Skin Care

13 Everyday Habits That Are Giving You Acne

Your hormones aren't always to blame -- turns out some of these unconscious habits might be causing your acne

by Anna Jimenez

1 of 14

Habit No. 1: Using makeup with ingredients that can cause irritation There are certain ingredients lurking in the makeup and sunscreen you're slathering on that are causing you to break out. Now this doesn't mean you have to forgo your foundation (scary, we know) or stop applying SPF (please, don't), but you do need to keep a watchful eye on product labels. King and Nakhla say to avoid these known acne offenders:

• Artificial Color — Look for FD&C in the ingredients list, which means the product has artificial color. This can irritate the skin and if it's in your lipstick or blush, it can cause breakouts around your mouth or on your cheeks.
• Lanolin — This is basically the fancy term for sheep sebum (sebum = oil) and while it can be good for dry skin, it's not right for acne-prone skin.
• Mineral Oil — This forms a film on your skin, trapping dead skin cells and bacteria (prime causes of acne) and it can also give you milia, those tiny white bumps on your skin.
• Petroleum — This is oil, and as you may have guessed, you don't really need to be putting more oil on your face.
• Isopropyl Myristate — This can actually make your skin feel less greasy, but it also clogs pores and causes skin irritation.
• Artificial Fragrance — This can irritate your skin and cause breakouts. Try to use as many fragrance free products as possible.

SEE NEXT PAGE: Habit No. 2: Over-drying your face

EDITORS' BEST OF

12 Best Acne Products for Your Clearest Skin Yet

11 Best Tinted Moisturizers for Easy, On-the-Go Coverage

products mentioned

Peter Thomas Roth Beta Hydroxy 2% Acne Wash

8.8

As low as $0.00

BUY ON AMAZON

Dermalogica Skin Purifying Wipes

9.0

leave a comment

Older comments

Interesting!!

by tallredamanda Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 11:06AM Report as inappropriate

Good stuff here, nice to know thanks

by naturalskincarerecipes Friday, April 26, 2013 at 03:46AM Report as inappropriate

thannk that really helpful for me

by hiang Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 10:57PM Report as inappropriate

Ive suffered from adult acne for THE longest. I've been doing the "oil cleansing method" using a hair care oil product that only costs $.99 and I havent had a pimple in the last month. It has a combination of tea tree, castor, sunflower, olive, and vitamin e, and jojoba oils. Works for me. I don't know if soap was drying my face or what have you, but "washing" with oil eliminated my breakouts.

by QTNamedT Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 07:09PM Report as inappropriate

Nice.

by Mollysunshine Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 02:22AM Report as inappropriate

I've been having a lot of breakouts lately and I'm grateful for all those tips. They are really helpful since I'm guiltly of almost all of them. Thanks.

by Chica181 Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 12:45AM Report as inappropriate

Yep, add me to the guilty list.

by tyann_ott Monday, March 4, 2013 at 08:32PM Report as inappropriate

Guiltyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Going to have to get it together!

by krista_dailey Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 11:27AM Report as inappropriate

No Thank's tryed them all ..Olive Oil is the best ever I'm 47 look in my early 30's from just using Olive Oil these just wast your money Lady's.

by dena.quinn Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 08:56AM Report as inappropriate

Guilty of a lot of these things, But stopping now! Thanks you guys

by HxCookie Monday, February 11, 2013 at 01:48PM Report as inappropriate