The Methods of Attack for the Breakout: A Skin Theory

I have talked a lot about methods of skin healing and rebalancing on La Petite Rose and have reviewed many a product also aimed at calming, treating, and preventing breakouts. However, I have recently have developed a theory: I believe certain types of products better address certain types of breakouts better than others based on their formula and typical functions, properties, and even ingredients commonly seen in a specific typical product. This, at least, has been the case for me and my skin, so today I thought I'd share my findings with you.

Exfoliating acids: The singular, smallish pimple or clogged pores: Exfoliating acids (acid toners) work the best for me in addressing either a small pimple or a little series of small pimples or the surface-level, isolated clogging that can show up just before a red pimple truly manifest. These kinds of products, like all types of exfoliants work by loosening up skin cells and breaking down debris clogging up the pores mostly from the outer layers of the skin. On the flipside, these products do not usually penetrate very deeply and therefore have not been as effective for resolving deeper clogging or more deeply-seeded pimples or resolving areas of excess oiliness or inflammation. In fact, I have been finding if the spot I am treating is more inflamed, acids seem to aggravate the redness and pain instead of drawing it out and calming it. That said, acidic products often work well for preventative maintenance if the skin is prone to lots of surface-level clogging such as if you are going through a period of consistently wearing heavy makeup to help keep skin and bacteria from getting lodged in the skin in the first place and are also good for help resolving linger discoloration that may happen after any kind of pimple has healed.

Clay Masks: Widespread Breakouts Or Deeper Pimples: Simply put, clay masks work by drawing up excess oil and impurities up out of the skin. This makes them genius solutions for dealing with larger pimples that are basically large, concentrated clumps of both of these things. As these kinds of breakouts (especially deeper pimples) are also often caused by and prone to additional inflammation, I prefer to deal with them in a way that is less aggressive (or feels less aggressive) to me than sometimes an exfoliating acid can be. And because these two kinds of incidents take longer to resolve than a clogged pore, my main goal is to keep the area, and the skin around it calm, as it heals rather than zapping it to clear out a small area quickly. I also find the pulling action of clay masks can help to relieve some of the throbbing pressure in a deeper pimple.

Treatment Oils and Oil Cleansing/Oil Pulling: Frequent Breakouts/Regular Skin Restoration: If breakouts of any type seem a constant battle or you are going through a time when they are occurring more regularly than before, I highly recommend incorporating oils as a part of your skincare routine, particularly in the form of using an oil cleanser and/or the oil pulling method, which involves massaging a dry face for minutes at a time to break down all manner of debris, makeup, dead skin, etc that is sitting on the skin and also drawing up excess oil held more deeply within the pores. It may sound counterintuitive to use or have extra oil on the face when you are struggling with breakouts, but this will, especially in the long-term, help attract the oils to come out of your skin before they harden and start to lead to clogged pores and breakouts. The massaging action also helps to promote circulation to the skin to speed up healing, and both the oil in the product and the increase of blood flow from massaging will also help re-feed your skin with ingredients that will help curb the brain's impulse to produce more oil in the long run because the skin is stressed or feeling over-dry or dehydrated. But if you do not have time to do a full oil cleanse, using an oil-based product such as a serum or face oil can often provide similar rejuvenating and balancing qualities.

Using oils. and especially cleansing and doing oil pulls with them is also a method of skincare that is gentle on all skin types and will not leave the area feeling irritated or with as much residual redness after the breakout has gone.

It should be noted however that you should never use essential oils straight on the face whether for oil cleansing or even spot treatment. Essential oils are the whole plant oils that contain the strongest, and often most fragranced components of the plants from which they are sourced on the face. Lots of these ingredients like lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and even tea tree have benefits in soothing the skin, balancing oil production, or clearing a breakout but they should be formulated with a diluting carrier oil which come from seeds, nuts, or fruits like olive oil, almond oil, castor seed oil, and so on to keep their presence on the skin from becoming too harsh. And to cleanse with an oil, sometimes it is best to just use a straight carrier oil or a product that only contains carrier oils to get all the goodness into the skin with less risk of irritation. My personal favorite product for oil pulls is the DHC Cleansing Oil, and for leave on oil treatments, I quite like Earthwise Beauty's Nap in the Meadow serum, which is a combo of many healing and calming essential and carrier oils also combined with aloe and also rosehip seed oil general.

Breakouts of any type or size are never something fun to deal with, but they are something we all are bound to experience at some point. When they do pop up, though, choosing the right product and technique to deal with them can be the key to getting your skin back on track ASAP.