering with regular breakouts. So if you’ve already dispensed with things like smoking, poor cleansing and too much exfoliation, but you’re still getting pimples on the reg, it might be time to look at some of the more unexpected areas of your life.
On that note, read on for five slightly more unusual causes for your breakouts.
1. Your Pillowcase
Getting enough beauty sleep is crucial for the health of your skin, but if you’re sleeping on a dirty pillowcase for a solid eight hours every night dirt and bacteria is inevitably going to build up and irritate your pores. This is especially true if you sleep on a synthetic pillowcase because man-made fibers don’t absorb sweat as effectively as natural fibres like cotton or linen.
The answer? Go natural all the way, for starters. Also, cleanse and moisturize your skin before bed to reduce the amount of grime getting on your pillowcase. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ is a great acne-fighting cleanser that balances and clarifies your pores. Follow this with Retinol Moisturizer to lightly hydrate and moisturize your skin while boosting cellular turnover to keep your pores free of dead skin cells.
Finally, wash your pillowcase every three or four days. And ditto, your face towel. Old, dirty towels that are used by the whole family for drying their hands and who-knows-what-else are another breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Do you really want to be swiping this all over your freshly cleansed skin? Thought not. So, invest in a couple of cotton face towels for you and you alone and wash them every other day.
2. Your Makeup & Hair Products
Your skincare routine might be spot on, but what about your makeup and hair products? Rich hair conditioners, for example, are notorious for containing heavy ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil which, granted, are incredible for moisturizing your precious locks, but are not so great for acne-prone skin. Of course, we know you’re not smothering your face with conditioner but still, it can settle on your face when you rinse your hair so always cleanse your skin after, never before conditioning.
Makeup can similarly clog up your pores, especially if you use formulations that contain oil. So don’t do that. Instead, look out for noncomedogenic products (this means they’re less likely to block pores) and use powder rather than liquid formulations whenever possible.
3. Your Workout Routine
Do you love to get a good sweat on when you’re working out? High fives to you. However, allow all that sweat and grime to sit on your skin and your pores are going to clog up quicker than your instructor can say ‘hit the floor for ten push-ups.’
Cleanse your skin thoroughly and swiftly after exercising (the longer you leave your skin doused in sweat and grimy workout gear, the more bacteria is likely to breed), and always use a mild but effective cleanser that helps to detoxify your skin without drying it out. Our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is a goodie as it harnesses the powers of coconut-derived activated charcoal which destroys skin-smothering impurities to offer a deep, gently purifying clean every time.
4. Your Winter Cover-Ups
Any fabric that rubs against your skin can lead to unwanted issues in the long-term. Remember how face masks were causing ‘maskne’ back in the pandemic? This was all due to friction from the mask combining with the obvious culprits of sweat, dirt, oil, bacteria and humidity which caused dryness, irritation and pimples.
Thankfully, for most of us, the days of having to wear a mask 24/7 are over. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter and like to wrap yourself up in woollen hats and thick, heavy scarves, these can cause similar problems, trapping sweat and increasing friction around your chin, jaw, neck and forehead.
To help reduce breakouts caused by beanies, scarves (and even turtleneck sweaters), avoid synthetic fabrics and launder your winter cover-ups regularly. Weekly, at least.
5. Your Laundry Detergent
Speaking of laundry, your choice of detergent is also imperative. Just like your beauty routine, certain ingredients in your laundry detergent can be super irritating – especially if you have extremely sensitive or acne-prone skin. Fragrance, for example, can be a real Debbie Downer, as can harsh dyes, essentials oils, strong surfactants and preservatives.
To reduce the likelihood of your laundry detergent triggering those pesky breakouts, first up, choose liquid over powder detergents. Why? Because these leave behind less residue on your clothes and fabrics (who knew?!). Also, never use more detergent than is recommended on the label, avoid fabric softeners and try double rinsing your laundry after washing to remove as much residue as possible.
5 Unusual Things That Can Trigger Breakouts
read more
