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

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Habit No. 2: Over-drying your face Sucking all the oil and moisture out of your face is a sure-fire way to irritate your skin, says Nakhla. While it might seem like a good idea to dry out oily skin with harsh cleansers, soap, and alcohol-based toners — and skimp on the moisturizer — your skin is more complicated than that.

Drying out your skin will actually cause it to produce more oil, says King. She explains that the skin naturally tries to correct itself, therefore if it feels dry it will try to balance the situation by producing more oil, continuing the vicious cycle.

Nakhla's recommendation: Be gentle with your skin and keep it hydrated (but that doesn't mean greasy). Try using a cleanser made specifically for acne-prone skin like Peter Thomas Roth Beta Hydroxy Acid 2% Acne Wash, $36, but follow it up with a hydrating toner and/or a light, oil-free moisturizer so your skin doesn't freak and up the oil ante. You can also use a mattifying moisturizer on especially shiny areas during the day to soak up oil without over-drying your skin.

SEE NEXT PAGE: Habit No. 3: Pressure (literally)

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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