Dealing with persistent skin issues like hormonal acne and dull skin can be frustrating. That’s why we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make your life -and skincare routine - a bit easier by putting together this list of common concerns and their solutions.
Taking care of your skin is a job in and of itself. Aside from simply finding time and remembering to complete your twice-a-day skin care routine, there are a plethora of skin concerns we all come face-to-face with on a regular basis. By making more conscious lifestyle choices, a few topical treatments and the option for more intensive care, you can prevent and treat these 6 most common skin problems to keep your skin looking and feeling younger than ever.
01 Dark Eye Circles
We are all too familiar with how those pesky dark eye circles and under-eye bags appear - because of the lack of sleep. But what’s not commonly known is that dark circles could also be hereditary too. In both instances, whether it is due to the lack of sleep or hereditary, the conditions can be exacerbated by sun damage, dehydration and irritation.
While you cannot completely avoid those under-eye woes, there are ways to make them less prominent, including making healthier and better lifestyle choices like getting sufficient sleep or drinking sufficient water to stay hydrated through the day.
When it comes to addressing dark circles, besides making slight changes to your lifestyle, it’s all about using the right eye cream to help neutralize their appearance and brighten the skin around the eye area, like SKOG’s Under Eye Repair Oil or Studio Botanic Eye Cream. These eye treatments are formulated with all natural ingredients, such as Cranberry, Rosehip and Apricot, blended to provide a nourishing and antioxidant rich oil to reduce dryness, dark circles and puffiness.
02 Dark Spots
Dark spots, aka hyperpigmentation, can be frustrating. Though they are often called age spot, they aren’t always related to age. These dark spots can occur any time your skin produces more melanin, the natural brown pigment that gives our skin colour. More often than not, dark spots appear due to long exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun or a a result of acne.
While you can't get rid of them completely, there are many active ingredients in skincare products that can help to lessen their appearance. The most straightforward and effective solution, we know you know, but do it: Wear. Sunscreen. No treatment will be effective as long as your skin is still exposed. Solyph’s Face The Wild Sun Cream is a mineral based sunscreen that provides immediate protection against the damaging effects of UV rays and blue light.
Using skincare products formulated with retinol can also help protect existing collagen from breaking down and build more of the structural protein. Follow this up with a serum or a cream with a brightening ingredient, such as Kojic Acid, Azelaic Acid or Retinoid could help to accelerate the fading of the spots. Try using Rooki Beauty’s Sun Eraser Glow Drops, which is specially formulated to fade dark spots and brighten complexion.
03 Redness
There are so many different causes of face redness, but one thing remains the same: dealing with an uneven, red skin tone is no fun. But you’re not alone! Facial redness is one of those mysteries that have never been able to solve until recently. Redness can occur because of a skin condition, such as rosacea, or sun damage. While some causes of redness are easier to treat that perhaps only require a pat-down with cool water or a calming skin care product, others may require a more intensive treatments.
Find soothing products such as the Jeju Lotus Leaf & Aloe Calming Serum from The Pure Lotus that contains soothing ingredients such as Aloe Vera and White Lotus Extract or Rice Soothing Active Gel Mask that contains Rice Bran and Pearl Barley that helps calm irritated or sensitive skin. These ingredients also contain hydrating and anti-inflammatory properties which would help to reduce and control the redness on your skin.
Aside from skincare, you can also use makeup that contains skin healing properties to aid in neutralising the appearance of redness. InClinic’s Perfect Solution Blemish Treatment Concealer is formulated with a blend of soothing, calming and healing vitamins and plant extracts selected for anti-inflammatory properties that help treat and heal redness.
04 Dull Skin
The build-up of dead skin cells is one of the most common causes of dull skin and it happens because we neglect to get rid of dead skin regularly. The solution is simple – exfoliate. When dead skin cells build up on the outer layers of your skin, it can cause your skin to look dull, dry, and flakey, and can even clog your pores. Regular exfoliation can prevent this from happening by increasing cell turnover and stimulating collagen production.
Wash your face daily with a gentle creamy cleanser to remove the grime from your face. Try Lazy Shark’s Archangel Gentle Cleansing Cream. Every 3 to 4 times a week, exfoliate. Look for an exfoliator that will help brighten your complexion, like BHA Overnight Velvet Peel from TARA. This gentle exfoliator contains Hyaluronic Acid, Maine Collagen and Magnesium-rich Seawater to remove dead skincells and other impurities.
Another tip to revive dull skin? Add Vitamin C serums, such as Kumuya’s Illuminate Nutri-Serum Concentrate, to your skincare routine. Vitamin C serum will help to reduce the appearance of pigmentation, improve skin tone to give a healthy radiant glow.
05 Enlarge Pores
Let’s be real, large pores are a huge nuisance. No one is asking for their pores to be larger, are they? As frustrating as they can be, large pores are extremely common. Aside from the fact that they typically go hand in hand with oily skin, like peanut butter and jelly, they can also take a toll on your makeup look.
Unfortunately, pores aren’t like doors. Technically, you can't close large pores. However, there are specific skin care steps you can take to minimize the appearance of pores and it involves cleansing and exfoliating with special skincare ingredients including Lactic Acid and Retinol. Reach for Kumuya’s Meracle Nutri-Essence AHA & BHA that is formulated with exfoliating Lactic and Salicylic Acid to clear dead skin from the surface and deep within your pores.
Another tip? Add clay into your skincare routine. The astringent quality of clay helps to detoxify the skin by sucking up these impurities helping to relieve congestion and allows your pores to shrink back to their normal size.
06 Hormonal Acne
When it comes to acne, it’s probably safe to say hormonal acne can be one of the most frustrating types to deal with. As if getting your period each month wasn’t annoying enough, you now have to also deal with having breakouts at the same time.
The fluctuating hormone levels which occur around a woman’s period can result in adult acne. When you’re menstruating, there is a surge of hormones that stimulate the sebaceous glands, increasing oil production and resulting in skin concerns like hormonal cystic acne and chin breakouts.
While there is not much we can do to control our crazed hormone levels, what we can do however, is to curate a skin care routine with the right active ingredients to address those unwanted pimples and blemishes. Incorporating skincare products with Retinol to boost cell turnover which helps slough off dead skin cells or Benzoyl Peroxide that target surface bacteria.
If you are looking for a more natural option, try Selenus Artemisia Calming Us Cleansing Foam or Anua Heartleaf Gentle Facial Cleanser. Mugwort and Heartleaf have been used for centuries in traditional medicine to treat clogged pores and remove excess sebum that can result in acne.
About the writer
Rachel spent five ascetic years as a vegetarian before discovering spicy chicken wings are, in fact, a delicacy. She’s also a bit of a snob about fancy whiskey. Rachel writes early in the morning, then spends the rest of the day trying to impress her Maine Coon.
