Acne. A never-ending topic. It does not just bother teenagers. It can easily follow you into your forties as well. Do you know the most common myths about acne, and what is actually happening in your skin when a spot appears?
Every day, a thin layer of dead cells builds up inside each pore. That is just how your skin’s cell renewal works. When your skin is healthy, your pores are healthy too. New cells can easily push the old, dead ones up to the surface and out.
Unfortunately, acne-prone skin is not in such good condition, and that is where the process gets stuck. Acne-prone skin produces up to five times more ‘waste’ in the form of dead skin cells than healthy skin. These waste, or dead cells, get trapped inside the pore and gradually clog it.
Your skin is constantly producing oil (sebum), and that oil mixes with the dead cells in the pore. Over time, this mixture turns into a thick, sticky mass and that is how a blackhead is born.
If a blackhead is colonised by acne bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes), the black dot turns into a pimple or inflamed spot. These bacteria thrive in that mix of skin oil and trapped dead cells.
Acne is not your fault
Acne is largely a genetic thing. Your genes influence how sensitive your skin is to hormonal and environmental factors, and how thick and dense your sebum is – and that density is different for everyone.
So no, acne is not a sign that you’ve failed at skincare or hygiene.
Five most common myths about acne
Myth No. 1
“Washing your face several times a day is great prevention.”
Very frequent washing only irritates and dehydrates your skin. When the skin is dried out, it often reacts by producing more sebum and more dead cells, which then pile up in the pores.
For most people, cleansing in the morning and evening is absolutely enough. I’m not talking about situations like working out or heavy physical activity where you get sweaty.
Myth No. 2
“You get acne because your hygiene isn’t good enough.”
Many people still think acne is mainly about poor cleansing, but that is not quite true. Dirt mixed with skin oil mostly stays on the surface of the skin. But acne forms inside the skin.
That is why acne-prone skin needs ingredients that have small enough molecules, can penetrate into deeper layers of the skin, and can interrupt the process that leads to a pimple forming.
Ingredients that can do this include benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid.
Myth No. 3
“Just dab some toothpaste on the spot, and it will dry out.”
Toothpaste will dry the pimple only on the outside. Inside the spot, everything that is ‘alive’ in terms of inflammation carries on as usual.
And there is something even worse than a dried-out surface. Most regular toothpastes contain SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), one of the most notorious pore-clogging ingredients.
So toothpaste really belongs on your teeth, not on your skin.
Myth No. 4
“You should put benzoyl peroxide only directly on the pimple.”
Benzoyl peroxide (BP) is primarily for prevention, not a classic spot treatment you dab on a single blemish. Products with BP are meant to be used on the whole face, or on other affected areas like the chest or back and not just on the visible pimple.
BP penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin and destroys so-called microcomedones, the earliest stage of that future plug made of dead cells and sebum, where acne bacteria like to multiply.
Just for interest, it can take up to 90 days for a microcomedone to turn into a pimple you can actually see.
Myth No. 5
“A product works only if it stings or makes the skin feel tight.”
Harsh, aggressive ingredients do not help acne-prone skin. Quite the opposite. They only irritate and stress the skin unnecessarily.
And according to more recent research, it is no longer considered ‘normal’ or necessary for the skin to get worse first andonly later start to improve during acne treatment. Your skin does not have to burn or peel to move in a better direction.
Today you have seen what is really happening in the pore and why acne develops.
In the next article, I talk about which ingredients are worth looking for in your skincare if you are dealing with acne and which ones are better to leave on the shelf.
Have you come across any of the acne myths I have mentioned? Or do you know of even more?
FREE PDF – Autumn Skin Compass
If you feel that your skin needs something different in autumn than it did in the hot summer, you are in the right place. This free PDF will help you get your bearings.
What you will find inside is not a strict plan and definitely not a diktat. Think of it as a compass that shows you what makes sense for your skin in autumn and what you can safely skip if you want to.
On top of that, I have added concrete tips for skincare products you can pick up in a regular drugstore.
Just send me your name in an email to mirka@miriamritchie.com, and I will send the PDF to your inbox.
