CHEARS

When it comes to acne, internet is flooded with terms like oily skin, sebum, dead skin cells, clogged pores. Everyone is only talking about how to deal with oily skin and acne, what are the best products and treatments to treat oily- acne prone skin. In-fact today whole skin care market is also flooded with acne treating and oil controlling products.

No doubt, oily skin and acne comes hand on hand, as oily skin produces too much sebum that lead to acne breakouts. While sebum is the common culprit to blame for the skin issue like acne, but is that the only one that causes acne ???

Answer is surprisingly no, even acne can occur on dry skin which makes it a horrible combination. Now why I am calling these two, a horrible combination, because here not only you have to deal with the dryness  and sensitivity that come along with dry skin but also you have to deal with those annoying acne breakouts.

Reasons why acne can occur on dry skin too:–

Acne on dry skin is mostly caused due to irritation because here oil is not the culprit as dry skin can’t produce oil like oily skin do. Dry skin is usually damaged lipid layer of skin that lacks the ability to keep out potential irritants such as bacteria, viruses and fungi away. As a result dry skin becomes more prominent to bacterial and fungal infections and acne is nothing but a bacterial infection. Also to maintain a healthy skin, proper and consistent skin cell turnover is required. But in dry skin individuals, ability to perform this task is limited leading to cell buildup inside the pores that are easily prone to irritation and  inflammation, creating a breeding ground for bacteria and hence acne.

How to deal with dry skin and acne:

There is a dilemma when it comes to  choosing the right skin care products for dry-acne prone skin,as we have to choose the products carefully keeping in mind  both the concerns ,dryness and acne. Now why I am saying here carefully, because usually rich cream based products that are best for the moisturising part of dry skin can also be highly pore clogging and if we go for the products that are meant to control acne breakouts can make dry skin even more drier. Even today its hard enough to find products in our Indian skin care market that addresses the needs of dry skin without clogging pores. Now question is, despite of this heartbreaking dilemma what actually you can do to deal with dry skin+acne .

So, here i am sharing some useful , working tips and tricks which dry- acne prone skin individual can follow to get their issues under control :

1. Use cleanser that are free from SLS, SLES, ALS, menthol, alcohol , lemon , fragrances and most importantly free from any medicated active ingredient OR You can go for any cleanser meant for normal skin type. Yes, you heard it right. Don’t opt for cleansers that are meant specially for dry skin because it will certainly contain oils or heavy emollients contributing to clog up your pores more. 

2. Develop a personalized perfect balanced skin care routine to counteract both acne and dryness issues. This balanced routine should contain any acne treatment gel / cream + a good moisturizer.

What to look for in a good acne treatment gel :

1. Applying anti acne gel only on acne affected area, containing milder concentration of salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide work wonders to treat acne by unclogging pores and killing bacteria with minimal irritation.

2. If you are a beginner, I suggest you to start with 1% salicylic acid or 2.5% benzoyl peroxide to treat acne.*

3. Use these gels only at night because they are proven to make skin  more photosensitive.

4. Using a good sunscreen is must ,15 mins before you go out into the sun.

If you want to know the best treatment cream present in Indian market feel free to email at swati@phaf.in 

How to choose a good moisturizer for dry – acne prone skin:–

This is admittedly the tricky part. you need a moisturizer Which is less emollient than a standard heavy cream and mildly  comedogenic. Usually mildly comedogenic products are considered safe when used with acne treatment gel. Search for the ingredients like shea butter, glyceryl stearate, peg-100 stearate, allantoin, panthenol, hyaluronic acid , aloe Vera. These ingredients present in a moisturizer are proven to be moisturising enough, without aggravating the acne condition.

If you want to know the best moisturizer present in Indian market feel free to email at skincare@phaf.in 

We welcome your experience and suggestions or queries. Feel free to share at skincare@phaf.in