June Focus: Acne Awareness Month
With June being Acne Awareness Month, I thought I’d kick off strong with some frequently asked questions about acne and how to treat it, based on eleven years of consult data from my time in Industry (and my recent post, asking for your best questions!).
Q: What’s causing my breakouts?
A: This is the hardest question to answer, because it’s quite individual.
The skin science behind breakouts involves excessive oil secretion, hyperkeratinisation (excess skin call build up) blocking the pores, proliferation of anaerobic bacteria and the body’s inflammatory response to fight this. This is often in response to modifiable factors such as diet, skin habits and hygiene, environment, poorly formulated skincare/ cosmetics and not knowing what your skin actually needs in terms of ingredient profile (often, because influencers guide product choices more than they should).
Q: What lifestyle factors impact acne?
A: So many! This is why we dive DEEP in our consultation.
Common factors to think about are:
how often you clean/ wash things that regularly touch your face? We’re talking phone screen/ communication equipment, face masks, pillow cases, makeup tools. If it’s near your face, it’s gotta be clean!
What you’re using on your skin (skincare and makeup) and how/ where it’s applied.
What hair/ body products you’re using.
Diet and hydration.
Environment: indoor/outdoor workplaces, climate control, pollution etc.
This list is not exhaustive, but it’s a start.
Q: What treatments are available for managing acne at The Honest Beauty Collective?
A: Depending on the severity and presentation, we could look at custom peeling, LED and Acnelan as treatment options.
Q: How do you treat acne scarring?
A: Treatment for scarring depends on a few factors:
- Fitzpatrick/ Phototype: This index is generally considered for treatments like laser hair reduction, but I consider it when planning to biohack your skin to greatness. Darker skin types (Fitzpatrick 4/5/6 - think Asia and Sub-Continent/ Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern/ South American/ African skins) are more prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, so the risk of this needs to be mitigated as much as possible, to get a more unified result.
- Type of Scarring: there are so many! Depressed scars include pigmented, ice pick, box car or rolling scar; raised scarring can include hypertrophic, keloid or papular scar. This is usually determined during your consultation and planned for accordingly. Depressed scars are the easiest to treat, but it’s a long-term process. There are no “quick fixes” in collagen induction!
- Area being treated: Is a body breakout, one on the face, or a bit of both? Body skin is generally thicker, so may require a deeper treatment than the face. When considering needling modalities, depth vs area is a major consideration.
- Is the area still actively breaking out? I generally focus on clearing the breakouts first, so I only have to fix one issue at a time, but this isn’t always practical.
The types of treatments I usually use for acne scarring include a combination of peel treatments to help with texture and skin function and skin needling to help stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis. LED is paired with both to help nurture optimal healing. One of my dream facial devices- Endymed Pro - can actually treat active acne and scarring at the same time!
Another area of consideration is your homecare, and what beneficial skin ingredients will help you. AHAs/ BHAs, Vitamin A/ Derivatives, Copper Peptide and Tyrosinase Inhibitors are usually my go-to classes of ingredients, for the following reasons:
AHA/BHAs: help with cell turnover to decongest the skin.
Vitamin A/ Derivatives: normalise skin function to reduce hyperkeratinisation.
Copper Peptide: similar skin benefits to vitamin c, but helps control inflammation and minimise bacterial load on the skin without excess oil.
Tyrosinase Inhibitors: used to suppress the body’s pigmentation response to the inflammation and trauma of the breakout. This in turn will minimise revision work for scarring.
If you have even more questions, or need some help - everything you seek is a consultation away.
Katie J xx
