By Estival Life (13/6/2018)

Acne is not only found in teenagers, it’s also common among adults, especially during the hot wet summer.  They may suddenly arise on your face and leave there for some days.  Because of the popularity of acne, everyone of us may have 1 or 2 secret recipes to deal with it of either external application or intake.  However we found that there’re a few common points, including some bad habits that many of us would usually commit.

Generally speaking, most people relate acne to inadequate skin cleansing.  Yes, it may be true to some patients.  However overly or incorrectly cleansing may cause the damage of sebum membrane and in turn skin’s imbalance of water and sebum.  To best take care of the acne skin, please take note of the below mentioned 10 bad habits and avoid them all:

1) Use of face cleanser with SLS/SLES (SLS / SLES is a cheap chemical ingredients for generating foam widely added in personal care products like face cleanser, shampoo, liquid soap, tooth paste, etc. as well as industrial cleanser!  As little as 1% of SLS can irritate scalp, tooth gum and skin while most of the popular products contain 10-30%.  SLS can damage sebum membrane.) 

2) Not thoroughly remove make-up and dirt (Leave make-up and chemical SPF on faces, e.g. do not cleanse faces before sleeping, or do not thoroughly cleanse the whole face, like leaving residues on the hair lines.  The residue will clog the pores and easily cause acne.)  

3) Wash faces a several times a day, other than morning and evening (Overly cleanse faces will irritate skin and worsen the acne problem.) 

4) Scrub faces when washing (Same problem as frequent washing that it will irritate skin and may cause more severe acne problem.  When removing make-up and cleansing faces, always gently massage the skin.  After a fully day of busy life, it’s always good to apply AVA Revitalizing Face Milk on faces (including eye are) and neck and mildly massage in circular movement for 1 minute.  This will not only thoroughly remove the make-up and impurities, but also enhance blood circulation.  Meanwhile we also recommend your using of 100% cotton baby towel to wash face and weekly soak in diluted bleach water or disinfectant to keep it clean.)   

5) Wash faces during showering (The hot water from shower and its force will irritate the face skin and dilate blood vessels.  Meanwhile it will also spoil the sebum membrane and cause water loss and in turn dehydrate the skin.  In the skin self-defence system, more sebum will thus be secreted and make the oily and acne skin even more oily.) 

6) Use hot and cold water to wash face (Some people use hot water to wash face so as to open up the pores for better cleansing result and follow by cold water to shrink the pores.  However the huge temperature difference will in fact irritate the skin, damage vessel and cause water loss.) 

7) Incorrect choice and use of toner (You may know it’s better not to use toner with alcohol as it will dry your skin.  But do you always think that toner is only for refreshing your skin or close your pores?  In fact toner or tonic lotion carries several functions: remove the residue of make-up/impurities, restore the pH balance, shrink the pores, moisturize the skin and offers the freshening feeling.  Many people tend to apply toner with hands so as not to “waste” it.  But if so, the residue of dirt may stay.  Thus we recommend you to use pure cotton to apply ByOrgMeans Organic Rosa Damascena Hydrosol by gently patting.  Sage water as the active ingredient acts as a healing anti-inflammatory and mild, but therapeutic antiseptic. It can help soothe the acne problem.) 

8) Lack of daily care of moisturizing (Many people with acne problem think that skin must always be dry to avoid acne.  This is not very true!  Oily, combination and acne skin must also be moisturized in order to maintain the water-oil balance.  In reality, a lot of people got much sebum secretion due to dehydration.  Most important of all is to choose highly moisturizing face care products which can be absorbed by skin easily, not sticky and will not clog the pores. 

Application of a face oil essence made up of 100% natural and organic plant oils and essential oils could improve your skin sebum scretion far exceeding your expectations. ByOrgMeans Face Oil Essence - Trouble Skin made of Organic Sunflower Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Moroccan Argan Oil, Grape Seed Oil, Palmarosa Essential Oil, Ylang Ylang Essential Oil, Chamomile Roman Essential Oil, Sandalwood Essential Oil, True Lavender Essential Oil, Frankincense Essential Oil, Cedarwood Atlas Essential Oil.

Furthermore AVA Aloe Organic Line with serum, eye cream, day and night cream, is specially designed for oily and combination skin and dry skin.  This series contains selected natural oils and active ingredients coming from organic farming. The ingredients efficiently soothe skin irritation, slow down skin aging, and have intensive skin hydrating, firming and revitalizing properties. The product formulas are based on a combination of aloe vera butter and organic aloe vera leaf juice with added fig opuntia extract.

Aloe Vera juice contains over 70 active substances with a soothing, intense moisturizing and anti-inflammatory effect. it cleanses the skin, soothes irritations, has antioxidation and astringent properties, as well as restores patency of sebaceous glands. It contains 10+ microelements including zinc, used i.a. in the treatment of skin with eczema and seborrhea, and magnesium lactate, which inhibits the process of creating histamine in the skin; histamine is responsible i.a. for allergic skin reactions.

Fig Opuntia extract is rich in organic acids (apple, lactic, amber, wine acids), which support nourishment and regeneration of dry skin. It also contains a wealth of minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus) and vitamins (C, B6, thiamine, riboflavin). one litre of the highest quality fig opuntia oil is made from one million seeds, which are laboriously taken out of 500 kg of fruit in total. 

9) Lack of deep cleansing and care (Apart from daily cleansing, weekly deep cleansing and care is also crucial.  Apply Chagrin Valley Natural and Organic Clay Mask once or twice a week to remove dead cells efficiently, wipe off sebum and cleanse pores, soothe and protect the skin leaving it smooth and radiant.  The highly absorbent properties of white clay cleanse the skin gently and deeply removing the impurities. Dictamelia*, licorice* and aloe vera* extracts hydrate, soothe and calm the skin so it looks clarified and revitalized.  

10) Too frequent or hard in scrubbing (Although scrubbing can remove dead skin cell, at most people should scrub one or twice a week.  When scrubbing, it must be gentle and some scrub products suggest users to add water as lubricant.  Scrub on dry skin would irritate skin and may cause damage.  Scrubbing on acne skin must be on mild movement in order not to worsen the acne problem.)  

Of course, to strive for acneless skin conditions, apart from avoiding the above mentioned bad habits and accompanying by the use of natural skincare products suitable for acne skin, there must be other good life style, like sleep and wake up early, drink adequate water, balance diet and sufficient sport activities.  In case of severe acne problem, go consult dermatologist.