Blackheads and other annoyances – what is the best approach to breakouts?
Let’s start at the beginning.
Understand the triggers and you are on the way to better looking skin.
Hormones have a lot to answer for! Testosterone (in men and women) increases sebum production to excess amounts. This in turn, with slow skin shedding, causes congestion which in turn can cause bacterial proliferation.
So, what is the best way to keep blackheads at bay?
- Choose cosmeceutical skin care ingredients that deal with:
- Reducing inflammation
- Regulating oil production
- Removing dead skin and debris from deep within the pore (Salicylic acid)
- Removing dead skin from the skin surface
- Reducing the diameter of the pore
- Control bacteria in the pores
Many oils can actually help treat low grade acne and will not block pores. These include –
- Castor bean oil
- Sea buckthorn oil
- Shea butter
- Sunflower oil
- Safflower oil
- Jojoba oil
- Argan oil
- Rose hip oil
- Lanolin
- Avoid – ingredients that are classified as comedogenic.
These ingredients can actually clog pores and give rise to blackheads.
- Cacao butter
- Peach kernel oil
- Coconut oil ( it’s fine to eat though!)
- Soybean oil
- Wheat germ oil
- Sodium Lauryl sulphate /SLS (present in most cleansers)
- Cotton seed oil
- D&C red 40 (more common artificial red colourant in cosmetics)
- Algae extract and algin
- Avoid – dimethicone and other ‘silicones’
This synthetic silicone oil adds to the emollience and ‘feel’ of a product and is common in pressed cosmetics, moisturisers and hair products. Whilst dimethicone is not technically comedogenic, it can trap pollutants, sebum and debris under the skin. This prevents the skin from removing toxins and can make blackheads and acne worse. It can also prevent the penetration of beneficial water soluble ingredients to the skin. In my opinion, it is best to avoid dimethicone in makeup and skincare.