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5 Product-Free Ways to Reduce Acne

  • Writer: La Petite Rose
    La Petite Rose
  • Aug 5, 2020
  • 4 min read

Updated: Oct 3, 2021

Whether your skin type is dry, oily, or somewhere in between, if you have a zit once in a blue moon or struggle with breakouts almost always, acne is something that troubles us all and that can show up at anytime. When we breakout, it can be tempting to completely overhaul our current regime and do so again and again until we find the magical combination of products that will finally make our faces permanently clear. Yet, while having a solid skincare routine in place is key to good skin, acne, can be caused by many things, and the best ways to lessen its occurrence may not always be found in a bottle. Here are some strategies that you might want to implement into your life that could reduce your chances of a breakout.


Get More Sleep: If you struggle with getting enough sleep on a consistent basis, you are not alone. Statistics show that over 60% of Americans struggle to get quality rest on most nights. I personally also have insomnia, so this is something that I can more than relate to. This said, a good night's sleep is instrumental to our overall health and therefore also, the balance and well-being of our skin. Too little rest really kicks the body's, cortisol production into overdrive. Cortisol is a major stress hormone, created to fuel us through times of intense physical activity, and the body releases more of it when it is overstimulated for too long of a time. The overproduction of this hormone, in turn, increases our chances for stress-related breakouts. Also, when we sleep, our body is able to go into repair mode, which allows for regulation of all the hormones in the body and heal more readily from any internal or external aggressors. If your sleep quality is poor, your body won't regenerate as effectively. Keep in mind that when it comes to sleep, quality over quantity is often more important, so even if you can't get the stereotypical 8 hours, make sure whatever time you do have to devote to sleep is used well. Avoiding taking screens to bed, making sure your bedroom is at a comfortable temperature, and drinking soothing sleep teas before bed can all help greatly in improving your sleep.


Eat Your Leafy Greens: Many studies have shown that when people have breakouts, especially chronically, they are often deficient in many key minerals, mainly zinc and magnesium. Of course, there are many good supplements on the market that contain these nutrients, but one of the best places to amp up your intake is to add dark leafy greens into your diet. Spinach, kale, arugula, and even broccoli are all great sources of these nutrients that are easy to incorporate into salads or even smoothies if you don't like eating a lot of your vegetables!


Reduce Your Sugar Intake: This can be extremely hard for many of us, myself included, but reducing how much sugar we eat really can reduce the likelihood and life span of any acne breakouts. Sugar increases inflammation throughout the body, and at its core, acne is an inflammatory response. None of this means that you should never eat chocolate again or never have a plate of pasta or a glass of milk, but simply switching out a few sodas a week for more water and cutting back some on the candy, can be very helpful.


Wear Your Hair Up More Often: So often the products we use and leave in our hair to treat and tame it are filled with rich butters and slippy silicones. While these really soften and give lots of shine to the hair, these same ingredients are not necessarily good for the skin when formulated for a hair product and can lead to clogged pores if left on the skin too long. Wearing our hair up more often, especially after washing when more conditioning products are being absorbed, keeps these ingredients off of the skin and allows it to breathe.


Keep Yourself Hydrated Inside and Out: This may seem very counterintuitive when we think of acne as being caused by the pores being clogged with too much oil, but dehydrated skin, and skin that is too dry (in that it is deficient in oil) is often the most acne-prone because the body will actually overproduce oil when it is dried out. Drinking water is obviously essential for maintaining good hydration as is, maybe even more so, eating water-rich foods. You can read more about the importance of receiving hydration from the foods you eat in another of my articles here.


In addition to managing your hydration internally, there are a few steps you can do to give your skin extra moisture to supplement your products. Consider steaming your face with a warm cloth or sleeping with a humidifier to keep your skin moist and supple and ready to accept and make the most of any and all other moisturizing products or other treatments you may use topically while just naturally assisting your skin's barrier to resilient to heal and less likely to become clogged or inflamed.


Acne is something that affects us all at some times or others, and the reasons behind its cause do vary from person to person. While there likely will never be one 100% cure-all that works the same for everyone, adjusting little things in your lifestyle can often have a tremendous impact on the look and health of your skin. If you have any other tips and tricks for keeping skin clear and glowing and keeping acne at bay, I would love to hear them. Let me know in the comment section below this article some of your best secrets.









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