We’re taught that fighting breakouts is the way to clear them. But that doesn’t work for all of us. Your routine could be why your adult acne won’t go away.
Could you be like me? My whole life I fought my breakouts. I attacked them, dried them out, scrubbed them with exfoliants, + skipped moisturizer since I was advised it won’t help my acne-prone skin. (That’s what I was treated for.)
But sensitive skin can’t handle this. Instead of helping, it weakens your skin’s defenses (that are already low key weak) + opens up the door for more breakouts.
It’s a vicious cycle. Breakout > attack > more breakouts because it was attacked.
If you don’t know you have sensitive skin, like I didn’t know, it all just continues.
Sensitive skin thrives + is able to defend against breakouts by being supported. You have its back + it has yours. It can clear dumbly fast when supported.
This Means a Switch To:
- Prioritizing not drying out your skin
- Minimizing exfoliation as much as possible (your top layer of skin is already weaker than others). And choosing the gentlest forms possible.
- Retiring mud masks (I know ? )
- Moisturizers are still annoying, but more likely because they’re too heavy + clog. There are workarounds.
- Conditioners, like moisturizers, can clog your skin. Lighter hydration forms help.
- You can use spot treatments, but not the traditional ones. It needs to gently treat + moisturize to KO.
- Low % actives tend to be your friend. Usually the lower the better.
