:Clear Skin Blog

How much washing is too much? This can vary with skin type, but for the most people, washing in the morning and at night is plenty. Over-drying your skin with constant washing can have a variety of negative effects, and leave you more vulnerable to sun damage than your skin normally is while it has a healthy level of oil.

Part of the benefit of a natural acne treatment like vitamin B5 is that it doesn’t completely sap your skin of oil. It merely lowers oil production to the normal level that most non-acne-sufferers experience. Many topical cleansers, on the other hand, do sap your skin of oil - even if only for a short period of time. Washing a few times a day like this is not a problem, but some people become obsessive about washing their face, and this compulsion can lead to skin problems. Companies even now offer medicated acne pads that you can take with you anywhere, which is precisely the type of thing you don’t need.

As we go into winter and the air becomes drier, your skin will need a healthy layer of oil to prevent the irritation, parched skin and peeling that cold, dry air can bring on.

If you feel the need to wash more than twice per day, get in the habit of simply rinsing instead during the middle of the day. Rinsing with water, rather than the chemicals found in soaps and cleansers, is gentler on your skin and will give you a clean and refreshed feeling without sapping your skin of all oil. Remember that surface dirt is hardly ever the cause of acne.

The way to fight excess oil is not with excess washing. In the most common cases of moderate acne - where the skin becomes red and irritated with a white pustule lodged under the surface - the oil builds up too quickly within the gland itself, hardening and bursting the gland (and then leaving a hardened pustule that has swollen too large to fit out the pore). Topical cleansers simply do not help in these cases, as they do not penetrate into the gland itself (nor would that be healthy). Often, they simply sap healthy oil from the surface.

So keep in mind that some skin oil is a good thing. It provides a natural barrier against the sun and elements. Don’t let washing become a compulsion. And if your skin feels too oily, simply rinsing with water is a healthy choice on most occasions.

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The Acne Vitamins shopping cart received a small update this last week, making it a little easier for our international customers. Besides US Dollars and Euros, currency can now be displayed in British Pounds, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars. It’s a small change, and rather overdue, but certainly a welcome one judging from how many emails we’ve received recently from customers asking us to calculate the conversion rates for them (we’ll still gladly take care of that for those of you who use a currency not selectable in our cart, although a quick internet search will also provide plenty of websites that calculate global currency rates). The currency selection box is located on the right-hand column of the cart.

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Clear skin is not just about getting rid of acne, it’s about getting rid of acne without making your face look worse in the process. Most scars are self-inflicted due to trying to pop pimples prematurely, but sometimes even careful people can end up with a nasty red lump on their skin that sticks around even after the pustule is gone - or sometimes scars can have causes not even related to acne.

I must confess I’m not always perfect when it comes to taking my own advice, particularly when it comes to shaving, and I paid the price recently with a couple of unsightly razor bumps. One in particular under my chin simply didn’t want to go away, so I had to get serious. Here’s some advice for eliminating small scars (including lumps of scar tissue left over from cystic acne of ingrown hairs) in a quick way, usually resulting in a significant decrease in the appearance of a scar overnight.

The old adage of “don’t pick at your face” applies, especially when you’re only going to further inflame an area that doesn’t even contain an acne pustule anymore. Besides that common sense advice, you will need tea tree oil and Neosporin gel. After washing, apply a few drops of tea tree oil to the inflamed region and let dry. Your skin usually soaks up tea tree oil quickly, and this will disinfect the area and kill most remaining bacteria under the skin. Once the area is completely dry, follow by applying a dab of Neosporin directly to the bumps. Leave the Neosporin on for as long as possible. This will take the red out of the area, often dramatically decreasing inflammation (*as in my previous post about Neosporin, it is not medically sound to rely on Neosporin as an every day acne cream, use it only for these particularly inflamed lesions).

Using this two-part treatment combo before bed is a good strategy to care for your skin when it comes to small scars. It will produce a very fast reduction in the appearance of acne’s often unsightly after effects (or in my case, the after effects of a bad shave ^_^).

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You may have noticed while surfing acne message boards that there are sometimes claims that tiny mites living in your skin are the real cause of acne. These claims are usually exaggerated and overly broad about both mites and acne, but there is some truth in them. Namely, that most people do share the real estate of their skin with tiny insects called demodex mites.

The thought that you might have tiny insects living inside your skin and hair might seem unpleasant, but it’s estimated that as much as 96-98% of people carry demodex mites. And with up to 25 mites living inside a single hair follicle, this can add up to a rather huge insect population we carry around with us. Thankfully, most of the time these mites remain harmless and unobserved.

The problem occurs when demodex mite populations become unusually high. In these cases, some scientists believe the high presence of mites is linked to skin problems and even hair loss. That is not to say that we know mites cause these problems. Hormonal shifts are most likely the root cause, but as a result of those shifts, more of the steroids and oils that demodex mites feed off of are produced, therefore increasing the populations of mites in your skin. These high populations of mites may then contribute to skin conditions, creating a barrier to clear skin that cannot simply be washed away.

The link is most visible in cases of acne rosacea. High populations of demodex mites are five times as likely among acne rosacea patients as they are among patients of the more common acne vulgaris. Signs of a dramatic increase of mites (called demodicosis) include itchiness and irritation. Although a link with thinning hair has not been confirmed, it seems apparent among other animals such as dogs that suffer from demodicosis.

While normal washing does little to eliminate demodex mites, their populations can be decreased through the use of antibiotics. One of the most effective treatments is the use of metronidazole cream, which is available with a prescription. Seeing a dermatologist is a good place to start if your skin is frequently itchy and you feel that demodicosis may be contributing to your acne. However, don’t get too bothered over the mere idea that there are insects living in your skin follicles. In the vast majority of cases, demodex mites live harmlessly in balance with their human host.

PS: It should also be noted that since demododex mites feed off of skin oil (sebum), reducing excess skin oil via vitamin B5 acne treatment can help keep populations of demodex mites in check.

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Another popular question lately has been: What cleansers and topical skin care treatments are safe to use with vitamin B5 acne treatment?

Plain and simple, all of the typical over-the-counter creams and cleansers are “safe” to use with B5. It’s merely that those which dry you out can leave your skin agitated and more susceptible to future acne, thus working against your progress. How sensitive your skin is to such treatments varies greatly from person to person, so I’m not going to rule out any specific brands. Generally cleansers with a higher percent of benzoyl peroxide (above 2.5%) or salicylic acid (above 1%) are more likely to leave your skin dry, but again some people with less sensitive skin may be fine even with high-concentration formulas of these drugs.

If you’re preventing excess oil buildup with vitamin B5, you’re naturally going to be less dependent on topical cleansers (or not need them at all), but if you want a safety net or are just starting out, I’d recommend erring on the side of caution and going with a more gentle formula. One of the gentle cleansers I recommend on our acne products reviews page is Clean & Clear’s Foaming Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin.

An acne spot treatment is also fine to use alongside B5 while first starting out. A 2.5% BP cream such as On-The-Spot is a popular and fairly safe choice, but I’m finding Tea Tree Oil to be a better alternative for many users, since it appears to work just as well and is usually less drying. Tea Tree Oil is also a much better value for your money, since a 1 oz bottle can easily last you for months - plus it’s all natural.

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Well, the Clear Skin Blog is officially one year old now. Surprisingly, I’ve managed to blog a lot more about acne-related tips and treatments than video games or other totally unrelated subjects! We’ve covered everything from common advice on washing and nutrition to uncommon topics such as the relation between back acne and sitting with your back glued to a computer chair all day (probably like a lot of people right now ^_^). Honestly, we have covered many of the common aspects of clear skin care fairly extensively (and thus posting frequency is a little lower now), but there’s still plenty more to blog about for the next year, so stay tuned.

New visitors, make sure to check our archives or use the search box on the right if you are looking for a specific topic, such as body acne or your diet.

Also for all those folks celebrating in the US, have a happy Labor Day Weekend! Postal carriers take off Monday, so weekend orders from Acne Vitamins will be shipped out first thing Tuesday.

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