6 acne prevention steps for clearer & smoother skin

Acne can cause insecurities and diminish people’s confidence. It’s important that you take care of your skin to prevent acne breakouts and impurities before they even occur. Doing things like washing your face everyday, and using effective products for your skin type can prevent acne. It is better to prevent an acne breakout before it even occurs. Once an acne breakout occurs, it can be difficult to get rid of the acne because the pores become clogged, oil production increases and the skin becomes inflammatory and highly sensitive. Hormones, skin types, diet, your skincare products and medications all play a role in the state of your skin. There are also several types of acne that include blackheads, whiteheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cysts. Sometimes you don’t see improvement or changes in the skin once you fix your diet and skincare routine and this is probably because you didn’t give the products enough time to work. Your skin doesn’t repair in a day. It can take up to 6-8 weeks before seeing results. Another reason you may not see improvements in the skin is because you’re not considering all the factors that could be causing your skin to breakout in the first place. Lastly, you may not be using the products in the correct order or you’re not following the directions on the products correctly. There can be many factors as to why your skin hasn’t cleared up. For those who want to clear their skin or keep their skin clear, here are 6 acne prevention steps for clearer and smoother skin:

1. Keep skin clean (avoid touching face)

Keeping your skin clean is extremely important when preventing acne. Dirt and grime is one of the many leading ways to acne. Gently cleanse your skin twice a day, to remove impurities it’s important to give the skin a cleanse to deep clean your pores. When the pores of your skin are clean and well taken care of, it can keep your skin healthy and clear. Clogged and dirty pores increase your chance of acne breakouts. Touching your face, putting your phone to your face, sleeping with makeup on, not washing your face and sleeping on a dirty pillowcase are a few ways to cause an acne breakout. It is essential to wash your face morning and night, wash off your makeup before bed, change your pillowcase 2-3 times a week and do not touch your face with dirty hands. These acts can prevent an acne breakout before it even starts. Using non-comedogenic skincare products can aid in the decrease of blocked or clogged pores.

2. Use correct skincare products

There are 7 key steps to a skincare routine that prevents acne which is cleanse, tone, serum, spot treatment, eye cream, moisturizer and face oil. When used together, these 7 steps benefit the skin and prevent acne. Like addressed before, cleansing the skin aids in unclogging the pores and decreasing the risk of acne breakouts. Toning the skin is a second cleanse essentially,it further removes residue or dirt from the skin that is more difficult to remove with just cleansing. Toner can be used once a day or every other day. Serum is used to target specific concerns within the skin such as acne, dry patches, wrinkles and dullness. Serums that contain vitamin C and hyaluronic acid are typically recommended because the components compliment each other to protect and repair the skin. The next step in the perfect skincare routine is spot treatment. The ingredient in the treatment is to exfoliate and unclog pores. Spot treatment ingredients typically contain components to kill acne-causing bacteria and reduce inflammation. Next, you should be using eye cream. Eye cream reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles. It’s good for sensitive skin, considering that it’s a sensitive area. Although this step is not essential, it’s incredibly beneficial in the long term. However, moisturizer is an essential and vital step in the skincare routine. Moisturizer helps retain moisture by keeping you hydrated and gives you a youthful look. A moisturizer thin film over the skin is a protective barrier that locks in all the other products used before it and regulates your oil production, which causes less breakouts. Lastly, face oil or sunscreen is now used. Face oil is used to provide extra moisture while balancing and regulating the skin's sebum levels. Sunscreen is used to protect the skin from the sun. The suns UV rays can break and damage the skin barrier and cause dryness, irritation and acne breakouts. Sunscreen further prevents these issues. An important way to prevent acne is knowing your skin type and what products work best for your skin. There are five skin types. There are 5 skin types which are oily, sensitive, dry, combination or normal. Depending on what skin type you are, you can pick what products work best for that skin type. Make sure your skincare routine contains a cleanser, an exfoliator, a serum, an eye cream and Sunscreen. These are products that should be in your skincare routine and are important to use when keeping your skin acne free.

3. Eat healthy

A major way to prevent acne is eating healthy. Eating healthy can positively impact your skin while preventing acne. A healthy diet supports body health and benefits your skin health. Healthy eating can improve the skin’s appearance of elasticity and wrinkles. Eating healthy can directly nourish the skin. Certain foods such as fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables benefit the skin positively. Fatty and greasy foods are one of the leading causes of bad acne breakouts. Fatty foods can cause pimples and inflammation in the face. Fried food is detrimental to your health and even worse for your skin. Anything bad you digest will show through the skin. When you remove fatty and greasy foods, and intake more fruits and vegetables, it can give your skin a bright and healthy glow. This will result in your skin having fewer wrinkles and visibly more hydrated. A well balanced diet can reduce health concerns, severe conditions and early aging. Eating clean can clear the skin with visible results within a week.

4. Drink enough water

Staying hydrated is a major factor in keeping the skin clear and free of acne breakouts. Drinking enough water can strengthen your elastin and keep the skin moisturized for a longer amount of time. Water significantly delays the aging process and production of fine lines and wrinkles. Drinking enough water everyday can result in your skin looking more radiant and clear. Drinking plenty of water can also help in reducing oil content in the skin and reduce your chances of build up of sebum on the skin, which leads to acne breakouts. The difference in your skin after drinking water consistently becomes noticeable in just a few days. It is known that humans are supposed to intake at least a gallon of water a day. Water can brighten the skin tone, improve elasticity and hydrate the skin, reducing inflammation.

5. Exfoliate

Exfoliating the skin is extremely beneficial. Exfoliating can remove dead skin, improve the effectiveness of other skincare products in your routine, even out your skin tone and smooth your skin texture. Not exfoliating can result in dull, older looking skin and clogged pores. It’s typically best to exfoliate the face at least 2-3 times a week. Exfoliating the skin can show improvement in your appearance in just the matter of 10 minutes. Regularly exfoliating the skin can prevent clogged pores, lessening your chances of breakouts. How do you exfoliate? Apply the exfoliating product to your face and work the product into the skin by creating small circular motions, then rinse off your face with warm water. Warm water will open the pores and help the exfoliate get into the skin. Not exfoliating can cause whiteheads and blackheads to form on the skin, which can lead to ingrown hairs for people who have facial hair.

6. Limit sun exposure/ wear sunscreen

Limiting your sun exposure and wearing sunscreen can improve your skin and prevent acne. Avoid being in direct sunlight for long periods of time and wear sunscreen. Sunscreen protects the skin, reduces aging, limits sunspots, decreases chances of damaged blood vessels and protects the skin from sunburn. The goal of any sunscreen is to help shield your skin from harm caused by exposure to the sun, and a broad-spectrum formula that helps protect against UVA and UVB rays is essential for all skin types and ethnicities, including yours. Sun protection is imperative when spending prolonged periods of time outdoors; however, it should also be applied every morning to help prevent accumulated damage caused by shorter exposure intervals and indirect sunlight.It is common for people to only wear sunscreen on particularly sunny days when the sun reminds them to put it on. However, around 80% of the rays from the sun are still able to penetrate through cloud cover, which can still lead to damage to the skin.