HOW TO: Deal with breakouts, acne, and scars!

Breakouts and acne are something everyone doesn’t want to deal with. It’s frustrating and annoying. I’ve tried a lot of products to help with breakouts and I’ve gathered some tips I have figured out over the years to help with breakouts!

First off, why are you breaking out? The cheeks are the most common area on your face that you break out. If you are breaking out on your cheeks quit touching your face! Dirt and oil get on your face from your grubby little hands and clog your pores, causing you to break out. Also, disinfect your phone, and wash your pillowcase! AND!  The biggest tip in my opinion is to wash your make-up brushes often. Bacteria start to grow on your brushes from the old make-up and oils on your face and can be really damaging to your skin.

When you have a breakout there are a few ingredients that you need to look for when treating your acne, or just a breakout.

Salicylic Acid is in lots of acne medication. It is most common in aspirin, so if you have a breakout crush up some aspirin, add water, and use it as a DIY spot treatment!  I like to use the St. Ives Green Tea Scrub to help prevent breakouts since this has Salicylic Acid as a main ingredient.

Benzoyl Peroxide is another ingredient that is in lots of acne medication. If you want an effective spot treatment, look for one that has 10% or more benzoyl peroxide. My favorite is the Clean and Clear Maximum Strength Persa-Gel *10

Another great drying product is Sulfuric Acid. This is a REALLY drying ingredient for spots. The most effective way I like to use this is with an overnight drying lotion such as the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. Sulfuric Acid doesn’t always work with every one’s skin type. My cousin actually gave me this product because it didn’t work for her at all! But it worked really well on my skin and it’s my favorite thing to use for spots! The way you use this is you grab a Q-Tip, stick it all the way down into the pink lotion at the bottom of the bottle and simply dab it onto your spot. The next morning it’ll be dried up and a lot smaller! But whatever you do, DO NOT SHAKE THIS PRODUCT! It ruins the product forever!

What I think is my product though for breakouts is Tea Tree Oil. Tea tree oil can be used for many different things, and skincare is one of them! You just put it on a cotton round and dab it on your spot, or use it all over your face as an acne treatment. This really heals the breakout(s) and cleanses the pores and gets really deep down and digs the dirt out. Tea tree oil can get kind of expensive for such a little bottle, but I found this decent size bottle at target for $6-$8.

The last thing I like to use for breakouts is masks that really help with cleansing pores. Charcoal masks, and cleansers are really great for problematic skin because they really get deeeeeep into the skin, and leave your face so soft, supple, and left with a really clean feeling.  My favorite masks for cleansing the skin is Origins Clear Improvement: Active charcoal mask

Lush’s Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

and Que Bella Purifying Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Mud Mask (this is only $2.09 at Target!)

This entire mask’s really cleans the pores and help clarify the skin to help breakouts, and prevent breakouts.

Before you do a mask, make sure you use a scrub first! My favorite scrubs are Lush’s Ocean Salt scrub, and St. Ives Green Tea scrub like I mentioned earlier. Ocean Salt is a hydrating scrub that scrubs away blackheads and clogged pores, and blemishes. Use a scrub with really hot water so the steam really opens up your pores and the scrub is really effective. While your pores are still open from the hot steaming water apply our masks so you can receive all the benefits from the masks.

After your breakout is treated you might be left with a scar. If you scar, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE BEAUTY PRODUCT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD IS: Ambi Fade Cream for Oily Skin (they have ones for dry and normal skin too!) Ambi is only $5 and it’s seriously the best stuff I’ve ever used for scars. I always scar after a breakout and after a couple weeks it’s completely gone after using Ambi twice a day for about two weeks. If you’re constantly struggling with scarring and dark spots, try using skincare products that claim to be brightening, but be careful because sometimes they can bleach your towels! Also, be sure to always wear sunscreen if you struggle with dark spots and scars. When you go into the sun, those scars and dark spots just get darker and ultimately harder to get rid of!

I know this was a really long post but hopefully you got something out of it and learned a couple new tips or two on how to deal with breakouts, acne, and scars!

Xoxo Audrey