:Clear Skin Blog

As we’ve discussed recently, clogged pores can have a few different causes. However, sometimes the most stubborn clogged pores are the smaller ones that form into blackheads rather than inflamed acne. These blackheads are less noticeable, but can be a pain to get rid of, and have a nasty habit of coming back time and time again.

Cleansing pore strips are one of the more recent solutions to clogged pores, at least in the over-the-counter clear skin market. The strips use an adhesive formula to penetrate your pores and then peel away pesky blackheads. Pore strips are most often used over the nose, which is naturally prone to oily skin and frequently home to many small blackheads. The strip is applied to the skin, left until mostly dry, and then gently peeled away. I say “gently” here, but those with sensitive skin should keep in mind that peeling off the dried strip can sometimes be a bit of a painful experience.

On the positive side, pore strips are good way to remove all those hardened clumps of excess oil clogging up your pores - certainly better than pinching at your nose. If you have a large amount of blackheads on your nose that need getting rid of, this is probably the fastest way. The drawbacks are that often the strips will only partially remove some blackheads, and the act of peeling them off may leave your skin irritated (and thus more prone to new acne). Most pore strips also include anti-oxidants to help fight off future acne, but since blackheads generally have a lot more to do with excess oil than bacteria, these ingredients don’t really play much of a role.

Pore strips are definitely one of the more effective “quick fix” clear skin products. As long as all you need is to quickly unclog those stubborn pores on your nose, chances are they will come in handy. It’s also satisfying to see your blackheads removed on the spot, all without having to pop a single zit. Unfortunately, these type of clogged pores tend to return very fast. You may want to keep some pore strips on hand for when you get the urge to purge your nose of blackheads, but consider an internal treatment if you want to get that excess oil under control before it clogs your pores in the first place.

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Understanding your type of acne can help you more effectively treat it, so given the direct acne causes discussed in the last post, what treatments should you be trying in order to achieve clear skin? Excess oil, clogged pores, and bacterial infections each involve different treatment methods, but on the bright side, sometimes effectively targeting one of these problems will also help you eliminate the others.

For most people, treating excess oil production should be the first and most important step to clear skin. This is due to the fact that excess oil can actually cause the other two problems: by leaving your pores swollen with sebum, they are more apt to collect waste particles (such as dead cells) and become clogged; and since the P. Acnes bacteria feeds off sebum, an excess of it encourages bacterial growth.

External treatments will not help you control the production of your oil glands. Cleansing can momentarily eliminate surface oil, but unless you wash every 2 hours (which causes its own set of problems) it’s not going to have any lasting effect. There are two treatments that work: prescription vitamin A derivatives (such as Accutane), and vitamin B5 treatments (such as Clear5). The former are the strongest solutions, but can have serious side effects. These vitamin A derivatives work by inhibiting oil production, causing your glands to shut down so that oil is not produced in the first place. Vitamin B5 treatments on the other hand, achieve a similar end result, but rather than shutting down your glands, they speed up your body’s metabolism of skin oil. So your glands still produce the oil, but your body breaks it down faster, eliminating excess skin oil before it can cause problems such as acne.

For dealing with cases of acne in which clogged pores are the direct problem preventing clear skin (such as in many cases of body acne), external treatments can be more helpful. Keeping control of oil production still aids in preventing these cases by keeping your pores from becoming swollen, but sometimes a strong topical cream or cleanser may be needed to help remove the “plug” of waste clogging your pores. Exfoliating treatments are particularly effective for this. Use either an exfoliating acid solution (salicylic acid is one the most popular and effective active ingredients for this), a scrubbing paste, or a physical exfoliation product (like a textured sponge) to evenly scrape away the top layer of dead skin cells in problem areas. Exfoliate regularly and keep the area generally clean.

Lastly, for bacterial infections there are effective treatments from both the external and internal camps, but the external ones are those which will give you the fastest results. Again, staying on top of oil production can help prevent the problem by eliminating the main food source that allows bacterial populations to grow. To kill acne-causing bacteria within your pores, the most prominent solution at this time is benzoyl peroxide (BP). BP is used as the active ingredient in many big-name topical products such as Proactiv and Neutrogena’s On-The-Spot, but is equally effective when simply applied as a generic cream in a 2.5% concentration. For those who would rather use a natural alternative, Tea Tree Oil has been found to be just about as effective as BP at killing acne bacteria, plus many find it less drying. As far as internal treatments go, there are a huge number of vitamins and minerals that act as natural anti-oxidants, but when it comes to clear skin, some have more evidence backing them then others. Zinc has repeatedly been shown to be especially effective at ridding your skin cells of bacteria and preventing acne. Combining a zinc supplement with an effective topical cream can help you kill existing bacteria and prevent new infections from forming.

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There are a large number of factors that can contribute to acne, from your diet to stress levels, but at the pore level there are three main things that cause your skin directly to break out. These are (1) hardened clumps of oil from excess oil production by your glands, (2) clogged pores which prevent oil from escaping, and (3) bacterial build-ups that cause infections within your pores.

The first scenario appears to be the most common among acne sufferers. Within your pores, there are side chambers which house your sebaceus glands. These glands produce sebum (aka skin oil) which should be able to naturally exit through your pores to the skin.

The problem occurs when these glands produce too much oil too quickly. This excess oil can swell up within the glands, hardening under the pressure and eventually bursting the gland (leading to the inflammation seen in typical acne spots). These hardened clumps of sebum are then too large to even fit into the main shaft of the pore, and thus must usually be forced out (through zit popping) or eventually broken down by the body.

The second type of acne is especially common when it comes to your back and body. Clogged pores are most often clogged by your own dead skin cells. Ideally, your top layer of skin should shed evenly, but this is not always the case. When you shed dead skin cells unevenly, layers of these dead cells can build up over certain areas, drying, flaking, and clogging your pores. This effect can clog the main shaft of a pore, forming a type of plug that keeps oil and bacteria from escaping. It’s more prevailent in body acne due to the naturally thicker layer of skin over your body compared to your face, and the fact that many people exfoliate less often over their body.

The third common cause of acne is bacterial infections. To be sure, both of the above scenarios usually lead to a build-up of bacteria as well, but sometimes a bacterial infection can occur even when the pore has not been clogged first. The acne-causing bacteria,P. Acnes naturally lives within your pores and feeds on sebum. Especially when your body produces excess sebum, your population of P. Acnes can multiply rapidly. The bacteria also releases acids and antigens that lead to inflammation, and can burst sebaceus glands as they multiply within them. Obviously, this situation typically goes hand-in-hand with the first scenario, but whether primary cause is the oil hardening or the bacteria growing may vary in different cases.

In the next update, I’ll talk about some of the different treatments used to target these acne causes.

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I can’t even think about skin care today. My heart and soul have been stolen away…

Wow. That’s the best description I can give for Nintendo’s new game in the legendary Zelda series: Twilight Princess (TP). Over the past week this game has simply stolen away my life, and I frankly don’t miss it one bit. I’ve been a rather dedicated gaming junky since the NES days, but even with all the games I’ve played, I’m hard pressed to think of anything that surpasses Zelda’s latest outing.

TP is as close to a perfect sequel as there has ever been. The Zelda games have been straying from their classic formula recently, with games like Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask taking the series in some strange new directions. These diversions have been fun, but TP takes the series back to it’s roots, only bigger and better in every way. The world is utterly vast, and yet it feels like every inch is teeming with secrets to be found. Half the fun is just exploring the world. It’s easily one of the most interesting game environments I’ve ever experienced. The new dungeons and items add some welcome innovation to the formula (such as the unique snowpeak stage), but it never strays so far that it loses that classic Zelda feel. The difficulty has also thankfully been beefed up from Wind Waker.

With a game this epic (and long, at 50-70 hours), it would be nice to hear a full-orchestral soundtrack. Some of the items also feel underused (like the quickly-obsolete slingshot), but this game just brings so much to the table that its few nitpicks are hardly worth mentioning. There’s more content here than in a dozen other A-quality games. Simply put, Twilight Princess is the best Zelda game yet, and one of the greatest games ever made.

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You’d be surprised how many questions I typically get about which brand is the best cleanser, moisturizer, toner, sun screen, exfoliation product, etc…

Although I don’t mind mentioning some brands that I find reliable (a few can be found under the product reviews link to the right), the fact is you shouldn’t need to be that stressed over skin care products. Always remember: there are people with great skin who don’t ever even use these products. Give your body the right nutrients on the inside, and it will usually take care of the outside for you.

If you need to use additional skin care products, rather than rattling off a list of brand names, I would advise these two points: gentler is better, and less is more.

Basically, rather than nuking your skin with extremely strong cleansers or soaps (which only help for an hour or so anyways), nourish your skin with products made to leave your pores with some moisture intact. Even if you don’t think you have sensitive skin, gentle-skin products are generally healthier for you, especially of you use these products every day.

With the other piece of advice, “less is more”, I’m talking about both your cleansing frequency and the number of products you use. You really shouldn’t need to use any cleansing regimen more than twice per day, and some people are better off keeping that count to once per day (it’s alright to rinse your face sometimes - it doesn’t always have to be multi-step cleansing ordeal). Also, if you’re one of those people who use 5+ different skin care products every day, just stop. That’s too many products, and your skin doesn’t need them all. Try using some combination products (moisturizers that also include SPF 15, for instance), and just cut out products that don’t give you a specific, noticeable result. A lot of products have a nice looking list of benefits on the package, but end up doing almost nothing for your skin. So skip that apple-mint peel-away face mask with the exciting list of benefits, and just eat a few extra apples instead.

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Exfoliation - shedding those old dead skin cells to make room for the new ones - is always an important element in skin care. Today I’m going to talk about and compare two popular means of exfoliation: exfoliating scrubs and chemical peels.

Uneven shedding and a build up of dead skin cells can lead to clogged pores, as well as making your skin look older than it should. Both exfoliating scrubs and chemical peels work to resolve this problem, but use different means to achieve that ends, and can have different side effects, positive or negative.

Chemical Peels, as the name suggests, use chemicals to basically dry out an kill the top layer of your skin, which then sloughs off or is removed with the peel. Drugs such as salicylic acid are popular ingredients to achieve this effect. Peels that focus on exfoliation can easily overdry your skin, so they typically include other moisturizing ingredients to balance the effect of the exfoliating drugs. Since chemical peels are applied so that they sit on your face for several minutes, they have the advantage of being able to penetrate deeper into your skin than other treatments which are immediately washed off, including most scrubs. Usually, this means the added benefit of more effectively killing unwanted bacteria under the surface of your skin. The downside is that everyone’s skin is different, and we don’t all react to the chemicals found in peels the same way. For some, the antibacterial effects will be less effective, and for others with sensitive skin the chemicals may be too strong, leaving the skin irritated or inflamed.

Exfoliating scrubs, on the other hand, put you in more direct control of the exfoliation. These scrubs have a thick consistency like a sandy paste, with particles that literally scrape away dead cells as you massage the scrub into your face. Most exfoliating scrubs marketed for skin care also include plenty of chemicals, vitamins and nutrients, but these are usually present in weak concentrations, and the shorter time period that the scrub spends on your face means that they seldom penetrate deep beneath the surface. The primary benefit of scrubs is the scrubbing-action itself. One thing to watch out for are scrubs in which the particles are extremely fine. These smaller particles can sometimes do more harm than good, by actually seeping to the openings of your pores, tearing at the pores (making them actually more visible) or getting lodged and stuck. You’re better off with a scrub in which the particles are closer to coarse sand rather than fine sugar. With the right scrub, these products may be more reliable for exfoliation than peels, since you control the level of exfoliation yourself, and physically scrubbing away dead cells is always going to be effective when chemicals fail.

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It seems myself and everyone around has been catching colds lately, and it prompted me to do a little research on the vitamins and minerals that may help you fight off a cold virus. First of all, keep in mind that colds are indeed the result of viruses, not merely cold weather. The weather may play a part of lowering your immune system, but it’s still a virus transmitted by bacteria that causes the cold. Maintaining good hygiene and avoiding touching public surfaces where bacteria is spread are a smart start.

If you want any cold treatment to be effective, you need to get started as soon as you start to notice cold symptoms (or sooner), not after you’re already coughing up a lung. The most effective natural cold treatments are two nutrients which are also helpful in acne prevention: vitamin C and zinc. Both of these are strong antioxidants which act to bolster your immune system.

Much fuss has been made over vitamin C, and its use for treating colds is rather well known. A variety of medical studies have shown that supplementing with as little as 500 mg of vitamin C daily can reduce the risk of catching a cold. Higher doses, such as 6 grams or more per day (up to 18 grams), have been advocated by figures such as the Nobel prize-winning biochemist Linus Carl Pauling, and shown to reduce the duration of cold symptoms, although some debate remains about the efficacy of these high doses. Vitamin C is water-soluble and very safe, but at extremely high doses it may cause stool softening. I wouldn’t recommend over 6 grams myself.

The main zinc cold treatments take the form of nasal sprays, such as Zicam. The evidence for these treatments is very convincing, with multiple double-blind studies showing that zinc can eliminate common cold symptoms in just a matter of days. However, even the results of these treatments are debated, and in the case of Zicam there have been reports of some users losing their sense of smell - a high price to pay to be rid of a cold (although these users likely took a LOT of Zicam). Zinc taken purely as a supplement is generally safe at doses under 100 mg, but appears to be less effective as a cold treatment.

With either natural cold remedy, half the battle is prevention. Zinc or high doses of vitamin C may help you get over your cold faster, but even then you will likely need to start as soon as you notice those first symptoms if you want to see results. Keep your immune system strong and try to avoid catching whatever virus is going around.

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