Blemish Free: A Guide to Keeping a Clean Face

Acne can hurt your confidence as well as your ability to be productive, especially if you have to see different kinds of people every day. Acne affects more than 85% of teenagers, but it is known to break out in people of all ages. The most common places to get acne is on the face and the forehead, but you can have it on other places of your body as well. Other than lowering mental confidence, acne can leave physical damages, as the popping of a pimple will most definitely produce scarring, which if done multiple times, leaves craters all across the face.

There are a couple of main causes of acne. First off, you could be genetically predisposed to developing acne. Many people have this unfortunate trend run through their family. Another reason is hormonal activity, such as puberty or menstrual cycles. When this happens, the body will produce an excess of sebum, which is an oil that will clog up the pores. Wearing makeup can be bad for your skin as well, due to the fact that makeup will most definitely clog your pores, trapping in dirt. Still others say that what people eat and what is part of their diet has something to do with the developing of blackheads. Although there isn't much evidence supporting this, it isn't a long stretch to think that if you eat a lot of oily and fattening foods, the excess of oil may have a chance to travel to the outer level of your epidermis and clog your pores. The main reason I think acne occurs is lack of cleanliness. Accumulation of dead skin cells, bacteria, and dirt from the air will settle in your pores, and if you don't wash well, they will stay there, forming a layer over themselves, thereby developing into acne when they become inflamed. Whatever the reason may be for acne, there are ways to treat it.

First off, a person trying to get rid of acne must exfoliate. This means washing your face extremely well, and try to keep it clean. People who touch their faces a lot get a lot of the germs from their hands inside of the pores on their face, thereby increasing the rate at which their acne grows. The purpose of exfoliation is to get rid of the dead skin cells that have formed the layer over your skin and inside of your pores. One good product is Apricot Scrub, a product that contains apricot extract that really scratches the surface of your skin to rub away the dead skin. Vitamin A is also a part of this product, something that studies have shown to have been lacking in people with excesses of acne. The reason is still unknown, but if you have acne you should be getting more Vitamin A. Other products that I enjoy using include the Olay Total Effects Scrub which you can purchase at most retail stores such as Wal-Mart for around $8, or the Olay Detoxifying Scrub which is about $10 a pop. I have used both of these products and they prove to be very useful.

These types of exfoliating products are effective because they use bits of nut shells in order to scratch the dead skin off. If you are just washing your face with your hands, it's just a constant rubbing back and forth. With the abrasiveness of a solid, the dead skin will come off quite easily. Always remember to wash warm or hot water so as to stimulate your pores by opening them. This will make the cleaning process easier. One thing to remember is that don't scrub the living daylights out of your face. An excess of anything will cause irritation which may actually reverse the process, inflaming your skin and thereby increasing your chances of more acne.

Remember to never pop your zits or pimples. This will not only make their area where you popped it look worse due to the inflammation and the possibility of bleeding, it may spread bacteria to other areas of your skin. Just like any other wound, it has the ability to create an infection and pass it on. If you

do pop it, make sure you clean it immediately with clean water, soap, and disinfectant. If you have long hair, make sure it doesn't touch your face much. Naturally, your hair is a bit oily if you don't wash it everyday, meaning it can increase the chance of oil getting stuck in your forehead.

Many people follow their exfoliation process by using toner. You apply these by dabbing, spraying, or wiping onto your face after you have cleaned. They act as pore tightening products, making your pores smaller, decreasing the chance that dirt gets stuck inside; therefore it is a good idea to do this after your washup. One product that I use is Neutrogena Alcohol Free Toner, which can be purchased at retail stores for around $8 as well.

All in all, make sure you make this a routine. Washing your face one day of the week will not help you in any way. The key is to make sure nothing gets stuck inside of your pores, as acne takes time to develop - it is not a one time thing. So if you have the discipline to keep up a routine, you should see your skin clear up in no time!

More tips on how to reduce acne:

- Drink lots of water. It will flush toxins out of your skin, reducing blemishes.

- Mix a couple of tablespoons of baking soda with some water and apply to blemishes.

- Get more sleep. Stress will increase the oil production of your skin.

- Don't overwash. Overwashing will stimulate your skin to produce even more oils, retarding your acne-removal process.